I’m doing a series of newspapers ad for one of my clients. In the ads, we’re publishing customer testimonials. The last one was March of 2013, but this one is from late 2012. My client wants to remove the date because he says it makes the ad look old.
However, when you remove the date, I kinda feel like it loses it’s testimonial look. Personally, I’m not bothered by a testimonial that’s a year old. But that’s just me. BTW, these testimonial are posted on the company website with the dates they were written, kinda like amazon.com.
Its more important to have a real name than the date. I know John Smith can be fake but it’s better than John S.
I have noticed testimonials with a client photo or even video testimonials are getting more popular. I bet if a client is willing to display their picture or video testimonial on your website you are probably delivering phenominal service.
I think they should all be uniform - either all dates or no dates. I would
opt for no dates, but definitely have an attribution (name and company
name).
I don’t think dates are critical, it could even be argued they might be detrimental, but whatever you decide keep it consistent, as Ernie mentioned. And I agree with Marcel about using full names, it feels more legitimate than just the first letter of the last name. After all, if the client is willing to give you a testimonial then why wouldn’t they want their full name (and title, if applicable) used?
The whole point of testimonials is to foster how you want potential
customers to view your client or product. You have Your Say, now listen to
what Others Are Saying.
So the most important thing is what these testimonials are saying, and how
they meld with the “story” you are promoting with the website. It isn’t
unusual for testimonials to be revised by professional writers then cleared
with the customer.
For that matter, it’s not unusual for testimonials to be fabricated
whole-cloth and attributed to fake sources. You can argue this is wrong or
immoral, but controlling the message IS the heart of market advertising.
Which is why I include full (real) names. I’ve had potential clients contact my previous clients to ask about their experience with me. Had I faked it I would have only hurt my myself. I have no doubt such tactics are commonplace but using deception to lure people in is a short con. This is why people despise the ad business. Or is it just me?
Todd
For that matter, it’s not unusual for testimonials to be fabricated
whole-cloth and attributed to fake sources. You can argue this is wrong or
immoral, but controlling the message IS the heart of market advertising.
No, I hate it too… but I will point out it is a thriving,
money-making-monster and integral to our civilization. Otherwise, snake oil
and their salesman would have been history, long ago.
Just sayin that I understand it, not that I condone it.
Wow. I appreciate everyone’s input. I agree with the uniformity aspect. I think since we already ran one ad with the date, that’s what’s bothering me about running the next set of 2-3 without the date.
All of the testimonials I have ever published are in fact real, albeit edited for spelling and grammar, and we always list full names. Thanks for the comments.
I am kinda thinking that, that is a sign of no recent reviews made from the consumers, which I personally says, that there is something wrong with it. If you want a constant feedback from any of your possible clients, you must do any unique marketing campaign to have that be once again ahead among other businesses or simply be competitive again. Using testimonials with date is way good than of nothing because it will just looks like it is robotic reviews, however, putting testimonials with already few years old is not also a good sign for business.
