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I don’t know about you, but I’m big on reviews! If I’m going to a restaurant, I read the review. If I’m buying a product, I read or watch a review. And if I’m going to hire a company for a service, you bet I’m going to read reviews and not only that, hopefully watch one or two testimonial videos.
These days, testimonial videos are crucial. They can be a HUGE part of your arsenal when it comes to growing your business. Here are just a few quick tips on how to make your testimonial videos a success.
Use Two Cameras. If possible, whether you’re shooting the video or hiring a professional video producer having two cameras can save you later. There’s been too many times where the dialogue is all over the place and the 1st take’s intro is great, but the ending stinks. So you have to use part of another take and edit them together. Trust, me happens all the time and two cameras will save you in the end.
Have Good Audio. This just may be my biggest pet peeve. Having your subject’s audio clear and balanced is crucial. Too many times I have seen, or heard in this case, someone posting good content like a testimonial from a client and the audio is terrible. I realize at times you don’t have anything to capture good audio with, but check out this hack to see how to use your cell phone as your audio source. Good audio = better testimonial.
Have Good Lighting. It’s easy to skip this step and just shoot your subject under ugly, fluorescent, office lights, but don’t do it. I believe your chances of people watching your video will drastically decrease based upon this. You need to set the mood with lighting. Whether the lighting has a lot of contrast for more dramatic effect for serious talking matters or something bright for lighter subject matter. If you can’t afford lights, use natural lighting. Put your subject near a window and use that as your source. Simple, but very effective.
Give Good Direction. I can’t stress enough that you need to lead and direct your subject and help them into an authentic conversation. Even if you don’t have it scripted, make your subject comfortable by small talk and the lead into the points you want them to talk about. If you need to have a script on a teleprompter or tablet, just use it more for reference rather than having your subject solely depend on it as a crutch. The last thing you want is a testimonial that looks like someone is reading it.
Hopefully these handful of tips will help you when you decide to create your own testimonial videos for your business. If you’re in Atlanta and have video production or video marketing questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out!