What Are Testimonial Videos? How To Collect, Benefits & Tips

You may be going in full force with your marketing efforts, executing robust campaigns, promotions, and marketing strategies to catch the attention of your target audience but more is needed to get conversions and grow your brand.

This is where customer testimonial videos come in. They help you validate your claims and connect with your prospective customers on a personal level to give them the assurance they need.

Now, let's dive in to learn what testimonial videos are, why they are considered great marketing assets, what to remember when requesting one from your customers, and more.

What are testimonial videos?

A testimonial video is a marketing asset in which satisfied and happy customers share their first-hand stories and satisfying experiences, endorsing a brand’s service or product, recorded in an audio-visual format.

A testimonial video is more controlled than other forms of social proof as the video is recorded and edited before being presented to the prospects, choosing and highlighting the best parts of the videos recorded.

Why are testimonial videos considered an effective marketing tool?

Let’s talk more about the factors that make testimonial videos a great way to attract potential customers and get more conversions:

Humanize your brand

Testimonial videos give a face to the claims that you make, set up an emotional connection with your audience, and help them personally connect with your brand. Testimonial videos present the audience with real accounts about the usefulness of your product by featuring real people who are already using it, adding more credibility to your brand. It also gives your potential customers something to relate to as they might find themselves in similar situations or might use your product to solve similar challenges.

Higher comprehension and retention rate

Video content shows significantly higher retention rates as compared to static texts or images. According to research by Insivia, viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text. Also, testimonial videos require less effort for the viewers to understand. A 2-minute long testimonial video is more engaging, informative, and valuable for a person as compared to a 2-minute read of a static text. Videos can provide more information clearly and concisely to your viewers without their struggling to understand or feel the seriousness of the message.

More authentic

Testimonial videos show real customers speaking with real expressions. It is comparatively more difficult to fake a Testimonial video than a written testimonial because the natural tone and flow that are driven by authentic experiences are hard to imitate. This makes Testimonial videos even more trustworthy.

Easily shareable

Testimonial videos are easily shareable. They make great content for your website or social media handles too. They can also be embedded in your email marketing campaigns to make them more effective and engaging. They also can be shared by your potential customers over their network on social media, boosting your visibility and presence in the online world.

Let you be more creative

Testimonial videos allow you to be more creative with the methods you use to deliver your message. They provide the flexibility to add elements like graphics, illustrations, or background music to immerse the audience. With different ways of storytelling and video production techniques, allowing you to create more engaging videos.

How to ask your customers for a testimonial video?

Adopting the right methods and approach is important for gathering the right information from your existing customers and avoiding making your customers feel forced or burdened.

Let’s take a look at a few ways you can approach your customers to help you with a testimonial video:

Ask them personally

Ask your customers for testimonial videos by prompting them through personalized emails or a phone call. Let them know what you’re doing, what’s the reason behind it, where you will use it, etc.

You can use an ESP like Mailmodo that allows you to AMP-powered interactive emails. With this, you can even allow the recipient to book a slot for getting on a call with you or for recording the video online together as an interview. This reduces the friction and increases the chances of your recipient agreeing to help you with a testimonial video.

Use specialized tools

There are several tools, like Videoask and StoryPrompt, that you can leverage to request testimonials from your customers. These tools allow your customers to answer your pre-recorded questions by recording the answers from their end in the form of a video.

Conduct an interview

Ask for permission to interview your satisfied customers to dig deep into their experiences. Record these experiences and positive feedback to create testimonial videos. You can also consider interviewing your customers through online mediums such as Google Meet or through a video call on Skype and showcase the snippets where your target audience is present.

Social media campaigns

Encourage your customers to share their stories through their social media channels in the form of videos with hashtags that represent your brand. Reshare and repurpose this content to speak for you. You can also turn this into a contest or offer an incentive for customers who do so. For instance, feature the best video on a special page on your website to make them feel important.

Questions to ask for effective testimonials

Asking the right questions is important to bring out the message from your customers in a clear, concise, and comprehensible way. Here are some questions you can ask your customers for valuable testimonial videos.

• How did you first find out about our product or service?
• What were the problems you faced that led you to purchase our product or service?
• What made you choose us over other providers?
• What are your favorite features of our product or service?
• How did your life change after purchasing our product or service?
• Is there any feature that you would like to get added/removed?
• What is your favorite part about our brand?
• Were there any hurdles while using the product or service?
• What are the areas where you think our customer service can improve?
• Did you get value for money?
• Are you going to recommend our product or service to other people?

While these are some questions that you should be asking them, you can tweak them or add questions based on the specific industry you’re in or the kind of services you provide. To learn more about what you would get from each and how to effectively use them, read our full guide below.

What are the things to remember while creating testimonial videos?

Following the right strategies and steps is the most important thing to seamlessly gather customer video testimonials and effectively use them for better brand awareness and to attract new customers.

Let's dive into some important things to remember while trying to gather video testimonials from your customers.

Identify the right customers

Identifying and choosing the right customers who can speak for your product with confidence is important for the smooth delivery of the message. Choose those customers who have extensive experience using your products and have explored various use cases and applications.

Let it be more impromptu

Though planning and outlining your shoot is important to make your Testimonial videos effective, keeping it real is still necessary. Whether you are carrying out the shoot yourself or asking the customers to shoot their Testimonial videos, The real essence of the message is important to be retained even though you choose to script the shot sequences and the visual composition.

Guide them through the process

Make sure to inform your customers about the process from start to end. Let them know all the technicalities and explain to them what they are supposed to do. Tell them the purpose of the activity, about the information you need from them, etc. If possible show your subjects a testimonial video example for ideal results. Also, allow them to be comfortable enough to let their natural reactions come out.

Keep your questions open-ended

Ask open-ended questions to allow your customers to speak freely about their experiences and highlight their journey with your product. Close-ended questions will restrict the flow of the conversation.

Keep it short and simple

No one wants to spend hours looking at your testimonial videos or recording them for you. To make the most out of the exercise, keep the scripts as well as the recording sessions of your testimonial videos crisp, concise, and easy to understand.

Use data points to substantiate your message

Make sure to include quantifiable data to substantiate your claims and present the real changes your customers have felt after choosing your product. Data points make the effects of your product more visible.

Conclusion

Testimonial videos are an effective tool to market the products of your brand. In the present scenario, where online spaces are filled with marketing and promotional content, Testimonial videos can prove to be important marketing assets to turn your target audience into loyal customers. Ensure you guide your customers while they shoot and submit their testimonial videos and never forget to thank them for their support. Use these strategies and tips to boost your online presence and extract the maximum impact of testimonial videos.