Monica Badiu, Email Copywriter & Copy Coach

If you’re running an online business and offering courses, you’re surely looking for ways to increase sales. One way to do it (and it’s very underrated) is through testimonials.

These short stories of success and snippets of feedback can play a pivotal role in influencing potential customers to purchase. Testimonials can be the difference between someone clicking the “buy now” button or leaving your page without making a purchase. So, why is having good testimonials essential when selling an online course? Let’s dive into what makes them so important and how to collect powerful ones from your students.

Testimonials. Testimonials. Testimonials

Testimonials are key for any type of product or service, but especially for those who are selling online courses.

View the full infographic here

Testimonials act as social proof that your course is worth the investment (time, money and energy) by showing that other people have experienced positive outcomes after taking it.

This gives potential customers more confidence in investing their hard-earned money and time into something they may not be familiar with.

In addition to providing assurance to new customers, testimonials also help increase conversions because they provide a human touch to the sales process.

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Showing real people who have taken and benefited from your course helps establish trust and credibility with potential buyers.
— Monica Badiu, Copywriter

How to collect powerful testimonials

Not all testimonials are equal. And oftentimes, it’s just not enough to ask your students if they liked the course. They’ll probably answer “yes, it was a good course” or “I don’t know, I haven’t finished it”. You can’t do much with that.

  1. Timing

When it comes to collecting powerful testimonials about your course, timing is everything! You want to make sure you collect these testimonials prior to launching your new course or promoting it so you can use them on your sales page, in your ads and in your emails.

There are review services you can enrol in to have someone go through your course. You can run a giveaway and enrol 2 or 3 people that are your ideal prospects, then interview them (yes 1:1).

If you’ve sold your course before, send one or two campaigns asking students for their feedback. Going forward, if you don’t have an automated process to collect testimonials, it’s something to prioritize before you run another promotion.

One successful tactic is to reach out to stellar students (highly engaged, the people who asked questions, shared their wins in your private Facebook community)and ask them if they would be willing to share their experiences on video or in writing.

2. What questions to ask to get the best testimonials

Whether it’s a 1:1 interview, a video testimonial they recorded themselves or a text, the quality of their answer relies on the questions you ask.

You’re interested in getting testimonials that describe:

  • the before: what was their struggle before finding your course? what they tried before deciding on your course? what were they worried about before investing in your course?

  • during the course: what was something they loved in the course? what was something that surprised them pleasantly?

  • after the course: what was the first outcome they got from using the course? what was the longterm benefit they saw from taking the course?

It can look like a lot, but don’t worry. The best testimonials don’t have to be long. Sometimes even a few sentences are enough to convey what someone can learn from taking the course, how it impacted their life or business, and why others should take it too!

Ask to use their testimonial in your marketing before you publish it. Include a photo and at least a first name to make the testimonial look trustworthy.

How to use testimonials when selling your course

Now that you have collected some powerful testimonials about your courses, how do you use them effectively?

There are several ways in which these can be incorporated into a successful sales strategy such as:

  • incorporating the best testimonials on your sales page in a dedicated section and right before the call to action button;

  • adding one or two testimonials on your checkout page;

  • including snippets in blog posts related to the topic of the course, on your homepage and about page;

  • showcasing testimonials on social media channels during promotions and launches;

  • using testimonials in your webinars and presentations;

  • using video testimonials in your ads;

  • incorporating them into your sales emails (as stand alone stories or simply a dedicated email with as many testimonials you can fit)

In conclusion…

✅ Testimonials help build trust between businesses and customers when selling an online course because they show potential buyers that others have had success through their purchase.

✅ Collect powerful testimonials from past clients before launching so they can be used strategically across various platforms including email campaigns, blog posts, social media channels, webinars, etc., for maximum impact during launch time and beyond.

✅ With effective implementation of these tips around collecting and using customer reviews, you will increase conversions as well as create lasting relationships with clients who will continue coming back for future purchases.

About the Author

Monica Badiu is a passionate email copywriter and conversion strategist with over 13 years of experience in marketing. With a love for crafting emails that genuinely connect, she’s spent more than 25,000 hours honing her skills in customer-centric copywriting specifically for course creators. In 2023, her tailored strategies helped course creators around the world generate over $3 million in revenue, making her a trusted partner to some of the biggest names in the industry.

But for Monica, it’s about more than just writing emails; it’s about building relationships. She believes in creating value-driven content that doesn’t feel pushy or spammy but rather speaks to audiences on a real, human level. Alongside her work, she mentors and champions ethical marketing, helping course creators not only reach their revenue goals but also grow loyal, lasting connections with their communities.

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