5 Key Elements of Compelling Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonial videos provide a powerful way to persuade potential customers. When done well, they can increase your conversion rate and give your brand a solid source of social proof. Authentic testimonials are evidence for your audience that your brand can be trusted and your products and services really do offer valuable benefits for buyers. 89% of B2B marketers identify testimonials as the most effective marketing tactic. In order to make compelling customer testimonials, be sure to include these 5 key elements:

1) A Credible & Relatable Subject

Your testimonial video won’t provide any value for your business if your subject doesn’t come across as credible and relatable. Use a real customer who’s honest and enthusiastic about using your products or services.

When choosing a customer for the video, think about your target market. Do they resemble your ideal buyer? If your number one buyer persona is, for example, a female entrepreneur between the ages of 20 and 35, the best way to connect with them through a testimonial is not by featuring a 45-year-old male. While you obviously appreciate all of your customers, you have to focus on your target when creating this type of video.

It’s not so much about the way that they look, either. Your video subject should have things in common with your target audience, like the reasons why they use your product, and how they use it to their benefit. Have them talk about those things that are most likely to be the same type of draw for your main target.

2) Original, Authentic Language

A winning testimonial video won’t come across as dull, dry, pushy, or salesy. It has to have a natural, authentic feel to it to attract more customers. Using too much jargon or sounding scripted will be a turn off to most people, and they’ll simply tune out.

As you talk to your subject while filming, aim for originality. Don’t have them repeat the same selling points that you use in your sales copy. Get their authentic insight and have them share their opinion using their own language. Avoid talking points and resist the urge to give them any pre-written text to incorporate.

3) Emphasis on Benefits

Having a happy customer tell viewers that they love your product or service simply isn’t enough to be convincing. Get them to share the details about the benefits that it’s provided for them.

For example, let’s say that your customer states that your product has helped them to organize their bookkeeping process. That’s not very detailed or compelling; it’s just a broad and basic benefit. You need to focus in on the specific benefit.

Go into a bit more detail by having them share exactly how they’ve been able to better organize their records to simplify their bookkeeping. As you plan for the testimonial video’s content, be sure to point out those details that truly highlight and emphasize the benefits that your product has provided for the customer.

4) Engaging Visuals

Customer testimonial videos can be made very simply and the shots can be pretty basic. You don’t need a lot of flashy graphics or detailed post-production work to create a compelling video. However, incorporating engaging visuals will help build a connection to your audience and grab their attention.

You can film your testimonial in an interview style setting, where your subject sits down and shares their story and thoughts. Choose a well-lit spot that relates to your product in some way. For example, if you sell a service that helps your customers to run a business, film in their office or a similar setting. The background can help make the content more engaging and can be illustrative of your target market.

Another option is to splice in clips of the customer using your product or service. You can use an interview-style tight shot that’s focused on the customer as they’re speaking and intermittently show illustrative clips. Just a few shots should be enough for a quick testimonial. This gives the viewer a visual connection between the product and the video’s content.

5) Short & Simple

Any successful marketing video has to be short and to the point in order to hold the viewer’s attention. With testimonials, you want your audience to hear from your happy customer, but you don’t want it to be so long and detailed that it ends up being boring. Maintain a tight focus so that the message comes across in a clear, concise, and convincing way.

Don’t use long, drawn out stories to illustrate why your customer used your product and found it to be the solution to their problem. Going over what your customer will say in the testimonial before filming can help them to cut down lengthy statements and sum up their story in a tidy soundbite.

If your customer has a really compelling story, write it out in the form of a case study to share on your website in text format. Case studies can make for nice complements to video testimonials and can be used on landing pages, too.

More Useful Tips:

· Use a guideline instead of a script

While it’s important to have your subject avoid sounding scripted, do write up a brief guideline.

· Help the customer feel at ease

Take the time to build up a good and solid relationship with the customer who will be giving the testimonial. Their enthusiasm for your product and for your business will come across as they talk about the benefits.

· Pay attention to production quality

The quality of every video you create and share will reflect on your business and brand. Production quality can make or break a great testimonial, so be sure to use high-quality equipment when filming.

· Emotional appeal

The one quality that great marketing videos share is a strong emotional appeal to the audience. With testimonials, you can achieve an emotional connection by creating using an authentic subject that your target market can relate to.

Conclusion

A compelling video testimonial can boost your conversion rate and help build your brand’s trustworthiness and authority. Include all of these key elements to make your effort worthwhile and increase sales.