Customer testimonials have been gaining prominence in recent years as more and more users rely on them when looking to buy a product. According to Vendasta, testimonials influence the purchasing decisions of as many as 88% of consumers. In other words, customer reviews can boost your conversion rates significantly!
That is particularly true for younger audiences, particularly millennials. A survey from Bright Local showed that about 40% of users aged 18–34 stated they trusted online reviews as much as recommendations from friends.
So, as you can see, online reviews and testimonials can be crucial for your brand’s success. But what do you get if you combine that with the power of video? You get a recipe for success, that’s what!
Videos are excellent at conveying emotions, are much more interactive, and users are more likely to engage with them than text. In the most recent survey by Wyzowl, they found that 84% of people bought a product or service after watching a video!
When you take all of the above into account, it should be abundantly clear how valuable video testimonials can be. After all, the importance of their role in the video sales funnel is undeniable.
Excellent! So how do you get started? How can you get video testimonials from your customers?
That’s what we’re here to find out! But before we get to it, let’s start by looking at some of the tangible benefits of video customer testimonials. That way, you’ll know precisely what you’ll be getting into!
Why You Should Consider Getting Video Testimonials
Here are three great reasons to consider getting video testimonials from your customers.
1. They Help Create an Emotional Connection With Your Consumers
Nowadays, customers want brands to be more than just cold, soulless corporate entities. In other words, they want to see the human element!
It is no secret that emotions influence consumer behavior, so your brand needs to evoke the right ones. That is why businesses worldwide have been adapting their strategies to cater more to their audiences’ needs. And that is where building an emotional connection with your potential customers became essential!
Consumers want to see that brands care, and video customer testimonials can help with that. Having someone give a genuine review of a product will resonate with your viewers and present your brand in the best light! After all, if someone cared enough to make a video testimonial, you are worth caring about!
2. They Convert
Considering that approximately 92% of consumers look up user reviews and testimonials when shopping, it should come as no surprise that they boost conversion rates. The effects of testimonials are more evident on pricier products, where a study found up to a 380% increase in conversions for products with user testimonials.
When you add that users are more likely to interact with a video testimonial than a written one, you will get a much higher exposure to them. That will inevitably lead to a significant boost in your sales.
3. They Provide Social Proof
Social proof is a potent marketing tool if utilized correctly. Why? Because customers are more likely to trust other users than advertising — that’s a known fact! So by providing social proof for your brand, you directly boost your reputation, customer trust, and sales!
But why are video testimonials one of the best methods of acquiring social proof? There are multiple reasons:
- Users prefer videos over text content.
- They garner 12 times as many shares on social media as text content.
- The mobile market is growing rapidly, and videos are among the most widely consumed types of content on mobile devices.
So if you want your users’ glowing reviews of your brand to reach as many people as possible, the best way to ensure that will be to get video testimonials from your customers!
How to Get Video Testimonials From Customers
Now that you have some excellent reasons to want to get some video testimonials, let’s look at how you can do it!
1. Ask Them Nicely
OK, this first one is a no-brainer. The easiest way to get someone to do something for you is to ask them! So what you should do is make a post on social media asking your users to do this.
Alternatively, if you’re looking to be selective about your reviews, you should go through your list of clients and find the most notable ones. Then, you should contact and ask them to leave a video testimonial for you. You could do that by sending them an email or a personalized video, the latter being the better choice.
After you get your review, all you’ll have left to do is put them on your site’s landing page and promote them on social media!
Note: Your users might be reluctant to leave a video testimonial if they don’t feel comfortable on camera. If that happens, you should reassure them there is nothing to be afraid of and direct them to our article on how to overcome camera shyness. That could help them get over it once and for all!
2. Do the Hard Work for Them
If you get a negative response from your customers, it might be because they lack time to prepare. That is why you can maximize your chances by doing the brunt of the work for them!
But what do we mean by that? Help them prepare! There are a few things you can do to make their recording process significantly easier:
- Tell them what you’re hoping to hear.
- Put an outline together they can stick to during their video or even write an entire script.
- Offer to do all the post-production duties for them (video and audio editing).
The goal is to make your reviewers’ lives as easy as possible. The less work they have to do, the more likely they’ll be to accept to share their experience on video!
3. Show Them the Value of Their Testimonial
The way you ask your customers to leave their video testimonials is as crucial as the act itself! When you reach out to them, the emphasis should be on them — why they found your product helpful, their experiences, etc. Focus on your customers’ successes when asking for a review, as that will make them feel much more valued and appreciated. Also, by letting them tell their story, you will get a much more credible and engaging testimonial!
4. Interview Them
Interviews are a type of video content that fulfills the same role as testimonials, except they give you more control over the final product. Also, users will be much more likely to take part in interviews than make video testimonials themselves. Why? Because interviews are guided. That makes your customers’ lives much easier.
Another benefit of interviews is that they are less stressful for your consumers than if they had to sit in front of and speak to a camera. In interviews, they will have a collocutor, so it will feel much more natural. Also, active interaction between two people is much better at leaving a positive impression on a viewer than a single person talking to a camera.
Oh, and remember when we talked about the value of giving your brand a personality? By interviewing your customers, you will also give your brand a face! So that’s like killing two birds with one stone.
Video Testimonials From Your Customers Can Do Wonders for Your Brand
Using video testimonials can benefit your brand manifold, so you’d be remiss not to take advantage of them in your video marketing campaign! If you follow the tips above, you’ll have no trouble getting your customers to make some for you. But if you’re still skeptical, the only way to make sure is to try, isn’t it? So don’t be reluctant, and aim high!
Good luck!
