Video testimonials are a great means of bringing attention to your brand in all the right ways. What better way is there to display your company than a customer relaying how much they love it? It may sound like a simple concept, but video testimonials can build trust, authenticity and relatability in your brand. However, it isn’t as simple as putting a loyal customer in front of a camera and letting them ramble on. Video testimonials have to be planned and executed to perfection to help you achieve the results that you are after.
How to Make a Video Testimonial
As with all forms of video content, there is no one true way of creating a video testimonial. How you go about presenting your brand will have a large influence on the production process, for example. Regardless of your styles and techniques, there are a few pointers that can both help things run smoothly and give your video the right atmosphere.
Don’t use a script (but do have a structure in mind)
Whilst writing a killer script is key in many forms of video content, a testimonial is not one of these. Your video testimonial needs to have a purpose and direction to it, but it shouldn’t have a script. Why? Because the natural flow of a testimonial is what makes it more convincing and relatable. This is what gives the video a sense of reliability, as opposed to being restricted by a script.
That said, you do need to have a semi-structured idea in mind of what needs to be done. This will lead the testimonial’s footage in the right direction, making sure that the most vital points are covered.
Source the right interviewees
Whilst your testimonial needs to have a genuine feel to it, it is also important that you source the right people. Firstly, they need to match both your branding and your target audience. If you’re promoting your company’s latest tech gadget aimed at a younger crowd, an aging technophobe probably won’t cut the mustard.
Secondly, recruiting an interviewee who has some experience being filmed is a good idea. If they have experience in front of a camera then they will likely fare better when being interviewed. This will lead to quicker production turnaround and ultimately smoother content.
Focus on answering “why” questions
If your audience has come as far as the testimonial video, they likely have a good understanding of the product by now. Therefore, video testimonials need not cover what it is that your product can do. Instead, they should concentrate on the “why”.
By this, we mean to say that your testimonial videos should concentrate on why your audience is looking for a solution to the problem in question. Why your product can help them solve this problem. And why your product stands out from the crowd of competitors. This will help you bolster your customer relationships by building an emotional connection between customer and company.
Keep it short
This is a video rule that isn’t limited to video testimonials alone. The modern consumer is short of both time and patience. Formats like social media also accommodate for shorter videos, with many instilling brief time limits. Therefore, attention needs to be grabbed in the space of just a few seconds. As such, video content has become briefer in recent years.
Reports show that at the end of 2019, video advertisements lasted around 30 seconds on average. You don’t want your videos being ignored because of a lengthy run time. Nor do you want potential customers skipping content due to a drawn-out introduction. Keep video testimonials short, sweet and punchy and you will be more likely to see the results that you want.
Consider adding graphics
Animation is so often underused in the world of video marketing, but it shouldn’t be. Often associated with childishness, there are so many underappreciated strings to animation’s bow which make it a great marketing medium. One of these is adding graphics to video content.
By adding graphics to your testimonial, you can highlight key quotes or facts. This catches the viewer’s eye and will direct their attention towards points that you want them to take notice of. You may also use graphics to incorporate marketing assets such as your logo to strengthen associations between the positivity of the video and your brand.
How to Use Video Testimonials
In terms of getting the best from testimonials, creating great content is only half the battle. Next you have to know where is best to display your eye-catching new content. There are so many different avenues for displaying web content in this day and age. And each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages. Here are some of the more popular platforms for showing off your testimonial videos:
Landing pages
If viewers are heading to your website, it means that your brand has caught their attention. This is the perfect time to drop an enticing testimonial into play. It is a brilliant tool for piquing interest in a subject that the prospective customer already has interest in. It allows the audience to attain a deeper connection with the company that will see them come back time and again.
The success of creating a landing page based around a video has actually been proven. In fact, landing pages that have a video within their content are likely to increase conversion rates by 86%. It gives you the chance to make a first impression that lasts, striking all the right notes.
Social media
Social media is now used by over half of the world’s entire population. This makes it a marketing tool with the potential for an unrivalled reach. Testimonials work well on social media platforms, as they allow for an insight into your brand’s benefits before leading to your page. Here the audience will get a thorough insight into the workings of your brand, its products and its values.
