BY GREGORY BALL
DIGITAL MARKETING, SOCIAL MEDIA & MARKETING VIDEO, VIDEO MARKETING
Are you wondering whether video testimonials are worth the cost? We believe that they’re one of the most compelling and effective marketing tools out there, and I’ll tell you why.
- Buyers now tend to search online for testimonials before buying just about any service or product.
It’s a thing! Think about sites like Amazon and Angie’s List. They’re highly successful in large part because of the reviews. Potential customers like to see what their peers think before they buy. These sites make it easy. In fact video reviews on Amazon are taking off, and tend to be popular when they’re done right.
It’s the same with using video testimonials on your website, on Youtube, in social media or in an email campaign. Potential clients want to hear from their peers before choosing. Nicely created testimonials can tip the scale in your favor and persuade potential clients to choose you. If you don’t have them, and your competitors do, it could tip the scale in their favor.
- Youtube is the second largest search engine in the world. Your competition is posting video testimonials, and your potential clients are finding and viewing them.
Youtube is almost as widely used as Google when deciding who to hire. Chances are your potential clients are searching for video testimonials or reviews about you and your competitors on that site. Do a quick search for your kind of business or service, and you’re likely to see testimonials posted by your competitors. Look and you’ll see that you can find video reviews and testimonials for almost any product or service.
That’s because it works!
Many businesses and medical practices have caught on to this. They’re having testimonial videos created and posted to reach and convert all those potential clients. If you’re competitors are on there and you’re not, you’re missing a lot of business. If your competitors are on there and have professional quality videos and you don’t, you’ll be negatively compared.
Of course, if you’re service or product is highly unusual, there’s a chance that there’s no competition for you on Youtube, but this just means you have an opportunity to take the ground and reach more people.
- Marketers believe that video testimonials work!
A study from ascend2.comshows that marketers consider customer testimonials to be the most effective type of video that their clients use. However, they also find video testimonials are the most difficult marketing videos to make.
This is why it’s important to have a Director who knows how to produce testimonialsthat show your company or practice in a professional manner and in the best light. They also need to know how to draw out an interviewee to get the effective testimonials and great sound bites. personally we find that do-it-yourself testimonial videos give a less than professional impression of the business or practice.
- People respond more to video testimonials than to written testimonials.
People make decisions based on what they see and hear. Watching someone in a video discuss your product or service with emotion, excitement and enthusiasm is going to be so much more effective than just having them read a testimonial.
Dr. Susan Weinschenk says that emotions are contagious, so videos are more compelling than the written word alone. She also mentions that people tend to pay attention to faces, and a person’s voice can give so much more information to the viewer than the written word. Also their movements will grab a viewer’s attention. These things all add up, making a video testimonial an effective tool for sales and marketing success.
personally I find that video testimonials seem very credible. You’d have to be a fantastic actor to be able to fake one of these convincingly!
- People are influenced by testimonials from people they can relate to.
For video testimonials, giving viewers testimonials from people they can relate to can be very helpful. For example, if the person giving the testimonial has similar problems, or is close in age to the viewer, it can be more persuasive. It can help the viewer feel more trust and confidence. This is one reason why it’s a good idea to get as many video testimonials as you can. You’ll want to give your potential customers as many people as possible to relate to.
Keep your video testimonials professional in appearance to make a positive impact.
With all the video being used for marketing, testimonial videos have become essential to compete. Good testimonials shot professionally can give you the edge over the competition. For more information on why it’s so essential to keep the quality of your testimonials high, read my article called The Secret to a Successful Video: Why Quality is Key and How to get it!
Good quality testimonials do work:
