Last updated on 1st December 2023
Here’s the thing…
Every business out there tells potential customers that they can do amazing things for them. The trick is getting people to understand (and believe!) what you’re saying. And that’s where testimonial videos come in.
According to a Wyzowl survey, 37% of people believe testimonial videos are effective because they’re more authentic than a business’ own pitch. Testimonials are a valuable way to build credibility, win trust and generate social proof – three of the most important things for growing your customer base and increasing sales.
Testimonial videos are a great way to do this because they showcase people like your audience and reassure them of their purchase. Nobody wants to make a decision they’ll regret. Testimonials mitigate that risk. The bottom line of any testimonial is: try it, I did, and I don’t regret it.
In this article, we’ll highlight some awesome businesses and their testimonial video success stories.
1. Kettlebell Kings
Kettlebell Kings is more than just a seller of kettlebells. They’ve created a community where people can get training programmes, increase workout knowledge and even become certified.
The company has utilised this community to encourage customers to create and share their reviews and testimonials. According to Jay Perkins, cofounder of Kettlebell Kings:
“We feature product reviews heavily on our site. On our home page, on our product pages and more. When someone is in the prospect stage, they read the feedback in the reviews and that becomes their expectation for what their experience should be like.”
The company has had great success with this strategy and recently made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing privately held companies.
Kettlebell Kings further boosts the value of their testimonials by encouraging customers to share them on social media. Perkins says:
“We re-share customer submitted videos every day and we always quote the customer on it. We believe this encourages more sharing because people want to tag us so they can be featured with their comments shared on our page.”
Here’s an example from Instagram:
This video has over 15,000 views from Kettlebell King’s 400k followers and is a great example of how you can increase the amount of testimonial videos you have by asking your customers to get involved.
Key takeaways:
- Use testimonials on product pages to manage customer expectations and increase sales
- Utilise social media to share your testimonials and encourage happy customers to get involved
2. Frenchfluency
Frenchfluency is a tutoring website ran by a French learning coach called Angel Pretot. Video testimonials and case studies featuring Frenchfluency’s clients have greatly helped the business to convert more leads. Pretot highlights the importance of customer testimonials when it comes to the language learning industry:
“I’m a 6-languages polyglot so it’s easy for potential clients to believe that I am an expert at language learning. What’s not easy for them is to believe in themselves. Often, they have been trying to learn French for years (sometimes decades) and have very little to show for it.
It’s hard for them to believe that getting a 1-1 coach or enrolling in a group coaching program will help them make progress fast within the following months, as if by magic. Especially as my “competition” keeps promising impossible results and failing to deliver (and most potential clients have already suffered from this). Video case studies and testimonials help with that.”
To encourage customers to participate in video testimonials, Pretot offers a one hour coaching session for free (the usual price is $200) and uses a small portion of that time to record the testimonial. So the customer gets a great deal, and so does the site – because the testimonial can be used to bring in more customers.
As Pretot mentioned above, many potential customers already feel discouraged and like they have failed when it comes to learning French, so it’s important to show the perspective of happy customers to help them believe in themselves again. Pretot continues,
“When your potential client can see people just like them telling where they were at before they worked with you, how they felt (often mentioning the exact same doubts and insecurities), and how their French skills, life and confidence evolved thanks to enrolling in the coaching, suddenly your sales job becomes so much easier.”
Here’s an example of one of Frenchfluency’s testimonials:
These videos are featured on the French Fluency Accelerator page of the site, which has a call to action button to encourage new customers to sign up.
As you can see, the video is quite basic – no more than a screen-recorded video chat. But this just goes to show that you don’t need a video with lots of bells and whistles to generate great results.
Key takeaways:
- Utilise happy customers to instil confidence in potential buyers
- Encourage customers to give testimonials by offering them something of value
- Include call-to-action buttons on the same page as your testimonial videos
3. Cardinal Digital Marketing
Cardinal Digital Marketing is an award-winning SEO agency that works with a variety of different customers. The company uses video testimonials to win new customers from specific industries and niches that they work with.
In 2018, they generated 18% more organic client leads from video testimonials alone. They also found that 40% of new customers viewed their Case Studies page prior to becoming a client. When speaking about the key to creating a great testimonial video, CEO of Cardinal, Alex Membrillo, said:
“When looking for a client to feature in a testimonial or case study, you want to begin looking for clients who have been with you long enough for there to be data available to show results. On the video side, you need to identify customers who you think will be comfortable in front of a camera. We always offer to film the testimonials at their office, as we’ve found customers are usually more natural or less nervous at their own office.
