What's the value of a word...in B2B customer testimonials?
In the case of testimonials from your satisfied customers, a word may be worth its weight in gold.
Of course, it's no secret that B2B customer testimonials influence buying decisions and, in turn, your bottom line.
If your B2B business is not taking advantage of the power of testimonials, then it's time to consider how to implement them into your marketing plan.
But, getting the most out of testimonials means choosing positive reviews that are relevant to your incoming sales prospects. Then placing them strategically throughout your sales funnel.
In this article, we'll give you the essential elements of a great testimonial and where to use them. As well as actionable ways to highlight your customers' success.
Let's get started.
Testimonials are generally a written statement given by your friends, colleagues, employer, or peers.
People give testimonials in appreciation of your work or to endorse a service that was valuable to them in their personal or professional life.
But your business is a slightly different matter.
Your B2B customer testimonials need to resonate with your potential customers in order to be effective.
And whatever claims you make in your marketing should always be backed up by supporting evidence.
Customer testimonials are the perfect means to show your reliability, trustworthiness, and brand advantages to another business.
A good testimonial is:
For instance, here's a great video example from Payara:
In this section, you'll find ten great testimonial examples as well as creative ways to incorporate the strategies showcased within these examples into your marketing strategy.
Sitting in plain view on their blog page, this customer testimonial from Airtable is a brilliant and innovative way to use testimonials to generate leads.
What we like about this customer testimonial example:
Top Tip: Put your B2B customer testimonials in unexpected places and with high-contrast design elements to grab the eye.
Our testimonial example from Canva demonstrates the potential of social media as a tool for business growth.
Look at this tweet from a brand new Canva fan (and retweet from Canva themselves):
What we like about this customer testimonial example:
Top Tip: Monitor your social media channels for opportunities to engage with new or existing customers.
A video testimonial may be the single most effective customer testimonial in your arsenal.
Why?
Videos take B2B customer testimonials to the next level.
Moving images allow a reviewer to connect with their audience in a multifaceted way.
Similarly, video brings facial expressions, hand gestures, voice, tone, and many other important characteristics of communication to the table. All elements that are lacking in a written testimonial.
In only 3 short years, the use of video as a marketing tool has jumped from 63% in 2017 to 85% in 2020.
Due to the increased demand for video content, the importance of introducing video testimonials to grab your buyer's attention has never been more apparent.
Just like any written or quote testimonial, you can use a testimonial video on any page of your company's website.
For example, this video customer testimonial from booking system Robin:
What we like about this customer testimonial example:
Top Tip: Video is an affordable and effective tool for every business. As a result, use it to reveal the reasons your customers choose to support your brand.
To learn more and get help creating your testimonial videos, check out Testimonial Hero.
Zapier has a distinct theme running through its customer social media testimonials. While they frequently use different colors and text, these testimonials all appear in a similar format.
Here's an example:
What we like about this customer testimonial example:
Top Tip: Try including B2B customer testimonials in your top of funnel (TOFU) and social media content to increase brand awareness.
Venngage have managed to combine four brief yet powerful testimonials from industry-recognized customers onto their pricing page:
What we like about this customer testimonial example:
Top Tip: Always use testimonials on any page designed to drive conversions.
Typeform has nailed it with the following testimonial on their product page.
What we like about this customer testimonial example:
Top Tip: Display a mix of familiar faces and logos in your testimonials.
The Webflow homepage includes social proof and B2B customer testimonials directly below the fold.
What we like about these customer testimonial examples:
Top Tip: Instead of confining your reviews to a testimonial page, try placing a customer testimonial video right on your homepage. It's a perfect way to impress new visitors to your site.
Hootsuite does an excellent job of showcasing their customers' successes with a variety of case studies, quotes:
What we like about these customer testimonial examples:
Top Tip: Combine different testimonial formats and designs on the pages dedicated to your customers.
The Kissmetrics' Demo page is one example of how to use a customer testimonial with a call to action.
