Unlock the secrets to turning customer praise into your most powerful marketing tool. Imagine having an ever-growing vault of testimonials that effortlessly champions your work while you focus on what you do best. That's the reality I'll help you achieve in today's episode as we dissect strategic timing, the art of asking the right questions, and my four-step method for cultivating an enviable collection of endorsements. We're not just gathering testimonials; we're building a system that captures the essence of positive consumer experiences to give your potential customers the confidence they need to choose you.
Ever spotted a glowing comment about your service on social media and felt a rush of pride? Now, think about harnessing that energy across all your platforms—Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, to name a few. I'll walk you through recognizing these digital wins, turning casual praises into a curated arsenal of authentic social proof.
You'll hear about my journey from missing these opportunities to actively collecting and interacting with my audience, making the most of every heartfelt review and comment. It's time to make your digital footprint work harder for you, and I'm here to show you how.
Then, we transform those testimonials into content that sells without selling. With our strategic deployment, you'll learn to anonymize and share feedback that resonates with your audience. We'll delve into the remarkable capabilities of Sinja, an AI-powered platform that distills testimonials into marketing gold by pinpointing common pain points and keywords.
By the end of this episode, you'll be equipped to build your own 'wall of love,' showcasing the acclaim that sets you apart. So join us on this journey to amplify your word-of-mouth marketing and let satisfied customers do the talking.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Krystal Proffitt:
We are supported by Riverside. Whenever I think about tools that make my life easier, I have to say one of the first things that I go to is looking at recording my podcast episodes. I mean, let's be honest, it's so frustrating if you have to go back and forth between different tools and you're like, oh well, this one works sometimes and this one has great video quality, but then the connections aren't great. I mean, I could go on and on about all the different tools that I've tried, but I've been so impressed with using Riverside for not only doing my interviews but also recording my podcast episodes whenever I'm doing them solo. It has just been a game changer for me to be able to turn on my mic, turn on my camera and record my podcast with ease. So I want you to grab the exclusive discount that we have for profit podcast krystalproffitt. com/riverside. Go to Riverside and use the promo code Krystal 15. That's and when you're checking out, use the promo code krystal 15. So go check out Riverside today.
Krystal Proffitt:
All right, let's get into today's episode. How do you get more people to talk about you and your content in a good way? Right, like this is word of mouth marketing or testimonials or significant reviews that so many of us want to have, right Like, we want people singing our praises for all the hard work that you are putting in to your business and to your content. But how do you make that happen? Well, it doesn't happen by being unintentional about it. You have to be strategic and you have to know what to ask. You have to know when to ask in. There are actually four ways that you can get more testimonials and have more social proof for your content and for your business, and that is exactly what we need to talk about today. So let's get right to it.
Krystal Proffitt:
Welcome to the profit podcast, where we teach you how to start, launch and market your content with confidence. I'm your host, Krystal Proffitt, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today, because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation, this is the show that will help be your time saving shortcut. So let's get right to it. Shall we hey everyone and welcome back to the profit podcast. If we have not met before, hello, I am Krystal and I am a podcast coach and content strategist. So if you're new around to the YouTube channel or you haven't listened to the podcast before. Welcome, because this is a fantastic topic that we all should think about.
Krystal Proffitt:
So, whether you are a brand new content creator, you're a brand new business owner, or you've been at this for a while and you've been trying to figure out the world of testimonials and social proof and you've just been kind of scratching your head, thinking I know I need to do this, but when do I do it? Do I do it once I've been in my business for a few years? Do I do it once I get to a certain number of followers on Instagram or on YouTube or you know? There's just so many questions around this and I kind of come at this topic from someone who does have a background in marketing. I mean, I went to school for marketing. I've been in marketing ever since I got out of college in some aspect, so I'm obsessed with this topic because I evaluate consumer behavior through my own lens.
Krystal Proffitt:
So what I mean by that is I am my own best example of how I can look at marketing and the way that I think about this, and what I always tell my audience is you need to look at your own consumer behavior habits, like if you are on a sales page, this is a great example. If I'm scrolling on a sales page and I'm looking to buy a course or sign up for a membership, the people that are selling me the thing are only going to get me so far. What I'm looking for is the success stories. I want to know, like has anyone else tried this and had some success with it? Are there testimonials or their customer reviews? Has someone like, given it five stars or all the thumbs up and said this is the thing that you need because of XYZ, or this thing changed my life? Because I'm this type of person and this is the exact problem that I was having and this is a solution that worked so well for me. Like this has happened to me time and time again as a consumer.