Some forms of social media, like Instagram, only allow for a certain length of video to be uploaded, so bear this in mind when creating a social campaign. Also remember that social media can be a brilliant platform for advertising. Testimonials can be good for retargeting adverts, reminding customers of your company having had them show some initial interest.
Email/newsletter
Email newsletters help build an image of your brand in your audience’s mind by drip feeding them information. By doing this you can pique interest and bolster your company’s positive image in the mind of the consumer. Video content helps email newsletters stand out. Open rates have been known to rise by as much as 6% just by using the word “video” in the title.
By sending your testimonials via newsletter, you will be reaching subscribers at the latter stages of the marketing funnel. It can be the final step between the customers who have shown intent and those who have invested in your company.
Create a blog
Blogs are an extremely popular form of online content. They are used by everyone from casual, part-time bloggers to some of the largest companies in the world. They are a means of telling a story that can build context around a concept or a company. Building a blog around your video testimonial can give greater depth to the actual content.
By bolstering the video’s story, you can create a more vivid image of what it is that your brand stands for. This allows for individuals to become acquainted with your brand faster than usual. On top of this, blogs are regarded as one of the most trustworthy sources of information on the internet. Therefore, they are a great platform for informing your target audience about what the company can offer.
Why They Work
So, what is it that makes video testimonials so effective? And what sets a video testimonial apart from a regular testimonial? There is no one answer to these questions, but instead a few factors that help them draw in an audience.
The popularity of video
Let’s start with the basics. Video is a fast-growing, astronomically popular form of media at the moment. Why would people read through reels of content when it can be summed up in a matter of minutes? Most wouldn’t, is the answer. 4x as many people would rather watch a video about a product rather than read about it…
Therefore, using video content in the form of testimonials will not only help you keep up with the times, but will also see more satisfied customers. In this rapid-paced modern day and age, people want to be able to consume content at a rate that fits into their busy schedules. Sessions on the most popular social apps last roughly 4.5 minutes, so people don’t want to spend too long reading.
Videos trigger emotion
Humans are more likely to feel emotion when watching the actions of another human being. There is only so much that fantastic copy can do to whip up an emotional response from your audience. Videos can take this to the next level. Why is that, we hear you ask?
This is about to get a little scientific… Biological research has shown that mirror neurons in the brain cause people to feel a certain empathy when watching another individual experiencing emotion. Through this, people watching others getting emotional on video may in turn share that emotion. Therefore, if you show your audience video footage of other customers getting excited, happy or thankful about your product, you have a better chance of them reflecting this emotion.
Video’s superior retention rate
Video testimonials are more likely to stick in the mind of your viewers. Why? Because video content has a 95% retention rate, compared to just 12% for text. This means that those who watched others getting excited about your brand or product will likely recall this excitement when they cross paths with your company again. In turn, the associations between your brand and excellent reviews will likely live longer.
Videos circulate quickly
How often do you open up your phone to see that a friend has shared a video with you? Quite often, right? Well, you are far from alone in that regard. 47% of adult internet users regularly share video and photo content that they have found online with others. This makes video footage circulate like wildfire around the internet if it is of good quality.
If you create a good testimonial video, your audience will share it with others that either have an interest in your brand or are likely to. This allows for both growth of your customer base and a chance to develop a greater sense of reliability with existing customers.
Videos help to convert
When it comes to creating content, conversion is the ultimate goal. Video testimonials are a great way of hitting that goal.
Studies show that 79% of consumers have watched a video testimonial prior to purchasing a product. On top of that, Forbes reports that 70% of marketing professionals deem video to convert better than any other medium. By building trust and authenticity through testimonials and presenting it in a convenient video format, you are helping your business’ chance of turning prospects into customers.
Conclusion
Video testimonials are a brilliant means of building trust in your brand. Presented from the perspective of a person with mutual interests, they help viewers become drawn in the by the content’s relatability. By doing this, you will likely see it help convert those who have already shown some form of intent.
As with most forms of visual media, video testimonials don’t have to stick to a specific structure. In fact, going slightly off road can often help with the video’s authenticity. Make sure that you hit all the right pointers, so as to clear up any doubts that your audience may have; present it on all of the appropriate channels to get it in front of your target audience; and watch your loyal customer base grow.
If you want to learn more about why we think video testimonials are great, drop us a line.
