RICK REA: Helping You Grow Through Online Marketing
  • Home
  • Blog
    • Social Media News
    • SEO Marketing News
    • Digital Trends News
    • Photography News
    • Mobile Marketing
    • Business News
    • Gadget News
    • Printing News
  • Contact
  • About
  • Subscribe


How to Use Instagram Customer Reviews for Maximum Impact

2/3/2020

0 Comments

 
https://ift.tt/36PrPS1

How to Use Instagram Customer Reviews for Maximum Impact

https://ift.tt/2S9HGFM

Are you taking full advantage of glowing reviews from your best customers? Looking for actionable ways to increase your social proof on Instagram?

In this article, you’ll learn how to leverage customer testimonials in your Instagram feed, in Stories, and on IGTV.

How to Use Instagram Customer Reviews for Maximum Impact by Val Razo on Social Media Examiner.

Why Promote Customer Reviews and Testimonials on Instagram?

With more than 1 billion monthly active users, 83% of whom use the platform for product discovery, Instagram has great sales potential for brands of all sizes and niches. However, it’s nearly impossible to convince your Instagram followers to buy from you unless you provide them with social proof.

Why? BrightLocal found in a study that 91% of people read customer reviews before making a purchase decision. And peer recommendations remain the most credible form of advertising, with customers overwhelmingly trusting suggestions from family, friends, and colleagues over brand content.

The concept of using social proof in marketing isn’t new but it’s more important than ever.

The good news is that user-generated content (UGC) is on the rise. Not only do consumers love taking photos of products they find useful but they also want to help other potential customers make the right purchase decisions. With more than 100 million photos and videos uploaded to Instagram daily, it’s a great place for marketers to find UGC.

Consider using the following methods to find customer photos and videos to use on your Instagram profile:

Lowes Home Improvement Instagram bio showing branded hashtag for user-generated content (UGC)

Pro Tip: Make sure you get permission from your customers before using their content in your social media marketing.

Here are four ways to leverage customer testimonials and reviews for the Instagram feed, Instagram Stories, and IGTV.

#1: Set Up an Instagram Account to Feature Customer Content

If you use customer testimonials on Instagram, consider setting up a second Instagram account only for that content. Because customer reviews come in a variety of formats, it can be difficult to make them fit with the style of your Instagram account. If you have a separate account for customer reviews, you can provide followers and visitors with social proof without affecting your Instagram aesthetics.

SneakerNation2 knows the importance of customer testimonials. They didn’t want to clog their Instagram feed with reviews, though, so they created two Instagram profiles. The main account publishes product photos and the other account shares customer reviews.

Here’s how they promote the customer reviews account on the main account.

primary Instagram account for SneakerNation2

When users tap on the tagged profile in the bio of the main account, Instagram redirects them to the profile focused on customer reviews. The company uses the bio section to tell more about the purpose of this account.

secondary Instagram account for SneakerNation2 reviews

Pro Tip: Once you create an Instagram account for customer reviews, cross-promote both profiles in the bio section to get more visibility.

#2: Collect and Repurpose Customer Reviews for Instagram Stories

Over the last few years, Instagram Stories has changed the way people use the platform. With a lifespan of only 24 hours, stories create a FOMO (fear of missing out) effect that encourages users to watch the short-lived content.

If you use customer testimonials in your marketing, it’s important to share them via stories as well.

Budget travel solution Airy Indonesia shares guest reviews in their Instagram stories and includes a swipeable link that allows interested users to learn more about the featured apartments.

3 Instagram Stories segments with customer testimonials for AiryIndonesia

If you want to get more reviews from your customers, take a cue from WHOOP’s referral campaign. It helped WHOOP obtain more customer reviews as brand advocates were interested in spreading the word about the company. Customers who successfully referred new members received a free month of service and the new members got $30 off the first month of their subscription.

WHOOP then used some of those customer reviews they received in their Instagram story.

3 Instagram Stories segments with customer testimonials for WHOOP

WHOOP’s brand template for customer reviews includes a quote about why customers love the product and shows the author’s Instagram handle. Using your own brand template will help you grab your audience’s attention and encourage followers to read customer reviews.

To create a custom Instagram story template, try an easy-to-use design tool like Crello (available in free and paid plans, starting at $9.99/month if billed annually). It lets you upload your brand logo and fonts to create eye-catching Instagram Stories templates that reflect your brand’s identity.

Create a Story Highlights Album to Give Customer Reviews a Longer Life

To get more out of the customer testimonials you share in your stories, save them to an Instagram highlights album. This not only allows you to save testimonial-related story content to your profile permanently but also makes it easy for people to find it.

Choose a descriptive highlights album name that hints at what followers will see after opening it. While you can use up to 15 characters in the name, it’s better to keep it short and sweet (as in the example below) so it isn’t truncated on mobile. You can also create custom highlights covers to match the aesthetic of your profile.

Instagram Stories highlights album for testimonials on Clek business profile

#3: Publish Video Testimonials and Product Reviews to IGTV

Many customers watch product review videos on social media before making a purchase decision. According to Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing Survey, 96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service and 86% want to see more videos from brands in 2020.

With the popularity of video content, consider sharing video testimonials and product reviews from your happy customers. For people who are visual learners, video testimonials can be more engaging and convincing than print testimonials.

