Video testimonials: how to ask for, record and show them

A video testimonial is a customer saying, on camera, what you did for them. It is harder to get than a written one and harder to doubt. This guide covers who to ask, how to make recording easy, what to ask, and where to put the result.

When video is worth the effort

Video earns its place where trust is the whole decision: a service that costs a lot, a result that sounds too good, a business the visitor has never heard of. A face and a voice answer "is this real?" in a way text cannot.

For everything else, written testimonials do the job and are far easier to collect. Most sites need a handful of videos at most, placed where the doubt is greatest.

Who to ask

• A customer who has already said something good. If they wrote you a kind message, the hard part is done. Ask whether they would say the same on camera.
• A customer with a result. A number, a before and after, a problem that went away.
• Someone at ease talking. Not everyone likes being filmed. Offer a written testimonial as the other option, and never press.

Make it a five-minute job

When a customer agrees and then never sends a video, it is often the effort that stopped them, not second thoughts. Take the effort away.

• Let them record on what they have. A phone or a laptop camera is enough. Nobody needs a studio, and a plain video is often more convincing than a polished one.
• Give them a link, not instructions. A page that opens the camera, records and sends the video removes the steps where people give up: finding the file, shrinking it, attaching it.
• Ask for one minute. Say so in the request. A short limit makes the job feel small.
• Send the questions first. Three prompts they can glance at while they talk.

What to ask

Ask in the order the story happened:

1. Who are you, and what do you do?
2. What was the problem you needed to solve?
3. What has changed since?
4. What would you say to someone who is still deciding?

Ask the customer to begin each answer with the question: "The problem we had was ...". Then every answer makes sense with your question cut out. Testimonial questions to ask your customers has more.

A message you can send

Hi Maria,

I am glad the new kitchen is working out. Would you be willing to say a few words about it on camera? One minute is plenty, and you can record it on your phone from the link below.

It helps to cover three things: what you were unsure about before, how the work went, and what you would tell a neighbour.

If you would rather write a couple of sentences instead, that is just as welcome.

Thank you, Sam

Tips to pass on to the customer

Put these under the link. They prevent the most common problems.

• Face a window. Light in front of you, not behind.
• Hold the phone at eye level, or prop it on a shelf. Looking down at a screen is unflattering to everyone.
• Find a quiet room. Sound matters more than the picture.
• Look at the lens, not at yourself on the screen.
• One take is fine. Small stumbles make it believable.

Ways to collect the video

They send you a file. The customer records with their phone's camera and sends the video by email or a messaging app. It costs nothing and needs no tool. The files are large, they arrive in different shapes and formats, and you have to host them somewhere before they can go on your site.

They record through a form. A testimonial tool gives you a link. The customer opens it, records in the browser or uploads a clip, and the video arrives in your account, hosted and ready to show. ReTestimonial, the tool behind the builders on this site, works this way:

• The customer records in their browser or uploads a file (MP4, MOV, WebM). If their browser blocks the camera, uploading still works.
• The free plan holds 2 video testimonials of up to 2 minutes each. The Pro plan, $29 a month, holds 10.
• A video that is already on YouTube, Vimeo or Loom can be added by its link.

See how ReTestimonial collects video testimonials. This site earns money when visitors pay for the tools it features; how this site is paid explains.

Get permission in writing

A face is more personal than a quote. Before you publish:

• Ask for a clear yes to showing the video on your website, and say where else it may appear.
• Keep the message or the form answer that says yes.
• Take the video down if the customer later asks. Tell them at the start that they can.

Add captions

Many visitors watch with the sound off, and some cannot hear it at all. Captions let the video work for both. They also put the customer's words on the page as text, where a visitor can skim them.

Write the captions yourself for a short video, or use a tool that makes them from the recording. ReTestimonial does this from its Pro plan.

Where to put it

• Beside the decision. On the pricing page, next to the booking form, under the sign-up button.
• With a line of text. Put the customer's strongest sentence under the video as a quote. Visitors who do not press play still get the point.
• Never playing by itself with sound. A video that starts talking on its own annoys visitors. Let them press play.
• Together, once you have a few. Three or four videos in a row do more than one, because the visitor sees that the first was not a one-off.

ReTestimonial plays a video inside its carousel, wall and list layouts, beside written testimonials. To build one, choose a layout. How to design a testimonial page covers what goes where, and how to ask a customer for a testimonial covers the asking in more detail.