Key takeaways
- Porsche North America is using StoryStream to collect compelling customer testimonials, and then infusing them into their marketing pages to surface critical social proof.
- Social proof is driving a huge conversion uplift: users who have interacted with a customer testimonial are 36% more likely to convert.
- The testimonial modules are helping to deepen both customer relationships and new prospect engagement: 8 minutes average dwell time on the Electrifying Stories hub page.
- To date, the customer testimonial builder has captured 157 high-quality marketing assets (including a written customer testimonial and accompanying user-generated imagery) for Porsche.
The Porsche Taycan, the manufacturer’s first fully electric Porsche, has been described variously as a “supercar for a super life”, a “sanctuary”, a “head turner” and – perhaps most stirringly – “the joy machine”.
But the authors of those particular reviews aren’t the journalists at your typical automotive magazine (though their reviews of the Taycan are equally glowing) – instead, these are the testimonies of Taycan drivers from across the USA.
Hosted on both the Taycan model page at Porsche.com and in a dedicated Electrifying Stories hub, these customer testimonials are helping Porsche Car North America to celebrate the voices of its driving community while also evidencing key social proof around its first electric vehicle.
“Norming” the EV
While the popularity and adoption of electric vehicles globally continues to climb – for reasons we’ve discussed before in terms of “crossing the chasm” – consumer concerns around the driving experience of EVs (i.e. its unfamiliarity), the availability of on-road chargers (or perceived lack of), and what’s often termed as “range anxiety” (i.e. running out of charge before completing a journey or finding a charging point) continue to rankle automotive marketers.
At this juncture, Meta’s “Let’s Grow Electric” research – based on interviews with EV owners, considerers, and the general public – offers two influential perspectives:
- For consumers investigating and considering the move to an EV, the most trusted source of information is existing owners and peers.
- Existing Owners are massive advocates for the pure electric experience. Owners are often surprised that driving and owning an electric car gives them so much pleasure and they are ready to evangelise for the experience and their chosen brand.
Meta’s research is a strong steer for marketers toward examples of social proof or “digital word of mouth” (User-generated Content and customer testimonials being two examples of the genre). And indeed recent research published by StoryStream and the IMRG – based on 1001 interviews with real-life shoppers – showed that, when choosing what to buy, User-generated Content has the most impact on consumers. 62% of respondents said that UGC was the most impactful content they saw on a brand’s website, versus 38% for brand-created assets (you can download the full eCommerce Content Trends report here).
But often, generating UGC can represent a real challenge for brands – especially when what’s needed is UGC that goes into detail about a specific product or feature. Enter: the StoryStream Customer Testimonial Builder.
StoryStream’s Customer Testimonial Builder guides the user through the experience. Fully customisable by brand, the questions asked within the module can be tailored to best get to the heart of what makes a customer’s experience unique.
And the stories collected by Porsche are as head-turning as the Taycan itself. Our favourite, from a “Ken R” in California, takes us on a 185-mile journey for a sandwich (a truly heartwarming story of the power of friendship during the pandemic).
Social Proof In Action
To date, the Customer Testimonial Builder has captured 157 high-quality marketing assets (including written, in-depth customer testimonials and supporting UGC) for Porsche. And the assets are making a real impact too: users who have interacted with a customer testimonial are 36% more likely to convert.
Crucially, the modules are helping to deepen customer relationships and new prospect engagement. Porsche records an 8-minute average dwell time on the Electrifying Stories hub page.
For Chandra Culpepper, Content & Production Manager at Porsche Cars North America, the Customer Testimonial Builder is helping Porsche to meet multiple challenges simultaneously: “Landing on the best way to get customers on the road to electric is a huge challenge for automotive marketers at the moment. The excitement around Porsche’s first EV was huge, but translating that anticipation into sales takes some real hard work. Nurturing the customer along a journey that involves not just them identifying Porsche as the right choice for their next vehicle, but also identifying a whole new category of engine and driving experience is a huge task.
“That’s why we knew we needed to invest in hard-working marketing assets, and in the Electrifying Stories testimonials, we got exactly that. It’s a genuine pleasure to hear from our community and to know that their testimony is helping get more and more drivers to make that leap of faith is magical.
“Elevating and celebrating our customers’ experiences helps us to strengthen our connection with our community of owners while giving considerers the social proof content they need to see. As we expand the Testimonial Builder across more model pages soon, we’re so excited to hear what our customers share with us next.”
