Best Practices for Creating Effective Employee Training Videos
Employee training can be time-consuming, particularly when the same information needs to be explained repeatedly…
A customer testimonial might sound simple. You find a happy customer, put them in front of a camera and ask them to explain why they like your business.
In reality, the strongest testimonial videos need more than a few positive comments. There is usually a story behind the customer’s experience, and finding that story can turn a basic testimonial into a much more engaging piece of content.
The customer had a problem, they found your business, something changed and there was a result. That journey is the story, and it can be much more powerful than simply asking someone to say how good your company is.
Here are some ways to develop that story before you start filming.
Every good customer story needs a starting point. Before your customer worked with you, there was probably a reason they needed your product or service.
What problem were they trying to solve? What wasn’t working? What were they hoping to achieve?
These questions help establish the situation before your business became involved. They also give the viewer something they can relate to, particularly if they are facing a similar problem themselves.
Once you’ve established the problem, the next part of the story is finding out why the customer decided to work with your business.
There might have been several options available to them, so what made them choose you?
Perhaps they had been recommended by another company, were impressed by your experience or simply felt that you understood what they needed. These details can be particularly useful because they give potential customers an insight into the decision-making process.
This is where the story really starts to develop.
Ask the customer what it was like working with your business. What happened after they got in touch? How did the project develop? Were there any challenges along the way?
The aim isn’t to make everything sound perfect. In fact, allowing the customer to talk naturally about their experience can make the finished video feel much more genuine. A good testimonial and case study video should feel like a real experience being shared, rather than an advertisement being read from a script.
The ending of the story should show what changed as a result of working with your business.
Did the customer save time? Increase sales? Solve a difficult problem? Improve a process? Make something easier for their team?
The result gives the story a clear conclusion and helps potential customers understand the practical value of what you provide.
Whenever possible, specific examples are more useful than vague statements. Saying that something “made a big difference” is less informative than explaining exactly what changed.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make with a testimonial is trying to control every word.
The production team can prepare questions and guide the conversation, but the customer should still be able to explain their experience naturally.
This is one of the reasons interviews work so well for testimonial videos. You can ask follow-up questions, explore interesting answers and give the customer the opportunity to explain things in their own way.
The result should feel like a conversation rather than a scripted sales pitch.
The interview is usually the foundation of the testimonial, but it doesn’t have to be the entire video.
Supporting footage can show the customer’s workplace, your product or service in action, people working together or the results of the project. These visuals help illustrate what the customer is talking about and keep the video visually interesting.
For example, if a customer is talking about how your team helped improve a manufacturing process, footage of that process can help bring their story to life.
Before filming, it can help to think about the testimonial as a simple journey:
The problem → The decision → The experience → The result
This doesn’t mean the customer needs to answer four questions on camera. A skilled interviewer can guide the conversation naturally while making sure all of the important parts of the story are covered.
Having this structure in mind also gives the editor a much stronger foundation when putting the finished film together.
Not every happy customer will necessarily make a strong testimonial.
Look for customers who have an interesting story, a clear problem and a result that other potential customers will understand. It can also help if they are comfortable talking about their experience and can explain things in their own words.
A good customer testimonial isn’t necessarily about choosing your biggest or most recognisable client. Sometimes a smaller project can produce the most relatable story.
Before filming, think about what you want to do with the finished testimonial.
It could be used on your website, in a sales presentation, on LinkedIn, in email marketing or as part of a wider campaign. You might also want shorter versions for social media.
Planning this in advance means the production can capture the footage and interviews needed for multiple versions, rather than trying to create additional content afterwards.
A customer testimonial is more than a collection of positive comments about your business. The strongest testimonials tell the story of a real customer, from the problem they faced through to the solution and the result.
By finding that story before filming begins, you can create a video that feels natural, gives potential customers useful information and demonstrates the value of your business without relying on a traditional sales pitch.
At CMA Video, we create testimonial and case study videos that put real customers and real experiences at the centre of the story.
If you’re considering creating a customer testimonial video, get in touch and we can help you develop the story and bring it to life.
