Most marketers want to collect testimonials to get the kind of social proof that boosts sales, but many get stuck in the process before they really start… unless they know the shortcuts that make it possible to obtain high-quality video testimonials at a fraction of the usual time and cost.
With the right technology, you can:
- Get more customer responses (since it’s so easy for customers to participate).
- Easily obtain high-quality videos (since the software does most of the editing).
- Get more testimonials at a fraction of the traditional cost (no film crew required).
That said, shouldn’t you just ask for written testimonials and save yourself the trouble? Well, no. For one thing, video testimonials garner much higher conversion rates than written testimonials. In addition, many customers find it daunting and time-consuming to write a well-thought-out testimonial. That leads them to put off the task, sometimes indefinitely.
Video testimonials are simple with Vocal Video — customers spend just a few minutes talking in front of their phone and they’re done. It’s a simpler, cleaner request, which can boost response rates.
Our testimonial collection platform, Vocal Video, was built specifically to make collecting video testimonials as easy as possible.
You don't need any special equipment to collect testimonials with Vocal Video. You simply get your customer to record them on a smartphone, tablet, or PC whenever it's convenient for them.
In this article, we’ll walk you through how to:
To get started using Vocal Video to collect, record, edit and publish testimonials and customer reviews right away, sign up for a free account.
Which Customers Should You Ask for a Testimonial?
The first thing to consider when asking people for a testimonial is which customers to approach. Identifying your best customers and/or those who have already shown their satisfaction with your brand, products, or services is a good start. However, it's important to remember that not only are you asking them to vouch for your brand and your product, but also they are doing you a favor, so exactly how and when you ask becomes extra important. We’ll get to that next.
Discover Who Has Already Given You Positive Reviews
A sure way you can identify satisfied customers is by looking at customer feedback on Google, Yelp, Trustpilot, G2, Capterra, and other online review sites.
If someone has given you a five-star rating, they're a good bet for a great testimonial. Additionally, if they mention or tag your business on social media and talk about you in a positive way, consider them for a testimonial request, a short interview, or even a full case study.
Choose Relatable Customers
Potential buyers who read or watch client testimonials from real people are more likely to convert into actual buyers. So, selecting current customers to whom your potential new clients can relate is an effective way to use testimonials to build trust.
When people see testimonials describing experiences with your product that resonate with them, they feel emotionally connected to the person who gave the testimonial and connected to your product or service by association. They believe these customer testimonials because they know that specific customer has been through similar situations to them.
The more testimonials you collect, the easier it will be for a potential customer to find a relatable customer experience in your testimonial library.
Ask for Testimonials at the Right Time
Writing a well-structured testimonials request is an important part of asking for testimonials. Make sure to thank your customers for taking the time to provide you with a testimonial, and make it clear exactly what you're asking of them.
Letting your customers know how fast and simple the entire process of providing a testimonial will be for them is very important. Make sure they understand how much time it will take to write or record the testimonial. Whether it’s a written testimonial, a quote testimonial, a video testimonial, or some other type, telling them in advance that the process will be simple results in a higher response rate.
If you set up an automated process to request a testimonial or review at a strategic point in the customer journey (when they make a repeat purchase, for example), this can also be a successful way of increasing responses. It makes it easier for you to ask for the testimonial and for your customer to say yes because they are happy with your brand.
Once you've identified the best time to request testimonials, make sure these happy customers are included in your regular testimonial request process.
Use a Customized Vocal Video Template to Get More Testimonials
With Vocal Video, you don't need to worry about collecting customer videos yourself because we've got everything covered. We've created 45+ Video Collector templates that speed up the entire video testimonial request and collection processes.
A 'Video Collector' is the interface the customer will see as they follow the steps to record a video on our platform.
To build a Video Collector with Vocal Video, simply:
- Make sure the questions included in the template are customized for your customers.
- Adapt the introductory message (or record an introduction video) so it’s tailored to your organization and explains why you are asking for a testimonial.
- Customize the entire Video Collector for your brand identity by adding your logo and colors.
- Choose an incentive to motivate your customers to provide a review. For example, offer them a discount, a free product, an Amazon gift card, or an entry into Vocal Video’s monthly cash prize drawing in exchange for their positive review.
After your Video Collector is setup, you can easily generate a link that you’ll send to your customers to record their video testimonials.
To learn more about how the Video Collector works, read our article on how to get testimonial videos from users.
Our templates come with three-step emails to ask your customers for positive testimonials. They include suggested text for each one, but they're fully customizable.
The email sequence includes:
Email #1: The Pre-Ask
This message explains that you want to collect video testimonials from satisfied clients. It gives a timeframe for collecting the videos and explains how long the entire process will take. Finally, it asks for an answer to this message.
