The title of this blog post is not about cheeseburgers. It is about testimonials and how to construct one that is successful. I apologize if you were looking for something to cure your appetite. I will attempt to give you some juicy, get a napkin, solid advice on constructing a testimonial video without getting your hands dirty. Whether your goal is to sell more product, get more people to sign up for your services you will need some solid ideas on how to do a testimonial video.
These types videos can be very affective. I've heard it said that Testimonials are the next best thing to a personal referral. However, before we get into the idea that let's talk about how to prepare for a testimonial video.
Although preparing for a testimonial video sounds strange it's very wise for a few reasons. One if your client giving the testimonial is improvising you will be spending more time than necessary. More importantly you will have missed the goal of creating your masterpiece to begin with.
Have a specific goal in mind. Do you want people to sign up for more of your services? Are you trying to regain customer loyalty? Perhaps you want to let people know you're the answer to their prayers.
Whatever your goal is make sure it's clear so that it fits.
Once you have come up with a specific goal in mind, you can start to interview or prospect for your spokesperson or ambassador to be on camera. One great idea is to take a customer survey. This method may reveal who would make a good client testimonial. Another keen way of approaching the client testimonial is during a customer appreciation event. This can be very time consuming, but can yield excellent results if done correctly.
Doing a customer testimonial video correctly would include specifics, addressing objections and not faking or being phony.
In your search for the perfect victim, you will want to use someone that is very realistic. And can mirror what your perfect client looks like. They should be someone that you customer community relates to. Do the viewers identify with the client? What happened to the person that is similar to viewer? This is known as addressing the objections.
A good testimonial will include objections that the client was facing. Example: "I'd never tried a garden burger before since I thought they would be tasteless." This addressed the objection. The person wouldn't try the garden burger because it would be tasteless. The real objection here is how apprehensive the person was because they were concerned that they wouldn't be satisfied. The next portion I would be curious about is what happened? Did the person try a garden burger? Was it good? Did the person become a vegetarian afterward? Addressing objection will be the driving point to how powerful the testimonial video is.
Being specific is also more credible than being vague. The client may want to mention how long they have been doing business with you and how it has changed the course of their life. Did you solve a problem? You will want the person to explain how in details you solved their problem. Which sounds more compelling? The bacon double cheeseburger was good after the ball game. Vs. The cheeseburger was so delicious with the fresh tomatoes and special mustard, I ate 3 in one setting, now I take my family here once a week. Nonetheless it is more powerful if it is more detailed. The other elements that make the testimonial good would be not to over edit, support the message and don't detract from it, and not to be phony.
Over editing will take away from the rogue style of this type of video. It's important to keep the grammatical errors in tact. This will also lend to a credible product.
Credibility in this type of testimony should be a criteria. Choose real life people, with real life problems that you specifically solved. In other words don't use phonies. Don't get an actor to be your spokesperson or your cousin Vinny. This will ultimately show in the final production.
Supporting the message instead of detracting from it is key to a good testimonial video. Choose a non-cluttered area so the viewer is only focused on the messenger. Keep it short, Good testimonial will be approx 2 minutes in length, at the very longest. Remember to ask them question before the camera is rolling. If they come prepared with an idea of what you might ask them, they will be more confident on camera.
A good testimonial video will help encourage people to do business with you. Especially if it's truthful, the client can relate to the principal subject, and the message is clearly stated.
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