Are you looking to boost your brand image and improve your bottom line? If you are, it’s time to leverage your client testimonials. Customer testimonials work like word-of-mouth and have a significant impact on brand perception and sales growth. Through testimonials, customers can tell the story your audience wants to hear. Similarly, through positive testimonials, you can help establish the credibility and reliability of your business.
Testimonials are one of the most effective means of advertising, and combining them with video can work wonders for your brand. However, when it comes to creating testimonial footage, most businesses reconsider the idea after learning the cost of production.
Fortunately, there is a way you can lower your costs and still churn out an impactful video. If you’re looking for an economical way of producing testimonial videos, we suggest considering a DIY video production. To help you get started, here are a few steps to keep in mind the next time you create a client testimonial video on a budget.
1. Find clients to interview.
To find clients for your testimonial video, you can communicate your intention with your client base via email, text messages, or even over phone calls. For quick responses and broader participation, try hosting a contest to encourage clients or offer free merchandise and discounts on their next purchase.
2. Prepare engaging interview questions.
For compelling content that draws prospects to your business, you need to prepare engaging interview questions. Decide what you want your clients to cover in their testimonial and frame your questions around those scenarios. Once your questions are ready, share them with the participating clients so they can prepare their answers in advance.
3. Find a location to film.
While choosing a location, bear in mind that you want your clients to be seen and heard, so select a spot that is quiet and has good lighting. Avoid natural surrounds, busy streets, and cafes, if possible, to eliminate disturbances in the background.
4. Arrange for recording equipment.
f you are on a tight budget and don’t have a professional camera already, we suggest you use your phone. If you choose to use your phone, make sure it is placed in the horizontal position and at the highest resolution possible. If you have a larger budget, we recommend that you pick up one of the Sony a6000 series cameras. They are compact devices that pack a punch! A kit lens will do fine, but if you really want to wow your audience, we suggest you look into a 50mm or 85mm lens.
5. Determine how you want to record the audio.
If you plan on using your phone, we highly recommend picking up a lav or lavalier mic from the brand Rode. On the other hand, if you choose to use a camera, Rode has many different mic options to pair with your camera.
6. Record your clients’ testimonials.
If you’re unsure of how to set the scene for your video, try watching online tutorials for inspiration and tips that you can implement. Check out what angles you should avoid, how short each testimonial should be, and how you can enhance your video while recording.
Once you have the footage you need, the next step is to edit it. We highly recommend using Adobe Premiere Rush for your editing needs. The software is not only user-friendly but also compatible with phones or tablets. But, as you can imagine, editing video content is a lot of work, and if you are not a seasoned professional at video and audio production, the quality of your final video may vary from your expectations.
If you want to save a lot of time and possibly money, we suggest you hire a professional video production company to handle all your production needs. It might seem like more of an investment at first, but the end product will definitely be worth every penny. Moreover, it will save you time and allows you to focus on your business processes.
For the best corporate and commercial video production services in Chicago, Illinois, reach out to Visual Filmworks. We narrate your story in a manner that it reaches out to your clients on an emotional level, and help you get you the results you’re after. We craft everything we create with heart, love, meaning, and joy, so your clients can connect with your products and services. Our production packages are budget-friendly, and producing a client testimonial video with us will cost you under $1000.
To learn more about the services we offer at Visual Filmworks, please click here or get in touch with us by clicking here.