Krystal Proffitt:
I am a sucker for an incredible testimonial and, having gotten so many, I feel so blessed. Okay, I'm going to speak from, like, a place of acknowledging my privilege that I have been so blessed by the wonderful customers in this community, the members of this community that have been around for a long time, my coaching clients, students like, and just people that are so incredible at tagging me in Facebook groups and on social media that are like you've got to learn from Krystal. So I am coming to this conversation today from a place of saying I'm so grateful to have a ton of testimonials, which is why I don't just want to sit here and say, oh, I'm bragging about all the success that I've had. No, I want to tell you how I did it. This is why we're having this conversation today, because I have intentionally spent so much time really tracking down.
Krystal Proffitt:
How can I get other people to share about my content? How can I get other people having conversations about what I'm doing without me being there 24 seven? So if that's something that you're like, oh my gosh, that sounds incredible, then just stay tuned, because I have four ways that you can make this an easier part of your everyday business. Or it's something that you kind of like create a system and put it into place and then you're just nurturing that and monitoring that and maintaining it over time and you're not constantly sitting there saying, whoa is me, I have no testimonials. Oh well, I guess I never will. No, that's, we're not going to accept that. Okay, that is not an option, because people are saying incredible stuff about you. You just have to figure out how do you track that down? How do you make it work? So I guess that we're talking about the four ways to get better testimonials and reviews, and the first one very critical. Okay, none of this, like none of the other stuff, will work If you don't do this first.
Krystal Proffitt:
Number one is you have to be known for something. So this is when y'all drive me crazy, okay, and you're going to feel called out. I am intentionally calling some of you out. I'm not going to call you out by name. Okay, I'm not going to call you out by name, I wouldn't do that to you but I'm going to call you out right now. Those of you that tell me well, Krystal, I just want to have a podcast where I can talk about whatever I want to talk about. I just want to share my thoughts. There's so many topics that I want to cover, so I'm going to talk about X, then I'm going to throw in Y, and then we're going to put the cherry on top with Z.
Krystal Proffitt:
And you are the people that come to me and say my audience is not growing, I am not reaching a broader group of people that I thought I would, and my content is stagnant. I'm not excited about it. And when I say, well, what is it about? You fumble around and you stumble. It's not very clear what your content is about or who it's for. So therefore, the people that you want to be listening to it aren't because they don't know that, like you're not calling them out specifically.
Krystal Proffitt:
So, instead of just like drilling you with you're not doing this, I'm going to give you some specific examples, because that will be a lot more constructive than me just saying like don't do this, don't do this, don't do this. So what I mean by this is you have to be known for something. So I'm going to use myself as an example. I'm a podcast coach, I'm a content strategist, so I help podcasts. Like, if you have a podcast, I can help you. I help people that want to have strategic content. So this kind of widens the door a little bit to include more things like YouTube, blogs, email, newsletter, social media, your website, like your sales, like if you're doing sales, funnels or courses or memberships, like we could get into all the nitty gritty things, but the baseline is I help you with your podcast content. And then we take that to a deeper strategy level and I mostly help online business owners and entrepreneurs Period the end, I don't say well, I help people that have a hobby podcast or true crime podcast or you know some of these other genres that don't really fit into, like the online business mold. Now you can have a brick and mortar and be a part of this audience. There's gonna be these like outliers that don't typically fit my ideal listener, but at the end of the day, that's who I'm really targeting is those online business owners, those entrepreneurs that are trying to use content marketing to grow and scale their business or have deeper relationships with their customers. And so that is what I'm known for and the reason why this is important because being known for something means that people will remember you.
Krystal Proffitt:
So when a question comes up in a Facebook group or I'm in a conference and you know I've been to a few conferences where they're not podcast only related or content only, like Craft and commerce is a great example. This is convert kids conference. If you're coming in 2024, let me know. Like, reach out to me, because I will be there in June in Boise, idaho, so let me know. I'd love to see you there, but whenever I was there. This is like a creator conference, so there's podcasters, bloggers as youtubers, there's musicians, there's artists, like there's so many different types of people there.
