How to Sell Online to Generation Z
Generation Z (Gen Z) is no longer the future, it is the present. Let's learn about their shopping habits, what makes them unique, and how to sell to them.
Customer testimonials are a vital marketing tool for any business. Although classic customer reviews in text form are the first step to building your online reputation, video content can be extremely effective as well. Today, we’ll look at 3 ways to collect video testimonials for your social media platforms for free.
Defining what customer testimonials are
Customer testimonials, in simple terms, are reviews by a customer who has used your products or services.
These consumer testimonials usually express a customer’s feedback, opinion, experience, and overall satisfaction they received from using a company’s products. Testimonials have typically been done in the form of written reviews or pictures, but now we are seeing more and more testimonials in the form of videos.
Video testimonials are an excellent way to showcase positive feedback from past customers on your website or social media channels. If you're wondering why this is the case, we’ll discuss this in further detail in the article.
Let's first see how a business can effectively collect video testimonials from their customers.
Four examples of video testimonials
(Source: Vidjet)
Getting customer testimonial videos in 3 easy ways
The significance of customer testimonials for a brand can't be overstated, making it essential for businesses to showcase them prominently. Here are three unique and effective strategies your e-commerce brand can implement to secure video testimonials.
1. Use multiple social media channels
Social media is the biggest blessing for a brand when it comes to trying to get video testimonials. Before trying to get video testimonials, you must be extremely active and build a strong brand presence on all your social platforms. Once you've achieved a strong presence online, you will simultaneously be able to achieve some level of engagement.
The next step is to see on which social media your business is receiving the most level of engagement. Doing so is very simple; just analyse the number of likes, comments, and shares on each post. Once you have correctly identified which platform most of your clients are on, you will actively seek out video testimonials from there. Keep in mind that the best places to get video testimonials are online spaces like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Source: Shutterstock/Art_Photo
To make your consumers send you video testimonials, all you actually need to do is ask, right where they are. In your online posts, ask your consumers to leave links to the reviews in the comment section. They can even upload posts in a video format on your very own socials with the item they purchased and ask them to tag your company.
To actually make this an effective strategy, having a strong brand presence comes in handy. By reposting the video testimonials on your own platforms, your other customers will feel incentivised to give video testimonials in hopes of your company reposting them as well.
2. Send personalised emails
Sending personalised emails after your customer makes a purchase is a very effective step in that it makes them feel valued.
A great tip in sending a personalised email is that you can pre-record a thank-you video, as it humanises the buying journey. In the video, you can politely ask them to leave a video testimonial of your company and since you recorded yourself talking, it is a more personal approach.
In the email, you can offer customers multiple places to upload the video testimonial as well as an option to send it back in a reply to the email. Give them plenty of options so that they feel the company is doing whatever is more convenient for them.
If a customer feels like a business is being very polite while also satisfying them with their products, they will be more likely to create a video testimonial for you. Moreover, if your customers do not reply to your thank-you video, feel free to schedule one or two follow-up emails after one to two weeks. If you don’t get any response by the end of the sequence, don’t follow up any more.
What you need to remember is that it’s important that you actively ask for reviews. It’s why Trusted Shops automates the review requests on our platform when we send out review request emails. We allow our member shops to send out their emails at just the right moment; not too early where they haven’t received the product yet and not too late where they aren’t excited about the product anymore.
It might even make sense to send a unique email to those customers who have already left a glowing text review with you. That way, you’ll know what they have to say already. Simply reach out and ask if they’ll repeat what they’ve written in a video format for you.
3. Create dedicated places on your website for your video testimonials
By implementing your reviews in multiple places, you will not only help boost conversions on your website, but you will also inspire users to leave their own video testimonials… if the process is seamless.
You could, for example, create a dedicated landing page on your website with testimonials. You could combine the text reviews as well as video testimonials. At the bottom of the page, ask them if they want to post a video review as well? Add a form for them to upload their videos.
You could also include product testimonials directly on your product pages. This gives easy access to social proof for the product in question. Alongside your product ratings, this will bring a lot of transparency to your offer.
Embed shoppable videos in your product pages
(Source: Vidjet)
The benefits of using customer video testimonials
Customer testimonials play a vital role in essential areas of a business, including marketing and sales, which positions them as a highly impactful marketing tool. Let’s look at some of the benefits of working with video reviews.
Brands are more credible and trustworthy
Customer testimonials help brands convey transparency. As potential customers arrive on a website and see a lot of video testimonials of past customers, they interpret this as the business having complete authenticity.
Concurrently, customers develop a feeling of trust in the business, as they can completely picture what they are about to receive thanks to insights from a fellow consumer.
When people see a lot of positive feedback from individuals, customers can get a sense of reliability and authenticity for a brand. This will help make your e-commerce business more appealing to new customers and stand out from your competitors. With a lot of video testimonials embedded on your site, customers will have less doubts and become more likely to convert.
While we’re on the topic of conversions, let's check out our second benefit…
Increase conversions of your online shop
When a brand begins to incorporate customer testimonials, it can really bring a meteoric rise in conversions.
A recent survey of over 700 consumers across Europe reveals some interesting numbers on customer reviews:
- 79% of European shoppers read reviews every time or most of the time before making a purchase.
- 61% of online shoppers think it is important that online shops respond to reviews.
- 66% of consumers say that positive online reviews help convince them to make a first purchase in a new shop.
Read more of the results of this survey by Trusted Shops by downloading the Digital Trust Report:
Social media platforms excel as venues for video testimonials, providing a layer of transparency that consumers value before making a purchase. This growing trend is why an increasing number of brands are opting to sell their products not just through their own e-commerce websites, but also directly on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Furthermore, when customers come across positive responses about a brand's products, they will be more likely to buy as they will feel that they are not going to get scammed. Video testimonials act as one of the best forms of social proof, as they are made by previous customers that show real-life evidence related to a business's products.
A really effective method to completely maximise the value of a video testimonial is by converting it into a shoppable video.
How can you do this? You can achieve this by adding a call-to-action (CTA) as a link or widget that would make it possible for your consumers to purchase a product directly from a video testimonial.
As an example, if your site visitors come across a video testimonial regarding a bag that captures their interest. They can directly click the link embedded within the video to make an immediate purchase, eliminating the need for redirection to a separate checkout page.
Improved Customer Engagement
Customer video testimonials are the key to making your engagement skyrocket! By allowing your customers to share their thoughts and experience with your company, it makes them interact with your brand even more. This can build loyalty with your customer base.
Video testimonials also help, as it humanises your brand and makes it even more relatable.
Moreover, customers who create these videos will also be likely to share them on social media, which can lead to potential customers commenting on your posts as it feels relatable to them.
Additionally, it is easier for a consumer to envision themselves in the position of a past customer, rather than relating to a marketing video released by the brand itself.
Conclusion
To conclude, customer video testimonials are one of the greatest marketing tools that go unnoticed. It can provide something really exceptional to businesses, yet many of us do not use them to their full potential.
With the insights gained from this article, you're well-prepared to collect video reviews that can positively impact your sales and conversion metrics. Take the next step and harness the power of video testimonials to strengthen your brand's presence!
