Research Outline

Testimonials: Best Channels

Goals

To identify the channels where testimonials perform the best.

Early Findings

  • An article from Unsreen states that according to known statistics, video has a 95% retention rate, while people only remember 12% of textual information. According to findings, 56% of respondents found customer testimonials helpful and 4 times as many customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.
  • Unscreen recommends video as the best medium for testimonials and states that the preference for video extends beyond web content. Including the word "video" in an email subject line was shown to increase open rates by 19% and increase click-throughs by 65%.
  • ProMax has reported that according to Zenith (advertising measurement company), in 2018, web ad sales generated $40 billion more in sales than their TV competitors. It further states that "in the last few years, ad creators and PR firms have found a genre of video that’s become a hit with businesses from small start-ups to large companies. This is the customer testimonial video."
  • It is recommended for a company to have several testimonials that are viewable either on a website or through external sites (e.g social media and Google) to increase the chances of winning new customers. This is backed up by the finding that "63% of consumers need to hear company claims 3-5 times before they actually believe it."
  • Another article states that "social media testimonials are a cut above traditional quote testimonials. Why? Potential customers know off the bat they’ve been written by a real person who is willing to put their name, face, and profile behind their endorsement." This statement can be backed by the finding that 84% of customers trust online reviews as much as they would trust a friend. This is because user-generated content is trusted more than vendor generated case studies.