Krystal Proffitt:
But every time I met someone and then one of their friends came up they introduced me and said, oh, Krystal does podcast. That was intentional. I introduce myself when I meet people. Like, oh yeah, I'm a podcast coach and content strategist and so when I'm being introduced to all these people, they know this about me. So now when they think about who is that person that I met like there was Krystal, what is she? Oh yeah, she did podcast stuff they don't have to remember my title. They don't remember the name of my company or my podcast or anything like that. They just remember oh yeah, she does podcast stuff. So that was intentional.
Krystal Proffitt:
It's what I want to be known for. It's what I talk about here on this show, it's what I talk about on my YouTube channel, it's what I talk about my email newsletter and in my social media content. So what are you known for? If you want some assignments like this is your homework for this episode today is what are you known for? If you cannot answer that question, you need to go back and do some of your homework, because if people don't know what you're known for, how are they gonna recommend you? How are they gonna say, well, you should go, you know, ask Krystal for something if, if I talked about twenty seven different things, they're like, well, she kind of does this and she kind of does that, but then she also does a little bit of this on the side, it's. It's not clear. So I'm not gonna be the first person that pops to their mind whenever that topic comes up, like you want to be the first one. Right.
Krystal Proffitt:
When I think of home organization, I immediately think of the home edit, because they've done an incredible job Braining their business and everything that they're doing. Whenever I think of a book club, I immediately think of Reese's book club, oprah's book club, like. These are things that are top of mind because they became known for something, and this is what you have to do. So, first and foremost, step one is you have to be known for something in order for people to share and comment and continue to spread the messages that you are already sharing with the world. Now the second thing okay, this is the second one is a simple one. Okay, you have to be looking. You have to be looking now. What I mean by this? This. I just mean open your eyes, and I'm not saying this like in the condescending, like you know, you're not paying attention, but Some of you are paying attention again.
Krystal Proffitt:
We're calling people out in this episode today because I do feel like some of you are complaining that you're not getting great reviews. You're not, you know, getting the social proof that you really wanted. You're not getting testimonials. And I'm asking okay, where are you looking? And then you're like well, but what do you mean? Where am I supposed to be looking? Like? What are you talking about? Because that's the same reaction that I had, because I didn't know.
Krystal Proffitt:
I didn't know I needed to be looking, because I had my head down so much in the beginning of my business. I was trying to create a website, I was trying to create my first course, I was trying to write sales pages and do all these other things that I was brand new to. I'd never done any of them in my life and I was heads down doing all of these other things. I wasn't looking for testimonials, but I also wasn't asking for them. So it was this weird like mix of like well, okay, like I need to be looking all these places. You need to be looking everywhere, because if you are looking to use other people's testimonials about their experience working with you or listening to your content, like you just have to look, start looking. So what does that look like?
Krystal Proffitt:
Sit down and make a list of where do you show up regularly online. Here's a great example I'm never on twitter, excuse me x, whatever it's called. I'm never on there, so I don't go look for testimonials there. If someone's talking like tagging me, I do have an account. I mean, I don't know, maybe people are tagging my account. I don't look there because I'm not showing up there. I don't really care to show up there. That's not my scene, right, that's other other people want to go hang out there. It's not my platform. So, but I am posting on instagram, I am posting on facebook, I am posting on youtube, I am sending emails, so that's where I need to be looking.
Krystal Proffitt:
So look in places where you are consistently creating content and putting information out there. Those are the platforms where, who knows, you could already have some incredible testimonials or really nice things that people have said about you and you are just missing them because you haven't been looking. So Assignment number two right, number one is you have to be known for something. So what are you gonna be known for? The second one is have you started looking at the platforms where you're already showing up to see Is there existing content out there that could be used in testimonials and reviews for the content that you're already creating? And actually, if you're watching this on the youtube channel, I would love for you to put in the comments and let me know where are you showing up consistently? Like what is your favorite platform? Just give me one. Like what is your number one Favorite platform that you love to show up on, because I'm so curious what y'all are loving. Like. I love youtube and instagram. I really do. There's a few things that I consume on a regular basis on youtube, but I'm on instagram every day. Like, let's just be really honest, that's where I'm showing up. It's the platform that I really love consuming content, and so I'm always looking for ways to engage with people on that platform. But let me know I want to hear from you, so tell me in the comments what is your favorite platform to show up and consume content.
