The power of word-of-mouth marketing cannot be underestimated, and in the digital age, it takes the form of testimonials and reviews.

But which one is more effective for your business?

This blog post delves into the testimonial vs review and compares their effectiveness in terms of meaning, authenticity, consumption of time, usage, and showcasing your product or service.

By the end, you’ll better understand which option suits your business needs. Let’s begin!

The Power of Customer Feedback

Incorporating customer feedback into your business strategy is essential to stay ahead of the competition and keep your customers happy.

Your customers’ feedback can help you understand their needs, preferences, and pain points. Thus, allowing you to tailor your products and services accordingly.

By actively listening to your customers’ feedback, you can identify areas for improvement and make necessary changes to your business strategy.

Customer Testimonials and reviews are two of the most powerful tools for gathering and showcasing this feedback to potential customers.

Testimonials provide a more detailed and personal account of a client’s experience. Reviews, on the other side, offer a quick and concise overview of the product or service.

It’s important to note that testimonials and online reviews have strengths and weaknesses. Thus, the choice between the two depends on your business goals and target audience. 

Whether you choose to use testimonials, reviews, or a combination of both, the key is to ensure that you actively listen to your customers and incorporate their feedback into your business strategy.

Doing so ensures that your customers are satisfied and your business continues to thrive in the long run.

Choose the best: Testimonial vs Review 

1. Meaning

Testimonials

  • Testimonials are longer and provide more in-depth information about a customer’s experience with a product or service.
  • They often contain a personal story that highlights the benefits of using the product/service and how it has positively changed the customer’s life.
  • They can be usually classified in two forms – written testimonials or video testimonials. Choosing the best way depends on satisfied customers who are willing to share their positive experiences with others.

Know the impact of client testimonials through an engaging video featuring Talem AI, one of webdew’s top clients.

By watching the video, you will gain an understanding of how the client recorded a testimonial, highlighting the seamless work process and outstanding results they achieved while collaborating with webdew.

In addition, testimonials, especially video testimonials, provide an opportunity to capture feedback in a comprehensive manner while infusing a personal touch and emotional connection.

They serve as a valuable platform to elaborate on the experiences and highlight the benefits of the availed service, presenting it in the most impactful and compelling way possible. This demonstrates the authenticity and reliability that this type of content provides.

Reviews

  • Reviews are shorter than testimonials. They are often focused on specific product or service features and provide a brief summary of the customer’s experience.
  • Reviews are given by customers who have used a product/service and want to share their opinions with others.
  • These can be either positive or negative and can be found on a variety of platforms, including social media, review websites, and online marketplaces.

Explore Carina H.’s written review of webdew, a client of theirs, and compare it to the testimonial. 

As we can observe here, this is a written review provided by one of webdew’s clients. It is concise and straight to the point. Being featured on a reputable platform like G2 enhances its trust and credibility.

The key distinction between a review and a testimonial lies in the absence of emotion and personal connection in a written review. Additionally, the briefness of a review sometimes limits the depth of insights gained from feedback.

webdew Review

Verdict

The main difference lies in the amount of detail provided and the focus of the message.

Testimonials are more personal and detailed, while reviews are more concise and focused on specific features.
Businesses should choose the right type of feedback for their product/service and use it to their advantage in their marketing efforts.

2. Authenticity and credibility

Testimonials

  • Testimonials are considered more reliable because they are often written or recorded by real people who have actually used the product or service.
  • These testimonials often share personal experiences. This, provides potential customers with an emotional connection and a sense of reliability.
  • Customers are more likely to trust the information provided in a testimonial because they know that it comes from a genuine source.

Reviews

  • Reviews can lack the personal touch of a testimonial. Competitors or paid reviewers may write some reviews. Thus, making it difficult to determine their authenticity.
  • Anonymous reviews can be even more difficult to trust, as there is no way to verify whether the reviewer is a real customer.
  • But, when we read reviews on websites such as Amazon or other online marketplaces, we can see that people often share their reviews along with images and mention the product’s positive and negative aspects.

Verdict

Testimonials and reviews are both useful for marketing, but testimonials are generally considered more credible. However, this doesn’t mean that reviews are always unreliable or fake.

3. Consumption of time

Testimonials

  • Creating a compelling and effective testimonial requires time and effort. Testimonials usually involve a more personal and emotional touch.
  • They also include detailed explanations of the customer’s experience and how the product or service solved their problem.
  • Also, it is known that it can be either in written or a video form. Thus, if someone is planning to create customer testimonial videos, it can be a time-consuming task.
  • It may also include the customer’s personal story, background, and context. This type of information can benefit potential customers looking for more in-depth information about the product or service.

Reviews

  • Reviews tend to be shorter than testimonials, as they usually focus on one or two specific aspects of the product or service.
  • As they are produced in written form, thus can be created more quickly than testimonials. As testimonials often need more detailed explanations and personal stories.
  • These can be written in a few minutes by a satisfied customer who wants to share their experience with others.

Verdict

On the basis of time consumption, it can be seen that testimonials take a bit more time but can be considered a complete package of information.

While on the other side, reviews can be produced in an easy way, but most of the time lack that in-depth condition of understanding. 

4. Ways of receiving

Testimonials

  • Businesses usually get testimonials by reaching out to satisfied customers and requesting them share their experiences with the product or service.
  • Businesses usually collect these from customers who have had a positive experience and are willing to share detailed feedback. Thus, providing a more comprehensive and in-depth view of the product or service.

