How to increase your audience's trust with video testimonials

A video testimonial, as the name suggests, is a testimonial in the form of a short video. The client usually sits in front of the camera and answers a series of questions about their working relationship with the supplier company. A fairly simply concept, but why are they so effective?

The reason testimonial videos work so well is because people are used to hearing what businesses have to say about themselves, but very rarely what their clients have to say about them and the few times they do, it’s in the form of a written testimonial or quote. The problem with written testimonials is that they are easily forged or embellished, and therefore aren’t always as trusted. People trust what they can see with their own eyes and hear for themselves. This is why video testimonials work so well, because they’re real.

Four times the amount of people would rather watch a video about a product than read information about it for themselves. If this is the case for a product, why would you assume it’d be different for the business as a whole?

So now you know why video testimonials can effectively contribute to a customer’s purchasing decision, here are a few tips on what makes a good testimonial.

Our Top 3 Tips for Creating a Great Video Testimonial

1. Create a Testimonial Questionnaire

Creating a pre-set list of questions and giving it to the person talking within the testimonial prior to filming, will help you to achieve an effective video. It gives your client a chance to think about their responses, meaning they’re more likely to give good, clear, concise information, making your video look much more professional by not putting your client on the spot.

2. Think Long and Hard About Location

Always prioritise sound and picture quality. You could pick the best-looking location, outside, in front a beautiful garden or water feature, but if the weather means you can’t hear a word your client is saying, you’ve wasted both your time and your client’s time. Always prioritise the sound quality above how ‘pretty’ the background might look. If you’re going to conduct the interview outside make sure you have a high quality microphone that can pick up audio even in heavy winds or that cancels out background noises like cars, flowing water or wind.

3. Capture the Viewer from the Start

They say it takes as little as three seconds to sub-consciously decide if you like someone or not. So why would this be any different when it comes to videos instead of people? How often have you watched the first five seconds of a video on YouTube or Facebook video and thought “no, this isn’t for me” and clicked off? To avoid this with your video, make sure you capture the audience in your first five seconds. Depending on the subject matter and tone of the overall video, a good way of doing this could be to start with something funny - maybe an outtake from the video or a particularly funny reaction later in the video.

Contact our Sheffield video team today to discuss your next video project.