Let your customers share your story

A customer testimonial video tells the story of a successful relationship your company already has with a client. We sit down with your customer, find out what problem they were having in their business, and how you solved it for them. Customer testimonial videos, or video case studies are a powerful tool for building trust with potential new clients. They can hear first hand how your product or service impacted someone just like them.

This first step in creating a compelling and effective customer testimonial video is to identify the part of your company you want to focus on. You could talk about a new product or service, and how it has impacted the first few customers who have used it. You could also focus on your company as a whole. What it’s like doing business with you, and why you’ve been a great partner for your clients.

After deciding on a focus, you need to find customers you can talk to. This is a critical step. You want to find customers who have had a very positive experience with the you, AND that experience should be relevant to the goals of the video, AND they should be comfortable being on camera. As with any video production, the pre-production is incredibly important here. If you don’t spend time thoroughly vetting your potential interviews, you could end up with a camera in someone’s face who hasn’t used the product, and doesn’t know why you’re talking to them. Do a pre-interview over the phone before you book a shoot with your customer. Discuss the goals you have for the video. Talk about what you are hearing from other customers and make sure your assumptions fit with your customers experiences. Narrowing down your customers to a list of 3-4 ideal interview subjects will make your video exponentially more interesting and relevant to your potential customers once it’s edited and up on your website and social media channels.

Next you need to decide where and when to film your interviews. Often times we shoot customer testimonials in the customers place of business. Meeting them on their home turf is usually the least intrusive to their schedule, as you’re not asking them to go anywhere. It can also communicate a feeling of authenticity to viewers. Yes this is a real customer, in a real office. In your pre-interview, ask if there are spaces in their office that would work for b-roll. Try to find some kind of b-roll that you can cut to for whatever you might be talking about. It can really bail you out in post. Also ask if what might be off limits. If at all possible, book out a conference room or other large space where you can set up lights and a camera for a few hours. You might also choose to do the interview right at their desk or workspace. It can be very effective to see someone interacting with your product or software, or just have it on the screen in the background. In that case politely ask them to clean up their desk a bit before the day of the shoot. Don’t forget to remove pictures of family or other material they might not want on camera.

Shoot day is here! The lights are on and you’re ready to shoot. Your customer seemed great over the phone, but now they’re distracted, and a little nervous. First, always look your interview subject in the eye, and try to have a conversation with them. Do your best not to step on anything they say, but do listen intently. If you are looking down at your next question, they’re going to feel like they’re talking to the wind. At TTP, we always push for at least two cameras on an interview. This gives us the option to cut between cameras in the edit to remove any “um’s” and “uh’s”, but it also allows us to cut together different statements that maybe didn’t happen sequentially in the room. This way, if your customer starts off on a really solid statement, but falters in the middle, then starts over and has a great closing line, we can marry that all up in post. Having two cameras can take a lot of pressure off. We’ve been in a lot of rooms where the interview subject asks “do I have to get this all in one take?” No you do not. Our goal is to make it as easy as we can on our client, and on the customer in front of the camera. That means keeping a small footprint to minimize distractions, and allowing for multiple takes so that even if the interview doesn’t seem like the cleanest messaging in the world, we have the raw materials to clarify your message in post.

Post! There are a lot of directions you can go in post, so we won’t get too in the weeds here. Have your subject give their name and title during the shoot, but sometimes a lower third with their name and title is introduction enough. Try to limit cuts while your subject is on screen. These should be strategic, emphasizing key selling points or cutting out irrelevant info. Cover more heavy edits with b-roll. Make sure the video is telling a story. Who is this, what was their problem, what was the solution? You want your customer to be the hero here, and what makes them the hero is that they chose your service or product.

The customer testimonial video is a tried and true method of communicating your companies value to potential customers. If you follow the basic framework you will be well on your way to sending a message you can be proud of. If you want help planning, shooting, editing, or distributing your message give us a shout.