Ways to Create Customer Video Testimonials that Work

Importance of testimonials

Studies have shown that more than two-thirds of customers are ready to buy a product if it has a positive recommendation from someone they can relate to. Word of mouth marketing plays a very important role in today’s world of business.

Irrespective of the effort put in through marketing, ultimately recommendations or testimonials from other customers influence a prospective buyer more than anything else.

With the advent of the internet, one of the first things a person does while researching new products is to look at online reviews. If he finds positive reviews and likes the recommendations made, then he is more likely to buy the product. Testimonials from customers play a very important role in marketing for the following reasons:

• Among the various types of content marketing, testimonials are the most effective and nearly 90% customer says that online reviews influenced their decision to buy.
• A positive customer testimonial helps to establish the credibility of a company.
• Testimonials from different customers allow a new customer to trust an organization.
• Diverse testimonials from different categories or types of customers help to create a picture of the wide acceptability of the product in the market.
• When customers read testimonials, it influences their decision and it has been seen the process of making a purchase speeds up as a result.

Why Video Testimonials?

A problem with online reviews is that these reviews are by faceless people. Many a time, there is a doubt if the review is genuine or has been posted by the company itself. The solution to this is video testimonials.

A video testimonial is a review by a customer where he/she shares his/her experiences using the product in a video. Using a video testimonial can be a very powerful way of influencing potential customers. This is how it is beneficial:

• A video testimonial gets more attention than a written review.
• It is trusted as there is a real person talking about the company and its products/services.
• Videos help to attract customers to a website and it has been proved that a customer who watched a 2-minute video is more likely to spend time on a website than others.
• Video testimonials can be placed on the website and shared on social media to spread the message, helping to establish the brand’s credibility.
• It is a more engaging way to do word of mouth marketing than written reviews.

How to Create an Effective Video Testimonial?

Having understood about video testimonials and how they can work, the next thing to do is to create a testimonial. It is not enough just creating a video testimonial; it should be one that works and delivers results. Here’s how you can go about creating the most effective video testimonial:

1) Consider doing it professionally

There are two ways of preparing a testimonial. One is asking the customer to shoot a video himself/herself. You can contact customers through email or social media requesting them to share a video.

You can even offer a prize for the best video. The problem here is that each customer would make a video in his/her own way. The content may not be engaging enough for others. Therefore, you can look at the second option, which is to prepare a professional video.

You can hire a professional organization to shoot a video for you. You can take care of the entire video shoot yourself. You can invite a few of the customers to participate in the shoot.

The benefit of getting the shoot done by a professional is that they would have worked with many other companies to prepare such testimonials. They understand what kind of testimonials work and can help create a quality video.

2) Do it in natural settings

The video is best done in natural settings in the customer’s own home or office. Doing it in a studio makes it look artificial. It would then create an impression that the company has hired an actor and that the video is artificial. To avoid this, shoot the video in the customer’s home or settings where he is comfortable.

Not many people are comfortable participating in a video shoot before cameras and light. You need to put your client at ease and make him comfortable. If they appear nervous or at ill ease then the video impact will be spoilt. Take care to create a natural video.

3) Tell a story

The video testimonial you create must make potential customers watch it. For this to happen, it must be engaging. You need to tell a story through the video. It must talk about the customer’s experience using the products and how your products helped him.

The video should start with the customer introducing himself to establish that it is an authentic video. Then the customer’s experience must be narrated naturally, with a proper conclusion. Using a professional can help get this done.

4) Have a script but don’t read from it

Create a structure for your video. Make a script, but ensure the customer doesn’t read from the script. The script can be used as a reference and the customer can speak on the points listed in the script using his own words. This makes the video natural.

5) Focus on benefits

The video’s focus should be on what was the need of the customer or problems faced and how your products acted as a solution for the problems. The video should not talk about product features.

It should focus on the benefits a customer can get. The customer should talk about what benefits he found in the products and how it helped him.

6) Short videos are preferable

No one has the patience to see lengthy videos. Crisp editing is needed to create a short video. More people will watch a video if it is short. This ensures your message gets across.

The guidelines given above can be followed to create the best video testimonial that can help you convince potential customers of your credibility. Such a video will help you engage with customers and win their confidence.