Building trust is something that every business has to do if they expect to succeed. The more trust that your audience has in your company, the more likely you are to increase your customer base and bolster your company’s reputation.

The challenge, of course, comes in getting your audience to trust you. Most people tend to be a little bit hesitant when it comes to trusting a company. Just because you tell them you’re trustworthy doesn’t mean they’ll take your word for it.

However, they will take the word of other customers, which is why customer testimonials are so effective. And as far as customer testimonials go, testimonial videos will have the biggest impact. The following are ten tips that you’ll want to follow in order to create believable customer testimonial videos.

1. Use Actual Customers, Not Actors

It’s usually pretty easy to distinguish an actor from a non-actor. Using actors is not a good idea as they will come across as disingenuous. Getting your actual customers to provide you with a testimonial will be much more effective because their particular story will be unique and their delivery will be authentic.

2. Don’t Use a Script

Odds are: your customers don’t have any acting experience, which means  memorizing and delivering scripted lines may be difficult for them. Their dialogue may end up being stilted and appear hollow.

Instead of using a script, have a list of questions. Allow them to answer these questions in their own words. This will make their testimonial much more natural as well as honest – something your audience will pick up on.

3. Focus on the Benefits

When it comes to asking the customer questions, try to refrain from digging for answers that provide information about the product’s features. Instead of trying to focus on all the features that your product has, focus on the benefits. You can do this by specifically asking your customers why they decided to purchase your product and how it helped them.

4. Prepare the Customer Talent

One of the things you need to remember when you place a customer in front of the camera is that many of them have never been in front of a camera before. All of the things that go into a video production can be overwhelming and confusing to them, which may cause their testimonial to suffer.

Sit down with your customer talent before the video is scheduled to shoot and briefly explain what the process will be like. The following are a few things that you’ll want to tell them so that they’re prepared when they begin filming:

• Tell them how many people will be on set.
• Tell them how many cameras you’ll be using and why (for different angles).
• Go over the questions that you plan on asking them so that they won’t be caught off guard.
• Tell them how to answer the questions. They should incorporate the question into their answer so that you don’t have to use audio of the question being asked. For example, if the question is “how did product x help you?” then the answer should start something like, “product x helped me by…”
• Make sure that they speak to the person that will ask them the questions beforehand so that they are comfortable with them.

5. Keep the Video Short

Remember, most viewers don’t have the patience to watch anything over a minute long unless it’s incredibly entertaining or important to them. It might be hard to make testimonial videos incredibly entertaining, but they are frequently important to the viewer.

Ideally, keep your testimonial videos between 45 seconds and a minute long. Anything up to three minutes could work if the content is really strong or incorporates more visuals or data, similar to a mini-documentary or case study.

6. Have a Conversation With the Customer

Just because the video testimonial should be short doesn’t mean the conversation with your customer should be. Spend 15 to 30 minutes speaking with your customer.

Allow them to answer your questions fully and don’t be afraid to ask them to go into further detail. Start off with some simple questions. These can include where they are from, how long they’ve lived in the area, and so on.

These types of questions help loosen them up so that they aren’t as nervous when they begin answering the questions you need. A good conversation will provide you with plenty of content that you can edit down into an engaging 60-second video.

7. Make the Video Visually Interesting

Use multiple cameras, or different framing (close-up vs wide) so that you have various views of the customer speaking. This will allow your editor to change up the visuals throughout the testimonial, making the video more engaging.

Often b-roll shots can also be filmed and utlized in the video. B-roll shots can include the local area, buildings or offices, shots of a product or service being used; any footage that relates to the dialogue, and will help keep the video interesting.

8. Keep the Message Simple

Don’t try to pack too much information into your testimonial videos. Focus on the main problem the customer was having and the solution that they found with your company, product or service. Their explanation of just one or a couple key benefits can make for the most clarified and effective message.

9. Tell A Story

Viewers are more engaged with video content if a story is being told. Structure your testimonial videos like stories. Your customer is the main character, their problem is the story’s conflict and your product is the solution to that conflict. Use this basic structure to tell the customer’s story.

10. Make Sure the Audio is Clear

The success of your testimonial videos depends on what your customers say – so make sure it’s audible! Professional video production companies will use high-quality mics’s, and will be sure to film in an area with minimal background noise.

These are ten important tips that you should follow to ensure your customer testimonial videos are successful. A professional video production company will help guide you through the process and provide you with high-quality footage, audio and content. This is key to creating effective testimonial videos for your company.