Table of Contents
- Why Should I Prioritize Video Testimonials?
- Two Types of Video Review Requests: #1 Your Best Customers
- Two Types of Video Review Requests: #2 Customer Videos You Have to Earn
- How to Create a Video Testimonial Request Message
- Crafting Your Request Text (Template Included)
- Additional Things to Consider Before Sending the Request
- 1. Generate Professional Email Templates for Requesting Testimonials
- 2. You Can Automate Your Messaging Using Our Testimonial Email Assistant (T.E.A.)
- Don’t Take Your Requests Lightly
- Leaving a Testimonial Should Be Extremely Easy for the Client
- For Best Results, Guide Your Customers
- Alternatives to the Regular Video Testimonial Request
- Set Up the Example and Send Them a Video First
- Sending a Video in Your Initial Request
- Include Your Video Instructions in the Testimonial Collection Page
- Using Testimonial's Collecting Widget
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Title
How to Create an Irresistible Video Review Request for Clients (Free Template Included)
Date
Nov 24, 2024
Description
Learn how to create, send, and automate request messages that get you high-quality video testimonials & leverage them to get more clients.
Status
Current Column
Person
Writer
In the same way that you need to pitch your product to potential customers if you expect to close sales, you need to send testimonial requests to your clients to receive their social proof.
I know, it's logical.
Yet, many business owners expect their customers to take the initiative or take very little action to leverage testimonial marketing, leaving much money and opportunities on the table.
I am sure you don't want to make the same mistake.
Testimonials, especially those in video format, are the best tools for quickly converting website visitors into paying clients.
If you are unsure how to create effective requests that get you more testimonials, this article will help you find out.
We will learn these tactics and best practices with the perspective of prioritizing the collection of high-quality video testimonials.
Why Should I Prioritize Video Testimonials?
Text testimonials are valuable and useful for the marketing of any business. They are easy to read, can be quite comprehensive, and essential aspects of the text are easy to highlight.
However, it is important to mention that since video content shows the face, voice, and tone of your customers when they praise your product or service, the level of authenticity perceived by the viewer is much higher.
Testimonial videos tend to be more relatable and engaging, and since they are very difficult to fake, they are more believable.
That is why this article will focus on the collection of video testimonials. Because if possible, you want to prioritize getting video reviews.
In the meantime, you can take the advice shared in this piece about sending powerful requests to get customer videos, adjust it, and apply it to the collection of text customer reviews.
Two Types of Video Review Requests: #1 Your Best Customers
There's a big lesson about business and opportunity that says you should always try to grab the "low-hanging fruit" of a tree first.
The analogy is simple: if you are grabbing fruit from a tree, the low-hanging fruit is the easiest one to get. Why would you want to get a ladder or climb the tree when you can simply cut the low-hanging fruit?
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The same is true with customer testimonials.
Before you invest time in crafting well-thought-out marketing copy or starting new campaigns, consider that there are some clients who would definitely leave you a testimonial to showcase on your site if you just asked.
Your only job? Identify them.
I will save you some time and share some guidelines with you so you can tackle these tasks faster.
These are great customers fall within some of the following characteristics:
- They have been your customers for a long time
- They love what you do
- They pay you happily for your services
- They are nice and friendly
- You have some level of consistent communication
Chances are you already know what type of business relationship I'm referring to and which clients fall into this category without me needing to tell you all of the above. You know them!
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If the business relationship has such a level of confidence and camaraderie which makes it easy, even natural for you to ask for a video testimonial using a simple email or Slack message then don't delay it any longer.
This type of client will be happy to leave you a video comment that will not only serve to check the to-do list but I promise you that it will be of very high quality.
So, don't think twice and go for those star clients in the first place.
I probably have a couple of extra things for you to consider, so even if you are super excited, please read the full article before sending those requests.
Two Types of Video Review Requests: #2 Customer Videos You Have to Earn
Okay, now we have come to a second type of testimonials.
These do not necessarily have to be difficult clients. I am just trying to make a distinction from type #1: these are neutral clients, meaning they will only give you a high-quality video testimonial if you do what is necessary to get it. In short, you have to earn it.
As you will learn in the next sections, this is not rocket science, but it goes well beyond just asking and waiting for customer testimonial videos to hit your inbox.
Great. Now that we have reviewed the essentials regarding this topic, it is time to get into the more specific details. Let's go!
How to Create a Video Testimonial Request Message
To begin, it is important to understand that the best-performing customer testimonial requests come from very simple messages.
