How do customer testimonial videos play an important role in establishing brand credibility?
According to a recent video marketing survey, a whopping 92 percent of marketers are using videos as an essential component of their overall marketing strategy. And it makes sense, as the same report points out that a good 86 percent of businesses are using videos as a promotional tool.
Hence, if you are a business owner, your best bet is video content, especially when it comes to increasing brand awareness among your target audience. But the question remains what kind of video content you should make? This is where customer testimonial videos enter the picture.
- What are customer testimonial videos?
Customer testimonials are the opinions of your existing customers about your product or service after using it. For example, when customers convey what they think about your brand via a video, these are called customer testimonial videos.
But these are not just opinions of your customers or clients, these are essentially their experiences with your brand. When shared with other prospective consumers, these testimonials can prove to be highly successful in attracting new audiences to your brand.
- Why are customer testimonials crucial?
As per a recent 2021 survey by Brightlocal, as many as 77% of consumers are now either ‘always’ or ‘regularly’ reading reviews whenever they are searching businesses online. A similar finding was published in Vendesta, according to which a staggering 92 percent of consumers are now reading reviews online before making any purchase decisions. Even more surprising is the fact that as high as 94 percent of consumers prefer using products/services of a brand that has a rating of at least 4 or above. These statistics shed a light on a very important fact- for consumers, the opinion of other consumers is of paramount importance.
What you think about your brand does not matter much to a prospective buyer. What he/she is interested in knowing is what other customers have to say about your product or service. Whether or not they think it’s worth it is what’s important.
So as a business owner, you can spend a good amount of your hard-earned money on advertisements, but if you do not have social proof to back up your lofty promises, you won’t see conversions. To click on buy, a consumer needs to have trust in your brand, and this is where customer testimonial videos can play a crucial role.
- How do Consumer testimonial videos establish brand credibility?
- Video testimonials provide exposure to a brand.
How much you can grow as a business directly depends on the number of people you can reach. Video testimonials are a great tool to reach new audiences. According to a recent consumer survey by Brightlocal, a whopping 90 percent read online reviews of local enterprises.
Not just that, a good 80 percent are highly likely to provide a review if their initially bad experience with a brand gets turned into an extremely positive one. Reviews serve as great content that is organically generated by customers.
However, if these are done in video format, it makes them even easier to share online. The more your brand content is being shared online, the easier it will be for you to reach more people, and the better it is for your bottom line.
- Testimonial videos are perceived differently than paid advertisements.
Consumers always perceive paid advertising with a skeptical lens. The thought process of any consumer after watching an ad is often laden with all kinds of doubts- “I doubt this product does what it says it does” or, “It seems like this brand spent a lot of money roping in celebrity endorsements; I wonder if the same level of attention was paid towards bettering the product.”
Hearing an ordinary person talk about how a certain product or service changes their lives encourages people to trust the brand.
- The engagement is much better.
Let’s be honest here; there is so much content available online. So, why would your prospects go through the trouble of watching uninteresting, promotional rants? Replace it with real people telling their real stories, and you have got yourself a winner. Customer testimonial videos do a great job of packaging brand information into effective, personal storytelling, essentially attracting more people to click, watch, and take further action.
- There is also a higher level of retention.
An in-depth review has its advantages, as a lot of information can be packed in a detailed blog post. However, it is a possibility that many people will just skim through a blog or just quit reading halfway through. Videos, on the other hand, have better retention.
According to Wyzowl, 66% of consumers watch videos to learn about a product or service instead of reading about it. As per the findings of Vidyard, the average retention rate for videos is 52%, which is a lot if you think about it. However, the length of the video does impact the number of people who end up watching the video. For example, 68 percent of people will watch a brand video that is under 1-minute, but if the video stretches to over 20 minutes, the number of people watching it drops to 25%.
- Testimonials add a human touch to your brand.
With automation becoming the norm, interaction with many online brands has become quite mechanical. As a result, customers assume that their queries will most likely be resolved by a bot instead of a living, breathing human being.
In today’s highly automated environment, watching and hearing a real person share his/her experience with a brand comes as a welcome change for many. In addition, video testimonials add a certain level of rawness and authenticity to your brand that professionally-made polished commercials can never do.
Even when accompanied by pictures, simple text testimonials don’t have the same impact as videos do. People believe something more when they see and hear it instead of just reading it. We tend to judge how honest a person is by watching them talk and express themselves.
Thus, when we watch and hear an ordinary person like ourselves share their opinion about a brand or service via video, we are more likely to trust them.
When your target consumer watches a customer testimonial video of your brand, they see a person sharing his authentic experience in an unadulterated manner. They can see that person’s emotions on his face and can relate to him.
People are more likely to buy a product or service when they are convinced that someone else has already gotten great results using that product/service. If you have customers who are willing to tell the story of how your brand has made a real difference in their lives, then there is no reason for people to question the credibility of your brand.
- It is immensely cost-effective.
Unlike big businesses that have all the money in the world to push their advertising campaign, small business owners do not have huge marketing budgets at their disposal. This is where customer testimonial videos prove to be a boon. You just need a smartphone, and you can easily film a testimonial video.
Also, you can offer incentives such as discounts in exchange for testimonials from customers. This will encourage them to provide you with excellent marketing content for your brand promotion without you having to spend handsomely.
Conclusion
It is becoming progressively challenging for brands to differentiate themselves from their competitors in today’s digital landscape. To reach your desired consumer base, you must put your best foot forward. And nothing does the job better than a well-made customer testimonial video that lets your audience know just how trustworthy and value-adding your brand is.
Author Bio:
Komal Kokate is the Co-Founder & CEO of MotionGility – An Animated Explainer Video Production Company based out of Pennsylvania, USA.
Her areas of expertise include business development and explainer video production.
With her disciplined attitude and knack for creativity, she and her team have delivered result-oriented and winning videos to hundreds of clients globally.
