Testimonials are simply positive reviews and messages from satisfied clients. They are crucial tools in marketing your real estate business. Clients do business with realtors who they perceive to be trustworthy from hearing and seeing testimonials of fellow customers.
According to Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report 2019 survey data, 52% of sellers said online reviews and ratings of an agent or broker were very or extremely important when deciding on an agent to help them sell and buy their home.
Real estate businesses must therefore incorporate the effective use of testimonials in their marketing activities as detailed below:
1. Share Detailed Testimonials
Do not use vague real estate testimonials. When a testimonial is ambiguous, it can work against building trust for your business and actually create unrest in the prospect’s mind. If this testimonial is real, why isn’t it more specific?
Here are some questions to ask to get POWERFUL testimonials:
- What problem did you need to solve and did this business solve it? This answer need to show the pain they were experiencing before working with you. What was the emotional pain like? How stressful was the situation?
- Why did you choose to do work with us? This answer shows the clients thinking and decision making process to solve their stressful situation by working with you. It can help clarify any confusion for the prospective viewer.
- Why did you choose us instead of some other company? This answer will showcase your unique selling position (USP) and what sets you apart from other competitors.
- What was your favorite part about working with us? This question highlights the unique attributes of your business, such as how easy it was to close a sale.
- What surprised you about working with us? Asking this question can get the client talking about the extra things you do to go above and beyond the call of service.
2). Place User Feedback on Website.
Clients will always look for more information about the properties they will potentially buy. Strategically placing testimonials on the homepage of your website captures their attention. For example, realtors can place short video slides of some success stories of their past, satisfied clients experienced. This acts like social proof their professionalism and excellent customer service. It also helps to build an emotional connection with potential clients and trust to do business with you.
3). Sharing Testimonials on Social Media Platforms
Testimonials are generally short “Thank You” messages from satisfied customers and are suitable to be shared on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. When clients give positive feedback on these platforms, realtors should actively respond to and converse with their customers. For example, they can re-tweet their clients’ testimonials and can even create a special hashtag such as #TestimonialThursday through where they post their clients’ reviews. LinkedIn, whose user base consists mostly of professionals with a steady income, provides a potential market in which the effective use of testimonials can create more leads .The realtors can also feature their clients’ testimonials in their Instagram stories and Facebook stories.
4) Use Video Feedback instead of Written
Creating exciting and engaging video testimonials is a tried and tested, successful marketing strategy. According to Hub Spot, 90% of users say that videos are helpful in the decision-making process. Video captures something that text cannot: the human ability to communicate nonverbally. And that’s a powerful prospect. Videos are more personal and have greater chances of going viral than written posts. Realtors can request clients to take selfie-style video testimonials that they can shoot themselves and send them. It will be very prudent of the realtors to take advantage of platforms such as Instagram or Facebook stories, to post simple and high quality videos. Written testimonials are less believable than video testimonials so use them well.
5). Share your Testimonials on 3rd Party Websites
The 5 most popular Real Estate websites are Zillow, Trulia, Realtor, Loopnet and Homefinder. Platforms like these helps home owners, buyers, sellers, realtors and banks find each other. According to iProperty Management, it states that 196 million unique users accessed Zillow in 2019. A positive review on Zillow is therefore very valuable in standing out from other realtors. These platforms also reward realtors with the most reviews with top placement from searched terms. Having more reviews improves your chances of being seen and gaining new contacts. Fortunately, Zillow has made it possible to request for reviews from your customers, by sending them an email or request form to review the experience. It is best to send out these testimonial requests immediately after their experience with you, when the interaction is fresh in their minds.
Realtors should focus on collecting high-quality video testimonials and share them on all communication channels. Testimonials bring new business and are a great way to boost conversions. Word of mouth referrals and testimonials are the bread and butter for real estate businesses all over the globe should be incorporated in realtors’ daily marketing strategies.
