Difficulty sharing customer stories
IKO has a rich list of clients ranging from contractors to homeowners. Each has a unique story to tell. We stepped in to provide a platform to bring these stories to life, while also closing trust gaps with their customers.
Lack of industry understanding from video vendors
Sometimes independent film crews don’t understand the nuances of the building materials industry, so IKO not only needed a crew but a partner that deeply understands their challenges and needs, that’s where we stepped in.
Filming in remote locations
IKO's operations span across North America, including some remote, less-accessible locations. However, our ability to provide expert videographers anywhere in the world makes it easy to get stunning video testimonials anywhere.
A company's success is best told through the voice of its customers. But when IKO North America examined how we were using video as a medium for those stories and compared it to our competition, we knew were getting beat. Big time.
I'm the Marketing Services and Loyalty Program Group Director at IKO, a global leader in roofing materials. Our customers include distributors, contractors, and homeowners, and we need all of those voices to validate our work and set our brand apart. But our approach to testimonials isn't always straightforward.
Construction is all about the tangible results—getting your hands dirty—and we want to show, not tell. Because most people don't understand what goes on their roofs, we want to show prospective homeowners what it looks like when contractors use our products. We also want to give contractors and distributors a chance to distinguish themselves while advocating for IKO. Job sites are busy and customers are always trying to work quickly, which makes it hard to get the right shots.
To stay competitive and highlight our differentiators, we needed a solution that would allow us to capture all of these perspectives directly from our customers' mouths while navigating the daily lives of their businesses.
That's when we found Testimonial Hero, whose team could help capture on-site videos with our customers. It sounded great, so we started with a five-video pilot project. The trial was a fantastic success. After just a few videos, Testimonial Hero had become familiar with our industry and what our marketing team wanted to see in the videos.
Marketers are busy, so it's a massive time saver when I don't have to explain myself repeatedly. Testimonial Hero got so good at understanding what we wanted that they began to anticipate issues before we raised them. So that's my first tip to fellow marketers who want to get the most out of testimonial videos: Find someone who will take the time to learn about your brand and your needs, so they can produce your customer stories smoothly and quickly.
One of the wonderful things about Testimonial Hero is they are industry-agnostic. They do their research to tell the right story, regardless of the client or customer industry. Testimonial Hero had never worked with a roofing company before, and they put in the effort to learn about our industry so they could craft the right narrative and turn around material quickly.
All testimonial videos have value, but some industries present added challenges to filming. Testimonial Hero filmed an on-site video in one of our manufacturing plants. It's a loud, busy, dusty environment and, in hindsight, probably not an ideal place for a video shoot. But Testimonial Hero came prepared, expertly navigating the noise and distractions to capture footage that tells the story of our products as well as the people behind them.
After those first five videos, we signed on for another 10. They also produced a sizzle reel from our biggest conference of the year, which has set us apart from the competition. To date, we've produced nearly 50 videos with Testimonial Hero.
Every marketer wants to find ways to tap into customer perspectives to make testimonials even more powerful. Testimonial Hero videos are compelling because they build stories around people who share their successes with a company in their own words.
One of our videos involved the launch of a new product. Testimonial Hero chose to tell the story through the voice of an awesome contractor, Dale Faulkenberry from Integrity Roofing in Mobile, Alabama. Testimonial Hero found a local videographer, and the team interviewed Dale. Instead of being a cheesy product pitch, the video became about results: how our products help Dale's business.
In another video, a contractor who used our products convinced homeowners to tell their stories on camera. When some people get in front of a camera, they instantly become nervous or stiff. The Testimonial Hero videographer put everyone at ease, and the couple was wonderful. What could've been a boring sales video was a relatable story about an everyday couple whose interaction with IKO products helped them resolve a leak in their kitchen.
The people behind the camera make this all happen. Testimonial Hero can get a videographer on the ground anywhere we ask, which removes a significant burden for us. These expert videographers do more than provide fantastic footage; they also have the people skills to extract the right information from everyone. Back in the office, the Testimonial Hero team makes every project simple. They're accessible, respond to emails quickly, and their online platform makes collaboration easy.
We've had tremendous success with the videos created through Testimonial Hero. We use them everywhere, including at trade shows, online, and on social media, to cultivate new customers and spread our message. Even the B-roll that Testimonial Hero provides is priceless. We use it in everything we make, and it will continue to be valuable to us for years to come.
Everyone should invest in testimonial videos because they are timeless, and the real ROI is the human emotion captured. Next week or next year, prospective clients will still want to hear opinions about your product from their peers. The videos are a tangible way for IKO to show the quality of our work and amplify the authentic voices of our advocates.
Testimonial Hero is a long-term partner, and I'd tell anyone else in the construction industry to partner with them. Testimonial Hero does an amazing job at everything they do, delivering video testimonials that resonate with our audience. The rest is up to us.
