Word-of-mouth was and will always be one of the best ways to improve brand awareness and get new customers. People instinctively trust recommendations as it gives them a state of assurance. In the digital age, one of the most influential methods of video marketing is done using customer testimonials. It has the power to upturn conversions and encourages users to take action. That is why over 56 percent of people prefer watching customer testimonials before making a purchase.
A customer testimonial is a recorded review of real customers sharing their experiences about a business. It generally spotlights how a company’s particular product or service has rescued them from a problem, making it more convincing for first-time visitors.
Here are a few tips to create powerful customer testimonials that you can put on your company website or social media pages:
1- Connect with your target audience
Video testimonials play an important role in connecting your brand to the target audience and help them make a purchasing decision. Prospective customers are usually more inclined towards suggestions and reviews which are given by people who fit in the similar buyer persona. As a result, connecting with your target audience on an emotional level can help you reach out to more customers. The idea is to let your testimonials speak to their pain points and interests.
Every video testimonial that you create should feature customer persona, demographic information, personality details, challenges, and resolutions to match the brief of the target audience.
2- Offer an incentive in return
Providing an incentive in exchange for a video testimonial is one of the easiest ways to convince your customers to send you testimonials. Everyone is busy in their lives, including your customers. By offering them incentives like freebies, coupons, hot deals, and discounts in exchange for customer testimonials can help motivate them to share their positive opinions about your business, faster. Happy customers are more likely to speak the right words and influence others by telling their stories.
Awarding your customers with a giveaway contest or a loyalty program can also build your customer base. Giving free points, products or services can encourage your customers to speak for your brand. You can start by including a testimonial feature to your website that can reward your customers with great prizes and additional points.
3- Be creative and organic
Using customer testimonials as a video marketing strategy is worth the effort. But claiming your brand to be “the best” is not sufficient enough to persuade new customers to give your product or services a try. Typically structured and scripted testimonials do not really work for most customers who are already used to seeing too much sponsored content online.
Arrange the testimonials in a way that they don’t come across as too scripted which can eventually put off prospective customers. Instead, use genuine and natural words of your customers to create an effective and engaging testimonial video.
You do not have to be a pro in video editing or a professional testimonial video maker to build powerful customer testimonials. There are many video editors available online with customizable templates that can save your time and guide you in building your own brand videos, efficiently and quickly.
4- Give a legitimate reason
Explain to your customers how much their video testimonials mean to your brand. Instead of just copy/pasting the same email to all of your customers, hoping to get a response, take a personalized approach.
Show them how their message can spread positivity and help you as well. Most of the time, customers are too busy to even think about doing a customer testimonial. That is why, apart from offering them incentives, you can also suggest the tone, length, and the idea behind video testimonials. You can also guide them by sharing previous testimonials.
5- Thank your customer with a response
Express gratitude by responding to the remarkable reviews of your customers. Avoid limiting your response to just a “Thank you.” Instead, show your customers how thrilled you are to see their review.
Perchance you receive negative feedback, never try to ignore them and instead apologize for the inconvenience that might be caused to the customers and end the response with a solution. Acting graciously helps in humanizing your brand and it can even turn disappointed customers into your brand’s promoters.
Final Words
Capturing the experiences and opinions of your customers creates a connection with the viewers and helps in building a strong presence of your business. It is a lot easier for people to connect with a brand with whom they can relate with. By implementing customer testimonials, you are allowing your current customers to become brand advocates which in a way helps in building trust, credibility and patent social proof.
