What Is a Testimonial Video & Why You Should Use One?
The best marketing approach isn’t to solely chase visibility or to pander to an audience; it’s to extol the virtues of your company. You should aim to get your audience to understand not only why you stand by your company and what you provide, but also why you’re better than the competition. By positioning your company as head and shoulders above the rest, it’s only natural for potential customers to choose you over anyone else. While this sounds good, it does beg the question – how do you express the value of your company to your audience?
While it may be tempting to promote your company yourself, this approach will likely be pointless. Customers don’t trust a company to be an objective judge of its own qualities, and much prefer the word of fellow customers when it comes to written reviews. In fact, the vast majority of customers value the opinion of other customers, with roughly 82% reading online reviews before they make a decision. Clearly, company representatives don’t have the same weight in this regard, and another strategy is required.
One somewhat novel approach that companies are beginning to employ is the testimonial video. Video content in general has taken the marketing world by storm, proving to be more than just a viable alternative to traditional marketing strategies. Video is a medium that excels at improving brand visibility, information retention, and many other aspects, making it an incredibly persuasive tool for marketers. The benefits to the medium are displayed just as clearly in testimonial videos. As such, it is unsurprising that companies are switching things up, moving from the written word to testimonial videos.
What is a testimonial video?
Testimonial videos are essentially an elaborate customer review in video form. With this format, companies take a customer’s positive experience and create a case study of it, featuring what parts of your product or service led to the customer’s positive experience.
Testimonial videos tend to follow the same path; a customer outlines a problem they were facing and how it forced them to turn to the market for a solution, then explains how your product or service provided that solution. Similar to the purpose of a written customer review, these video testimonies can have a great effect on other customers’ decisions to buy your products or services. The opinions of fellow customers are a type of social proof, after all; if people in a similar position to a potential customer liked your product, they probably will too.
As part of a wider marketing strategy, testimonial videos can be exceedingly effective. While beneficial on their own, they truly excel toward the end of an overarching marketing strategy. Testimonial videos can be just what a customer needs to dispel any remaining hesitation and make a purchase.
Why use a testimonial video?
We’ve explained that testimonial videos are effective at getting you conversions, but why is that the case? More importantly, why are testimonial videos worth the investment of your time and resources? After all, though written reviews might not pack the same punch, they are much easier to create and require less investment than a video.
The answer is quite simple – the effectiveness of video vastly overshadows the written word. As we mentioned, people value the opinion of their fellow customers more than a company rep, but this doesn’t mean they are always a decisive element in converting a hesitant customer. Consider the times you have skimmed through reviews on Amazon, or for a company you were considering buying from. Sure, some reviews can be helpful, but it can be a challenge to sift through the overwhelming number of vague, inaccurate, or otherwise useless reviews to reach them.
In addition to these issues, other more recent problems serve to further obscure written reviews. Bots are steadily being adopted by some unscrupulous companies, seeking to take advantage of the trust most people have for their fellow customers. Similarly, review bombs can muddy the waters by heaping negative reviews onto a product or service. Regardless of whether it deserves it or not. Such practices are eroding the main attraction of written reviews, that being trust.
Testimonial videos are reliable
Testimonial videos are a much more reliable source of information and opinion, providing an in-depth explanation of what you sell and why people should buy it. As they present a customer’s experience in video form, they are more substantial than a written review. Your audience will see and hear the customer, allowing for a much greater experience than words can provide. Additionally, you can curate what testimonies make it into video. Along with cutting out any mistakes that may have been made without your oversight. In short, testimonial videos allow you to maintain the genuine, honest nature of a customer review. While also giving it additional dimensions and professional quality. This makes them more than worth the investment.
Examples of testimonial videos
We’ve sung the praises of testimonial videos enough; let’s take a look at what they look like in practice. Here are a few examples of what your testimonial video might look like:
Coppin State University – Student Testimony
Testimonial videos are often used by universities to highlight the experience of students. Coppin State University has employed the video type perfectly. Showing that an education there places the student first, regardless of the background of said student, or how out of the norm they might be. In this video, the student relates her background, sharing an experience many can connect with. Similarly, her concerns are also fairly common, and result in her choosing to study at Coppin State University, as they are an excellent fit for her needs. Potential students in a similar position to her can then leave with a good idea of what their experience might be, and may well end up choosing to study there.
Code Academy – Tommy Nicholas
Code Academy utilizes the storytelling and emotional elements of testimonial videos brilliantly, resulting in this video. Rather than follow the usual path of a longer-form piece of content that details all their accomplishments, they instead chose to highlight a fantastic success story. In a mere fifty seconds, Code Academy implicitly states how powerful coding can be. How quickly it can be learned well, and how it can be used to radically change people’s lives. The audience is left thinking about what could be if they chose to use Code Academy. Rather than be bored with statistics that don’t and can’t benefit a viewer personally.
Dropbox – Multiple Customer Stories
While our other examples focus on the experience of a single customer. Dropbox decided to buck the trend and tell the stories of several of their happy customers. This approach highlights how Dropbox can be used by anyone, regardless of industry, and deliver an excellent service that solves a problem.
Wrapping up
The opinions of fellow customers can be a decisive influence on whether a potential customer converts. Understandably, people don’t trust a company to provide anything but glowing praise for their products or services. Regardless of whether it’s true or not. As such, the opinion of another customer is vital.
Testimonial videos provide companies with an excellent opportunity to share the experiences of their happy customers. They retain the trustworthiness of customer reviews. While leaving behind the imperfections of the written word and adding a professional level of quality. Why not get started on your testimonial video today?
