Alex RodiaWe all know that no marketing is more effective than word-of-mouth marketing. When it comes to building trust, nothing does that better than a trusted peer telling you their experience. You’ll probably yawn if a company tells you their product is awesome. But if a friend tells you they tried it and loved it; you’ll listen. So, how can companies replicate that – at scale? The answer is with video testimonials.
Video testimonials allow you to leverage that effect and build rapport with your audience. You can build trust and customer loyalty by recording happy customers, users, or employees as they share their stories. In this article, we’ll have a closer look at testimonial videos and their different use cases in marketing. We’ll also give you some valuable pointers on how to succeed with your video testimonial production.
Related reading: Choose The Right Branded Video Content Agency
What Is a Testimonial Video?
A testimonial video is a video where a person shares their experience with your brand and product. That person could be a user, customer or employee. A customer might share what aspects they have enjoyed and benefited from, and they could explain in what ways your product has helped them solve specific problems or challenges. They will often share their full name, and if it’s a B2B product, their role, and where they work. Testimonial videos are also really great for employer branding, and letting employees share their experiences working for you can be a great way to attract top talent.
Why Are Testimonial Videos So Efficient?
Today, reviews are crucial in online marketing. There are review sites for everything, from software to restaurants, and a growing number of people have the habit of always checking reviews before purchasing. Almost 9 out of 10 consumers check reviews before buying something, and that 93% say that online reviews influence their purchase decisions, so it’s easy to understand why doubling down on reviews makes sense.
Video testimonials are reviews – but on steroids. While video testimonials are a form of review, they’re much more potent than a star rating and a few words. Videos build more trustworthiness and are more engaging and memorable than written reviews.
The fact that your customers are ready to go on film and praise your product builds a different level of trust in your brand than anonymous star ratings on review platforms. A real person who is using your product, or working in your company, is also inherently more trustworthy than, let’s say, your marketing department. This is why authentic video testimonials may be the number one most efficient marketing video format of them all.
Below are some stats to illustrate just how much of a game-changer good testimonial videos can be for your marketing.
- 79% of consumers have watched video testimonials to learn more about a company, product, or service
- 9 out of 10 people they what a customer says about a business more than what that business says about itself.
- 77% of consumers say that testimonial videos have helped convince them to buy products or services.
- 95% of consumers state that reviews – positive as well as negative – influence their purchasing decisions.
Related reading: 40 Powerful Video Marketing Statistics in 2021
Different Types of Testimonial Videos
There’s a wide array of different types of testimonials, and depending on your business goals, they can all be valuable for your business at one time or another. Some of the most popular testimonial videos include customer interviews, celebrity endorsements, and personal experiences. Let’s have a closer look at some of them!
Docu-style or Documentary Testimonials
Docu-style testimonial video consists of users sharing their experiences with your product or service in a documentary-style setting. This type of testimonial video is a valuable marketing asset that provides a personal perspective on your product. Docu-style testimonials show that you’re credible and trustworthy. Through their inherent authenticity, they help build trust in your brand and establish a positive reputation for your business.
We recently created this series of testimonial videos to promote Adopting Retired Greyhound Racers, all in the docu-style format.
Related reading: How To Produce Docu-Style Video – A Case Study
Results-Based Testimonial Videos
A results-based approach focuses on showcasing your customers’ actual outcomes thanks to your products or services. While some testimonial videos might zero in on the customer experience or your brand narrative, this type of testimonial video is all about facts and figures. How much more money did your clients make? How much more successful are your B2B customers? And how many more sales did your software generate? These are the type of questions that are at the center of results-based testimonials videos. This is a powerful type of testimonial that combines the authenticity of the format with hard facts about what results to expect.
Customer Story Video
The customer story format is an excellent complement to regular testimonials. It’s usually more elaborate and shares the customer’s experience over a more extended time. While many testimonials are pretty focused on a particular product or service, the customer story takes the time to paint the whole picture. From how a company or consumer identified a problem and started looking for a solution to that solution showing up in the form of your product or service. This customer story we shot for 412 Food Rescue shows how a customer story can be used to build a narrative and context.
