If you’re a brand manager, marketer or member of an e-commerce team, you will know that using authentic customer stories helps to build credibility and drive conversions. Studies show that credible testimonials can increase buyer intent by over 92%. Prospective customers are naturally skeptical and they have good reason to be so. They are bombarded with marketing messages all day long. Video testimonial marketing is different as they hear from customers like themselves. This can build credibility and trust.
Benefits of video testimonials over text-based ones
According to Forrester research, a video that’s a minute long is worth 1.8 million words. Text-based testimonials use only words and readers may have to read plenty of them before they feel persuaded to take any action.
Video testimonials use the faces of your customers and relatable dialogue to influence prospective buyers. They can observe facial expressions and body language. This creates a level of trust that text simply can’t. A customer testimonial video can spark emotions and make your brand more memorable and relatable.
It is easy to fake a text-based testimonial. The customer featuring in the testimonial may sign off on it but in many cases, it is written by the marketing team. This means text-based testimonials just don’t have the punch they had in years gone by. It is much harder to fake a video testimonial.
Your brand can use video testimonials to cover all key buyer personas. It can be persuasive for prospective customers to hear a customer’s story about using your products to solve a problem they share.
Video is much easier to consume on mobile than long-form text. With a single tap, a prospect can watch a quick video testimonial. A bonus is if it has subtitles so even those who can’t listen to audio can access it.
You don’t need a whole production team and expensive equipment to create video testimonials. Using the Cincopa video hosting platform gives you an intuitive interface, recording and editing tools, and customizable branding. It allows you to create, manage, and optimize brand video testimonials.
What makes a great testimonial video?
Get real customers to share their honest experiences
A testimonial video should feature real customers sharing their honest experiences. Overly rehearsed testimonials don’t sound as authentic. If you make customers stick to a script, it can sound rehearsed. Having a rough script can give your customers an idea of what to say without dictating how they must say it.
Tell a compelling story
A generic, vague customer testimonial is unlikely to have any effect on prospects. This is why a clear and concise narrative structure is important. The problem the customer faces should be clear. Your product or service should offer the solution. The positive outcome must be tangible.
Telling a transformative story appeals to viewers and can persuade them to take action. They can see how their lives could change by using your products or services.
Offer tangible proof
Data and specific examples help to show the tangible benefits of a product or service. If a customer mentions more sales, you could show a graph of the growth. If they talk about the time they save, you could provide data of time saving that came from streamlining a process.
Make it short
A video testimonial should be precise and to the point. It should ideally be only two to three minutes. With a video that’s too long, you risk customers dropping off.
How to capture and produce compelling testimonials
Identify who you want to target
Who do you want to reach with a video testimonial? Consider your buyer personas. What are their pain points, motivations, and goals? When you know this, you can select customers that match specific buyer personas.
Reach out to the customer
It could help to approach a customer who has already written a positive review. You should choose customers who you think come across as likeable and relatable.
Reach out to a customer and explain why you want to create the testimonial. You can communicate with them via email or video messaging. Consider offering a small incentive.
Send a customer questions beforehand
You will need to send a customer questions before making a video so they can think about their answers. The questions should be open-ended to encourage in-depth answers. You could ask questions like “What is the issue you are facing?” or “Why did you choose our product?” You could also ask, “What results did you achieve?” “What advice would you give to other customers considering using our products?”
Make the video
Customers may not want to participate if they feel it’s going to be a difficult process to create a video. You need to reassure them that it will be easy. You may even go the self-recording route. Just make sure you give them instructions and recommend equipment. The video must have good visual and sound quality. This requires a decent microphone, good lighting, and filming in a quiet location.
Edit the video
You may have to edit the video to cut out extraneous details and long, wandering statements. Incorporating visuals such as product shots or text highlights can help to reinforce key points. Before publishing the video, let the customer view and approve it.
Add credibility elements
You need to establish the credibility of the video with elements such as the customer’s name, photo, and your brand logo. Add any metrics or numbers you have to support the results they mention.
The Cincopa video hosting platform makes recording customer testimonials easy with its RecTrace tool.
Where to use testimonial videos
The final step you need to take is to make sure as many people as possible see your video testimonials. You must place them where your prospects can see them and where they support your call to action. Where you place video for conversion will be different from video that supports the awareness stage of the customer journey.
Website
Adding trust-building video content to your website that incorporates video SEO improves its search engine rankings and drives more traffic to the site. Most marketers find that video helps to keep visitors on a website for longer.
The Cincopa platform allows you to organize your video testimonials in a gallery. You can use high-quality live streaming and create video-on-demand (VOD) for your website. Embedding a gallery on your website is easy as you simply use an embed code.
Video landing page testimonials can increase conversions by 80%. Videos on sales pages can influence purchasing decisions as they offer social proof that your products or services are as good as you say they are.
Social media
Sharing testimonial videos on social media can help them to reach a wide audience. Using a clip of an ‘aha’ moment can work well on social media.
Repurposing each video testimonial can extend its impact across channels. A short snippet from a longer testimonial can serve as powerful social content. You can create 15-second videos for Instagram Stories or TikTok or a 30-second snippet focused on outcomes for LinkedIn.
If you want to add a personal touch to your email marketing, video testimonials can provide this. Studies show that video testimonials can increase open and click-through rates.
Other channels
You can also use testimonials in ads, podcasts, case studies, or webinars. Customers could share their testimonials with their audiences on social media. User-generated video content (UGC) offers the kind of social proof prospective customers want to see.
Video metrics such as play rate, drop-off points, etc. show which video testimonials resonate with your audience. You can refine your approach with access to data insights you can get from video analytics.
Whether using videos in corporate training or for marketing purposes, it is essential to use the right video hosting platform. The Cincopa platform helps marketers to host, organize, and embed video testimonials. It offers viewer analytics and branding tools to maximize trust and conversions.
Conclusion: Let your customers become your best salespeople
Video testimonials marketing is one of the best ways to build credibility and trust. These videos can influence potential customers by offering honest feedback about your products or services. Creating, managing, and optimizing these testimonial videos is easy when using the CIncopa platform. Visit its home page and you can sign up for a free trial so you can explore its solutions for creating memorable video testimonials.
