Twitter Testimonials: How Brands Collect and Leverage Social Media Feedback

Testimonials work wonders as trust builders – and social media testimonials may even work better!

• Social media testimonials are verified: they enhance brand credibility by showing the real people using the product and discussing it;
• Social media testimonials give users more context around the brand’s approach to social media and engagement policy;
• Social media testimonials may even engage people by encouraging them to join the brand’s official accounts and helping promote its product online.

This post lists 4 actual examples business leverage Twitter for collecting and leveraging social media testimonials:

1. Windows “Social” Page

Windows has a really interactive “social” page which vividly (and completely transparently) demonstrates how actively the product is being discussed online. It pulls and displays content tagged with Windows 7 from various social networks including Twitter.

The social media page updates and moves in real time: you can adjust the speed of the update by using a cute little slide in the top left corner:

The page also clearly invites to share your social media feedback as well: it has a large “Join the conversation” button that describes how your Tweet can get to the testimonial stream on the site:

Twitter

Include these hash tags when you tweet something about Windows 7

General Windows 7 = #win7 or #Windows7

Purchase of Windows 7 = #igotwin7

Meetups and Launch Party attendees/hosts = #win7meetup

Sadly though, you have to leave the site or access Twitter online (or use your preferred tool) to actually Tweet anything: there is no link or button that would allow (and encourage) you to do that from the current page:

Lesson learned: Twitter testimonials can be highly engaging but there should a clear way to actually get the users engaged.

2. Perch: Our Customers Say…

GrabaPerch.com has a tiny (sitewide!) widget at the bottom of the page that shows a random Twitter testimonial each time the page loads. How they have selected the testimonials is described in this post: basically, they have just added nice Tweeted feedback to favorites and then grabbed the RSS from there.

Selected and designed this way the social media testimonials can be:

• Moderated (or carefully filtered / selected);
• Clutter-free;
• Available on each page of the site (no matter where the user lands for the first time).

There’s also no call to action – but probably, the widget is not meant to engage but to reassure the visitor to give the tool a try:

Lesson learned: Twitter testimonials may be both social and carefully selected.

3. Eventbrite: Testimonials

Eventbrite.com have the full page listing Twitter testimonials on top of static ones.

What Eventbrite has very smartly implemented is the way to leverage the power each Twitter user mentioning them has managed to build: notice the number of followers (as well as the location) shown after the linked username,

This way Eventbrite managed to:

• Reassure the visitor there is a real person behind the testimonial (with the name and physical location)
• Demonstrate there are power users among the service users (those that have solid following of their own):

Lesson learned: Twitter testimonials are (or should be) personalized – this is the most powerful advantage of them.

4. Trident’s Print Twitter Testimonials

Trident has transferred its Twitter success in the “offline” world by creating a print ad in USA Today. The color ad headlined “The People have Tweeted,” listed tweets from users who have talked about Trident Layers.

They say, all the 10 Tweets included in an ad are authentic (real and not sponsored) and approved by users for the publication in the ad ( Trident is said to have used Twitter to contact each user to secure their approval).

Lesson learned: Twitter testimonials may work wonders both in online and “offline” marketing campaign.

Have you even seen Twitter feedback smartly leveraged by brands? Please share your thoughts!

Speaking of Twitter, why don’t you follow us on Twitter to share your feedback any time!