Company Culture Testimonials
Testimonials are not only an excellent tool for building your brand and attracting customers. They’re also very powerful when it comes to building your employer brand and attracting the right talent to your business. By letting employees share their employee experience with your potential hires in a testimonial video, you set the tone and attract the right people. This video testimonial from Aldi is the perfect example of how you can convey your company culture through a video testimonial.
Benefits of Using Testimonial Videos In Your Marketing
Testimonial videos makes your brand more relatable
Testimonial videos allow your prospects to see other people talk about your products and share their honest and unscripted opinions. Putting faces to your business gives your brand credibility and helps build interest and trust in your offering.
Testimonial videos give you more control of the narrative
There are many review platforms you cannot control. Anyone can rate, review, and comment on your brand at anytime, across a broad spectrum of online mediums like Google, Yelp, Trustpilot, and social media. These reviews are not always fair and sometimes tend to skew towards the negative since frustrated customers often are the ones most inclined to leave reviews actively.
Testimonial videos, on the other hand, you can produce yourself. This gives you a chance to control the narrative and select your happiest clients. You can edit the content to stress your USPs and ensure the conversations remain relevant and resonate with your target audience.
Related reading: Creating A Story Arch for Corporate Storytelling
Testimonial videos strengthen your relationships with current clients
Even if someone is a happy customer, not everyone feels comfortable going on camera to leave a review. However, many people will appreciate being asked their opinions and featured in your videos. Asking customers to be part of your testimonial video shows that you see them and perceive them as successful.
Testimonial videos can be a powerful way to recognize your customers. In a B2B context, testimonials can even work as a kind of co-marketing, where you give shoutouts to each other’s companies. It’s a reciprocal project where you highlight their success and expose it to your client base while they speak highly of how you supported them in achieving that success. Win-win!
Related reading: 6 Great Styles of Testimonial Videos
5 Steps To Creating Effective Testimonial Videos
1. Identify your most successful customers
A crucial step in creating a successful testimonial video is deciding who will star in it. Pick a customer with whom you already have a great relationship and that’s had success thanks to your product or service. The more precise and verifiable their results are, the better.
2. Plan the interview and content ahead of time
While you definitely want your testimonial to have an air of spontaneity about them, that doesn’t mean no planning is required. In fact, quite the opposite. You want to record answers from your customers that feel spontaneous, but most people need some kind of script or support to be able to talk on video. You also want to ensure your subject addresses the most important pain points and benefits so they’re not left out by accident. One good strategy is to prep your customer with talking points, such as:
- Why did you choose our company?
- How did our product/service help you?
- Why and how is our company better than others?
- What are the main benefits you’ve experienced?
Send the questions ahead to give your customer a chance to come up with their answers. However, you do not want them reading their answers from notes. Instead, the best strategy is usually to film them while talking about these questions a few times. This way, you get a lot of material to work with, and the editing process will do its magic.
3. Scout the setting and select a calm spot
You don’t want surprises when you’re shooting the video, and you need an environment where background noise will not disturb you’re recording. You may wish to inject environmental footage into your testimonial video. In that case, it’s usually a better idea to shoot that separately and add it in the editing rather than having your subject stand in the middle of, let’s say, a noisy factory sharing their story.
4. Record plenty of material
Once it’s time to record, don’t expect to get it all in one take. Most people become a bit self-conscious on video and need a few takes before they get it all right. Make sure your subject feels relaxed and at ease, and allow as many takes as required. The more material you capture, the easier it will be to edit.
5. Keep things short and sweet
Finally, it’s time to edit. Now’s the time to cut out everything that does not support your core message in order to keep the video as short and concise as possible. The shorter and the more to the point your video is, the better your chances of people watching all of it – and remembering the message.
Related reading: What Makes the Best Corporate Videos – Key Traits, Benefits, and Examples
Partner With An Award-Winning Video Production Agency
So, What Style of Testimonial Video Do You Need? It all depends on your product, industry, target audience, and what channels you are looking to leverage. While a celebrity endorsement can be gold when it comes to driving B2C sales, an employee testimonial is what will help you recruit top talent in your industry. As always, the most important thing is to be clear on your objective before you get creative.
Making these decisions and getting started with video production can feel overwhelming, especially if you haven’t created video testimonials before. But that’s why we’re here – to help! Companies who start investing in video testimonials rarely look back, as this represents the video format that yields perhaps the best ROI of them all.