By Brandi McGrath Kong, Director of Member Services
Testimonials can be a great way to engage with your members. Not only are you ensuring that you are holding one-on-one conversations with those already supporting Sertoma, but you are also setting your club up for future marketing opportunities.
Why Gather Testimonials?
Reviews play an important part in buying decisions. According to Eventzilla, 91% of people read online reviews and 84% “trust reviews as much as a personal endorsement.” Knowing this, it’s easy to see why you want to make sure you are capturing the enthusiasm and words of praise from your membership.
Testimonials can also help tell your club’s stories through engaging online videos, promote member satisfaction in your membership collateral, offer recommendations on your website and social media channels, supplement promotional content in your email marketing and provide new messaging for any other advertising opportunities.
Best Practices for Success
Event-production company Temple Rock Productions offers four best practices to make sure you get the most of your testimonials:
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Seek attendee testimonials during your events. This is true whether it is held online or in person. You can capture videos, pull quotes from evaluations, collect written comments and conduct feedback polls all while your guests are still focused on your event.
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Remember that medium matters. How will you use your testimonials? Let the answer to this question guide what kind of information you gather and how you capture it.
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Craft your message. Temple Rock suggests finding ways to “lead the witness” with a well-planned pitch. Word choice matters so the company advises using upbeat multiple-choice questions for best results.
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Get permission. Make sure that individuals understand that you will be using their responses to publicly promote your club or event, now and in the future.