Turn a testimonial into an image you can post
Paste what a customer said, add their name and your business, and download a square image for Instagram or Facebook. Free, and nothing to sign up for.
Which testimonial to post
The one with a detail in it. “Great service, would recommend” could be about anyone, and people scrolling past can tell. “Picked up on the second ring at 11pm” could only be about you, and it answers the question the next customer has before they call. If the best line is buried in a long message, trim to it. Cutting is fine; changing their words is not.
Shorter is better, too. Under about 200 characters the words stay large enough to read on a phone without tapping, which is where nearly everyone will see it.
Ask before you post it
A customer who wrote you a nice message did not necessarily agree to see it on Instagram. Ask, and ask how they want to be named: most people are happy with a first name and an initial, and some would rather it said “a homeowner in Riverside”. Keep the reply.
And only post what a real customer really said. The FTC’s rules on testimonials cover social media as much as your website, and a made-up one is the kind of thing they fine people for. It is also easier to spot than people think.
Where the next one comes from
The hard part is rarely the image. It is having something worth posting, which means asking the customer while the job is fresh, in words that get more back than “great job”. The post on how to ask a client for a testimonial has the wording to send.
I built Exalted to do the asking and the keeping. You send one link, the customer writes a couple of lines on their phone, you approve it, and it appears on your website. It is $9 a month after a free two weeks. The image maker on this page stays free either way.