Actually, most testimonial collection mistakes come from thinking in polarity.
One pole is the lazy one: you just have to ask and wait for someone to leave you in a testimonial.
The opposite is believing have to do extremely extravagant and complex things to "force" or commit the person to leave a testimonial.
From my experience, the best approach is to operate on a middle ground, in which simplicity is at the center.
You want to craft a very simple text request to send via email or direct message and then leverage technology to instruct your customers and collect the testimonials quickly and easily.
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I will elaborate on each of these elements in the next sections. I just want to make clear for you that the ideal operation involves a simple text request with innovative tools and a proactive system in the backend.
Remember: these testimonials are for you and for your benefit, so you want to remove as much load and responsibility from your customer's shoulders.
Crafting Your Request Text (Template Included)
Your text note should include the following elements:
Greeting, icebreaker, context, call-to-action (CTA), and closing.
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Let’s break down each element, and then I will finish with a complete example, which you can use as a template.
- Greeting.
It is as simple as saying Hi or Hello followed by the customer's name.
- Icebreaker.
Use a small comment to introduce the message. You can say:
- How are you?
- How are you doing?
- How are things so far this month?
- I hope you are doing great.
- I hope you are doing well.
- Say something about the season (Summer, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.)
- Something else. If you know this client personally or you share some other contextual situations related to your work relationship or local stuff, you could use them here.
- Context.
This is the actual message.
Be direct and clear, and use your creativity to introduce your request using supporting reasons to convince the client to want to collaborate with you.
You want to make the customer feel that by helping you, he or she is useful, helpful, important, a good person, or that you will be indebted to them in some way, keep being loyal, consider helping them back in the future if needed, etc.
If you make customers feel good about themselves (without being cheesy) and are clear about how much this would help you, they will be more likely to leave positive feedback.
NOTE: You can also opt to use the above AND also include a reward to incentivize reviewers.
Testimonial includes a fully managed rewards program that is available for customers with a Premium subscription and above.
Suggested reading: 5 Ways to Collect More Testimonials by Using Automated Incentives
- Call-to-action.
This is the crowning point of your request.
In a single line, tell your customers what they need to do.
Include a relevant link, in this case, a link to your testimonial collection page, and make sure the hyperlink or button they should click is easy to identify.
- Closing. You can finish the note with your name and/or email signature. Keep this section minimalist and avoid more links because they can divert the attention from your primary call to action.
That is all. You could use a message like this:
Hello,
[FIRST NAME]I hope you are doing great.
I am reaching out because
[YOUR COMPANY NAME] needs your help.We are trying to reach and connect with more awesome people like you.
You could help us achieve that mission with just two minutes of your time.
How? By leaving a short video testimonial.
(Promise: it will really be two minutes, but our gratitude will be forever)
Click here to share your experienceThank you so much for considering it.
Sincerely,
[YOUR FIRST NAME]Additional Things to Consider Before Sending the Request
1. Generate Professional Email Templates for Requesting Testimonials
If you didn’t like my template or if you want to make it even easier and faster, there a great news: you don't even need to craft the request text manually.
Use our email template generator to get a high-quality, customizable copy for your requests.
The email generator is very intuitive.
After adding a few details about your business or product, you will get an original text to copy and paste into the Testimonial Email Assistant or your preferred messaging tool.
2. You Can Automate Your Messaging Using Our Testimonial Email Assistant (T.E.A.)
The Testimonial Email Assistant, or T.E.A., is an innovative tool designed to automate and streamline your testimonial collection process.
You can find TEA in the Integrations section on the left navigation bar 👇
It takes the hassle out of following up with customers and ensures you never miss an opportunity to gather valuable feedback. With the workflow now complete, you can streamline your testimonial collection process.
The team behind Testimonial focused on creating a solution that automates testimonial requests, helping you accomplish more. Now, you can request, collect, and showcase your testimonials using a single tool: Testimonial.to.
This tool seamlessly integrates into your existing email workflow:
- Send your regular confirmation email to your customer.
- BCC T.E.A's unique email address includes a special snippet with customer details.
- T.E.A. automatically schedules a personalized testimonial request.
- The request is sent based on your custom timing settings, ensuring optimal engagement.
You can focus entirely on delivering excellent products or services while T.E.A. handles the testimonial follow-ups.
Don’t Take Your Requests Lightly
In most cases, you only have one or two attempts to request your client's testimonial, so you have to make them count.
This is because if you send too many review requests to your clients, you risk annoying them or making them uncomfortable.
