Brand storytelling through video is one of the best ways to connect with your customers, including those you haven’t met yet. When it comes to making a human connection, video is the next best thing to being there. In most videos, you and your team take center stage, but there’s a powerful alternative.
Testimonial videos.
In the world of video marketing, Tampa businesses use testimonials to connect with website visitors. These are folks who might not be social media followers or email marketing subscribers just yet. In fact, they might even be learning about your business for the very first time. Even so, testimonials work.
Your company is the bridge between where your customers are and where they want to be. But before they’re willing to set foot on that bridge, it helps to know that others just like them have made the crossing. Of course, text-based testimonials are a start. Video testimonials take it to the next level.
Compared to plain text, video testimonials are:
- More Noticeable: The eye can skip right over text, but everyone evaluates what videos are on a page.
- More Effective: Having video on a page makes visitors much more likely to follow your calls to action.
- More Relatable: Video shows other people “just like me” achieved real success by using your business.
But it’s not enough to have just one testimonial video.
To maximize your impact, you need a customer testimonial strategy.
Launching Your Customer Testimonial Strategy
If you want to use video content for credibility, you’ll need to start with some planning. After all, you can’t just take a satisfied customer around back to the recording booth to grab a testimonial. You’ll probably need some help from your friendly neighborhood Tampa video production partner.
Here’s how to get started:
1. Connect With Your Most Satisfied Customers
You want to be sure your most satisfied customers are the ones getting the invitation to do a testimonial video. Sometimes, you’ll know exactly who to choose, but it usually takes thought. One way to do it: ask for a Google Review from every customer who had a good experience, then follow up with the most positive reviewers.
2. Assess Your Video Marketing Strategy
Your testimonial videos should be an ongoing part of your video marketing strategy. If you’re already using video in your blogs, social media, or a standalone channel like YouTube, you might have an idea about what type of mood you want to convey. Your testimonial videos should be consistent and on-brand, too!
3. Understand The Customer’s Story
Testimonial videos connect with future customers because they recognize themselves in current customers. It’s essential to understand the customer’s story before the video starts rolling. Ask good questions that help them reveal their challenges and solutions. Remember: they’re the hero of the story. Your brand is the capable guide.
4. Set The Right Mood And Tone
Work with your media production partner to set the right mood. For example, you might have a place where you want to record all your video testimonials for consistency. Lighting, audio, and the introductory touches should be decided in advance. Give your customer time to relax and warm up before you start.
5. Deploy The Video Correctly
Just like any other part of your video marketing, professional testimonial videos must be deployed with care. Take a look at activity on your website – using analytics data – and figure out where people are most likely to engage with your testimonials for the greatest impact.
6. Keep Building Your Testimonial Library
Ideally, you’ll ultimately have testimonials focused on each product and every customer avatar. If you have a high-touch service, it’s great to have testimonials that spotlight each of your staff members, too. A pre-interview chat or questionnaire can help direct the video conversation. In a year, you could have dozens of clips!
7. Don’t Forget To Follow Up
Before you wrap your testimonial recording for the day, be sure everyone who participated signed a waiver so your use of the footage is on the up and up. When a testimonial video goes live, shoot your customer an email, perhaps with a small token of thanks. Remember, these are your brand advocates!
The Biggest Question To Emotionally Anchor Your Video Testimonial Strategy
The most important thing someone can think after seeing your video is: “That person sounded just like me.”
Even seemingly simple problems can leave people feeling confused, upset, and alone. The more complicated the issue is, the more profound those feelings get – and the greater the sense of relief when they discover something that restores a sense of direction. That “something” could be your business.
Because you understood a customer with a similar issue, odds are you’ll understand them.
And that understanding is the key.
Even a technically perfect video can fall flat if there’s no emotional resonance.
Often, that means the video focuses too much on how great the company is and not enough on the customer’s journey. This can be expressed in a lot of ways: from an interviewer who won’t shut up for the answer to an unnecessarily long musical intro over your brand’s logo.
A good testimonial says: “It’s not about us, it’s about you.”
It gives your customer the opportunity to explain:
- The Challenge: What motivated them to look for a business to help them with their problem.
- The Solution: How your team helped – in their words rather than yours (or the interviewer’s).
- The Result: Exactly how their life is better since they got the solution. What others can expect.
At Paper Jacket, we’ll help you record testimonials that really work. Even so, it’s a wise idea for your team to understand the emotional North Star of a testimonial video strategy. Ask yourself this: “If someone takes only one message from this video, what do we want it to be?”
In our opinion, the answer is: “We get you.”
Once you’ve recorded a video testimonial, Paper Jacket will improve it with editing and other optimizations to enhance the emotional message. That can be as simple as cleaning up the audio or showing the speaker at a different angle. Sometimes, it can be more complex: recording a brief intro to add context, for instance.
Whatever the case, you’re left with something that speaks to the core of what you’re about: not just what you offer and how it works, but why it matters. That’s where real emotional resonance comes from, and that’s the crux of a genuine connection. Capture it on video, and newcomers to your brand will reach out to know more.
Paper Jacket Makes Memorable Testimonial Videos That Inspire Action
When it comes to testimonial video production, Tampa businesses need a strategic testimonial video partner, not just a videographer. A videographer takes footage. A strategic partner tells multimedia stories that are true to your brand and true to life – the kind that get people off the fence and onto your schedule.
Contact Paper Jacket to learn more or begin.
