Everyone wants to feel like they are making an informed buying decision. They want to know that other people are using and loving your product or service so that, in turn, they will use and love your product or service too. A video testimonial does just that. According to Vidyard, 96% of B2B buyers watch a video during the decision-making process, and 73% report being influenced by a video while doing so.
So, you want great customer video testimonials for your website that will help drive more leads, sales, and customers. But where to start? Some people think customers can do it themselves. Others believe business owners should personally create their testimonials. And then, there are professional video production companies who specialize in creating video testimonials of happy customers talking about your products or services.
Customers can create their video testimonials
As much as having your customers create their own video testimonials is the cheapest way, it isn’t a good idea. Your customers probably have no idea how to shoot a good video or what makes a good video testimonial. What’s more, they probably never shot any video before. They don’t know what to say or what not to say. In the best-case scenario, you’ll get some videos that are not bad but haven’t got the professional quality you need. In the worst-case scenario, you will end up with some really bad videos that you won’t be able to use.
Use an app with customers to create video testimonials
Now there are mobile and web apps for getting video testimonials from customers. As much as this makes it easy for the business, the problem with these apps is that they are impersonal. They don’t help the person set up their smartphone. So, they might have bad lighting, not be positioned correctly, or have a horrible background. People need coaching on where to look and how to respond. All the app does is allows people to record videos.
Business creating their own video testimonials
The business could personally create its own video testimonials. The problem with this approach is that there usually isn’t staff skilled at shooting videos, interviewing customers or editing videos. In many cases, this isn’t the employee’s primary job responsibility, so what ends up happening is that the process gets started but is never finished. And what do you do when your customers are not local but are located all over the country?
Hire a professional video production company
The best way to get high-quality customer video testimonials is to hire a professional videographer who has experience shooting them. Like you wouldn’t go to an amateur if you needed surgery, it makes no sense to go to someone with no expertise if you need high-quality video testimonials. Thanks to the internet, mobile apps, and the video capabilities of today’s smartphones, the good news is that you no longer need an in-person video crew. At Remote Video Testimonials, we can produce professional-quality customer video testimonials using a 100% remote video production process that uses smartphones as the video camera.
So how do you get great video testimonials? Here are our top tips for getting the best results:
Know Your Ideal Customers
Before you start shooting, do your homework. Find out who your customers are, what they want from your product or service, and what’s important to them about the experience of doing business with you. This information will be helpful when it comes to crafting interview questions.
Know What Questions to Ask
Never have your customer video testimonials scripted. The secret to getting a great customer video testimonial is knowing the right questions to ask. As much as you can leave it to the video production company, no one knows your customer and their experience better than you do.
The key is to know the story you want them to share. Then, figure out what questions will get them talking about it until the story unfolds. You want to ask open-ended questions that require more than a one-word answer.
The most powerful testimonials are those that have emotion, which can be difficult when talking about business products or services. The secret is in asking the right questions so that your customer opens up and shares their story with your audience.
Interview-Based
If there’s one thing we know how to do well, ask good questions and get people to open up and share their experiences. Keep in mind that everyone has a unique story to tell, and our job is to capture these stories on video through fun, engaging interviews with your customers.
Video production companies are experienced at interviewing people and knowing how to ask questions to uncover the story you want your customer to share. A good interview involves finding the right questions and listening to the answers. It’s not about getting a customer to say exactly what you want them to say.
Asking customers how they felt before using your product or service is a great way to build empathy with your audience.
Professionally-Edited
The best video testimonials are the ones that allow your customer to tell a compelling story. The questions are great in uncovering different stories from their experience with your company, but how do you make it into a single story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is where it is critical that you have an experienced video editor who will take the 10 minutes of footage and trim it down into a compelling, engaging, and entertaining 90-second customer video testimonial. Here is an example of one we recently completed.
Make the process easy for your customers.
Having a customer agree to a customer video testimonial is a big ask. If you have a fast and easy process for your customers, they are more likely to say yes. At Remote Video Testimonials, we use a 100% remote video process which means it can be done whenever and wherever convenient for the customer. And because there is no equipment to setup, the entire process typically takes just 30 minutes.
A great customer video testimonial can be the difference between closing a deal and losing it. You will get great video testimonials if you have quality questions and the right person delivering them. A customer who has had a great experience with your business will go a long way to helping other customers trust that their experience with your business will be just as good.