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One of the best ways to build brand recognition and trust is through customer stories. But why simply write a story in long-form when you can draw in an audience through the magic of video?
In this guide, we will explain what a customer story is, why you should use one, and how you can create a customer story video in five simple steps. Here’s what you need to know.
What is a customer story?
A customer story is like a testimonial. It’s an engaging and positive narrative about a customer's experience with a company. Historically, these stories could take a variety of formats, from articles to blog posts. However, it is becoming increasingly popular to convey a customer story via video. Let’s take a look at why this is a smart approach.
Why should businesses leverage customer stories?
Here are four major reasons why you must take advantage of customer stories to achieve your business goals, especially for customer-facing efforts like marketing:
1. Build trust and credibility
“Actions speak louder than words”, so goes the old saying which also applies to the use of customer stories. You can build a great deal of trust and credibility with target audiences by curating and featuring content from real, satisfied customers.
Using customer stories saves you from the trouble of having to come up with often far-fetched and lofty claims about all the amazing things your offerings can do. Instead, you let happy customers do the talking for you with a story, which could be a video, UGC content, or testimonials.
Almost 50% of customers trust online reviews as much as they would personal recommendations. Unscripted customer stories come across as authentic testimonials, lending immense credibility as viewers think: "This real person had a real positive outcome, so this product must be great!".
For instance, an account from a business person raving about how much time or money your service saved their business packs more punch and influence than any slick marketing claim you can make.
2. Generate word-of-mouth marketing
Customer stories can help you generate lots of word-of-mouth marketing for your business at a minimal cost. Loyal customers are often more than happy to volunteer to organically promote and share content about their great experiences, even without your input.
Studies show over 69% of customers are more likely to buy from a business after hearing about positive experiences. Many traditional businesses (like law firms, accounting, and medical consultancies) have relied on simple word-of-mouth recommendations for centuries.
3. Showcase product/service benefits
Showcasing specific product or service benefits through customer stories enables your target customers to visualize tangible impacts. Customer stories essentially put a relatable, human face to your offerings’ advantages
Be specific here. For example, rather than broadly claiming your solution boosts productivity, a customer can describe how the tool helped their team manage leads more efficiently, cutting paperwork by 10 hours each week.
Such a level of real-world detail and quantification spotlights the product’s value. Even complex products become accessible and credible through the power of a firsthand account detailing measurable improvements.
4. Connect emotionally with customers
Never underestimate the value of human emotions. Connecting emotionally with customers is great for branding, and client stories accomplish this beautifully.
You can showcase positive emotions from customers such as joy, pride, or gratitude, to create uplifting sentiments towards your company.
For example, a video testimonial featuring a small business owner getting emotional while describing how your consulting services saved their company creates more emotion than any sophisticated marketing content could hope to.
Why should you use video for a customer story?
Videos are the most preferred format for creating customer stories, especially those to be shared on social media platforms and websites. There are quite several reasons why, and here are some of them:
1. Videos create deeper connections
Videos convey facial expressions and emotions that text testimonials or reviews lack. Nonverbal communication is powerful. It enables viewers to connect to the customer story on a more human level, creating more emotion or feelings for the described benefits of the product or service.
2. Videos build credibility
Seeing and hearing real customers lends authenticity and trust in a powerful, memorable way that words alone cannot. It’s easier for a person to trust a customer story delivered via video content because they can see the person and sometimes even see them use the product or results.
3. Improve engagement.
Video’s dynamic motion and imagery better hold the viewer's attention than static copy. For instance, statistics show that videos have more engagement than photos on Instagram and other platforms.
4. Expand reach with video customer stories
Videos drive higher content sharing across platforms, propelling brand awareness further. People tend to spend more time watching videos they find interesting and are, therefore, more likely to share them.
5. Track performance
You can do granular video analytics to help you optimize marketing efforts by pinpointing what resonates best with audiences. This works great for videos because you can tell exactly how long a person watched a video and what it means for your marketing efforts.
7 Inspiring customer story ideas for video
There is no limit to the kind or type of customer stories you can create for your marketing efforts. Here are seven tried and tested ideas you can try today:
1. Before and after
Feature a customer or UGC creator video showcasing the tangible impact your product or service provided to them. For example, a customer showing how they completed more tasks per day using a productivity tool.
2. “Eureka” moment
A eureka moment video captures the delight when a customer first discovers your ingenious product feature or unique service. For example, show a video of a customer discovering that your lawn chair can convert into a table.
