Why Customer Video Testimonials Don’t Matter Anymore (And Why They Do!)
Do Customer Video Testimonials Still Matter?
In this blog, I’m going to tell you why you need customer testimonials but more importantly, why it could represent the biggest mistake you’ll make. What research there is that supports the use of customer testimonial videos and what the ONE word should you avoid at all costs!
Customer Testimonials
You’ve got a great service and that’s born out by the remarkable video testimonials you have collected from dozens of happy customers. Yet do video testimonials still matter in a world where video content is EVERYWHERE?
Recent research by Pew Research Centre shows 82% of consumers look a business up online before using them. We’re all aware how important good word-of-mouth is as a business. Gathering your testimonials together on an independent platform like Trust Pilot or Google’s own reviews section is a great way to highlight your service over competitors. Can video make all the difference in leveraging your competitive edge?
Seeing is believing
The expression a picture is worth a 1000 words is brought into sharp focus by use of video. A video of a smiling, happy customer, fully satisfied with your product and the benefits it brought is undeniable evidence of how fantastic you are. Especially when you consider people might not adequately be able to put into the written word exactly what you’ve done for them.
Storytelling
When people watch a video testimonial they’re watching a story unfold. The person interviewed says what the problem was and then goes on to say how using your product or services you solved the problem for them.
We love stories. From gathering around the campfire and watching the stories unfold in the flames humankind has always been drawn to stories. What’s more, research reveals video has a 95% retention rate, while people only remember 12% of text information.
Evidence
The Content Marketing Institutes 2018 study concluded that case studies are the second most effective marketing tool. The third being video (FYI first are ebooks and white papers). By combining these 2 marketing tools; case studies and video you can produce an impressive filmed testimonial.
People buy people
When consumers see other people talking about a subject it means more to them than reading it on a page. 88% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Furthermore, 59% of executives would rather watch a video than read text on the same topic with people four times more likely to watch a video than read. This all means you need to start making video testimonial content pronto.
User-generated video versus professionally shot videos
Nowadays we all have the means to film a customer testimonial on our mobile phones so why not take the opportunity to film your client yourself? Well certainly do so! According to SmartInsight companies can see up to a 26% increase in site traffic when they share customer reviews on Twitter.
And here’s the kicker; if you have your video filmed professionally you can see a 10x increase in the effectiveness of your videos. So even though you may be producing fantastic stuff in-house by going to a professional video production company to film your video reviews it can pay off dividends (in every way).
Why “Testimonials” don’t work.
Drum roll. You’ve made (or had made) a fantastic video testimonial. But here’s the bad news; an increasing number of people don’t know what the word testimonial means. Which means if you list it on your site as “Testimonials” as so many people do the odds are none will click it. So the key takeaway from this blog is this: call your testimonials “reviews”.
From Yoasts SEO blog writing advice in October 2018; “Words with four or more syllables are considered difficult to read, so avoid them where possible” and the word testimonial is now one of those words a “no list”. Which is sad but also a prime opportunity for you to get ahead of the competition. So the solution is simple (if a pedants nightmare); use the phrase “customer reviews” in place of “customer testimonial“. Not only will seeing these “video reviews” be a useful sales tool to inform your visitors but they’ll understand your website section, your videos and your service that much better.
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