Reviews

  • You need not get reviews, as customers often give them voluntarily without any prompting.
  • Customers who feel particularly happy or unhappy with their experience with a product or service may leave a review on third-party review websites or on the company’s website or social media page.
  • Since reviews are more spontaneous, they may not always provide a complete picture of a product/service’s performance. 

Verdict

Compared to testimonials, collecting reviews is relatively easy because you don’t necessarily have to ask customers to leave a review.

But reviews can be either positive reviews or negative reviews, and it’s not always easy to determine their credibility.

5. Usage

Testimonials

  • Testimonials are used as marketing tools on a company’s website, social media pages, or promotional materials.
  • They are designed to showcase the benefits and success stories of the product or service from the customer’s perspective.
  • By doing so, they try to gain new customers with a sense of the product’s effectiveness and build trust and credibility in the brand. 

Reviews

  • Reviews are often found on third-party websites like Yelp, Google Reviews, or Amazon. Here customers can rate and comment on the products they have purchased.
  • Reviews play a critical role in helping potential customers make informed purchasing decisions, as they provide honest feedback on the quality, features, and drawbacks of the product or service.
  • Because impartial customers post reviews, they are often considered more trustworthy and genuine.

Verdict

It may not be practical to choose one over the other based on usage alone. Reviews and testimonials are typically posted on different platforms.

It could be beneficial for a business to use both strategies to attract more customers and increase profits.

6. Ability to showcase product/service

Testimonials

  • Testimonials are a powerful marketing tool as they can convey the real-life benefits of your product or service through the personal experiences of satisfied customers.
  • They can explain how the product or service has helped them overcome a particular challenge or achieve a specific goal. 
  • The detailed and often emotional nature of testimonials can help potential customers relate to the customer’s experience. Thus, envision how your product or service can similarly help them.
  • A video testimonial is a way in which the business person can try to show how his/her product or service helped the customer in real life.

Reviews

  • Reviews can be effective in showcasing specific features or aspects of your product or service.
  • They are usually shorter and more concise, focusing on particular aspects such as ease of use, quality, or customer service.
  • But, reviews can help potential customers in making informed decisions by providing insights into the customer experience, both positive and negative.
  • As they are generally in written form, it is not always physically possible to show the use of a product or service in there.

Verdict:

Pricing

Thus, testimonials and reviews are both important in building trust and credibility with potential customers.

They serve different purposes and can be used in different ways to showcase the benefits and features of your product or service. 

But if it is the case of showcasing your product/service in use then testimonials prove to be an upper hand.

7. Shareability

Testimonials

  • Testimonials are often created by businesses intending to share them on their website or social media platforms.
  • They are usually longer and more detailed and can showcase the success stories of your customers. Businesses increase shareability by using tools like the QR code Generator to link testimonials directly to landing pages, promotional videos, or detailed product showcases.
  • But, they may not be as easily shareable as reviews because they may need permission from the customer to use their name and story.

Reviews

  • Reviews are often voluntarily shared by customers on third-party review sites such as Google Reviews, Yelp, Google My Business, or social media platforms.
  • They can be easily shared and reposted by businesses on their platforms. This makes them more shareable and can reach a wider audience.

Verdict

While testimonials and reviews can be shared, they tend to be more shareable due to their organic and voluntary nature.

But, businesses should still seek permission from the reviewer before reposting their review on their platforms.

Ready to choose the best one between Testimonial and Review?

Both testimonials and reviews are used in marketing as important tools that businesses use to showcase the effectiveness and reliability of their products or services. But, they differ in how they convey the message to potential customers. Let’s know what’s the difference.

It’s important to understand the differences between the two and use them to maximize their impact on your business. In the end, a combination of both testimonials and reviews can help build trust and credibility with potential customers. Also, it can drive more sales and revenue for your business.

So, don’t hesitate to ask for testimonials from your satisfied customers. Also, encourage those customers to leave reviews on third-party websites.

Keep in mind that every positive customer experience is an opportunity to grow your business, and using the right tools can help you achieve your goals.

Along with testimonial videos, there are various other kinds of videos that can help to grow your business. Thus, if you need to hire a professional agency to create amazing marketing videos, contact webdew.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The purpose of reviews and testimonials is to provide social proof and build trust with potential customers. Reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers help to demonstrate the value and credibility of a product or service and can influence the purchasing decisions of others.

To write a good review or testimonial, it’s essential to be specific and detailed about your experience with the product or service. Please focus on the key benefits or features you found most helpful, and give examples of how they helped you solve a problem or meet a need. Use clear and easy-to-understand language, and avoid generic statements that could apply to any product or service.

The power of reviews and testimonials lies in their ability to build trust and credibility with potential customers. Studies have shown that people are more likely to trust the opinions of others who have used a product or service and that positive reviews and testimonials can significantly increase conversion rates. By sharing real stories and experiences from satisfied customers, businesses can establish themselves as trustworthy and reliable value providers.

Examples of testimonials include written statements, videos, and other user-generated content that express satisfaction with a product or service. Testimonials can come from various sources, including customers, industry experts, and influencers. They can be featured on a company’s website, social media profiles, and other marketing materials to help build credibility and trust with potential customers.