Today’s customers are naturally suspicious and prone to think that your marketing is mostly hype. One effective way to overcome this suspicion is through a customer testimonial video.

The Internet gives your customers and prospects the chance to talk about your business on social media and review sites. You have very little control over what happens on these sites, but you can control what is said on a testimonial.  This is good and bad.  Good because you are in control.  Bad because we all know you wouldn’t post a testimonial video of someone trashing your company.

So… that being said, the best way to present a customer endorsement is as a video case story.

An awesome story sends a powerful message about your business to your prospective customers. Here are four steps to crafting a testimonial video as a video case story.

Identify the Pain.

A great testimonial video starts with the problem. What was causing the customer pain? The customer should describe this problem with specific detail. For example, the customer might say that sales dropped by 10%. The plot of your video case story will show that the satisfied client became the hero after choosing you to provide the solution.

This is will ensure your case story connects with prospects immediately by presenting someone with similar problems and narrating how a solution was found.

Be Relevant.

You do not have a generic customer. Your products and services most likely help a wide variety of customers. For instance, a marketing agency might have customers that are specifically in B2B or B2C sales. You should identify a few well-defined types of customers that your business serves and then craft a testimonial video (or video case story) targeted at each type. These customer types serve as the characters of the video case story you tell about your business.  Each video should appeal to the specific problems of that customer type and show how your business solves those problems. A generic appeal will not be nearly as effective.

Stick to the Script.

Testimonial videos are part of an overall marketing strategy. They’re planned events, not a random act of marketing that you upload to your website. Thus, it is OK to carefully script these video case stories. Your audience is savvy enough to know that you are putting this together, but they are also smart enough to know that a real story is good story.  Make sure that your best foot is forward with these videos.

Also, make sure that your script asks open-ended questions that really allow the customer to say how your business solved their problem and what specific benefits were derived from their interaction with you. Spend some time putting together these responses before filming BUT do not provide these written answers to the interviewee.  You’ll get in their head.  Just provide bullet points.  This will keep their answers and your video testimonial authentic.

Tell Me a Story.

The bottom line for a great testimonial video is good storytelling. This is your chance to tell a story; the satisfied client is the hero.  Why?  Because they found you.  Don’t fall all over yourself trying to make your company look like the hero.  It won’t be as strong as a story.  A good video case story follows the classic story arch, starting with customer’s pain and problems. It shows how you helped providing the solution to these problems and details the benefits of hiring your business.  It concludes with a soft endorsement.

Here’s an example:

A testimonial video can be excellent marketing tool to get your message out when you construct it as a video case story. By following these four steps, the testimonial videos you produce will attract prospects who are looking to you to make them the hero.