The Power of Testimonials and Reviews in the Vending Industry

It is safe to say that there are no better marketing tools than testimonials and reviews. People want to hear about the good and the bad and, truthfully, anything you see on a company’s website will always come with some bias. For vending and micro-markets, hearing from past customers is good way to decide whether the product or service will be the right fit. There are many benefits – for both your prospects and your company – that come with sharing testimonials and reviews. Some of these benefits include:  

Increased trust

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According to Big Commerce, 72% of consumers say positive testimonials and reviews increase their trust in a business. Potential customers may be more willing to use your vending services if they see that your company is being transparent and honest with them. While other tools, like case studies, can also be helpful in attracting customers, they are often written by the company. According to a 2017 survey of 250 B2B Buyers conducted by TrustRadius, “most buyers think both case studies and reviews have their place in the research process, and see the two forms of social proof as serving different purposes.” As seen in the chart below, B2B buyers consider testimonials and reviews to be significantly more authentic and trustworthy than case studies.   

 Generate more revenue  

The ultimate goal of all businesses is to generate more revenue, so why not do everything in your power to do just that? According to Big Commerce, every time a consumer interacts with your review, they generate 62% more revenue per site visitor. Similarly, consumers that interact with reviews are 58% more likely to convert and buy. This is most likely due to the increase in trust that testimonials and reviews also bring. With evidence that testimonials help in increasing revenue, it is almost a “no–brainer” to include them on your website. People are interested in hearing about what others have to say about your offerings. Even if each review brought one new customer, it would be well worth it.  

Drive web traffic and improve SEO 

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Surprisingly enough, testimonials and reviews can drive a lot of new web traffic and improve your SEO. The goal of SEO is to deliver users, not only the information they are looking for, but also the most helpful information possible. Using bots, search engines crawl the internet looking for the most relevant information and then rank webpages based on this information. According to data collected by Yotpo, “websites using testimonials saw a 45% increase in traffic compared to those who didn’t.” So why do testimonials and reviews rank so well? Ultimately, search engine bots are looking for content that is new, interesting, and can’t be found anywhere else. User-generated content, like testimonials, is perfect for this reason. The graph below illustrates how using testimonials and reviews can impact the traffic on your company’s webpage. 

The benefits that come with sharing testimonials and reviews are undeniable. Your customers will consider your company to more trustworthy because you are sharing authentic messages, rather than biased ones. With so many people turning to the internet to make buying decisions, it is important that they can find information that they can trust online. Once you increase trust, you will likely be able to generate more revenue because people are more likely to convert and buy after reading testimonials and reviews. Lastly, if your company has been struggling to bring traffic to your website, testimonials may be the key to successfully gaining new visitors. Search engines are looking for unique content and testimonials are the perfect way to include content on your website that does not exist anywhere else on the web. When developing or adjusting your company’s content marketing strategy, adding testimonials and reviews may not be top-of-mind, but given the benefits it can bring to both your customers and your company, you may want to consider it as a part of your future content strategy.