For anyone who owns a bridal business reading this, we are sure you have hundreds, if not thousands, of delighted customers and clients.
What we are not so sure of though, is what percentage of those satisfied customers have submitted a testimonial to you.
If you do nothing to encourage testimonials then we would imagine it is low, whereas, if you do what you should and ask every customer for a testimonial, you should have lots of them.
We cannot emphasise enough the importance of testimonials and online reviews.
The ways that the internet has changed buying habits means that far more research is done now before consumers decide to buy, and it means reviews and testimonials are like gold dust. Have them, and your business should move forward.
With very few of them, many potential customers will pass and move on to bridal businesses that have copious numbers of reviews and testimonials.
There is another reason why we strongly encourage you to actively seek testimonials, and that is because they can be used for more than just reassuring prospects that you are a trustworthy bridal business with many satisfied customers.
What testimonials can also be used for is the creation of advertising for your bridal business, and that is what we are going to examine further as you continue reading.
Testimonial Advertising Explained
A term you will often hear used in marketing circles is social proof. What it means is that people will more likely take action if they see or know others are.
A simple example is a buffet where trays of food sit untouched for several minutes, but once the first person goes up for a plate of food, the others will all quickly follow.
This behaviour forms part of many marketing and advertising strategies of which testimonial advertising is one of the latest.
We mentioned earlier how important reviews and testimonials are, and the main reason is they are prime examples of social proof.
A bride who is looking for a bridal store to purchase her wedding dress from is going to be more inclined to approach one with dozens of testimonials on its website than one that has none.
What testimonial advertising does is take those testimonies you have and use them to create adverts that promote your bridal business on marketing channels other than your website.
To give you an indication of the power of testimonial advertising, research shows that almost 95% of consumers have said that testimonials and reviews influence their buying decisions.
Testimonial advertising provides additional social proof by taking the words, texts, and images of satisfied customers your bridal business has and using them to create advertising and marketing messages.
Testimonial Advert Type #1 – Static
Probably the easiest and simplest ads to create and understand given that they are akin to most of the adverts we are used to seeing.
What you would do to create a static testimonial advertisement is use words from the real testimonials of customers and clients within the ad.
You should add a suitable image, preferably of the client with the product they purchased. You should also include their name and location to give the advert increased authenticity.
Testimonial Advert Type #2 – Video
Video plays a massive role in modern marketing, especially when it is used online, which makes video testimonial advertising an ever stronger candidate to be added to your marketing armoury.
Video testimonial adverts also tend to have more credibility than static ads because those viewing can see the person in the video is real, and this is where we point out that you should always use real customers, not actors.
To make these video ads you do not need to spend thousands on a studio or equipment as the more ‘raw’ they are, the more authentic they seem.
As for the content within them, you want the client to give an honest testimonial using their own words although you can ask them to mention something when they speak.
However, do not script it, as this can come across as fake.