As a small business owner, you have around 32.5 million competitors in the form of other U.S. small businesses. The good news is that you don't compete with them on all fronts. You only compete with other local businesses for foot traffic if you run a physical storefront.

The bad news is that you do compete with nearly all of those businesses and every other website on the digital front. Gaining even a small edge there can prove huge for your bottom line. Of course, customers like two things: testimonials and online videos.

That makes a testimonial video gold for your business. Not sure about making the perfect testimonial video? Keep reading for our guide on creating the perfect testimonial video.

Choose Your Customer with Care

Unlike a spontaneous review video that a customer posts on their own social media profile, this video will appear on your website or social media profile. You must ask someone to appear in the video because you aren't likely to get too many people volunteering. After all, how would they even know if you wanted to make one?

You must pick your target customer with care. Don't ask new customers because that can frighten them away. Instead, look for a long-time customer that used your product or service successfully to achieve their goal.

If no one springs immediately to mind, you can look at your social media profiles or even run searches on social media sites for mentions of you or your product. Find someone who spoke highly of your product voluntarily.

Preparation

Preparation is a crucial element in capturing the right feel for your video. While you might ask the customer questions while they're on camera, you want their answers to give an impression of spontaneity.

You can help prep the customer by providing them with a list of questions in advance that you plan on asking them. That gives the customer some time to think about what they want to say. Their comfort with the answer should help it come off as more off-the-cuff.

Some potential questions you might ask could include:

• Why did you select this brand/service/product?
• In what way did this brand/service/product help you?
• What do you see as the main benefits of using this brand/service/product?

If you don't have the exact questions worked out in advance, you can at least give the customer some general talking points to consider.

Help the Customer Relax

Most people don't spend much time talking on camera. It's the kind of experience that can leave someone feeling out of their depth or their comfort zone. The more stress they feel going in, the less natural their on-camera presentation will look.

Build some time into the schedule to talk with the customer in advance. A little friendly chatting about their life can help them relax.

You can also show them around the filming location. Talk to them about the equipment and what they can expect during filming. This can answer a lot of questions they might have had walking in.

Once they relax a bit, ask them if they have any questions about the process. Many people won't ask questions when they're nervous because they don't want to look unprofessional. Waiting until they wind down a bit can encourage them to ask the questions they were too embarrassed to ask when they first arrived.

Set the Scene

If your business is like most businesses, you spent some time building an ideal customer profile. You want a video that will appeal to that customer profile. That means getting the shot in a setting that makes sense.

If your ideal customer is a middle-class, suburban parent, you want a setting that at least looks like it could be in a middle-class home. If the scene looks like it was shot in a New York city micro-apartment, you end up with a psychological disconnect between the video and the viewers you want to reach.

Include the Product

Not every business sells a physical product. If you do sell a product, though, you want to make sure that the product actually makes an appearance in the video. You can ask the customer to pick it up and show it to the camera, for example.

If the shooting location allows for it, you could potentially ask the customer to demonstrate using the product. Make sure that the customer feels comfortable using the product on camera.

If you sell razor-sharp kitchen knives, you don't necessarily want a nervous person with shakey hands trying to cut a cucumber with one.

Keep It Short

While filming can take a while, that doesn't mean you can or should use every second of footage you get. You'll generally want to bring the whole thing in under three minutes when you get a final cut.

Keep an eye out for particularly memorable moments during filming that you want to see in the final cut.

Get Professional Help

Not every business has the equipment or expertise for pro-level video production and editing. If that's the case, consider bringing in a professional video production company to help with your testimonial video.

Ideally, you want a local company. If you're located in Toronto, for example, you could do an online search for "production companies Toronto."

These companies typically come armed with all of their own equipment. Additionally, many can also help you with the pre-production and post-production elements of making the video as well.

Creating the Perfect Testimonial Video and You

Creating the perfect testimonial video doesn't happen by accident. You need the right customer, first and foremost. Look for a long-time customer who uses and loves your product or service.

You need to prep the customer with talking points or provide them with your intended questions. The need needs the right setting to appeal to your ideal customer. Get the product in the video, if applicable.

Consider bringing in video production professionals if you lack the equipment or experience.

VIVA Media offers video production services in the Toronto area. For questions or to start the process, contact VIVA Media today.