Testimonials: The Marketing Secret Proven to Increase Sales and Revenue

Customer testimonials are powerful things. Think about it. Before you book a table at a restaurant or a holiday at a resort, what are you likely to do?

Check out what other people think on websites like Yelp or TripAdvisor, right?

That’s what most people do.

And they don’t just do it for restaurants and resorts. They do it for golf courses too.

Did you know that 90% of customers read online reviews before making a decision to spend money? Or that 88% of customers trust reviews posted online by other users as much as personal recommendations from close friends and family.

Testimonials have another amazing effect on your bottom line: 31% of consumers are more likely to spend up to 31% more money on services/products that have excellent customer reviews.

Testimonials tap into a concept called “social proof.” People have a herd mentality. We want to follow the crowd. Testimonials are just as important in instilling confidence in your customer as they are in boosting your revenue.

Here are 3 easy ways you can use testimonials across your marketing channels starting now.

Display excellent customer testimonials on your website

If you come across a stellar Yelp, TripAdvisor, or Google review of your golf course, go ahead and copy and paste it into your website. If you’ve got more than one excellent review you’d like to show-off then have different reviews on different pages of your golf course website.

Use targeted testimonials in email marketing campaigns

Including testimonials in your promotional emails increases the chance of recipients taking the desired action. It’s a clever way to harness the “follow the crowd” mentality that can increase your campaign conversions. For example, if you’re promoting golf club fittings, think about including a testimonial or two that say things like “The pro made a few changes to my equipment, changes I’d never even thought of. Now I’m hitting it straighter than I ever have!”

Let testimonials shine on social media

If you can’t think of what to post on your Facebook page or Twitter feed, testimonials make great content. Better still, testimonials make for powerful advertisement copy if you’re spending money to promote your golf course on Facebook or Twitter. A simple testimonial coupled with a photograph of your property or your smiling pro shop or service staff is an excellent and cost-effective social media marketing strategy.

Wrapping up

Testimonials are beautiful because you don’t have to write them; you just have to collect them. Search your golf course’s name on Google reviews, TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Facebook. Feel free to copy and paste the great things your customers say about you all over your digital properties.

Looking for some help with customer testimonials?

Not all testimonials are helpful. Obviously, negative reviews don’t make for good advertising. We’ve got an easy action plan you can use to turn bad reviews into opportunities.

Some 5-star reviews do nothing to convince people to come to your golf course. It’s important to choose the right testimonials to get the job done.

If you don’t have many excellent reviews of your golf course, we can show you how to get great customer testimonials the right way.