IGTV is an excellent platform for sharing your customer videos because you can upload longer video, up to 1 hour in length.

Fitransforms often shares customer testimonial videos to their IGTV channel to let visitors and followers see body transformations and get inspired.

IGTV customer testimonial video from Fitransforms

On SoulCycle’s IGTV channel, their “Soul People Are the Best People” segment features customer videos. They open up about personal struggles and how they received support from their SoulCycle community.

IGTV customer testimonial video from SoulCycle

To create testimonial videos for your Instagram account, reach out to your loyal customers and ask them to record a video sharing their thoughts about your product or service.

Once you’ve received a video from your customer, make sure you optimize it for your IGTV channel before uploading it. Here are Instagram’s video upload requirements for IGTV:

  • Format: MP4
  • Minimum frame rate: 30 FPS (frames per second)
  • Minimum resolution: 720 pixels
  • Orientation: vertical or horizontal
  • Video length: minimum 1 minute; maximum 10–60 minutes, depending on account size
  • Aspect ratio: 9:16 for vertical video and 16:9 for horizontal video
  • Maximum file size: from 650MB (videos up to 10 minutes) to 3.6GB (videos up to 1 hour)

If you need to reformat your video testimonials for IGTV, try a tool like Animaker (free and paid plans, starting at $35/month), Wyzowl (contact for pricing), or Wideo (plans start at $59/month). These tools make it easy for beginners and non-designers to create stunning videos for Instagram.

#4: Highlight Customer Quotes in Text Graphics

Customer quotes are one of the most popular forms of testimonials and the easiest ones to acquire. Sharing a short quote from a satisfied buyer explaining how your product or service has helped them is a great way to showcase your brand’s value in the Instagram feed.

Mattress and bedding brand Tuft & Needle’s Instagram bio invites customers to share their T&N experience with the hashtag #myTNstory. They share some of those testimonials on their profile in quote testimonials.

customer quote graphic from Tuft and Needle Instagram account

Ecommerce platform Sellfy uses customer testimonials effectively in their marketing. They invite customers to share their success stories and then repurpose these interviews into quote graphics to post on Instagram.

To visualize this, after publishing a success story of music producer Arnaud Krakowka on the blog, Sellfy designed a graphic featuring a quote and a hero image. When Sellfy posted the quote graphic to their Instagram profile, they tagged the customer in the caption and invited followers to read the full interview on the blog.

customer quote graphic from Sellfy Instagram account

To gather quotes for your own custom quote graphics, reach out to your loyal customers and invite them to share their thoughts about your product or service and ask for a photo.

Once you’ve chosen a quote, use your favorite visual app to design a quote graphic. Import the image you want to use into the app, adjust the image brightness or add a transparent color layer, and then add a text overlay.

When you share the quote post on Instagram, mention the featured person in the graphic and the caption. Linking to the customer’s Instagram account gives a shout-out to the person who provided it and also emphasizes there’s a real person behind the quote.

Pro Tip: If you don’t have photos of your customers, stock photo sites are a good place to find high-quality background images. Another example, Depositphotos lets you purchase premium images on an individual basis or sign up for a flexible plan, starting at $29.99/month.

Conclusion

Customer testimonials come in various forms—customer quotes, case studies, reviews, and video testimonials, among others. When used properly, customer testimonials on Instagram can provide social proof and give your visitors and followers a solid reason to trust your brand.

Get Expert Social Media Marketing Training!

Want to keep ahead of your competitors? Need to master a social platform? Discover how to improve your social media marketing at Social Media Marketing World 2020, brought to you by your friends at Social Media Examiner. You’ll rub shoulders with the biggest names and brands in social media, soak up countless tips and new strategies, and enjoy extensive networking opportunities . Don’t miss the industry’s largest conference. Get in early for big discounts.

Sale ends Tuesday, February 4th, 2020.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

What do you think? Have you used customer testimonials on Instagram? If so, what kinds of testimonials have worked best for you? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

More articles on Instagram marketing:





Social Media

via Social Media Marketing | Social Media Examiner https://ift.tt/1LtH18p

February 3, 2020 at 05:06AM

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Amazing WeightLoss

    Click Here!

    Categories

    All
    Analyze Top Competitors
    Anti-Abuse
    Apple
    Apple Watch
    Blog Posts
    Brainstorm
    Brand Awareness
    Communications
    Content Marketing
    Conversion Rates
    Editorial Calendar Tips
    Engagement
    Facebook
    Google Analytics
    How To Marketing Tips
    Influencer
    Instagram
    Instagram Live
    Keyword Search
    Marketing
    Marketing Automation
    Picture Quotes
    Podcasts
    Recording Videos
    Repurpose Blogs
    Research Trends
    Sales Funnel
    SEO Marketing
    Sharing Posts
    Slide Shows
    Smartwatch
    Social Media Marketing
    Social Media News
    Social Media Tools
    Social Selling
    Target Marketing
    Twitter
    Twitter Notifications
    User Interaction
    Video
    Video Marketing

    Archives

    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Blog
    • Social Media News
    • SEO Marketing News
    • Digital Trends News
    • Photography News
    • Mobile Marketing
    • Business News
    • Gadget News
    • Printing News
  • Contact
  • About
  • Subscribe