As an ecommerce store, your testimonials are invaluable marketing tools with more sway than any advertising campaign.
They’re the virtual equivalent of having queues running down the street from your store; a clear signal that you’re the real deal.
Even so, there are creative strategies to help optimize your reviews and get better conversion rates, such as featuring high-profile testimonials on the homepage.
To help you understand these strategies, we’ve gathered five creative testimonial examples on ecommerce stores. As we delve into each one, you’ll learn:
- Why testimonials with photos are more influential
- Why new clients are skeptical about unverified testimonials
- How case studies make your testimonials more relatable
1 – Testimonials With Candid Customer Photos
Meat Eater
Creative testimonials include candid customer photos because they provide contextual information that makes the testimonials more relatable.
At a glance, customer images reveal details such as what your typical buyers look like and their environments when using your products. This information coupled with text quotes gives a more wholesome picture of the purchase, making the testimonials more swaying.
Here’s an example of a candid customer image from Meat Eater regarding the Guided Field Sharpener.
This image works because it tells the whole story of who uses the Guided Field Sharpener and where they use it as you read through the text.
This extra information helps a reader comprehend the highlighted benefits within the text, making the testimonial more convincing.
In this instance, the customer mentions using the sharpener on fillet knives and large knives. The image helps a reader gauge the size of the knives by looking at the size of the catch on display. As a result, the reader gains a better context, which makes the review more influential.
2 – Testimonials With Verification Tags
West Paw
Verification tags are emerging as creative solutions to the problem of fake testimonials that continue to impact ecommerce stores.
A recent study of online reviews found that between 10%–30% of testimonials are fake while 45% of them are questionable. As a result, most website visitors are skeptical about unverified testimonials and won’t be influenced by them regardless of how well they’re written.
West Paw realizes this fact and includes “verified buyer” tags on all their testimonials.
Notice that the verification tags appear right before the actual texts. The tags will be the first thing new clients look at as they deliberate over reading the entire text.
Knowing that the reviews are from actual clients will encourage these buyers to read through the reviews, improving the chances of conversion.
Toad & Co
Here’s another creative example from Toad & Co of using verification tags on your testimonials.
The company uses a more visual verification label (green check marks) on their reviews along with the standard “verified buyer” tags.
Because of the high visibility created by the contrast between the green check marks and the white background, it’s hard to miss the labels even when skimming through the reviews.
This visible reminder that each review is verified will encourage the customers who are scrolling through the testimonials to read them, improving their chances of conversion.
3 – Testimonials With Ratings
Skwala
Testimonials with ratings provide possible buyers with a quick visual cue of what previous customers think about your brand.
Sometimes clients just don’t have the time to read through all your testimonials and simply want a quick way of making a sound decision.
The ratings sum up long chunks of testimonial texts with simple graphical or numerical scales. As such, buyers can quickly gloss over dozens of reviews and come to a confident consensus that encourages purchase.
Skwala implements this strategy by including star ratings with all their testimonials.
As a result, It’s easy for possible buyers to quickly skim through all 16 testimonials by simply looking at the star ratings. As these buyers scroll through multiple 5-star ratings, they gain confidence in this particular product, increasing their likelihood to purchase.
Also, notice how Skwala testimonials feature each user’s height below their ratings (green arrows). This extra information makes the reviews more relatable and influential while remaining short to facilitate skimming.
Without the ratings and highlights featuring key details, such as user heights, potential buyers would have to read through entire testimonials for social proof. This can limit the number of reviews time-strapped buyers look at and their influence.
4 – High-Profile Testimonials
Tadpull
High-profile reviews instantly add credibility to your brand in the minds of new clients.
These testimonials creatively leverage the reputation of well-established companies and position your brand around their strengths through association.
If a company that’s famous for reliable services endorses your brand, for instance, new buyers associate you with the same attribute and expect reliable services from your brand.
In this example, Tadpull leverages the reputation of Caterpillar Workwear as a global leader in the construction and mining equipment industry.
This strategy works because it positions Tadpull as a leading software solutions provider in the minds of new clients. Why else would Caterpillar, given their status in the industry, use Tadpull’s software?
5 – Case Study Testimonials
ROKFORM
Case study testimonials offer your prospective clients an in-depth analysis of your products or services. They provide hard facts and figures as evidence of your claims, making them powerful convincing tools for any business.
In this example, ROKFORM (a phone case manufacturer) uses this case study testimonial to provide hard evidence that their phone cases offer superior protection.
The case testimonial describes how their product shielded a device from a 60-foot drop off the third deck and onto concrete at a Colorado Rockies game.
A prospective customer reading this testimonial will be inclined to believe in ROKFORM’s claim of superior device protection. The fact is, their product shielded a phone from a 60-foot drop onto concrete!
Case study testimonials also provide prospective clients with an in-depth look at your typical customers. They help clients see if they fit your customer profile and whether your solution was designed for them.
This assessment involves intimate details such as:
- Customer location – This helps prospective clients determine the ease of purchasing and maintenance from you.
- Customer social status – This helps potential buyers estimate the purchase ability of your typical clients.
- Customer lifestyle – This helps prospective clients determine if they experience similar pain points as your regular buyers.
In this example, a prospective buyer reads that the typical ROKFORM customer lives an active lifestyle. So, they must be dealing with frequent phone drops onto hard surfaces, which the product is specially designed for.
The case study testimonial also signals that typical ROKFORM buyers live in the US. So, purchase and maintenance won’t be a problem for potential clients within the same geographic area.
The following table summarizes the key ideas discussed in the examples above on creative ecommerce testimonials.
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