Copywriting Tips - How To Create Powerful Testimonials

Every great copywriter knows that a testimonial can be one of your best selling tools. Unfortunately, you won’t always be handed a pile of powerfully worded testimonials. The good news is that you don’t have to settle for weak ones — even if that’s all you have to start out with.

Instead, why not go out and find those great testimonials yourself. It’s not hard, and you’ll end up with rich real-life testimonials that highlight specific selling points in your copy. Just imagine how much easier your job will be when you’ve got a stack of powerful testimonials like that!

A typical testimonial is what I call a Before and After testimonial. The customer tells you about the problem he use to have, and how it went away after he started using the product. The Before and After testimonial is a lot better than what we use to see, which was “I love your widget!” But for today’s prospect, you need to do even better.

Here’s what I mean. Everyone is using Before and After testimonials now. They’ve become standard. This has made them less effective than they use to be. Your prospect sees them all the time, and before long they all start sounding the same.

To get your prospect’s attention, you want to have testimonials that talk about specific benefits or selling points in a way they can relate to. If you don’t have them, it’s just a matter of getting out there and talking to customers.

Grab your list of satisfied customers and start interviewing them. Spend 20 minutes talking to each one. Think of this as a “search and find” mission. Your job as a copywriter is to uncover the rich, emotional stories behind all of those Before and After stories. That’s the first step.

When you’re finished, you are ready for the next step. This is where you take the information you just gathered and transform it into the strongest testimonial possible.

As you finish your interview, take a moment and ask the customer you can use what he said as a testimonial for the product. Most likely, he will say yes. When he does, tell him that you’d be happy to type one up based on the comments he’s made. Let him know that he will have final approval on it before it’s used. Most customers love this idea.

Once the customer gives you the go-ahead, your job is to take what you have and turn it into the most powerful testimonial you can. If the interview has gone well and you’ve asked the right questions, you will have a lot of great material to choose from.

Go through your interview notes and ask yourself:

* Which angle should I take?

* What are the key benefits I want to emphasize?

* Which one does this story support the best?

* What is the best way to use or position this story?

* What parts can I use to make my prospect say, “That guy is exactly like me!”

Just imagine how much more powerful and effective these type of testimonials will be. All of the different angles you can take and the great real-life tidbits that you can weave through your sales copy.

Interviewing happy customers has got to be the most powerful way to get strong testimonials that support your sales copy. If you understand how to guide the conversation in the right direction, you can uncover the good stuff quickly, every single time. Once you’ve done that, the only thing left is positioning it properly and you’ve got copywriting gold!

You’ll have a testimonial that’s written from your customer’s own unique perspective. One that’s focused on the exact benefit you want to emphasize, and talks to your prospect’s real needs and desires. A powerful testimonial that’s written in your customer’s own word, only better!