You don't want that. You don’t want to harass clients or look desperate.
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Instead, like a sniper, craft a high-quality request and succeed in your first attempt.
In summary, only send the request once you are satisfied with your plan.
Then, go all into sending the perfect request to your clients and collecting as many testimonials as possible.
Leaving a Testimonial Should Be Extremely Easy for the Client
When we understand that new testimonials are going to be income-generating assets for our business, which we will get for free from our amazing customers, we will put effort, time, and even money into improving the experience customers have in the testimonial collection process as much as possible.
You must make the review request and collection process super simple.
As we said in the previous step, you need to write a short and clear request text.
Your client shouldn't have to read a whole sales page just to leave you a testimonial. Don't do that to them.
There are many good clients who would read a whole book to help you, but it's on you to respect their time.
Create something simple and use a link to your Testimonial collection page in the call-to-action.
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Your Testimonial collection page is a dedicated, fully customizable page where you can share instructions for your clients and they can leave you a testimonial in text or video format with just one click.
For Best Results, Guide Your Customers
In the previous section, I mentioned that you must provide your clients with instructions on your testimonial page.
Your testimonial collection page includes a section where you can add instructions to elaborate in the context of what you mentioned in your email or direct message request.
However, the most important thing you can find on this page, in terms of text and instructions, is a feature to add multiple guiding questions that will help you serve as starting points for the client to say something more similar to what you have in mind in their video.
This is one of the keys to success.
Many business owners send requests to all their clients to get reviews or testimonials, even their closest ones.
But even if their system is optimized similarly to Testimonials, enabling them to capture videos or texts simply, if there are no guiding questions, clients will most likely make testimonials that are too short, too long, or too imprecise.
Do not leave this up to luck; you must give them the tools to achieve what you seek.
If you are in the process of setting the prompts of guiding questions of your Testimonial collection page, or just would like to learn more feel free to check this article: 73 Testimonial Questions To Ask For Great Customer Testimonials.
These will give you great ideas to set up yours and get the perfect feedback to use in your marketing campaigns.
Alternatives to the Regular Video Testimonial Request
Set Up the Example and Send Them a Video First
Another great way to build trust is to set an example and send your clients a video request.
This works in two ways.
1) To some extent, it is psychological since you show the client that you will not ask them to do something you have not done before. This has a pretty strong impact.
2) You also set the precedent regarding simplicity, tone, and the expectation of the video recording.
Some people believe that recording a video testimonial must be super complicated, that they must have a recording studio or an expensive set-up, or something like that. In reality, it is just a matter of clicking the "record" button, expressing a few ideas, and that's it.
So, if you send a video, you would be communicating and also giving your message regarding how easy it is to do it.
Again, you have two options for this preference: sending a video in your initial request or adding it to your Testimonial collection page.
Sending a Video in Your Initial Request
An easy way to include a video is to include it in your initial request; however, I don't recommend it as much because you would have to include two things in a single video: the application and the instructions.
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A long video will never perform as well as a short one in these requests.
If you are going to do it, I recommend:
- Keeping everything very simple and specific.
- Writing a very good headline in your email
- Embedding a high-quality video in the email's body
- If your emailing tool doesn't support embedding, you can design an image in Canva, which would be a screenshot of a section of the video with a big play button in the center, showing the effect of being an embedded player, with a link to open the video in another tab.
- Include a link to the collecting page where they will leave you the testimonial in the call-to-action
Include Your Video Instructions in the Testimonial Collection Page
The Testimonial collection page allows you to upload a video message.
You can use it in the following way:
- Set up your email or direct message request with a link to the Testimonial collection page, and set up the video as the instruction to the collection page, setting up guiding questions below the video.
- Set up your email or direct message request with a link to the Testimonial collection page, and include the instructions and guiding questions in the video message.
Using Testimonial's Collecting Widget
Another option that is available is to use your Testimonial’s collecting widget.
This tool will allow you to generate a code script based on your collection page and place it wherever you want, for example, in a section within one of your landing pages or as a dedicated page on your website.
NOTE: The option to set up a custom domain for all your Testimonial pages is available; however, if you don’t want to add your domain you can create a new page within your website and embed your collection widget.
To generate the code that will allow you to embed your collection widget, please check out this help guide.
Okay, this was today's guide.
I hope it was useful, and I hope you can use a tool like Testimonial to help you carry out a high-level testimonial marketing campaign.
You can effortlessly request, collect, organize, and showcase your reviews and testimonials with one tool: Testimonial.to
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