You already know the importance of social proof for your brand. But did you know that client testimonial videos give you one of the best ways to attract potential clients and increase sales?
Regardless of your company’s niche, your clients are your best brand advocates — after all, people trust their peers’ opinions more than anyone else’s. So, compelling testimonial videos can be game changers in terms of deeply connecting with your ideal customers.
Just like how professional video explainers focus on helping clients understand your offer or how company culture videos are all about furthering your branding, testimonial videos revolve around helping potential clients overcome last-minute resistance.
But that’s assuming you know how to leverage the style to suit your company’s needs.
In this piece, we will go over some crucial elements your testimonial needs to be effective and explore a few examples and lessons you can apply to make compelling testimonials for your brand!
Where testimonials fall in the buyer’s journey
Not all content is appropriate for every part of a sales funnel. The buyer’s journey — a model of the process the client goes through when they buy stuff — illustrates several stages customers go through before deciding to make a purchase:
- Awareness: potential customers at this stage become conscious of their challenges, problems, or needs and start looking into possible ways to address them.
- Consideration: your potential customer is assessing and comparing the best alternatives to meet or solve those needs.
- Decision: potential customers now have all the information they need and make a purchase decision around it.
As you can imagine, creating different types of videos suited to each stage is essential to get the desired results.
Where video testimonials come into the picture
Testimonials work really well at the decision stage. Now that the buyer is ready to purchase, coming across a high-quality testimonial will often do the heavy lifting to push them in the right direction (your direction).
Watching a compelling video about someone just like them, struggling with the same challenges, and overcoming them with the help of your product or service is all most people need to finally choose you among their options.
This is why most high-profile brands upload some form of client testimonials on their website or YouTube channel and share them on social media.
If the content is high-quality and well-targeted, search algorithms will help you reach the right people at the right time, which translates into better sales numbers.
Here’s an example to show you what we mean:
Standing out: How to create compelling video testimonials
To build robust, targeted testimonials that connect with your audience and get results, you have to do more than have your clients talk about their positive experiences in front of the camera.
There’s already a conversation going on in your clients’ heads about their problems and possible solutions. So, your video needs to tell a transformational story that answers their objections and addresses any questions about your products and services. A story that shows them what their situation could look like if they bought your product or engaged your services.
But what does it take to make such a client testimonial video?
Make them client-centric
Most other types of video marketing content, like ads or traditional educational videos, are centered around your product, its characteristics, and its benefits. Unlike those videos, your testimonials should be focused on the clients: their stories, their struggles, their emotions, and the successes you helped them achieve.
In short, a great testimonial is about something other than you or your brand. It’s about how your brand can make your clients’ lives better.
People think about their problems more than anything. So, watching a person around their age, sharing similar characteristics, and talking about the same issues and obstacles can create an instant connection and have viewers pay close attention to what your video has to say.
Focus on tangible results
Have you heard the phrase ‘show, don’t tell’?
While most marketing videos tell potential customers what you and your products can do for them, client testimonial videos show what your products or services already did for others and how they positively impacted their lives.
Tell a story: Show a transformation
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell” – Seth Godin.
Humans are hardwired to be captivated by stories more than anything. That’s because stories drive emotions.
Storytelling is one of the most powerful resources to convince potential customers about the benefits of buying your products. Make your testimonials about a powerful story of the transformation the client underwent thanks to your product or service.
Build trust, be authentic
As humans, falsehood generates instant rejection. That’s why authenticity is one of the main characteristics of a good testimonial video.
If you haven’t gathered enough social proof to create a powerful, transformational client story, don’t make a testimonial video yet. Wait for your best clients to show up. In the meantime, you can use other marketing videos for your sales funnel.
Check out this testimonial video by doTERRA.
A note on collecting good testimonials
If your product or service really helped your clients overcome an important obstacle in their lives, they will be happy to talk about it. However, there are some key aspects to keep in mind when it’s time to sit with a customer and ask them to tell their story:
- Always ask for feedback on your products or services: Submit a form with basic questions. The answers will help you stay in touch with your client’s needs, wants, and challenges and find potential ones to interview later on.
- Find clients who are a good fit for your testimonial: These are the ones that match your ideal client’s profile, are happy about how your interaction went along, and want to provide a detailed account of their experience.
- Ask them to participate, and incentivize them whenever possible: Tell them they could help others find excellent solutions for their problems. They’re doing this for free, so be respectful of their time and provide a good experience during the production. Also, consider offering things like discounts or special deals to sweeten the deal and motivate participation.
- Make it about them: While it’s ok to highlight the benefits of using your products or services, the story and the client need to be the main focus.
- Create a detailed questionnaire with specific questions that are wide enough for them to freely talk about their whole experience. Send the questions in advance so they can think about what they will talk about beforehand.
Examples of client video testimonials (and why they work)
Okay, you know a lot more about the general aspects of creating great video testimonials. But before you go, let’s go over some great testimonial examples, see how these aspects play out in practical terms, and get some key insights and takeaways you can use for your content!
Hubspot Integration – Customer Success Story
This testimonial works because:
- It leverages storytelling: The client clearly describes their initial problem and how they discovered the solution by using the company’s services.
- The piece uses compelling visuals: They included shots from the events the client organizes, showcasing specific results by showing us how the company was able to work with great clients thanks to the company platform’s integrations.
- It doesn’t focus on the brand; rather, it focuses on the client’s problems and how the product helped them get from not seeing a return from their marketing efforts to increasing their revenue.
Amazon Seller Testimonial From the FBA Program
This testimonial works because:
- It leverages one of the program’s unique selling points and benefits: it revolves around how it led to a high increase in sales. It shows how this brand can expand the horizons of a product-based company — precisely the type of client they are after.
- It includes several client voices: Instead of the company explaining the benefits of using their services themselves, they use their client’s voices to state them.
- Featuring multiple clients on the same video can help you strengthen your point as a brand about a specific benefit.
Yum Yum Videos Client Story
This testimonial works because:
- Shows the client’s journey: It anticipates any objections or questions a customer may have about the company’s way of working by taking the viewers through the whole process of working with the brand.
- Leverages several benefits at once: By showing the whole process of working together, it mentions the brand’s main unique selling points in different areas, such as good quality customer service, creative process, professionalism, and actual results. This way, you can keep your video from overwhelming your viewer while still hitting several major points simultaneously.
Freshbooks – Sarah, interior designer
This testimonial is effective because:
- It targets the ideal client: by telling a personal story that many women can identify with, they present their product as an obviously effective solution
- It shows actual results like time-saving and effective organization.
- It’s short: it tells you a whole story, but it does so briefly and without overstaying its welcome.
- It feels natural and authentic: She laughs and clearly shows the targeted emotion (relief and peace of mind), which makes the whole video much more compelling from a potential client standpoint.
Let’s do it!
Nowadays, social proof often makes the difference between clients going to you or the competition. Client testimonials can be tedious, but they also can be a powerful tool to connect with your target audience emotionally, create brand awareness and help your potential customers become actual clients by making that final push.
The good news is most companies suck at doing this, so you have an excellent opportunity to stand out above your competitors. You can actually create compelling client video testimonials that help you sell more if you keep these tips in mind.
Guest Author: Victor Blasco is a digital marketing expert, Co-Founder & CEO of Yum Yum Videos and Yum Yum Digital.
The post How to Create Testimonial Videos That Actually Sell (Tips You Didn’t Know!) appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.
* This article was originally published here
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