What we like about this customer testimonial example:
Top Tip: Position your B2B customer testimonials near any CTA.
Video is incredibly popular with all internet users, and it's now used widely for B2B customer testimonials.
The team at Cloudlock found a novel way to use the video testimonial format.
They made "the customer" themselves.
At first, this testimonial example appears to be simple self-promotion. But it's more than that.
Their career page includes this video, which features several Cloudlock employees who describe their experience working at Cloudlock:
What we like about this video testimonial example:
Top Tip: The next time you're hiring, get your team on video to outline your brand strengths, career opportunities, and your working environment.
You've just seen ten great customer testimonial examples to copy on your company's website, social media platforms, and marketing materials.
Every customer testimonial we listed has one thing in common—they are all carefully designed to create an impact and to resonate with potential customers.
Several of our testimonial examples are seldom seen. This means there's an opportunity for you to capitalize on those marketing gaps.
The demonstration page and pricing page options are prime examples of areas that are underutilized by business-to-business service providers.
Video reviews are strong contenders for top place in the list of testimonial examples to copy.
These authentic and concrete examples of your customer's results present you with an opportunity to persuade and connect like no other medium can.
That may just tip the balance when it comes to a decision between you and your competition.
We tried making testimonial videos in-house, but it was a logistical and creative nightmare:
We lacked the internal resources to assemble high-quality testimonials that reflected our premium brand, so we sought a partner with the expertise and global reach to help us craft compelling customer stories.
All I needed was an idea and a couple of willing clients, and Testimonial Hero took care of the rest. The team handles everything from email communication, scheduling, travel booking, and dispatching qualified crews to record customer interviews and location footage. They help us plan the interview questions, write the necessary copy, and determine the best shots. They can work remotely, but they also conduct interviews onsite and make interview subjects feel at home on camera. They edit the footage into compelling testimonial videos, adding music, transitions, and graphics reflecting our company branding.
The final products surpass anything we could have done in-house and showcase Directive Consulting as a top-tier agency.
We couldn’t have found Testimonial Hero at a better time. We had an idea for a large-scale project that would involve telling six customer stories, but the customers were in different regions. We worked with the Testimonial Hero team to interview subjects on video in Texas, California, New York, and abroad. The onsite testimonial shooting experience was nothing short of phenomenal. The staff were true professionals, arriving at the locations ready to go and coaching the interviewees through the process.
Within two months, they had captured the interviews and crafted them into a singular piece of content. The video was so good that we expanded the campaign to include supporting content. We’ve made nearly 40 videos with Testimonial Hero, and are using them across our paid advertising and social media channels. We also built a customer success module on our website that features those six core stories along with three additional stories that complement the narrative.
Producing the content in-house would’ve taken us six months and five times the cost, and it wouldn’t have looked as good or told the right story. Thanks to the expertise of the Testimonial Hero team, the final product was flawless.
"Producing the content in-house would have taken us six months and five times the cost, and it wouldn’t have looked as good or told the right story." – Derek Gerber, VP of Growth at Directive Consulting
About 85% of our buyers inform themselves about our services before they contact us. Our Testimonial Hero videos help educate prospects about our services, bringing more people to our door. Within a few weeks of launching our video campaign, we closed $200,000 worth of deals, tripling our initial spend.
The videos are a great tool for our sales reps to help them close deals faster. They qualify prospects by asking whether they’ve seen the videos. They also share these stories during the sales process, pointing out similarities with other customers to help finalize a deal.Video testimonials can set any brand apart, but creating them can be daunting without in-house expertise. Make it easy on yourself and trust in Testimonial Hero. There’s no easier way to get started, and there’s no more flexible pricing for such a high-quality result. The stories we’ve created with the team continue to drive our growth and amplify our brand globally. More than anything, we know we have true partners in our corner who want to bring our customers’ stories to life.
"Within a few weeks of launching our video campaign, we closed $200,000 worth of deals, tripling our initial spend." – Derek Gerber, VP of Growth at Directive Consulting