ACTIVE TESTIMONIALS

When one of your past customers actually recommends your services to a friend or relative…that is an Active Testimonial.  When one of your customers talks about their real estate transaction in favorable terms with friends, family or co-workers, this is another form of Active Testimonial. Any time you can get a friend or past client to talk about you in a positive light, this is type of Active Testimonial. When a local newspaper does a story on your services, the results can be powerful because the newspaper is a powerful referral source in most communities and a favorable article is a wonderful, Active Testimonial.

PASSIVE TESTIMONIALS

Passive testimonials are quite popular with advertisers and most, I suspect, are actually made up by the advertiser.  Anonymous claims sprinkled through ad copy such as, “Brand X changed my life! says Jody  from Kansas City.”  Or a TV commercial featuring a group of people in a restaurant all in rapt attention while one of them explains the amazing benefits of Brand X.  Here Brand X might be a health insurance or a medication or a lawn fertilizer.  In this instance, the advertiser stages a group of people responding to one person delivering an Active Testimonial.  However, all the characters are actors so it is a Passive Testimonial. Actually, what am I saying? It isn’t a testimonial at all but it fools a lot of people.   A printed sheet or a Web page listing glowing comments from satisfied customers is another example of passive testimonials. 

PEOPLE DRIVE IN PACKS

Years ago when I spent so much of every day driving on the southern California freeways, I noticed that most of the heavy traffic was clustered in packs.  Maybe you have noticed this as well.  I would pace my speed so that I could remain in between packs.  Ahead of me a congested pack of cars moved forward with little room for maneuvering within the pack.  Behind me, another pack rushed forward, intent on catching up with the pack ahead me.  The only times that I would have to drive in congested conditions was while the pack in back passed by me to catch up with the pack ahead. Most of the time, I had all the lanes to myself and could switch lanes with ease. I still pace my driving to avoid the pack.

BUT WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT TESTIMONIALS?

Not much about testimonials directly, but a lot about human behavior and the reason why testimonials are often effective.  As a smart marketer you will want to know as much about human nature and use it to your advantage as much as possible. Using Active and Passive Testimonials is a good way to use human tendencies to your advantage.  But there is another important message in the example of people driving in packs on the freeways.

WHEN TO AVOID THE HERD

Herd behavior developed as a protection against predators.  It is hard for a hunting lion to identify one individual zebra in a herd of them.  But wait a minute!  We aren’t zebras and we are not trying to hide from prospective customers.  We actually want to be noticed and this, too, has important consequences for our marketing and advertising strategies.