5 Steps to Create a Customer Testimonial Video that Converts

Ever wonder why testimonials work so well? Easy — they allow people to relate to others who have gone through the same purchase experience. In fact, HubSpot found that 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video.

Testimonial videos are the ultimate proof that you provide value to your buyers because rather than you just saying how great your product or service is, your customers show it through their actual experiences.

Here are 5 pro tips to make a quality testimonial video that converts:

1. Keep it real
2. Prepare a questionnaire
3. Find the ideal filming location
4. Position your equipment… and shoot!
5. Edit your video

1. Keep it real

Create a special connection with your viewer by making a fresh and honest video.

Take the time to contact your most valued customers. Who would happily endorse your brand and your product? Who you choose will preferably be someone that once had the same problem as your current prospects and who could, at last, find a real solution in your brand.

What will they receive in exchange? A quality testimonial video will be a lasting tool that will benefit your content marketing efforts.

2. Prepare a questionnaire

Prepare your questions ahead of time. This way, you will be able to ask your interviewee about the key points without leaving anything behind. It will also help prevent against “stage fright” by allowing your interviewee to prepare their responses.

Consider the following questions:

• Did you have a problem you wanted to solve? What was it?
• What made you consider this product or service?
• Did you find any obstacles that could have prevented you from buying this product? What were they? (This question I really valuable as it might help you discover an issue you might not have considered before).
• Has this product affected your business? How?
• What features do you like the most?
• Can you name three other benefits about this product?
• Would you recommend this product? If so, why?
• Is there anything else you’d like to comment on?

3. Find the ideal filming location

The most important distinction that will let you decide on a place to shoot your testimonial video is: indoors or outdoors?

Shooting indoors can be less risky and easier to plan. Your equipment will be safe, and you will be able to control the lighting and surrounding noises. With an indoor location, shooting special effects or creating extraordinary scenarios will also be easier.

On the other hand, filming indoors tends to be costlier and it is harder to replicate realistic contexts. Examples of indoor shooting locations are studios, offices, lobbies, conference rooms or bars.

Outdoor settings help you minimize rental costs, and the setting and lighting are mostly given. On the contrary, you won’t be able to control ambient noises and people surrounding your filming location… and then there’s the weather! Also, privacy and security are harder to achieve.

Whatever you choose, the greatest decision is to go for the filming location that best supports the message you want to communicate in your video.

4. Position your equipment… and shoot!

Lights, camera, action — literally!

Sound

Choosing the right microphone for your video is super important to record audio at its best. Make your choice depending on your filming scenario. The most common microphone choices are:

• Omnidirectional mics: they capture sounds from all directions with the same intensity.
• Cardioid mics: capture noise mainly from the front, little from the sides and nothing at the rear.
• Bi-directional mics: they capture sound in two ovals on both sides, but reject sounds 90 degrees off-axis.
• Shotgun mics: they record the sound directly in front of them (even from a distance), but nothing from the sides or rear.
• Lavalier mics: these are small omnidirectional mics that can be clipped onto clothing and are usually hidden behind the collar.

Light

Indoors shooting goes well with a three-light setup:

• Key light: this is the brightest and most important light and is usually placed high up, to one side.
• Fill light: it illuminates the frame where it would be in shadows if you just used the key light.
• Hair or backlight: it helps separate subjects from the background by lighting their backs.

For outdoor filming in bright sunlight, you can use scrim to minimize harsh shadows on your interviewee’s face.

Cameras

We recommend you use just one camera for the recording process, as editing will be much easier.

For the interview, you can go for the traditional medium (waist up) shot, but be prepared for close-ups! They will add variety and help your video be more interesting to your viewers, like during emotional moments or for specific/relevant quotes. You can use your questionnaire to help you guess when these moments will be.

5. Edit your video

Once the recording process is done, you will have the raw material to optimize and make an enjoyable, credible, and empathetic customer testimonial video.

For the editing stage of the video making process, you can take advantage of the following resources:

• You can adjust possible lighting issues by adding special filters. With these, you can also go for specific aesthetics!
• Inserts and cutaways can be used if you lack interesting content from the interview or need to reinforce a point, but beware of not overdoing it because the video might lose credibility.
• You can add lower-thirds to identify the person speaking. In this way, you can save explanation time by adding the information directly on the screen.
• Brand your footage! Use your brand colors for footers, lower thirds, and cards. It is not necessary to insert your logo throughout the whole video, but you can add it at the beginning and end.
• Before rendering the final cut, ensure your video is between 90 and 150 seconds long. People get easily distracted on the internet, and longer videos get lower view-through rates.

There you go!

You now have a quality and engaging customer testimonial video for your business.

If you still have doubts about the process, you can always contact a professional video company to help you achieve your specific goals. Whatever you choose, be sure to enjoy it!

Filming is a lot of fun and the final product works wonders for every marketing goal.

Visit our new guide to online video advertising!