The 8 Best Customer Testimonial Video Ideas For Your Company

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 one would you buy from?

Most people would choose the former with testimonials, no matter how good the second one 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. This is where a good customer testimonial comes in.

In this article, we’ll explain how and why customer testimonials 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 to this. So is it really worth it to invest in customer testimonials?

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

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

8 examples of great customer testimonial videos

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

1. 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.

2. Results-oriented videos

Create a video that discusses solid facts and measurable data in order to convince new clients 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.

3. Product review videos 

Product reviews are a consumer favorite. Proof? Google reveals viewers watched 50,000+ years of product review videos between 2015-2017 alone. 

With online shopping having gained a stronger footing in the last few years, you can tell the watch time for these videos has only increased. To add to that, product reviews are among the most popular YouTube video ideas. 

Hence, an effective way to go about creating product reviews is to ask influencers in your industry to review your business. 37% of people say that this approach is more authentic than a business pitch of their own product. 

Here’s an influencer reviewing an iPhone cable: 

4. Employee testimonial videos

The testimonial video idea is a perfect choice if you’re looking to recruit new people or simply want to showcase your work culture to give a peek of what’s behind the curtain.

Sprout Social has an Inside #TeamSprout series that features employees sharing about themselves and why they love working at the company. For viewers, such video content reveals a lot about what it’s like to work at Sprout Social while showing the people who work there. 

5. 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 clients to jump in and talk about their experiences.

Stores can also rely on their clients for their own real-time videos with their feedback.  Check out this example from TikTok of an Apple customer unboxing their brand new computer! 
 

6. 'Multiple customer' case study videos

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

A great example by Amazon.

7. Customer journey videos

These videos walk viewers through a customer, their daily business challenges, and how your company solved their challenge.

The goal here is simple: tell a story that resonates with viewers so they can see their problem mirrored in the business the video features and visualize how your brand can help solve their problem too.

Monday.com dives into one of their customer’s daily challenges with the client sharing how their daily life was without the project management tool:

8. Before-and after-videos

Before-and-after testimonial videos also tell a story for effect. There’s an obvious distinction between how life was (for the featured customer) before your product or service entered the scene, and after it – highlighting the benefits of your offer loud and clear.

The Elite Dental before-and-after customer testimonial video shows how the customers were able to benefit from the company’s services! There is a clear difference between the customers’ teeth before and after using the service, showing how valuable Elite Dental is. 

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 what you’re selling, but first you have to gain their trust. So keep that in mind when you write your video script.

Here are the 3 steps to follow when creating a customer testimonial video: 

1. A simple, but strong script

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

Here is a basic structure:

• Introduction: The client talks about their pain points and why they need your product or service.

• Middle: The client describes why they chose your brand instead of the other one available.

• Conclusion: The client wraps up by discussing how their needs were met and whether they’re satisfied with what you offer or not.

2. 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 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.

3. 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 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 the public why your product is the best for them, like an educational video!

There are lots of great services and products, so what do you offer in extra? How is it better than all the other brands? How does it serve your clients’ individual needs?

It should state explicitly why the customer chose your product or service 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 companies to make customer testimonials 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 video commercial about your brand, it’s a way to build trust with your audience.

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

So a good customer testimonial video needs to have a strong story, a flow to it - and not be boring. In fact, it makes them take notice and forges a strong connection with them.

How to ask your customers for a testimonial?

Step 1: Don’t ask them too early.

The best customers to interview are ones that are loyal to your brand. Don’t scare any new ones off with your testimonial demand! Stick to the ones who have used your product or service for a longer period of time. 

Step 2: Wait until they’ve given you positive feedback 

When you’re looking for customers to provide testimonials, don’t reach out to your entire client base. Not everyone is going to love your product or service, so focus on the clients who gave positive feedback. After all, you don’t want to interview those who have negative things to say! 

Step 3: Ask them via email 

The best way to contact your customers for testimonials is via email. This will give them all the time they need to consider your offer without any pressure. 

Step 4: Explain all the details  

Start by thanking your customers for their positive feedback about your product or service. Then, let them know you want to hear more about their experiences and opinions via an in-person testimonial. Make sure they’re aware of how you’re planning on using the testimonial video, whether it be posting on social media platforms or putting it on your website. 

Step 5: Don’t offer them anything in return

Try not to offer your customers any incentives for doing the testimonial! Not only is this bribery, but it will also influence the testimonial by making it less authentic. Make sure that your customer testimonials aren’t biased so that you stay honest about what your product or service can do. 

Step 6: Choose the right questions to ask 

If the client agrees to give a testimonial, you have to ask them the right questions! Usually, they will describe the positives of your product or service in an expected way. Make sure to probe them in the right direction so they take a unique approach to describing how your product or service helped them. 

What is the best tool to create testimonial videos?

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.

So, which tool is the best for your customer testimonial video needs? 

PlayPlay is the video creation platform that empowers Marketing and Communication teams to transform any message into engaging video stories.

With our powerful and intuitive products, the best AI technologies, and our focus on enterprise storytelling, we've enabled over 3,000 companies to make video their main form of communication.

Save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars by using our platform to create all your customer testimonial videos in minutes! Benefit from 300+ editable templates and team collaboration features to ensure that your customer testimonial videos stand out from the rest.