How to Create Effective Customer Testimonial Videos (With Examples!)

Picture this: you’ve decided to purchase a luxury sofa for your living room.

After saving up for months, you’re ready to splurge $2k on your dream sofa. You’ve shortlisted options from two different online stores, and now need to make the final decision.

One brand features customer testimonial videos with in-depth reviews on the furniture’s quality, wide range of color and style options, and fast door-to-door delivery. The other brand has a basic review section with simple comments like “nice sofa” and “very good” from anonymous buyers.

Which brand would you buy from?

Most people would choose the former with testimonials, no matter how good the second brand might be. That’s because consumers crave social proof. They want assurance and validation from like-minded buyers that their purchase will be worth the investment.

In today’s digital economy, friends and family are still the most trusted sources for purchasing behavior. 93% of consumers prefer brands that loved ones have recommended to them. That’s followed by 91% who look to online reviews to inform their buying decisions.

On the flip side, 40% of consumers actively dissuade friends and family from doing business with companies they dislike. This goes to show how critical it is to leave your first-time and repeat customers with positive impressions of your brand.

This is where a good customer testimonial comes in.

In this article, we’ll explain how and why customer testimonial videos are one of the most powerful marketing tools for your brand. You’ll also get a look at several examples of effective testimonial video formats – and why they work – to inspire your own marketing campaigns going forward.

Why customer testimonial videos?

We all know a written review is easy to whip up—videos take significantly more time, money and effort to make. Or so it seems... But we'll come back this.

So is it really worth it to invest in customer testimonial videos?

Absolutely. And we’ve got numbers to prove it:

• Video increases organic search traffic on a website by 157%. A website is 53 times more likely to reach the front page of Google if it includes video.
• 59% of executives say they would rather watch a video than read text and 72% of customers would rather learn about a product or service by way of video.
• 85% of consumers want to see even more video content from brands.
• Not to forget, viewers retain 95% of your message when they watch it in a video, and only 10% when reading it in text

And by next year, it’s predicted that online videos will make up more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic.

We’re heading quickly towards a video-first world and brands are catching on fast.

To stay ahead, create a testimonial video with PlayPlay's easy-to-use video maker. Elevate your storytelling and showcase your unique message with engaging visuals and professional production quality.

The challenges of making good customer testimonial videos

While customer testimonial and sales video videos are extremely effective in driving sales, they can be a little challenging to create at first because they are more in-depth than any written review.

A good institutional video needs to be high quality, professionally made, for example using motion design, and well-edited. So from the script to the sound and lighting, everything needs to be spot on.

You also need to get your customers onboard and ensure that they talk about the key characteristics of your product or service, and explain their experience in a way that sounds appealing and genuine.

How to create a good customer testimonial video?

Creating a good customer testimonial video is just like creating any other high-quality video. Think about your intentions. You want to get people to buy your product, but first you have to gain their trust. So keep that in mind when you write your video script.

A simple, but strong script

Creating a strong script is the key to most successful videos. Your customer testimonial video should have a structure and a flow to it.

Here is a basic structure:

• Introduction: Where the customer talks about their pain points and why they need your product or service.
• Middle: The customer describes why they chose your brand out of all the other brands available.
• Conclusion: The customer wraps up by discussing how their needs were met and whether they’re satisfied with your product or not.

Send questions beforehand

Customers are usually not professional actors, so they need time to prepare.

Send them a list of questions that will help them craft a great response. Here are some questions you could ask them include:

• Why were you seeking this product/service?
• What were your frustrations and pain points regarding it?
• How did this product/service make your life easy?
• What tangible results did you get through it? Any specific data would be appreciated.
• What's the one thing you love the most about our product/service?

Brief your client or customer about your plans for the video and how you plan to shoot it. This could be in person or over a video conference call. Suggestions on what to wear, where to look, and how to speak, would also be helpful.

Ensure image and sound quality is spot on

The quality of video is the one thing that can easily make or break your video. So you’ll want to show your audience that you care about every minute detail.

To do this, make sure your visuals are crisp and clear, and the sound is perfectly audible and there’s minimum background noise. Quality microphones can be found at low prices and are definitely worth using.

A recent study shows a 40% increase in views for captioned videos, so you should consider adding subtitles to your video to make it even better.

What makes an awesome customer testimonial video?

So what's the secret sauce for a first-rate customer testimonial video? One that instantly captivates viewers and convinces them this is exactly what they’ve been looking for, and urges them to click the ‘Buy Now’ button?

Here are 3 key characteristics of a high-performing testimonial video:

1) Highlights clear results and benefits

A high-converting customer testimonial video highlights specific results and measurable data. It talks about benefits instead of features.

A vague ‘it’s a nice product’ or a monologue describing the various features of a brand doesn't work in this highly competitive world. You need to teach your audience why your product is the best for them, like an educational video!

There are lots of nice services and products, so what does your product or service do extra? How is it better than all the other brands? How does it serve your audience’s individual needs?

It should state explicitly why the customer chose your product and prefers it over your competitors'. It needs to highlight tangible results that your audience can relate to and are looking for.

2) Looks and feels authentic

Authenticity is an essential part of a customer testimonial video that drives conversions.

After all, 86% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support.

Consumers are smart—they can easily see through scripted and paid recommendations. So it’s important for brands to create customer testimonial videos that are authentic, genuine, and come from the heart

3) Tells a strong story

People are driven by emotions. A customer testimonial isn't a commercial video about your brand, it’s a way to build trust with your audience.

This is where a strong story comes in.

According to research by Headstream, if people love a brand story, 55% are more likely to buy the product in future, 44% will share the story, and 15% will buy the product immediately.

So a good customer testimonial video has a story, a flow to it—it doesn’t bore the audience. In fact, it makes them take notice and forges a strong connection with them.

5 examples of great customer testimonial videos

When talking about customer testimonial videos, there’s no one-size-fits-all. There are many different types of videos that brands can create, depending on their goals and audience. Some of the popular ones include:

Storytelling videos

Weave a beautiful and emotionally charged story with strong characters that your audience can instantly relate to, like in a mini documentary.

Tesla does a great job at creating a beautiful story.

Results-oriented videos

Create a video that discusses solid facts and measurable data in order to convince new customers of the value your product/service can bring. Get valuable tips on how to integrate data insights in your videos in the post around infographic videos.

Real-time videos

If you have a physical store, you can add a camera to your store front and ask customers to describe their experience when going out. Authenticity is the key advantage of these videos.

Online stores can conduct Live sessions on social media and ask customers to jump in and talk about their experiences.

Here’s an excellent twist to a real-time customer testimonial video by Lush that tugs at viewers’ heartstrings. While not a regular testimonial by any means, it shows how brands can utilize real-time audio to create an innovative customer testimonial video.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lush Cosmetics North America (@lushcosmetics)

'Multiple customer' case study videos

A video where multiple customers talk about their experience. They can all talk about one main feature of that brand or highlight different features.

A great example by Amazon.

Customer journey videos

A video that follows a customer on their unique journey with your brand.

It usually starts with a description about the customer’s pain points and frustrations, how they found your brand, and ends with how your brand helped them solve those pain points.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Warby Parker (@warbyparker)

Wrapping up

All in all, creating one solid, well produced customer testimonial video could be far more powerful—and efficient—than spending hundreds of dollars on paid advertising.

What affects your purchase decision or how you perceive a brand? Are you more likely to buy a product after having watched a customer testimonial video? If yes, it's time for you and your brand to start creating some of your own.

Oh, and don’t forget that you’ll need video creation platform! Luckily, PlayPlay has the perfect solution for making customer testimonial videos—quickly and easily.