30 Impactful Statistics About Using Testimonials In Marketing

Testimonials show prospective customers that your product or service really works like it should. But just how impactful are testimonials? We’ve updated our original list of testimonial statistics to give even more evidence of the difference that testimonials and reviews can make in 2021, and how they can be used most effectively.

30 Testimonial Statistics You Should Know in 2021

More Consumers Trust and Rely on Testimonials and Reviews

Testimonials, case studies, reviews, even star-ratings are all designed to inspire trust and confidence by illustrating a real customer’s experience. This also gives prospective customers a closer look at your business, so they can decide whether it’s right for them. Testimonial statistics show that consumers have come to rely on and trust testimonials and reviews more with the expansion of the internet.

1. 92% of customers read online reviews before buying (Big Commerce)

2. 72% of consumers say positive testimonials and reviews increase their trust in a business (Big Commerce)

3. 70% of people trust reviews and recommendations from strangers (Nielsen)

4. 88% of consumers say reviews influence their online purchasing decisions. (Vendasta)

5. 88% of consumers trust online testimonials and reviews as much as recommendations from friends or family (Big Commerce)

6. 97% of B2B customers cited testimonials and peer recommendations as the most reliable type of content. (Demand Gen Report)

7. 86% of customers said online reviews were at least “moderately important” when they were shopping for a new product. (Statista)

8. 72% of consumers will take action only after reading a positive review. (Search Engine Watch)

Featured Resource: Testimonial Request Email Templates

Download the Testimonial Request Toolkit

The Number of Testimonials Matters

Most business owners agree that reviews and testimonials matter, but it can be tough to determine how many you need. How many testimonials or reviews do customers actually read? How many reviews do you need for a star-rating to be considered accurate? Testimonials statistics can shed some light on these questions.

9. 73% of consumers read six or fewer reviews before making a decision (Vendasta)

10. 12% of consumers read more than 10 reviews (Vendasta)

11. 10 or more reviews can increase in search traffic (Big Commerce)

12. 40 or more reviews are needed before consumers will consider a star-rating accurate (Opt-In Monster)

13. 50 or more reviews on multiple products pages can increase conversions by 4.6% (Big Commerce)

Testimonials Drive Revenue

Testimonials are ideal for resolving customers’ objections and increasing confidence in your product or service. This makes testimonials a powerful tool for increasing the likelihood of a purchase and reducing resistance to buying more expensive products or services.

14. Using customer testimonials regularly can generate approximately 62% more revenue (Strategic Factory).

15. Customer testimonials placed alongside more expensive items increased conversion rates 380% (Power Reviews)

16. Increasing a business’s Yelp rating by one star can increase revenue by 5-9% (Harvard Business)

17. On average, testimonials on sales pages increase conversions by 34% (Impact)

18. Customers who interact with reviews are 58% more likely to buy (Big Commerce)

19. Customers who interact with reviews spend 3% more on average per order (Big Commerce)

Featured Resource: Testimonial Request Email Templates

Download the Testimonial Request Toolkit

Testimonials Improve Web Traffic and SEO

Search engines want their customers to find the best results for their queries and the best possible businesses. This means reviews and testimonials play a role in which businesses come up for which search queries. Testimonial statistics show that using reviews and testimonials can improve search engine optimization (SEO) and win more search traffic.

20. Websites using testimonials saw a 45% increase in traffic compared to those who didn’t (Yotpo)

21. Listing 10 or more reviews increased traffic 15 to 20% on Google Business listings (Big Commerce)

22. Improving star ratings from 3 to 5 stars can increase clicks on Google up to 25% (Bright Local)

23. Businesses with 5 stars earned 69% of total clicks amongst top Google listings (Bright Local)

24. Reviews account for 9.8% of total search engine ranking factors (Search Engine Watch)

Video Testimonials are Fast and Effective

The majority of reviews and testimonials are text-based, however statistics show that video testimonials are becoming increasingly impactful for many consumers. Video content in general is easier for many people to consume and allows them to process information faster. Videos also generally generate more shares and reach a wider audience. Since they’re harder to fake, video testimonials are also generally seen as more authentic and trustworthy.

25. 79% of consumers have watched a video testimonial to learn more about a company, product or service (Wyzowl)

26. 70% of marketers say video converts better than any other medium (Forbes)

27. 90% of users say that seeing a video about a product is helpful for making decisions. (Insivia)

28. 2/3 of consumers say they’re more likely to make a purchase after watching a testimonial video demonstrating how a business, product or service helped someone like them. (Wyzowl)

29. 47% of people say testimonial videos are effective because they help visualize how a product or service actually works. (Wyzowl)

30. Consumers are 27.4 times more likely to click online video ads than banner ads (Usurv)

Featured Resource: Testimonial Request Email Templates

Download the Testimonial Request Toolkit

These 30 testimonial statistics show the power of consumer opinions. There are many different types of testimonials, and which one works best will depend on your business and marketing objectives. Place your testimonials carefully and see which ones improve conversion rates and sales on your website.