A testimonial video is one of the most powerful ways to promote your business. It allows you to put a face to your brand and build trust with your customer base, which can lead to more sales and referrals.
But it's not enough just to have a customer say something nice about you—you need that customer to be genuine and authentic in their delivery of the message. Here are three steps you should take before filming your testimonial video:
Pick the right customer to interview
When it comes to video testimonial videos, one of the biggest challenges you’ll encounter is finding the right customer to be on camera.
For starters, it helps to have a solid existing relationship with the customer you’re going to work with. They need to be your champion and invested in your success. If they’re “doing you a favor” or begrudgingly agree to be in “your little video” it’s probably not a good fit. Your customer should be genuinely excited about being part of what you’re building.
You’ve found your champion, and now you want to make sure they can tell their story on camera. If you’ve met them in person before or seen other videos they’ve been in, this can be relatively easy to assess.
However, if you have never seen them before, you need to do a little sleuthing to figure out if it’s worth the time and expense to put them in your video. An in-person meeting is ideal, but a video chat or even a phone call can get you a decent feel for how they will perform under the big lights.
Decide on what story you want to tell
In the age of digital marketing, testimonials are everywhere. And that’s a good thing! They help us make decisions about whether we should try a product or service, and they help us feel like real people are actually using it.
But what happens when you get a bunch of testimonials that are all about the product? They’re great at showing off the features and benefits, but they don’t tell you much about who’s using it or why they chose that product over another one. And if you’re trying to convince someone to buy your product, that kind of information is invaluable!
That’s why we think testimonial videos should be more than just a video of people talking about their great experience with your product—they should be stories about real customers and how they used your product to solve problems in their lives.
That way when someone watches them (and hopefully shares them) they feel like they know these people, not just that they know how well-designed or useful something is.
Guide Questions for B2B Customers in Telling Their Story
It's not always easy to tell your brand story.
But, if you can do it well, you'll get a lot more out of your marketing efforts. That's why we provide our B2B customers with eight questions ahead of time to help them prepare their thoughts in telling their story:
- Who are you (name, role), where are you, and who do you work for?
- Tell us about your work and your company's business model.
- What motivated you to be in this company?
- How did your company help you make your life better?
- Did the company helped you promote your brand?
- What's the best thing you like from this company?
- What's your most memorable experience in the business?
- Do you see yourself working with the company in the next five years?
Additional resource: How to understand your customers and transform their beliefs
Outline your expectations for the video shoot
To get a genuine and captivating video, you need to tell your customers about your expectations. By doing that, they can better prepare themselves for video production.
Characters and Roles
Orient your customer(s), who will be there during the video production, and what are their respective roles. This helps them relax and picture the scene.
By knowing the people who'll be there, your customers can better prepare themselves for socialization.
The Venue
Tell them about the place where you're going to shoot the video testimonial. Make sure it's comfortable and free of any destruction so that your customer can focus on their thoughts and projections.
Attire
Give your customer an idea of what they can wear during the interview. They need to wear something that's in line with the theme of the video. Also, they should wear the right clothing that'll help them express their stories on camera.
Be Specific and Strict with Time
Don't stress your customer by letting them be on the set while you're still setting up things. You're wasting their time if you do that. So, tell your customer the exact time they need to be there for the video shoot. By doing this, you're maintaining professionalism in your work.
Final Thoughts
The three pointers I shared with you, those are essential in making your testimonial videos stand out. Whether you're hiring a professional video production company or not, keep those things on top of mind.
You can also check out our video marketing strategy guide for additional learning.
