Getting Testimonials 101
Hi crew! Every week I do an in-depth 101 post about the travel industry. Today, let’s talk testimonials.
We touched on this slightly in the Case Studies 101 post and how it helps to have them. Today, let’s break down how to get them, and make them count!
What is a testimonial?
A testimonial is a review or feedback from a client that speaks directly to the quality of the services you rendered.
For a travel content creator, it could be feedback from a brand on the quality of content delivered for a promotional campaign.
Testimonials are important because they’re social proof for a business audience. When someone is looking to hire you, it helps to see that you have a reputation of doing good work for others.
When should you ask for a testimonial?
The best time to ask for a testimonial is right as you’re wrapping up a campaign. When you’re sending final deliverables and you’re at the “it was so great to work with you, I hope you’ll keep me in mind for future projects!” stage, this is the time. Your work is top of mind, ideally they’re feeling good about wrapping up the project and you’re still in active communication.
How do you ask for a testimonial?
The best way to ask for a testimonial is by asking the client to answer 2-3 questions. If you allow them blanket room to give you feedback you might end up with something that doesn’t really touch upon the points you want to highlight and sounds generic.
Samples questions to ask include:
What was it like working with (include your business name here)?
How satisfied are you with the outcomes of this campaign?
What stood out to you most about our process or collaboration?
How did we make things easier or more efficient for you?
Were there any challenges we helped you overcome?
In your own words, why would you recommend us to others?
What kind of businesses or people do you think would benefit most from working with us?
Best Use of Testimonials
Once you have a good testimonial, you can use it in your media kit and case studies when pitching brands in the future. You can also share the testimonial on your socials or website to boost its visibility and bolster your credibility.
As you gather several, you can sort them into relevant categories, like tour providers, hotels, airlines, cruises, or into themes, like testimonials re: conversion, reach, quality of content produced, etc.
Bonus: Get it on Video
If you have a client in the form of a student, mentee, or business you’re consulting with, see if you’re able to get a testimonial on video. It confirms that the testimonial is from a real person, you can still transcribe what they say and use the text, and it gives you footage to work with if you’re ever creating a speaker reel or other video trailer.
Bonus: Get it on LinkedIn
If you’re working with a brand or tourism board, you can request that they recommend your services on LinkedIn. Similarly, this allows the testimonial to play double duty, build on your credibility on the platform while you copy/paste the text itself to use elsewhere as needed.
I hope this was helpful, ask any questions and drop a suggestion on the request line (comments) if you have a future topic you want to see covered.
Check out past posts:
Thank you, those questions are very helpful!