Testimonial videos: a testament to your worth
Why we should be encouraging your existing clients to join the sales process.
It's completely true to assume that customer testimonials, videos of your clients talking about the successes that they shared with your business, can do a fair amount of the graft when it comes to the marketing and sales process, helping nudge deals further up the sales funnel and encourage potential clients to feel safe in your hands. It can also do an even more basic job of proving who you are and why you are valuable. Ultimately, you've done it countless times in these instances, so why would you not be able to do it again?
Clients can learn first-hand about your products and services from like-minded professionals, without feeling like they're just receiving another self-centered sales pitch that isn't ultimately about them. A testimonial video can prove how you are going to help solve their problem, which is the sole reason for your existence in their eyes - a valid point that should always be all but forgotten.
Why should we make video testimonials?
Attention spans are short these days in the digital age (around 8 seconds!) and it is only human that we only truly relate to genuine storytelling in the physical form - so a written deck or document is a) unlikely to be read in the first place and b) even if its probably not going to be as well understood nor taken as serious as a video. You've also probably heard the age-old stat that ‘65% of people are visual learners’ - video does all of the hard work for us in a small space of time and is ultimately much easier to digest than the written word.
What makes a good testimonial?
It boils down to the age-old human obsession with storytelling. If we don’t connect through our human experiences through emotion, empathy, spoken word, and body language, and give an example of where a problem was overcome, then we can’t expect our audience to truly engage with it. Nothing new here, right?
Bear Jam tip: keep it short and concise (ideally less than two minutes) - you don’t want to overwhelm people or lack in impact. Within the 90-120 seconds too, you want to establish who the customer is, the problem that they faced and then how that problem was overcome, spending an equal amount of time on each where you can.
Be sure to make your subject feel at ease and relaxed, make them a nice drink or glass of champagne if they’re not used to being on camera and make them feel like they are part of a big production. You should also be on-brand to the subject and tone of the client in question and incorporate the brand's logos, fonts and even music where possible to give it an air of legitimacy, you almost want it to feel like the subject published it themselves, rather than you did it for them. The more it feels like it is not coming from you the further the message will land.
What should be avoided?
It’s important to not miss the mark and actually apply expert knowledge of producing video content and make it genuinely insightful and engaging to watch, just like you would expect for any other piece of video content with your brand attached to it. Stick to the rules of great storytelling.
Also, don’t waste time (and money!) getting everybody that you know in front of a camera! Just as you would with employing anyone to represent your brand, be strategic about whom you want to put out there. Try and pick influential clients or industry leaders that other potential clients would look up to, pick a story with particularly strong metrics to prove that the main objective was achieved.
Finally, and this one can come with experience (you’re welcome…), be sure that whomever you plan to use is cleared by their business and their legal teams for you to use as part of your collateral. The worst feeling in the world is to produce something that can’t be used.
Why do testimonials work?
Ultimately a tried and tested opinion from a third party without an agenda is so much more powerful than someone whose job it is to push a certain narrative. There is such a thing as wasting time saying that your product is the best - you should be saying that about your product anyway - clients are much more likely to heed to the words of their peers whom they trust.
It's true what they say, after all, the proof is in the pudding.
What to see some in action? Click here.
Contact Bear Jam to help you through the planning, production, and post-production of your client testimonials here.