Email #2: The Invitation
The invitation email includes a thank you message, which explains why you're inviting them to record a testimonial. It lists the questions they'll be asked, so they can prepare their answers ahead of time. It also offers quick tips for creating good-looking videos, such as, "Pick a quiet and well-lit place."
Email #3: The Reminder (Follow-Up)
The next step is to send an email reminder to anyone who has not responded to the first two emails. Remind them of how long it takes to record the video, and send them the link for doing so again.
After sending them a recording link, they just follow the steps to record their video testimonials.
Read this article to learn more about how to get testimonials from your customers.
Provide an Easy Way for Customers to Give a Testimonial
Regardless of the type or format of testimonial, it's best to make it as simple as possible for your customers to provide one.
You can ask customers for quotes, written, or video testimonials by providing them with an example of a good one, or some prompts for them to think about what was positive about their customer experience with your brand, such as:
- What was your experience of using our product/service?
- How has your life/work improved because of our product?
- Please share a story about a specific instance you found the product/service to be useful.
- Give specific examples, or metrics if you have them, illustrating how our products/services improved your situation.
Asking good questions helps you guide your customers into providing you with powerful testimonials that help you communicate your marketing messages.
Read our detailed guide on designing effective video testimonial questions.
Here’s an example of a video testimonial recorded asynchronously by a Vocal Video user:
You can see how the videos already include custom branding, text overlays, animated transitions, music, etc., which were all automatically inserted into the videos by Vocal Video.
Watch more example videos here.
Vocal Video Simplifies Testimonial Recording by Giving Customers a Step-by-Step Process
Once you've sent a Video Collector link to your target customers, as described above, then they just click on it to go to your fully-branded Vocal Video landing page where they record themselves on their own devices.
We never ask your customers to install any additional programs or apps, or to sign up for anything—so the recording process remains as easy and friction-free as possible, to encourage a higher number of responses.
Your Customer Records Their Answers to Your Questions
Once you’ve created a custom video testimonial template and sent out the Video Collector link, respondents can begin recording their testimonial whenever they’re ready. They simply click "Record" and are then taken to the next screens which include a series of questions for them to respond to.
They can record their answer to each question individually, giving them time to compose a comprehensive answer before pressing record. After recording, they can review and re-record if they aren’t happy with the way it turned out. When they're finished answering all the questions, they click on 'submit' and their video testimonial is sent to you.
You Receive a Pre-edited Version of Your Video Testimonial
Once your user has submitted their video testimonial, Vocal Video immediately begins working on automatically editing it. By the time you receive a notification that a video testimonial has been recorded, it's ready for use on any of your marketing campaigns.
Automatic editing by Vocal Video saves you precious hours of distilling raw footage into an edit that’s watchable and engaging for potential clients (which is more likely to result in conversions). It also saves you the expense of hiring a film crew and video editor to do this work for you.
Each video has the following elements:
- Logo scenes
- Text scenes
- Your brand identity, colors, and logos
- Motion graphics and animated transitions
- Automatic captions
- A computer-generated transcript
- Background music
- A call-to-action
We send you videos that are good to go as soon as they hit your inbox, but if you want to customize them yourself, we provide a simple suite of editing tools.
Using our drag-and-drop editing tools, you can trim down recorded answers, cut out complete scenes, and replace your default background music to improve the look and impact of your video testimonials.
You can also splice together several of your best testimonials to create a highlight reel for a promotional campaign, to post on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.) or to post anywhere on your own website (such as a testimonial page, for example).
We've built our video editor so that anyone can use it in just a few minutes by dragging and dropping simple elements into place.
To learn more about the benefits of our editing software, check out our article on testimonial video editing.
Vocal Video: An Easy, High-Response Way to Collect Video Testimonials
At Vocal Video, we've developed an easy way to request and collect testimonials from your customers in a repeatable and inexpensive way.
The process begins with using our template library to take the hassle out of coming up with the perfect copy to ask for a testimonial, and a three-step email sequence to make it easy to keep on top of who has agreed to record a testimonial and who has yet to respond.
We've also cut out the hassle and expense of recording video testimonials and made it simple for your customers to record videos asynchronously, without your real-time involvement. This frees up time for you and provides convenience to the customers — increasing response rates to your testimonial requests.
At the end of the process, you’ll have a whole collection of marketing-ready testimonial videos (along with all their transcripts, in case you also need written testimonials).
If you'd like to try Vocal Video to create as many video testimonials as your business and marketing strategy needs, then sign up for Vocal Video for free.