The Marketing Power of Success Stories
Written by Kevin Levi
on August 14th, 2007 / 3 Comments / Print this
We often hear the phrase “prove it” in our daily lives. In the world of sales and marketing this “proof” typically comes in the form of validated ROI statistics for your products or services, a research report touting your offerings by a credible third party, etc. I believe the single most effective proof a business can provide is with a quantifiable success story from a successful past client. What better validation could there be in business than a satisfied client talking about how you and your business helped them in some way?
I write success stories for my clients all the time. Once I’ve received approval from my client and from my client’s client, I urge both parties to promote the piece on their websites. I then tell my client to post the article online, perhaps at a superblog like hubpages.com for added visibility. A recent client of mine posted a success story I developed on hubpages.com and actually generated a $70,000 deal from a person that searched on Google for the types of products they sell (wireless communications systems) and found the success story. The prospective buyer read the story, contacted my client and purchased thousands of dollars of equipment.
An effective success story for any type of business should have several components, including:
A. Business challenge – describes the challenge the company faced which drew it to seek a provider such as yours
B. Solution description – describe the products, services, etc. the client purchased and explain how they are being used
C. Success – explain how the company is benefiting directly from the new products or services. Be quantifiable when possible in terms of the specific value they have realized
If you don’t feel you can develop an effective success story on your own, please consult a professional.
By Kevin B. Levi
www.winningmessage.com
www.muckrakeronline.com
3 Comments to “The Marketing Power of Success Stories”
August 16th, 2007
3:12 pm
On my site I found a huge difference in response rates once I put up success stories in the form of a testimonial page.
The sign-ups doubled overnight after I put up that page. All it took was a little persuasion to convince the window-shoppers to optin for a longer look.
My next project is to add audio to some testimonials (along with photos). I’m sure optins will increase again as they listen to personalized success stories from the horse’s mouth.
August 18th, 2007
3:26 pm
Good validation of the power of testimonials! Thank you HBW.
Audio testimonials are especially powerful! You are absolutely right. Thanks for sharing!
August 27th, 2007
2:35 am
Kevin,
Good reminder of the power of stories. Organizations so often focus on promoting their products and services that they forget the value in having testimonials or case histories that essentially feature others promoting their products and services. It’s a subtle but powerful difference.
Good post.
Marcia Hoeck
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