As B2B marketers, we all know how impressive strong B2B customer testimonial videos can make a product look.
Creating a stellar testimonial video is an art form in and of itself, but that's only half of the overall journey.
You need to be able to make sales and generate profits by using your testimonial videos as the powerful tool that they were always meant to be.
When you're dealing with B2B customers, they're usually investing a lot of money into the vendors they use. They want to make absolutely certain that the service they are purchasing has a chance at producing a return on investment.
There is no better way to prove this than with dynamic and factual customer video testimonials.
Using customer stories in the sales process is incredibly effective.
In fact, top sales performers are known to tell customer stories 25% more than low performers. One of the best ways to convey customer stories to your sales prospects is to let the customers tell it themselves in the form of video testimonials.
But there are many ways to implement B2B customer testimonial videos into the sales process. Read on to find out how you can revitalize your sales numbers by using strategically placed customer testimonials.
Why Customer Testimonial Videos?
Video is a visual medium, and it appeals to a modern audience. Don't believe us? Take a look at the numbers for yourself.
- Consumption of mobile videos goes up 100% every year.
- 59% of executives would rather watch a video than read through text.
- When a prospect reads text, they retain 10% of what they've seen. With video content, prospect retain 95% of the message.
As these figures illustrate, conveying a message through video content is particularly helpful at moving prospects through your sales funnel. It inspires higher levels of engagement and promotes enhanced action.
Building Trust with Your Prospects
For a prospect, being able to see the testifying customer provides an emotional bond that can't be re-created through text. It builds a level of trust and enhanced credibility for your brand, which is invaluable in a sales scenario.
You want to establish that emotional connection because it allows prospects to see themselves in the shoes of the testifying customer.
You can also demonstrate visually how your product or service works in the real world and show tangible results.
Modern prospects have some serious issues when it comes to trusting companies. This is likely due to the advertising overload that we experience on a daily basis. The end result has created a lot of scrutiny in the sales process.
Thankfully, testimonial videos are not branded messaging created by the company.
It is a statement offered by people who fit in the same industry or circumstances as the prospect.
Their testimony helps to create social proof, wherein prospects are encouraged to trust in a service because they see other like-minded individuals succeeding with it.
Social proof is at play all around us.
When you shop for a product on Amazon, you likely read the customer reviews before making your purchase. You aren't alone in that, as 85% of buyers trust online reviews when making a purchase.
According to Amazon Web Services, "no matter how many case studies, blogs, and How-To articles you're churning out, buyers will find a way to go straight to the source.
Companies need to make customer stories and user-generated content a top priority if they want to impact their buyer's journey. Customer stories are critical for brand awareness, sales enablement, and post-sales customer success.""
B2B Customer Testimonial Videos in Sales Emails
One of the most important correspondence that a sales representative has with their prospects is email messaging. It's a perfect way to casually touch base and send along relevant information that can help overcome objections.
Emails are essential to every leg of the buyer's journey. They're also a great place to include B2B customer testimonial videos.
Testimonial videos attached or embedded in a sales email could be the perfect way to break the ice with a new lead.
Before trust has been established between the sales rep and the prospect, turning to the testimonial of an existing customer who once faced the same pain points as them could soften the prospect and make them more susceptible to company messaging.
If they don't trust your representative yet, perhaps they will trust one of their own.
Customer testimonial videos should be included in all introductory materials that are sent to new prospects who request information through your website.
Showing off your success stories right off the bat can show the prospect that you mean business and establish your brand as an authority immediately.
You're also giving them real-world examples of your product or service in action in a very early conversation. First impressions count for a lot and if you can impress your prospect early on, that will be how they continue to view you throughout the customer journey.
Share Throughout Your Funnel
Testimonial videos are not just for new prospects. In fact, they should become a regular part of communications with prospects at all stages of the buyer's journey.
One idea is to consider adding testimonial videos to the sales reps' email signature so that you can ensure they are being communicated in every correspondence.
You should also make sure to gauge the interests and pain points of specific prospects through a detailed needs analysis and select which videos you send to them accordingly.
Make sure that you show them the testimonial of someone who was facing similar issues. Showing a prospect the accounting of someone with wildly different pain points does nothing to move the sales needle forward.
Another way to share testimonial videos via email is with online newsletters.
Many companies communicate with their prospects and customers on a weekly or monthly basis via a newsletter. These typically contain company announcements, new products, blog articles, and more.
But you could include a success story spotlight, where you highlight a new customer testimonial video with every release.
You can also highlight new successful customers, showing that the company is growing and thriving while still staying on the cutting edge.
Automated drip campaigns are also effective in the world of email marketing.
