Authenticity and the Testimonial Interview

Testimonial interviews get a bum rap. I'm pretty sure it's from all of those 2am get-rich-quick real estate ads people see when they can't get to sleep. "Why,... I just read Mr. Real Estate Guru's book and made $280,000 in my first month." Of course it's always followed by a half second disclaimer of "these results may vary." This negative perception (while deserved in many cases) is really too bad. Because in our experience, testimonial interviews done well are one of the most powerful marketing tools you can use to grow your business. You just have to use the right approach. Here's how we walk into a project:

1) Uncover the real story. Interview subjects are often too clouded by the corporate kool-aid. It's tough to hear marketing buzzwords and industry jargon all day and then give a natural response to the camera. We are experts at drawing out those natural responses that will resonate with audiences.

2) No script. You are not an actor. Even very good actors have a tough time giving an authentic read for testimonials. It's just tough. We want the real deal. We want to hear how whatever you do, sell, or provide somehow helps people in very real world terms. We recently filmed interviews with a company called Riverbed. Their appliance makes Internet traffic smokin' fast (up to 100X faster). We could've just gone into the bytes and bits, but instead, we asked the IT professionals how it changed their lives from a day-to-day standpoint. One guy said that with Riverbed, their server backups are done on Friday afternoon, not Sunday. That means he can now go to his kid's baseball games. Let's see that in bold print.

"I can go to my son's baseball games on the weekends because of Riverbed's Steelhead appliance. My server back-ups are done by 5pm every Friday. It used to take all weekend!"

How's that for a testimonial? Their product greatly enhanced his quality of life. People dig that. To find these little nuggets takes a lot of hard work and skill. It's way more than just interviewing someone. It's getting people to let down their guard long enough for us to find these little gems that tell a compelling story.

3) Be honest. It's pretty simple, really. Don't lie to people. If your product or service sucks, then testimonial interview style videos probably aren't for you. If you rock, then the customers will come calling once they see how other people say how great you are.

4) Let them into your world. People love stories and experiences. Put them in the frame.
Paint a picture of what it would be like to work with you. We filmed a personality profile video for photographer Jaime Kripke during a photo shoot of a 2008 Olympic BMX competitor. True, I wouldn't really call this a testimonial. But, you can see how a real client enjoyed the experience. Now prospective clients can see what it's like to work with Jaime. We get people talking, laughing, and thinking back to how great the company, service, or conference was.

Speaking of conferences, we just back heard from Paul Murray, Vice President of Marketing & Sales at the International Risk Management Institute in Dallas, Texas. We interviewed risk management professionals about the value of the IRMI conference series. Apparently, they had good things to say.

"The testimonial interview videos you produced for us is already paying off! In fact, they were instrumental in helping us re-acquire a major account. We've also noticed expanded participation in our product awareness and training webinars. We'll be using them to promote our online reference library and annual conference as well. Our prospects are responding to these well (in my opinion) because the video clips are short, to the point, and sincere. These industry leaders said things about us and our products that went far beyond anything we could've scripted for them ourselves. The skill of Stokes McIntyre at drawing out earnest and meaningful statements from these folks was incredible."

That's what we like to see,.. happy customers. We're extremely excited to hear how great these videos are working for IRMI. If you have a question about how they could work for your company, just let us know. In the meantime, I found a really good article about video testimonials from Jeffrey Gitmer that talks about their power to increase sales. In fact, here's what he had to say about how they increased his business:

I made my first sales video two years ago. It cost more money than I had. Over the last 24 months it has helped me make more sales than I can count. This year I’m making a new one, and spending four times more than I spent on the first one, the one I couldn’t afford. Thanks to my first video, this year I can afford it.

Wow.