Hey everyone, Gareth here from Exposed Wolf and welcome to another exciting blog from my Video Strategy Series. Today I want to talk about Video Testimonials and whether they are worth the effort.
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Read time approximately 5 minutes.
Ok testimonials, these have been popular among marketers for years but if you want to portray yourself as a modern business you need to think about using video testimonials.
So what is a video testimonial? A video testimonial is where you ask one of your clients, preferably one you have a great relationship with, to say a few words about how your business or product or brand helped them overcome a problem they had been having.
You can tailor the questions beforehand or just let them speak off the cuff. It all comes down to their personality and their relationship with you. You can attend the shoot or just let the video crew handle it. Personally, I feel it is stronger when you are not in the room. This allows your client to not feel under any pressure to say the right or wrong thing.
If you are unsure of what questions to ask them here are a couple of examples:
“What did X Company do for you?”
“What was it like before you started working with X Company?”
“How has their product changed your life?”
“Would you work with X Company again?”
“Would you recommend X to other colleagues?”
Make sure you shoot in a relaxed atmosphere so your client speaks naturally and doesn’t sound like they’re reading off a script. Use their office or place of work. You could visit them at home and give it an even more natural feel.
It’s all psychological!
Now, we may try to tell ourselves that we only make rational decisions, but it is an emotion that is a primary driver of decision making, and video testimonials trigger emotions. Written text is sterile and boring whereas video gets to viewers’ hearts straight away. So when a customer is visibly happy and thankful because of your product or business, potential customers will feel it, too.
People just prefer video, and its not just consumers either. 59% of executives would rather watch a video than reading text on the same topic.
Users want to trust your video testimonials, and they’re prepared to. But you need to do your part to make them trustworthy.
The beauty of video testimonials is it is not only just great for converting leads. It also acts as a way to cement your relationship with your client. They will be honoured that you think so highly of them to ask them to do this for you. I have had clients that hadn’t worked with the person they asked for quite some time but by striking up the conversation and interacting again suddenly more work opportunities arose. They become ambassadors for your business as you are now front of mind for them and they will tell others they meet who may benefit from your services.
Consumers don’t trust companies anymore so relating to an actual, physical human being is more important than ever. Written testimonials could be created by anyone. That’s why video is so powerful at converting.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that written testimonials are dead. They still have their places on things like Trustpilot and Google Reviews.
What about filming them on an iPhone? Filming video testimonials on an iPhone can give you a very natural feel. The downside is you have a lack of engagement due to the poor lighting and audio. If you have a slick and professional-looking website then wouldn’t you want your content to look the same. You also need to ensure you have subtitles on your video testimonials!
Are video testimonials expensive? They don’t have to be. If you prepare your client with well written and clear questions then they can be in and out in under an hour. In previous shoots, we have set up a studio and my client has organised for speakers to come in at set intervals. You could get through ten people a day potentially. You can then drip feed this content out on Linkedin over a couple of months. This keeps you front and centre in people’s minds. Each speaker got a bottle of wine and like I mentioned earlier, had time to reconnect with my client. It was like a mini networking event. You can see examples of it in action here.
So the price of a one day shoot and edit could give you months of content for social media, video testimonials to list on your website, transcribe the audio from the videos into text and add to a blog on your site. Plus the incredible converting power of prospects watching the testimonials and deciding to do business with you.
The ultimate goal of any marketing tactic is to convert potential customers into paying ones. And for all the reasons I just stated, video testimonials are great at converting.
Creating a great video testimonial isn’t easy, but a well-made video can be one of the most valuable pieces of content that you’ll create.
Thanks for reading!
Gareth Carr
Cinematographer & Photographer based in Sydney, Australia
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Website: https://www.exposedwolf.com
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Exposed Wolf is a video production & photography company based in Sydney, Australia. With over 20 years of industry experience, they can help you with planning, shooting and editing your projects to give you months of powerful content to raise your business and brand.