Next, make sure you have a plan for distributing or sharing the testimonials. Awesome testimonials that no one sees are a waste of resources. I also recommend leveraging the content for sales proposals and digital collateral marketing materials.”
Check out one of Cardinal’s testimonial videos below:
Posting your testimonial videos on YouTube, as well as on your site, makes it easy to share and distribute them across other channels – ensuring you get as many eyes on them as possible!
Key takeaways:
- Look for the best (most suitable) clients to feature in your videos
- Track your results
- Make sure you have a plan for distributing your videos
4. KPOP Foods
KPOP Foods is a Korean food brand currently carrying a line of 4 sauces and a premium roasted seaweed snack. As you can imagine, it can be pretty difficult to encourage people to buy your food products if they haven’t tasted them. The founders of KPOP Foods, Theo Lee and Mike Kim, overcame this challenge with video testimonials.
Here’s their story, according to Theo:
“We set up at a local park and began BBQing hotdogs and hamburgers and offering them to people in exchange for a testimonial. It turned into a hit as many people were willing to come over to try the sauce and share their thoughts.
The following day, we held a breakfast with breakfast burritos and potatoes and invited people to come and try the sauce and get some free food. Again, we were able to get a lot of great, honest testimonials, and actually capture the looks on peoples’ faces as they tried the sauce.”
The results of this strategy were amazing for the founders of KPOP Foods, who were trying to launch their brand on Kickstarter at the time. Lee continues:
“The testimonials and video were instrumental in helping us hit our goal of $10,000 in under 8 hours! We received Kickstater’s stamp of approval with a “Project We Love” tag and later became the “Kickstarter Project of the Day”. In the end, we raised nearly $40,000 from over 1,200 backers.
Testimonials were a huge part of the success and continue to be something we aim for in content and marketing.”
Video is a big part of any successful Kickstarter campaign, and this ‘try before you buy’ strategy really helped KPOP Foods to secure amazing video testimonials before they even had any customers.
Check out their Kickstarter video by clicking on the image below.
Key takeaways:
- Think outside the box!
5. Dan Nainan – Comedian
Yes, even comedians can benefit greatly from testimonial videos. After all, just like people needed to know that KPOP Food’s sauce tasted good before they bought it, people also want to know that a comedian is funny before they buy a ticket.
Dan Nainan started his career as a senior engineer for Intel, but after taking some comedy classes to get over his fear of being on stage at tech demonstrations he says ‘the comedy kind of took off’ and has since left Intel to pursue a career as a comedian full-time.
Comedy isn’t the easiest industry to break into and, according to Nainan:
“[Video testimonials] have been invaluable for getting more business.”
Nainan has collected video testimonials from many famous guests, including Barack Obama and Steve Wozniak, to improve his credibility and help further his career. Check out his testimonial video below:
Key takeaways:
- Always ask your most reputable customers for testimonials – even if they just offer a positive word or two
- EVERYONE can benefit from a testimonial video (regardless of industry)!
6. Nahamani
Nahamani.org offers digital communication services to small businesses, non-profit organisations and startups. When asked about testimonial videos, Nahamani Yisrael, the company’s founder, said:
“I have found that testimonials are like marketing gold as new prospects are always looking for real-world experience when deciding which company to entrust with their digital communication needs. In my experience video testimonials are the best as the prospective customer can hear and see the authenticity and trust that they too will have the same positive experience with the service provider.”
Nahamani takes a very relaxed approach to testimonial videos to ensure that none of the client’s answers come across scripted or staged. Take a look, here.
After posting this video, Nahamani says:
“The results were phenomenal and nearly instantaneous. I started getting inquiries from other small business owners almost immediately. Many of those inquiries have turned into long term contracts.”
Key takeaways:
- Encourage clients to be authentic
- Post on social media
Final thoughts
The companies in this article have achieved great success with testimonial videos, and so can you! After all, 64% of people say that a testimonial video has played a part in convincing them to buy a product or service.
Testimonial videos are a great way to let your happiest customers do the talking for your brand. This will not only encourage new customers to convert, but it will strengthen your existing relationships too!
Ready to get started? We create testimonial videos that help you win trust and boost credibility.
