Film Testimonials for Authentic Brand Videos

Are you utilizing all the marketing resources at your fingertips? If you haven’t already created video testimonials for your brand, you’re missing out on a powerful source for quality content!

By inviting happy customers and clients to share about their experiences with your brand, you enjoy a number of benefits. Over the years, I’ve picked up a few insights on the topic while creating video testimonials for my clients at Tabrizi Productions. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Why should I invest in testimonial videos?

One reason to invest in testimonial videos is for their emotional appeal. That’s a big deal for your marketing campaign because emotional brand content is approximately 22 times as engaging as purely logical ads. You can dish out pie charts and graphs all day, but nothing can replace the enthusiasm of a good testimonial!

Another reason testimonials are so effective is that “outsider” stories give your brand more credibility. Praising your own brand doesn’t count for much and, honestly, looks self-congratulatory. Plus if we’re totally honest with ourselves, we’re all pretty biased in thinking our businesses are the best.

…But when you let others share their positive experiences with your brand (as well as how you’ve either helped them solve or handle their problems) they become ambassadors for your brand. Considering that 92% of customers report reading online reviews before buying (Big Commerce) and 72% only take action after reading a positive review (Search Engine Watch), that’s a big deal.

Testimonials also help strengthen the sense of community surrounding your brand. When you feature a client, you’re telling your audience that you value what they have to say. What’s more, video testimonials humanize your brand… and ads with faces get 11 times more engagement then ads that don’t.

Sitting down and having these kinds of conversations with your clients comes with a bonus benefit: honest feedback. Your clients will share insights about what they’d like to see in the future, giving you ideas to make your brand even stronger. If you take the time to reflect on any patterns you see in your clients’ needs and priorities, you’re going to get a clearer picture of who you are addressing in your brand videos.

Why should I invest in video testimonials rather than text testimonials?

Why choose video testimonials over text testimonials? Believability. As we’ve learned in the modern world of computers and social media, people can (and do) say anything behind a screen. Enough people have gotten catfished to know a profile photo doesn’t mean anything. So if you want to increase the likelihood of convincing the skeptics, video is the way to go.

A speaking, smiling human being is much harder to fake. Giving yourself this credibility boost with videos convinces perspective clients of your value, resulting in higher conversion rates.

Who should I recruit for my testimonial video?

Okay… but where do you find these good brand advocates? And what do they look like? This may go without saying, but spotlight people whose lives are a little better because of the service/product you offer. You’re looking for someone who genuinely believes you have helped them out and will share their contagious enthusiasm with others.

You’re also going to want to find someone who is comfortable with the idea of being on camera. They don’t need to be actor or public speaker, but you want someone who looks relaxed and happy rather than tense and fidgety. It’s easier said than done because most people have a deer-in-the-headlights moment when they stare down the lens of a professional camera. This is one reason to hire a professional. The right production company will ask the right questions to open someone up and knows how to help people feel comfortable and confident.

As for reaching out to clients about testimonials, it’s as simple as asking. Put out a call on your email newsletter or post a video about it on your social media pages. You can also reach out directly to those who have sent you thank you notes and compliments over the years.

How to Give Your Video Testimonial a Boost

Rather than a typical client recommendation, don’t forget to have fun with your testimonial videos.

Including both closeups and action shots in your testimonial videos is important. Closeups (or “talking heads” as we call them in the production world) create connection, but if you only include those stationary shots, you’re brand videos will look less engaging and static. At Tabrizi Productions, I always liven up videos with footage of my clients interacting with their brand in some kind of relevant environment.

How about a few examples? If you sell hiking boots, it would be appropriate to show your testimonial trekking along a mountain trail. If you’re a nonprofit that provides healthy meals and fights food insecurity (like my client Second Harvest of Silicon Valley), then show your testimonial cooking or sharing a meal with their family.

Another technique, especially if the testimonial is a longer one, is to include text in your videos. Because let’s face it—the modern attention span is short. Studies report the average listener retaining only about 50% of a 10-minute oral presentation… not great. By including key words and phrases on-screen when your testimonial says something important, you let your customer know what to pay close attention to.

5 Questions To Ask Your Testimonial Customer

Make sure to prioritize good questions in your testimonial interviews. Here are a few I like to start with:

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself and what difficulty we helped you to solve?... How has our brand improved your situation/lifestyle?

2. How did you initially find us? And how long have you been using our product/service?

3. Why did you choose our brand over all others in our industry? (What strengths, values, or unique characteristics have you noticed?)

4. How do you use our product/service and what are some of the results you’ve seen?

5. Would you recommend us to your friends and family? What would you tell them?

 Asking the right follow-up questions is also key to the interview process. Rather than asking one question then jumping straight into the next, I make sure to take my time. When I sense I haven’t gotten the whole picture or I want to push past vague/cliche statements, I ask for more details.

Know When to Hire a Professional

 As you can tell from the length of this article, quality videos testimonials are an intricate and intentional process. With years of experience on these kinds of projects, I’d love to help your company do them with excellence. Check out one of my previous testimonials and if you think we’d be a good fit, don’t hesitate to reach out!

If you like what you’ve heard and you want to learn more about how to create video for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Youtube, then don't leave without signing up for more "quickie" video tips, course content and exclusive video coaching offers that will give you the confidence to do it on camera.