After a set amount of time or when a specific action occurs, emails can be automatically sent out to touch base with prospects and customers. You can include your B2B customer testimonial videos for a little added social proof to strengthen your messaging.
B2B Customer Testimonial Videos on Landing Pages
Landing pages are the perfect spot to showcase customer testimonials.
These are the pages where customers end up when they click one of your ads. Usually, they have a link to a specific offer.
The less a prospect has to read on a landing page, the better. That's why these pages are a prime location for customer testimonial video inclusion.
Keep in mind, this is a spot where branding is extremely important.
When customers click on an ad, they expect the branding which caught their attention will be the same on the page they're going to. That means your customer testimonial videos should also be consistent with the theming of your ads and overall brand.
It's best to include multiple testimonials on your page.
What's more, different landing pages should include different videos. That's because the majority of your ads are targeted specifically to various segments of the audience.
Some of your testimonial videos might be more beneficial to some segments than others.
Different ads should have different landing pages to begin with so that you can gauge their effectiveness. So make sure that the testimonials you are choosing for these pages are picked based on who the ad was targeting.
It's also a good idea to place your testimonials in the vicinity of your call to action button.
That's the button on your landing page with words like "CLICK HERE" or "START SAVING" which leads to a page where customers can subscribe to a service or make a purchase.
The testimonial video will be one of the more effective elements of this page, so placing the call to action near the video will encourage enhanced engagement which will lead to an easier conversion.
B2B Customer Testimonial Videos in Pitch Slide Decks
Many sales teams turn to screen share slideshows or in person demonstrations to help close prospects and make a sale. These presentations are usually less than 10 minutes in length and provide a visual element to your sales pitch.
When putting together a presentation, you should have a slide specifically set aside for your B2B customer testimonial videos.
Consider the testifying customer to be a sort of backup for your sales representative, almost like a partner in the pitch.
Obviously, when it comes to these presentations, brevity is of the utmost importance.
You don't want to choose a particularly long-winded testimonial to prove your point. Instead, just use one or two 30 second videos to move your point across.
When crafting a presentation, slides are often chosen based on the prospect that you're pitching.
If you're pitching to a law firm, you'd have different slides than if you were pitching to a bank. The same goes for the testimonial videos that you're going to be including in the slides.
Handpick the videos you'll be using based on the prospect and their specific issues. If you're pitching to a bank, use a video that features customers who work in the banking industry.
You can also use the testimonial videos in your presentation to overcome objections when you go to close the sale. You can point to the discernable proof offered by the testifying customer when issues arise.
B2B Customer Testimonial Videos on Your Website
One of the most obvious places to include customer testimonial videos is on your company's website.
But when including them alongside your content, it's important to put these videos front and center, where prospects can find them while browsing through the site.
A general video should be included on the home page, somewhere in a prominent position where people will see it upon visiting.
This video should showcase a customer's success and their experiences working with the company, but shouldn't be overly product or industry-specific, especially if you have a wide demographic.
That's not to say that product specific videos have no place on your website.
Far from it.
Product specific videos should be included on the pages of the products that they are touting. This makes it far more effective and easy to access for prospects who are looking for that specific service.
There should also be a dedicated testimonial page where all of your testimonial videos live. Include download and embed links as well as sharing icons for social media so that prospects can easily share the content.
Your testimonial page should also be organized into categories. That way anyone looking for specific industries or services can find what they're looking for without too much trial and error.
Another key element of your testimonials page is to ensure that it is easily navigated to. If you have testimonials on every page, include a link or button beneath every video saying something like "CLICK HERE FOR MORE CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS."
It's also a good idea to have a testimonial carousel on some pages, which will switch out the videos whenever the page is refreshed.
B2B Customer Testimonial Videos on Social Media
Your social media presence is one of the best ways to get your videos out there in a targeted and easily shareable way.
You should be consistently posting testimonial videos as a regular part of your company's overall social media marketing plan.
You can also boost these posts for even more exposure while targeting them specifically to your ideal prospects.
As always, remember to post different videos targeted to different demographics. You should also pin a more general video to the top of your social media page.
When you post these videos, make sure that you promote engagement by asking questions in the copy. You should also quickly respond to any inquiries or comments that come in on the post.
Make your posts shareable so that prospects can easily share them along their own social channels. This gives you the ability to easily branch out.
You can also look through industry related sites and post relevant testimonial videos in response to general questions you see asked there.
Use Customer Testimonial Videos in Your Marketing
Customer testimonials can be one of the most powerful tools in your sales arsenal.
By implementing a strong sales strategy and leveraging your testimonial content you can create a stronger presence for your prospects and transition prospects into profitable long term customers.
Reach out to Testimonial Hero today to discuss your B2b customer testimonial videos.
