There’s no better way to incorporate storytelling into your marketing than through testimonials. Testimonials add authenticity, build connection and humanize whatever it is you’re selling. But how do you go about creating a process to find and distribute good testimonials that advance your content strategy and help you meet your goals?

Here’s an outline of the process for discovery, creation, distribution and management of testimonials — with some tips along the way.

STEP 1: Discovery

The first challenge with building out a library of testimonials is finding them. There are two keys to achieving this:

Motivate your story miners:

1. Who they are: employees, front-line staff that speak directly with customers/clients.
2. What you’re asking for: anecdotes with names and contact information so you can follow up.
3. How to motivate them: talk about how testimonials fit into the marketing plan; it’s a way to not only to increase business but bring in the kinds of repeat customers they enjoy working with.
4. When to collect: ongoing, with reminders 1x quarter at minimum. 

Incentivize your customers:

1. Who they are: customers who are just leaving an interaction or had an interaction within 24 hours – 1 week.
2. What you’re asking for: answers via a short survey/form via email or paper (in office); indication of if they’d be willing for their photo and/or quote to be used in advertising. 
3. How to motivate them: giveaway items or discounts, language about why it’s important and why you appreciate customers like them.
4. When to collect: initial form in person or online, then follow up to arrange photo/video as needed.

Step 2: Creation

You have found your people! Time to turn those tips into stories that you can use in marketing and communications materials (more on how to use them in Step 3).

Tips for Interviewing:

1. Make them comfortable: If you’re physically together, offer water before the start, small talk a bit, make sure they have a good place to sit/stand.
2. Record, always record: even if you aren’t going to use video or audio of the testimonial to distribute, using a recording device instead of taking notes can make someone less anxious (seeing you write notes) and can allow it to feel more like a conversion with you focusing on them. It also ensures you get it all.
3. Prepare standard questions: if you decide to move beyond the form, you should always have 3-4 anchoring questions that you ask every interview that can provide direct quotes. 
4. Gather basic demographic information: this will help you identify different testimonials, look for trends and patterns and develop marketing personas.
5. Get ready to coach and repeat: people don’t always have their thoughts together the first time they answer a question. Especially if you are recording/videoing, it’s a good idea to ask them to repeat or see if they can rephrase their answer a second time. You also want to coach subjects on how to answer in a way that can be used without the future audience hearing or knowing the question that was asked. 

Tips for Photos:

1. Clothing
   1.  Make sure there are minimal logos, no offensive language or competitor brands, etc. on their clothing.
   2. Look to see if what they have on will work on clashing with the background you’re shooting in or the brand colors that will be in the ad.
   3. If it’s a planned/professional shoot, send them guidance in advance. Ask them to bring a second top option and/or a jacket option if possible.
2. Location (applies to video too):
   1. If location is important to your business, show it!
   2. If shooting at your company/business, try to capture them in what might be their normal state there.
   3. Make sure there’s not too much going on in the background that can distract visually.
3. Quality and image type: Think about what these will be used for. If there’s a chance they’ll be on the web or digital ads, make sure you’re getting the vertical or horizontal shot you need + the highest quality image.

Tips for Video:

1. Get all the basics: start with having them say their name, the service or product they purchased, how they found you, etc. this will help you identify or organize the clips later and also will warm them up. 
2. Use a mic whenever possible: good sound quality is key. A lavalier microphone should be used to capture clear audio, especially outside
3. Be aware of surroundings: this is for background noise, but also background imagery. Scan the location for what will appear in the background (signage, trash, groups of people, etc) and consider what could distract from the brand message
4. Pay attention to the lighting: determine if the space has appropriate lighting; consider taking a test image or 2 second video before proceeding with either a stand-in or with the subject at the start of the session. 
5. Keep it steady: use a tripod whenever possible.
6. Sit near the camera: if it’s an interview style, the interviewer should position themselves close to the camera so that the person can look at them and speak conversationally without speaking into the camera directly or too off to one side or another.

Step 3: Distribution

Not all testimonials are created equal! And that’s OK! One way to think about the different types of customer stories is to put them into “testimonial tiers.” Levels or categories of stories that serve different content needs.

1. Tier 1: Your A++ outcome story; this is your great-on-camera, fits the persona, tells the story so well, willing to be on video and photo that you spend money to make a video about. This is the story you use in paid ads, on a billboard, on the website, in marketing materials, all over the place.
2. Tier 2: Great story, matches an audience need/type, strong outcome, perhaps less willing to be on camera and/or doesn’t meet your criteria for a big budget video. This story is great for social media, testimonial page on the website or in email campaigns. Quotes might be used in ads.
3. Tier 3: Good story, may not be relatable to as many people or may not be as impactful of an outcome and/or participant is unwilling to do much in the way of photo/video beyond providing a quote and/or on site photo. This can be used in a testimonial page on the website or social media.

Step 4: Organization and Management

OK, you’ve discovered, created and distributed (maybe not yet) your testimonials, so how do you keep them all straight? A few final tips..

Collect and store Photo/video releases

1. Make sure any photo/video releases that you are asking people to sign clearly state what the photo/video assets (digital and print marketing materials, etc) can be used for and for how long (in perpetuity? For X years?)
2. Store them in a central location and link to the releases in whatever is being used to house/organize the testimonial library.

Build a testimonial library

1. Create a spreadsheet or use a project management tool to keep track of all testimonials including:
   1. Demographic information
   2. Contact information 
   3. When the testimonial was gathered
   4. What assets were created (links if applicable)
   5. Link to photo/video release
   6. Who the key contact is (who recommended this person or interviewed them, etc) 
   7. Where the testimonial appears/was used and when (with links if applicable) 
2. Audit every 6 months to a year to see where there are gaps and how we are doing in showing a variety of:
   1. Customer personas/demographics
   2. Services or goods
   3. Types or lengths of testimonials (video, photo, etc)
3. Determine how long content can be used or “is good for” – do we retire a testimonial after 5 years? 10? 2?

Rinse and Repeat!

Once you have your process down, annualize it. Make it part of your quarterly goals. Check in on the testimonial library monthly. Whatever cadence feels right to you to keep your storytelling fresh.