Krystal Proffitt:
Alright, let's move on to number three. So number three Screenshot everything. Okay, I have a confession before I started recording this. Today, when I was planning this episode, I said, okay, if we're gonna talk about screenshots, I want to see how many screenshots are in my phone. And it's one of those that I'm like do I really want to know? I was a little nervous. I was like do I really want to know? Because I know how often I screenshot things that people say about me online, like, do I really want to know how many screenshots? I have over 1300 screenshots on my phone right now.
Krystal Proffitt:
Now, some of those are ideas. Some of them are screenshots of you know people saying this or you know like oh, you know, I should try this for something. But 90% of them 90% of them are people saying incredible things about how I have helped them in some way. Again, this is gonna sound super braggy, but I'm really proud of that, and I'm really proud of it because it has been intentional. It has been intentional from whenever I started. Like I said, I'm gonna get serious about using word of mouth, marketing, about having people tell everyone else about what I'm doing and what I'm creating, and ever since I made that intentional commitment, it has worked. It has worked and it has worked, like surprisingly, really well, which is why I have so many screenshots. I'm actually like in the process of organizing them and having them uploaded into this really cool tool that I recently discovered. We'll talk about that here in a second. But I am so excited about all of these different screenshots that I have of someone saying you gotta try out Krystal's course Proffitt Podcasting like it changed my life. You gotta go listen to her podcast. It's so helpful. Like check out her YouTube channel. Like there are so many screenshots of incredibly nice things that people have said and I'm not afraid to screenshot everything.
Krystal Proffitt:
Now I wanna give a super, super clear disclaimer. I never share anyone's comment that I haven't already gotten permission to use their name and their face, their likeness, like all of those things I do not share, that I will blur something out. I will make sure that it appears completely anonymous, but then I don't alter the images. I don't change them to be something else. I just take, I go into my snag it tool and I will blur out the face, I'll blur out the name or go into Canva and put in a different kind of template where I can put several of them on one page, but I absolutely keep them anonymous if I haven't gotten permission, because I don't have permission to share their name and their likeness. So that's my disclaimer Don't be sharing people's information if it has not been approved. But if it's on a public place, okay, like if it's shared publicly in a Facebook post that's open to the public or an Instagram post, like yeah, I'm gonna share that kind of stuff because it's already out there. People can go find it. If it's a YouTube comment, then I'm gonna go post it. But I just wanna give that disclaimer.
Krystal Proffitt:
I screenshot everything and I love doing this because it is such a great way to share all these wonderful things that people have said over the years, and again, I'm so deeply grateful for all of the testimonials that people have shared. But I want you to start doing this. This is like number three. This is your third assignment. Do you have places where you are regularly mentioned, like? There's one specific Facebook group I can think of right now where people are constantly saying, like go check out, you know Krystal Proffitt's course? Like, and I will go in and I screenshot those and I blur things out and make sure that no one else can see, like who said that or where the comment came from, and I will add those into my like digital repository of all of my testimonials. So screenshot everything and save them All right.
Krystal Proffitt:
The fourth and final way to get people to talk about you more is to take notice of the obvious. Now, this is where we go into the deeper dive of testimonials and reviews, but Look at the obvious places. We already talked about what you should be looking for, but don't overlook the really simple things. This is what this looks like for me is responses to emails. It looks like comments on Instagram, comments on YouTube. It looks like somebody posting in a Facebook group and they're tagging me Like. This is all obvious. And it sounds like oh well, duh, Krystal, that's a no brainer. Well then, why aren't we doing this more? Okay, like this is why I'm calling it out specifically, because I think that it's something that we may be overlooking and I don't want you to do that anymore. I want you to be strategic about getting people to talk about you more, about collecting these testimonials and review so you have more social proof for really promoting your podcast content or getting your YouTube channel out there or selling more of your products and services. So don't overlook the obvious. So go back through all those channels that you have Think about like what am I missing? Like where is a place where people have previously said nice things or where I can just know that there's something there? Maybe you do have to do a little digging, maybe it's not as obvious, but don't overlook those places where you could have something really special.
Krystal Proffitt:
I actually love doing this. I will get emails, so I send out a weekly newsletter every Friday. If you're not subscribed, go to KrystalProffitt. com, scroll all the way to the bottom and in the footer of my website you can easily subscribe. It says like get updates and you can join our email list. But I will get responses on my email newsletter where people will say hey, Krystal, I had a question about X. You know what are your thoughts. I will respond to them. But I will also let them know oh, my gosh, this is an incredible topic for a future podcast episode and I will screenshot that original email If I don't have their permission. I will blur out all of their information and I just take the meat and potatoes of what they said.
