Why is video the best way to get a review?

The thing is with video people can actually see your customer raving about you. A written review is great but if you can actually see the person giving that review it automatically increases our trust of that review and we can get a much bigger sense of emotion by reading body language and hearing the tone of their voice.

But getting people to leave reviews is hard enough as it is. How do you get people to record a video for you? Well it does take a little extra leg work but it’s well worth it and those videos will be super valuable for your marketing for years to come.

There are two ways you can make great review videos.

Ask people to film themselves

If you already have a review process in place you will probably get some success from people leaving you a written review. Why not get in touch with those people and ask if they would be willing to send a video review?

You might even want to offer an incentive to encourage them to do this for you. Many people are much more comfortable with talking on camera these days now that video calls are becoming commonplace.

You could even record their testimonial via an app like Zoom so they don’t have to do anything at all. Well, apart from show up.

Go and film them

If it’s possible to do this is by far the best way to get a great video because you are in control. Also if they are less confident in front of a camera you can use what I call the third person interview technique so they don’t have to look at the camera.

Third person filming

When you film yourself talking to your camera this is much like having a 1 to 1 conversation with your audience. So you would be looking directly at your viewer. However in most interviews there are three people to consider. The interviewer, the interviewee and the viewer.

In this situation the viewer will simply be watching two other people having a conversation. In the same way we watch chat shows on TV. Sometimes the host will look at and talk to the viewer (you) and sometimes the host will be looking at and talking with the guest.

You can use this technique when filming a review video so your customer doesn’t have to look at the camera, which can often be intimidating and make them feel nervous. After all, you want them to feel as relaxed as possible.

By setting up the camera and standing or sitting right next to it you can ask your customer questions and have them look at you when answering. The viewer will fill in the blanks and see this as a classic third person set up. It’s a scenario we are used to seeing on TV all the time. However when using this technique there are a few things to consider.

1. Make sure your customer always answers your question by first repeating your question. This way you can remove yourself from the video completely. For example. You ask ‘what did you like about using ACME Carpets?’ Then your customer would reply with ‘what I really liked about ACME Carpets was …’
2. Talk in the third person. You want your video to appear as if someone else is asking the questions on behalf of your company. Not only does this make the whole thing appear bigger it leads the viewer into thinking that it’s not you asking the questions. So I would begin by asking the customer to pretend that it’s not you asking the questions and to ask all of your questions as the third person. For example ‘What did you love about buying from ACME Carpets’ rather than ‘what did you love about buying from me?’

However you do it remember that video will make your testimonials and reviews appear much more powerful. Plus you will be able to post them on multiple channels … even on your website.

Let us film your reviews for you.

Of course we can do all of this for you and you can be confident of a much better result without any of the leg work. In fact there are several options you can choose from so we can make anything from a short clip for social media to a fully produced short film that showcases your business as well as the results your clients get.