If you could only produce one type of marketing video for your business, make it a customer testimonial.

Here's why: People don't believe what businesses say about themselves. They believe what customers say. A real person, on camera, explaining in their own words why they chose you and what the experience was like — that's the most persuasive content that exists.

Written reviews are good. Testimonial videos are in a different category.

Why Testimonial Videos Convert So Well

  • Authenticity — A real face, real voice, real emotion. Impossible to fake convincingly.
  • Specificity — Great testimonials mention specific results, specific moments, specific reasons for choosing you. That specificity is credible in a way that generic praise isn't.
  • Relatability — Viewers find someone who looks like them, in a situation like theirs, and project themselves into the story.
  • Shareability — A well-made testimonial video gets shared. Written reviews don't.

Studies consistently show that testimonial videos on landing pages increase conversion rates by 20–40%. For high-consideration purchases (home services, healthcare, professional services), the impact is even higher.

Who to Ask for a Testimonial Video

Not every customer is right for this. Look for:

  • Genuinely enthusiastic customers — People who've already said something positive (verbal, in reviews, or via email)
  • Articulate communicators — Some people can express their experience naturally on camera; others can't. You'll know from conversations with them.
  • Representative of your target customer — If you want more restaurant clients, feature a restaurant owner. Casting matters.
  • People with a good story arc — "I had a problem, I was skeptical, I tried them, here's what happened" is the classic structure. Find customers who have that arc.

The ask: "We're making a short video for our website — nothing fancy, just 5 minutes of your time. Would you be willing to share what your experience working with us was like?"

The Questions That Produce Great Testimonials

Never hand someone a script. Ask questions and let them talk. The best testimonial soundbites come from natural answers to good questions:

  • "What was the situation before you hired us? What problem were you trying to solve?"
  • "What made you hesitant or nervous about hiring someone for this?"
  • "Why did you choose us over other options?"
  • "Walk me through what the actual experience was like."
  • "What was the result? What changed?"
  • "What would you say to someone who's considering hiring us but hasn't decided yet?"

Film all of it. You'll pull the best 60–90 seconds in editing.

Production Essentials

Location

Film at a location relevant to the service or at the customer's home/business. Seeing the finished project in the background (the new deck, the remodeled kitchen, the landscaped yard) adds powerful visual context. Avoid white-wall office setups — they look generic.

Lighting and Audio

Natural light near a window works well. A clip-on lavalier mic makes audio clean. Nothing kills a testimonial video faster than muddy audio or a backlit subject.

Length

60–90 seconds is the sweet spot for a single testimonial. Long enough to be credible and specific. Short enough to hold attention on social media and landing pages.

Keep It Unpolished (Strategically)

A perfectly rehearsed, heavily edited testimonial looks fake. Light stabilization, clean audio, good lighting — yes. But visible authenticity (small stumbles, natural pauses, genuine emotion) is a feature, not a bug.

Where to Use Testimonial Videos

One filming session should produce content for multiple channels:

  • Homepage — Feature 1–2 testimonials prominently above the fold or mid-page
  • Service pages — Match testimonials to relevant services (a roofing testimonial on your roofing page)
  • Landing pages — Testimonials near the CTA increase conversion dramatically
  • Google Business Profile — Add testimonial clips to your profile video
  • Social media — 30-second clips on Instagram Reels, Facebook, YouTube Shorts
  • Email marketing — Video thumbnail links in nurture sequences
  • Google Ads — Video testimonials in YouTube or Display campaigns

Getting Multiple Testimonials From One Shoot

If you're investing in professional video, don't film one testimonial — film three or four in the same session. Each takes 20–30 minutes of a customer's time. With four customers, you spend one day filming and produce enough testimonial content for months of marketing.

What a Testimonial Video Package Looks Like

When we produce testimonial videos for Kitsap County businesses, a typical deliverable includes:

  • 1 full testimonial (60–90 sec) edited and color-graded
  • 2–3 short social clips (15–30 sec each) from the same footage
  • Still frame cutouts for quote graphics
  • Horizontal and vertical formats

That's one filming session producing 5–6 individual content assets.

Ready to Film Your First Testimonial?

We produce testimonial videos for Kitsap County businesses from planning through delivery. See our video production service →

Or read: Brand Video Production: What It Costs and How to Do It Right

Buzz Cue — Poulsbo, WA. Video production and marketing for Kitsap County businesses. Talk to us →