3. Problem solved
A “problem solved” video conveys the relief a customer felt finding your solution. For example, a customer finding a foreign product in your store that is hard to find locally.
4. Skeptic turned promoter
This is a customer story that profiles someone originally doubtful of your capabilities. For example, a customer who doubted that books could help them with small talk and they find yours helpful.
5. Behind the scenes
This is a video that you can do in collaboration with loyal customers that pulls back the curtain on how your product improves daily processes. For instance, do an on-site video of your clients using your software tool in their office to improve processes.
6. Small business lifeline
This idea is great for businesses offering B2B services. Here, you can do a heroic story of saving a struggling company for example, as a consultant.
7. Next level success
This video idea is great for B2C products or services. For instance, if you are a career or life coach, the most important thing is documenting the achievement of career, health, or life goals of your past clients.
How to create your own customer story video with Riverside
Ready to create your own customer story? We have the answer. With Riverside, the basics of customer story video production are a breeze. Let’s take a look at some key features:
- High quality recordings at up to 4K video and 48kHz audio resolution
- AI-generated transcription in 100+ languages so you can easily repurpose your videos into written testimonials
- AI Captions which you can style and format as you like
- Easy-to-use text-based editor feature to make perfecting your video easy
- Magic Clips uses AI to repurpose one recording into shareable social media snippets
- Producer Mode allows you to give control to a third-party to manage settings without getting in the way of the recording
- Background noise removal and level normalization for crystal clear audio
- Teleprompter so you can upload and follow a script effortlessly
- Video customization by adding a bespoke background and logo anc choosing a layout
- Async recording allows your guests to record their part of the content in their own time
Thanks to the above features, you don’t need to be a technological whiz kid to record a video that will captivate your audience. Here are some of the steps to follow:
Step 1: Plan your customer story
First things first, you need to plan out your customer story and reach out to the customer. You can use the ideas that we have outlined in this guide. When you speak to the customer to arrange a recording, tell them you will invite them to a virtual studio.
You will need to brief them on the customer story, what role they need to play, and any other preparation they should do. In some cases, you might want to send them an agreed script in advance. You can also use the teleprompter feature to share a script while recording.
Step 2: Create an account and a recording studio
Next you need to set up your Riverside account, or log in if you have an existing one. When you have done that, you can click “+ New Studio” to launch your virtual studio. Name your studio and select the recording type as “Audio & Video”.
When you have done the above, you can enter your studio. If you have given your guests a shareable link in advance, wait for them to join the virtual studio remotely.
Step 3: Record your customer story
As we have mentioned, you can use the teleprompter feature to share a script with you and your guest. When you are ready to get started, press the “Record” button to start recording.
Allow your customer to share their story. You can either do this through them simply telling the story or an interview format.
Once you have finished, press Stop and wait for all of your recording files to upload. You can then press “Leave” to leave the virtual studio.
Step 4: Edit your customer story video
When you have recorded your customer story, editing it couldn’t be easier. Use the text-based editor to make any changes or cuts you want in seconds.
The Magic Clips tool will isolate the best parts of the customer story video so that you can download them as separate files and share them on social media.
Customize your video by adding your logo, changing the background, or changing the layout. You can then “download” your video in your chosen format. You will also get an AI-generated transcript that you can use for captioning.
Step 5: Publish and promote
When you’ve done all of the above, the final step is to publish and promote your customer story. You can publish the video on your own website or on a third-party, such as YouTube.
Be sure to share snippets on it on social media to hook your audience’s attention. Riverside’s Magic Clip feature makes this straightforward. The tool instantly identifies the best parts of your content and allows you to download them for easy sharing.
FAQs on Customer Stories
What are the elements of a customer story?
When you’re working on a client success story, you want to make sure that it engages the audience. While there are many different paths you can take, here are some core elements:
- Authenticity. Audiences are always on the lookout for fake content. Make sure that your customer story is authentic and trustworthy at all costs.
- Narrative. The best customer stories follow a natural narrative arch. That means that they have a beginning, middle, and end. The end should be a satisfying resolution.
- Action. Why does this story matter? What was at risk if the customer didn’t get what they needed? Why should the audience care about the client's success story?
- Quality. Every part of your customer story needs to be high-quality. Ensure that your script is well-written, your narrative is tight, and the production is high-end.
How long should a customer story be?
If you are showcasing a customer story as an article or blog post, it should be around 500-800 words. However, if you are using a video format, you should stick to around 90-120 seconds. Keep in mind that audiences don’t have the attention span to watch long videos.
