Part 3: Tell the Story Behind a Testimonial
People love stories. It’s the way we connect with one another. We use stories to make sense of the world. We have stories for entertainment, to teach morals, to carry on conversations with our friends. Our lives are steeped in stories. And yet, not enough business owners are using stories to their advantage in their marketing.
This is part 3 of our series: 5 Copywriting Hacks To Help You Easily Write Follow-up Emails That Build Long-Term Relationship.
For this hack, I want you to start using stories to better connect with your leads. And I have one particular story in mind. It’s the story behind one of your testimonials.
Because you are a marketing-savvy individual, you have plastered your website with testimonials. That way, should anyone seriously consider you as a solution, they can feel comfortable in their decision to work with you. But, while testimonials do a great job fulfilling that purpose, the story behind the testimonial is lost.
Unless you choose to bring it to light.
Let me give you an example. When I was working at Infusionsoft, the marketing team took on the challenge of doubling the sales of one business within 90 days. It was a super cool experience for us and got far better results than we had even hoped for. We used those details for awhile to promote the software. But then, a year or two later, all our work was boiled down into a simple testimonial from the business owner that said something like this:
“With the help of Infusionsoft, we were able to double our sales in just 72 days.”
Business owners who found Infusionsoft after this story had stopped being told would never benefit from the story behind the testimonial. It just became one of hundreds on the website.
How many testimonials do you have on your website that have a great story behind them? Try using one in an email to persuade hesitant prospects to move forward.
Here is a template you can use to get started:
“I was adding another testimonial to our website the other day, when one in particular caught my eye. It’s a testimonial from <name of person>, and this is what he/she had to say:
<Testimonial Here>
It’s a great testimonial, but what you read is only a tiny piece of the story. Today, I want to share more of <person’s name> story with you.”
Think you can take it from here? Of course you can. Just be sure that you point out 1) what was stopping your client from moving forward, and 2) what their life is like now that they have your product or service. This is a great way to persuade prospects to give you a shot.
Happy Writing!
