How to Create and Get Effective Customer Testimonial Videos

Creating effective customer testimonial videos can drastically improve your sales, but you have to do it the right way. 

A badly made testimonial video can end up hurting your brand. The last thing you want is for your videos to go viral for all the wrong reasons. 

So in order to avoid those costly mistakes and help you get the most out of your sales funnel, here are 5 proven tips for improving your customer testimonial videos and optimizing your sales funnel. 

#1: Build Trust with Authenticity

Potential customers love videos that look and feel authentic. 

No silly cameos from celebrities: real people who are actually sharing useful information about the product. Ideally, it should feel like chatting with a friend, not having a pushy salesman urge you to spend money. 

A video filmed in front of a computer by an everyday person is far more convincing and trustworthy than a big-production video from a famous influencer. 

In fact, 96% of people say they don’t trust influencers! 

#2: Show the Results that Customers Want

Simply saying “I love this product” is not enough to convince buyers to take the leap. 

Here’s what people are thinking when doing research:

• Will buying this product actually make my life better?
• How does it work?
• What are the pros and cons of this product?

And don’t forget: honesty is important. This goes along with authenticity, but you don’t want your videos to have people saying exclusively good things or raving about your product. 

After all, would you trust someone who said they thought a product was perfect, or someone who said “I love it, but if you don’t like charging your devices at the end of the day, this won’t be for you”? 

Honesty makes the benefits seem more real and reliable. 

#3: Show the Product in the Testimonial Video

It may seem obvious, but many businesses use testimonial videos where the customer isn’t actually holding the product or showing it at all. 

That’s a red light to potential buyers who are weary of fake customer testimonial videos. Someone raving about a product that they don’t actually own is extremely suspicious. 

Plus, showing the product helps give people a sense of how big it is, how well it fits in your hand, and most importantly, helps them imagine themselves with the product.

When filming your testimonials, be sure to send a sample. 

#4: Answer Questions Before They Come Up

Remember: people think of video testimonials as a conversation with a friend, not a sales pitch. 

But during that conversation, they’re likely to have questions. You want to try to answer those questions before they come up by including them in your videos.

Here are some common questions and objections people have while considering a purchase: 

• What are the limitations of the product?
• How long does it last?
• How does it compare to more expensive or cheaper options?
• I already have [popular alternative]. How is this better?

If you can address some major concerns before people have time to think of them, you’ll make more sales and gain their trust faster. 

#5: Test a Variety of Testimonial Videos

Split-testing your testimonial videos is an absolutely critical step in your process.

There’s conventional wisdom that says certain colors will increase sales: blue is legendary for “improving trust.” Yet in reality, no color will ever perform better than the others in every industry or product. 

And if colors are complicated, just imagine how much more difficult it is to figure out which customer videos will perform the best.

You may be surprised: a modestly dressed customer in a humble apartment may be far more convincing than a wealthy-looking alternative, even for luxury items. 

Don’t rely on any assumptions. Instead, get a variety of videos with different actors, in different settings, and test them out. 

Key Takeaways:

Effective customer testimonial videos are easy and cheap to make. In fact, low-budget videos often perform much better than expensive productions. 

The most important elements in your strategy are:

1. Split-testing a variety of options. 
2. Using authentic-feeling videos.
3. Addressing sales objections and common questions. 

With this fairly straightforward strategy, you can expect a significant improvement over your current sales funnel, all without having to completely rebuild your entire website or hire an expensive copywriter.