Lately, interest in our video case studies and video testimonials has taken off.

And no wonder. According to Social Media Week:

• Video consumption on mobile devices rises a whopping 100 percent each year
• 78 percent of people report watching videos online each week
• 55 percent of those watch on a daily basis.

This trend hasn’t gone unnoticed among marketers. According to the same source:

• 99 percent of marketers claim they will continue to use video marketing in their approaches
• 88 percent are committing to devoting more dollars to such campaigns in the future.

We’re helping our clients capitalize on this growing video wave through video case studies.

These are case studies where we record our case study interview with your customer and then transform that footage into valuable video marketing assets, such as short video testimonials or longer customer success stories.

These assets can be deployed in myriad ways, including websites, landing pages, blog posts, paid ads, social media, proposals, sales meetings, and so much more.

But in offering this service, we’ve had to grapple with the challenge of making sure customers look great during their interviews by making sure the angle, lighting, and framing are as flattering and optimal as possible.

In the age of Zoom, some customers have this process down pat.

But not everyone is there quite yet.

Help customers look great on camera

So how do we make sure everyone comes off looking their very best?

We prepare customers ahead of time by sending them the following guide:

As you can see, we ask that faces are well lit.

We try to get them centered in the frame as much as possible and shot from the chest up—not too close to the camera or desperately far away.

If at all possible, we also try to avoid headphones.

Ask for adjustments when needed

Even with these instructions sent in advance, some adjustments still need to be made on the spot.

It can be a little awkward or intimidating to ask someone to change position or adjust their setup, so here’s some simple language that we sometimes employ:

“Before we get into the interview, let’s do a few quick checks to make sure things look as great as possible.”

“Is there any way you can move the camera a little higher so that it’s at eye level?” (If not, can they move their chair a little lower or elevate the device they’re using?)

“Would it be possible to sit in the center of the frame?”

“Are you able to back up/move in a bit?” (Make sure the audio doesn’t sound worse when they move.)

“Are you able to get any more light from the front?” (See if they have a lamp or can sit in front of a window. NEVER have strong lighting from the back!)

It helps to remember that the interviewee is probably a little nervous and WANTS to give a great “performance.”

Couching these requests through the lens of 1) we want to get the best possible end product and 2) we want to make sure they look great helps us to put interviewees at ease and garner their cooperation.

Create powerful marketing videos that tell the story of your success

By getting all of these elements right—the sound and lighting are good, the customer looks great, and one of our skilled interviewers pulls out the very best soundbites and testimonials—we allow the story of you and your customer’s success to sing through.

Falling short in any of these areas would diminish the power of the story as a whole.

And when that happens, no one looks good.

Create powerful video assets that you can use across your sales and marketing channels.

Contact us to start the conversation.