As an ecommerce store owner, you most likely already know how important social proofs are. Social proofs help you to increase the credibility of your brand, making it easier for potential buyers to choose your products and services. However, with different types of social proofs available, each with its subtypes, it can be challenging to decide which kind would best suit your business.
Among the most commonly used social proofs are testimonials and reviews that help you attract and win over new customers. Both have their own set of pros and cons, and understanding them can help you make an informed decision on which to use. In this guide, we'll do a comparative analysis of testimonials vs reviews and highlight the pros and cons of each along with the key differences between the two.
Understanding testimonials and reviews
Before we differentiate between the two, let’s better understand what each one is.
What are testimonials?
Testimonials are long and formal recommendations of products or services of a company. They exclusively highlight positive feedback customer who benefited from a specific product or service. Testimonials have different formats such as video testimonials, case studies, or written.
You can feature testimonials on your websites, along with the client's name, title, and company. They give prospective customers an idea of what it's like to work with your company and build trust with them.
Stio, for instance, is an outdoor apparel brand that features the testimonials of brand ambassadors who wear and endorse its products. These ambassadors share insights into their interests and excursions. Each testimonial page includes a product carousel containing the ambassador's top picks, thereby creating a sense of trust and authenticity.
What are reviews?
Reviews are short and informal opinions customers share about a product or service. They are honest written reflections of customers’ experiences. Reviews can be positive, negative, or mixed and are available on sites like Yelp, Google Business Profile, and Trustpilot.
For example, Amazon product reviews include user-generated content and ratings for products available on the marketplace. They work as valuable social proof and help others to make informed buying decisions. Businesses can also embed Google reviews on their websites to showcase authentic customer feedback directly to potential customers.
Pros and cons
Testimonials
Pros:
Showcase positive experiences and success stories.
Build trust and credibility.
Brands have the liberty to choose the best statements and share them.
Offer specific insights that work when businesses want to target specific challenges potential customers face.
Cons:
Likelihood of bias since they are written by only customers who had a positive experience.
Lack of balanced view of customer experience as they discuss the best scenarios.
Reviews
Pros
Offer a more authentic and unfiltered perspective.
Give a balanced view since they contain both positive and negative customer feedback.
Cons
A lot of customer reviews make it tough for fellow customers to access relevant information.
Fake negative reviews can mislead people and hurt a brand’s reputation.
Testimonial vs review: What's the difference?
Now that you know the pros and cons of both, let’s take a look at the main differences between them.
| Aspect | Testimonials | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Collected only from satisfied customers | Come from all kinds of customers, including happy and unhappy |
| Tone | Positive tone that focuses on benefits and values derived from a product | The tone can be positive, negative, or mixed |
| Purpose | Promotion of brand/business | Sharing of honest opinions about products and services |
| Format | Written statements or videos | Comments, star ratings, and photos |
| Commonly Displayed On | Website home pages, landing pages, and marketing materials such as brochures | Product pages, social media, and review sites |
| Content Control | High content control as business owners can edit and choose which testimonials to display | Low content control since customers own the content they put. Businesses can only respond to reviews |
| Frequency | Low, collected strategically | High, come frequently from different sources |
| Collection Mode | Direct requests to customers | No need for requests. Reviews are voluntarily given by customers |
Conclusion
If you have a good product, testimonials and reviews will help you show how good your products and services are. They help you build a strong online presence and brand reputation by sharing reviews and testimonial videos from happy customers. While both are important, they have distinct roles and strengths, as discussed above in the pros and cons. Testimonials build trust with potential clients, and reviews share detailed feedback about your products and services. The key to success lies in strategically using them to build brand credibility and a loyal customer base while keeping your actions ethically sound.
