Parents want to know about the experiences others have had at your dance studio before signing their own children up for classes. Making customer testimonials available on your website is a great way to assure new customers that they are making the right choice!

Eight dance studio testimonial tips:

  1. You can have a dedicated Testimonials page on your studio website, or can sprinkle testimonials throughout your webpages. You may wish to do both… have short testimonials on several/many of your webpages, and after each comment, include a link that says “see what others are saying here” so people can access that full page of testimonials.
  2. Use your testimonials on the webpages where they will do the most good. Say you have a ‘Recital Information’ webpage. You also have a testimonial that mentions what a great experience someone had dancing in the last recital. To get the most ‘bang for your buck’, put that testimonial on your Recital Information page. New visitors to your website will be impressed, and it will also remind parents reading through the recital day requirements just how worth it the effort will be.
  3. Include the person’s full real name if an adult, or the child’s first name and age if a youth. The idea is to make the comment as meaningful and credible as possible to those who will be reading it.
  4. Leaving a testimonial in the person’s originally submitted text is much more credible. If the person rambled a bit, no worries… if there is a typo or two, so be it. It’s much more believable than if the typos are ‘polished up’. And if you have testimonials from young students, you don’t want to mess with the natural charm that likely exists. (Of course, if there is outright incorrect information or is difficult to understand, you may want to make an exception.)
  5. Draw attention to what you would most like people to take away from the testimonial by using bold text (don’t use ALL CAPS, however… it’s difficult to read and can make people feel as if you’re shouting at them). Since people scan text online, it’s a great way to emphasize the most important points you’d like to get across. Here’s an example:

     

    “I’ve so loved dancing at your studio over the last 12 years. Dancing at Figtree Studio of Dance has given me so much confidence. Because of you and your studio, I’ve decided to minor in dance in college. I am grateful to have such a wonderful dance education that allows me to continue dancing at a higher level.”

    Emily Hossenfeffer – University of Washington student

     

  6. Continue to encourage more testimonials as often as feels comfortable. If someone says something nice about you, ask right then and there if you could use their words as a testimonial. Most will be more than happy to do so.
  7. Do some online research on your own studio. See if you have any reviews on Yelp.com or other online review sites, and if you do, add them to your Testimonials webpage.
  8. Encourage your students and their parents to submit photos or videos! A testimonial with accompanying photo hits home the fact that there is a real person, not a company, behind it. While a photo of the dancer and/or dance parent at the studio is best, a regular photo is perfectly fine. A few video testimonials on your website can go a long way to convincing newbies that your studio would be the best one for them (and you can post them on your YouTube Channel as well).

If you have any tips on testimonials to share, please do!