Krystal Proffitt:
But I will add that into my content and then, whenever I answer their question on the podcast or share it on a YouTube video, I say hey, you know, like this question came in through email and it was about this and it was this type of creator, and then that's about as much of like their identity that I'll give out. I'll say they're a podcaster or they're a YouTuber, and then I'll read their question. But it comes from a place of speaking, from an authority and a leader in your industry, of saying, oh, I'm interacting, I'm engaging with my audience, and it triggers other people whenever they get your email newsletter. Next time they're like, oh, I'm going to respond to her because maybe she'll answer my question on the podcast or in her next YouTube video. So you see how that cycle works. You're kind of feeding the monster. You're letting other people know hey, like I'm reading this question from this person or I'm answering this question, I got in a Facebook group. Maybe you're going to start having this trickle in of other people leaving you responses, asking questions through email or posting on your social groups, where previously that didn't happen. So I really want you to look at all the information that you already have around you right now and don't overlook the obvious, because that could be where some of the sweetest testimonials really are.
Krystal Proffitt:
And I told you earlier I would talk to you about this amazing tool. So I have been using my Google Drive. I use a Google Drive folder for all of my testimonials and, I'm not going to lie, it's been a hot mess. It's been a hot mess for a while. I did organize it a little bit better, to where it's like oh, this is for profit podcasting, this is for my affiliate launches or this is screenshots from you know, the community, or general wins or the profit podcast. It's been a hot mess and about two months ago, as I'm recording this, I was introduced to a tool called Sinja. So Sinja is a testimonials and review. Like I don't even really know what to call it. It's oh, we'll call it a platform, it's an app, but I'm like it is a godsend and I know that sounds so dramatic. Maybe they'll use this for a testimonial for their app, but it is incredible. So I can upload video testimonials screenshots.
Krystal Proffitt:
I'm actually in the process of uploading all of my previous course students that have gone through my program and I'm uploading all of the incredible things that they've said about, about the profit podcasting course and I'm putting them into Sinja. Right now. I'm uploading their podcast artwork and their names and it is just so easy because once I upload something, I can tag it very easily and say this is for profit, podcasting, this is for coaching, this is for an affiliate launch, this is for the podcast. And it just makes it so much easier because there's tools inside of it that will automatically create images or create videos. But the really fun thing this is so cool. This is where AI and like my super marketing nerdiness really collide. But they have this AI tool inside of it that will analyze All of your testimonials.
Krystal Proffitt:
Get this this was this blew my mind the other day when I did it. It will analyze all of your testimonials and it can tell you what are the specific pain points that your people are having, what are the keywords that are coming up over and over again, what are some of the trends of how you're helping people solve their problem, and so many other things. I will be using all of this in my upcoming launches, especially the pain points and just the love that people have shared that it just it rewrites some of the testimonials in language that it's not to be meant to be used like. Oh, like. We're just going to reword what this person said about this. No, it's really making it easier for you to promote what these other people have said about your courses, your programs and your content, and I really want you to go check it out. So go to KrystalProffitt. com/senja that's S E N J A senja and check it out. There's a free trial. I'm on the paid plan and I love it, love it, love it. I'm in the middle of creating my wall of love, which will have all of my testimonials that I've ever had. It will have videos, screenshots, like so many things, and I cannot wait to share this with you. So, again, go to krystalproffitt. com/senja to check it out.
Krystal Proffitt:
But I want to know what other questions you have about testimonials, social proof, word of mouth, marketing I mean, I didn't even get into all the different like Senja will actually collect testimonials. So, if you've previous I've done all this through Google forms. Previously I've done this through video ask. I've used a lot of different tools, so I'm in the process of setting up those where I can coach people and like hey, like here's your question Can you tell me how you felt about this? And I'm just I'm, I'm giddy. Obviously, I'm so giddy about this app and all the fun things that it can do but go grab your free trial , but get people talking about the content that you are creating. But that's all I have for you today. So this is your first time tuning in. Make sure you hit that follow or subscribe button wherever you're listening or watching today. Make sure you check out our new content that we put out every single week and, as always, remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.
