Getting a great remote video testimonial takes a whole lot more than just firing up Zoom and pressing “record.”
If only it were so easy!
If you want a quality final product, here are just a few of the things you need to think about:
- Capture quality
- Lighting
- Framing
- Audio
- B-roll
- Tech troubleshooting
- Setting
- Captions and graphics
- Interview logistics
- Interviews
1. Capture quality
Zoom (and most video platforms) will compress the heck out of everything they touch and make it look like it was filmed on a potato. You may need your customer to record locally.
2. Lighting
Testimonials shared from a cave, or while being blinded by a bright window, are a little less compelling.
3. Framing
Someone sitting slouched off to the side or staring down at the screen is not going to come across well.
4. Audio
We’ll forgive a poor picture to some degree, but we’ll never forgive horrible audio—it’s just one of its quirks. Do you have the microphones and equipment you need? Can you stop the furnace/fan/phone from kicking in mid-shoot?
5. B-roll
Staring at a talking head for two minutes gets old really fast. You need alternate footage to break things up.
6. Tech troubleshooting
What do you do when things go wrong? And how can you catch and fix problems BEFORE you get in too deep?
7. Setting
It’s not always possible to find a place with a simple background for video interviews… but creative Zoom backgrounds aren’t the solution either.
8. Captions and graphics
Captions, graphics, and branding are essential to the quality of the end product. You can’t just skip them. And if we had a dollar for every typo we’ve found, we’d be rich.
9. Interview logistics
You’d think that with a lot of folks still working from home, arranging a time for an interview would be easy. Not so. Not only do you have to find time in your customers’ busy work schedule, you now also have to compete with homeschooling, nap times, and a myriad of other at-home things.
10. Interviews
Conducting a great interview is essential for any kind of video testimonial. But having to conduct those interviews remotely—with the baked-in coldness of communicating through computers located in different parts of the world—adds another layer of complexity.
On top of all that, if you want to shoot a series of video testimonials with a bunch of different customers, you also have to worry about creating a consistent end product.
We’re proud that the Case Study Buddy team rose to the challenge of creating powerful customer testimonial videos that we capture and produce remotely—especially when the pandemic more or less wiped out live-on-location shoots.
We’re still learning and growing together, but it’s fun to see how far we’ve come.
Here’s a recent example for you to enjoy, where Quinn Tempest sings the praises of our client, Cliqueworthy:
Want to spotlight your customers with captivating video testimonials that bring your stories to life?
Contact us to learn how.