Top Tips for Video Customer Testimonials:
There is a huge marketing opportunity when you showcase your happy customers in a series of videos posted to social media -because we all tend to believe real people over really good ads. Customer Testimonials are easy to capture on your phone or camera – keep these tips in mind and you’ll get better, faster;
Set them up for success;
After inviting a customer to participate, explain what you’d like from them (and why) talk about the taping process (and how easy it will be) let them know that flubs are ok, you’ll just use the best takes so they look good – and then make sure you film in a quiet, quietish spot with good light (natural light is usually best) using decent equipment.
Ask them to answer in full sentences, or to repeat the question, so you can edit yourself out of the video – after all, it’s about them and their experience. Let your customer do the talking – no rehearsed answers, but do ask the right questions. Instead of “what do you like about us?” Ask “what’s your favorite thing about…” and followup with emotion questions “how did you feel after…”
Video Customer Testimonials flow better when you ask results focused questions; “tell me a little bit about how your life was better after…” or “what changes did you notice (or feel)?” Tell the before and after story – ideally your customer will describe their problem (which will resonate with every viewer with a similar problem) their experience with you; buying the thing, getting the advice, using the service – they describe what you do and sell, your mechanism if you will, and then ask them about their life now, how is it better, faster, easier – what results are they enjoying? What do they like about that? How does it make them feel?
Uncover the objections; if you encounter common objections of hesitancies from prospects as they consider buying from you, see if your customer testimonials can cover – or uncover those. It would play out well if they said ‘well, I saw this was a good thing, the right solution, but I was concerned about this ___ (could be a learning curve, switching costs, new investment, changing old habits, embracing something new) and then they proceeded anyway -or because of something- and the results were well worth it in they way___. This loosely follows a Feel/Felt/Found path; I understand how you Feel, I felt the same way, and what I Found was this __.
End Strong; an endorsement and a call to action – most of the customer testimonial you’ve recorded is an endorsement, it’s ok to ask; “would you recommend us/them to your friends?” then, see what happens – then finish the video with contact information; now you’ve raised the interest and comfort of the viewer prospect, how do they buy? Address? Website? Phone for appt? Let Them Know. Make sure to make it about them – ask “is there anything you’d like to talk about that I didn’t ask (may be the biggest gem of the video) and then when it’s edited and you post to social media, make sure you thank them profusely and tag them as appropriate.
Make it fun, let them be authentic and don’t be discouraged if some folks don’t really want to do it … not everyone is comfortable being in a customer video testimonial – but everyone will be flattered and some will become comfortable once they se others doing it. Customer Testimonials are evergreen marketing, meaning you can use them more than once over time – and you should absolutely post and repost as appropriate. Go have some fun – this may well be the most easily effective marketing video you make.
Video Customer Testimonials are just one of the many ways video marketing can help you attract interest from prospects and referrals from customers, for more on that check out this post on Selling with Video in a Non-Salesy Way
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