As more and more businesses move their operations online, social proof and maintaining a good reputation have never been more important. Customer reviews and testimonials can significantly impact a brand’s reputation, which in turn affect its sales.
Before making a purchase, many people consult product or brand reviews first. A 2023 survey found that most U.S. consumers always or regularly read online reviews of local businesses.
These reviews now come in different forms. While traditional written reviews have become the norm for now, video testimonials are emerging as a powerful alternative. But which is more effective at driving sales?
To answer this question, we’ll explore the following topics:
• Understanding Video Testimonials and Written Reviews
• 4 Benefits of Video Testimonials
• 4 Benefits of Written Reviews
Understanding why reviews are important is crucial to using them effectively. Keep reading for the best tips for leveraging customer feedback to increase sales and credibility.
Why Are Reviews Important? Understanding Video Testimonials and Written Reviews
Video testimonials and written reviews are both forms of social proof. Their main difference lies in their format and how audiences consume and interact with them.
As the name suggests, a testimonial video is an audiovisual presentation featuring real customers sharing their experiences. It usually follows an interview or story-based structure.
On the other hand, written reviews are primarily text-based. We usually see these kinds of reviews on eCommerce websites, social media and dedicated review platforms.
Image: Thrive
Why Are Reviews Important?
Testimonials and reviews serve as proof of your company’s claims. Reviews help your audience feel more confident about your products and services, especially when seeing other people’s positive experiences.
Managing this feedback is pivotal in online reputation management (ORM). Online reviews can significantly affect your brand image and public perception.
When managed well, they can be a powerful form of marketing that boosts credibility, attracts more customers and drives sustainable growth.
How Video Adds Value: 4 Benefits of Video Testimonials
Testimonial videos are a relatively new format when compared to regular written reviews. However, they have become a powerful new tool to help brands promote their offerings and connect better with their audiences.
Let’s look at the benefits of online reviews presented in a video format:
1. Authenticity and Trust
One of the main benefits of video testimonials is its ability to showcase authenticity and build trust with your audience.
People can see a face and a voice sharing their honest experiences with your brand. Seeing a real person expressing their enthusiasm about a product or service elicits a sense of trust and connection that written words might not be able to achieve.
2. Higher Engagement Capabilities
Video reviews and testimonials are inherently more engaging than text. They stimulate at least two of our senses, making them more effective at grabbing and maintaining people’s attention.
Most people are more likely to watch a 15-second video testimonial vs reviews consisting of a large block of text, especially when scrolling through social media.
This effectiveness at drawing and retaining attention can lead to increased interest in your product or brand and higher conversion rates.
3. Enhanced Storytelling
Video lends itself well to storytelling and creativity. You can convey a more compelling message or narrative by encouraging customers to share their experiences in a more interesting format.
Take this video testimonial from Coursera. It didn’t need to stage sit-down interviews with clients for them to share their stories. Instead, the company used visual cues like location, props and other elements that told a profound story about struggle and success in 30 seconds.
Image: YouTube
While video can do simplicity reasonably well, it also effectively communicates complex concepts or processes. Your testimonial videos can include product demonstrations, visual explorations of your unique selling points and other creative edits that make your content more memorable.
4. Improved Shareability
Audience attention has become a precious commodity, and what’s a better way to get more of it than to create shareable content?
Video content is one of the most shared formats on social media. Since video testimonials are more engaging and often evoke emotion, people are more likely to share them with others.
This shareability can significantly expand your reach, allowing you to connect with people beyond your usual audience. As a result, you get to market your brand to more people, increasing your chances of growing your sales.
The Power of Written Reviews: 4 Key Advantages
Before video testimonials, written reviews were one of the most reliable ways to show social proof. They’re easier to produce, collect and display, making them a staple of eCommerce and business websites to this day.
Here are four key benefits of written reviews for your business:
1. Convenience
Written reviews are quick and easy for customers and clients to provide. Just give them an online review form, and customers can share their experiences and opinions about your product or service without complex tools or processes.
This setup makes it easier for businesses to establish and collect social proof, as gathering written feedback from a large number of customers takes minimal effort and resources.
2. Accessibility and Searchability
Aside from being convenient to produce, written reviews are also easier to access and scan. Potential buyers can easily skim through your product reviews and get a general idea of your product or service quality.
You can also add a filter or sorting option to your website’s review section. This way, users can sort through customer reviews based on the date, rating, popularity or specific keywords. This accessibility helps potential buyers find relevant feedback and information, allowing them to make informed purchasing decisions.
Image: Etsy
3. SEO Value
Search engine optimization (SEO) has become significant for businesses seeking a robust online presence. Many people’s customer journey begins with a quick search engine query.
Written reviews are an excellent asset for SEO.
SEO works with keywords, and written reviews are full of them. They naturally incorporate keywords that potential customers may search for, like product names and features.
A steady stream of keyword-rich written reviews can significantly improve your brand’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs), expand your reach and potentially grow your sales.
4. Cost-Effectiveness
Setting up a written review system on your eCommerce website has little to no additional cost. After setting up the system and encouraging customers to leave their feedback, you can simply wait for reviews to come in.
Customers can type in a few sentences or paragraphs and hit the post button. Written reviews have no production costs, making them an accessible format for building social proof.
Testimonial Videos vs. Written Reviews: 5 Key Differences
Leveraging the benefits of online reviews and testimonials is paramount when building a positive reputation and trying to increase sales.
While video testimonials and written reviews can be excellent forms of social proof, they have some essential differences that might affect your decision on which format to use. Let’s explore five of them below:
1. Impact on Consumer Trust
The importance of reviews lies in their ability to convince consumers of the value of your offerings and brand identity, earning their trust.
In this category, videos have an edge over written reviews. One of the main benefits of video testimonials is their powerful sense of authenticity and reliability. Video testimonials, especially ones featuring identifiable people, also reduce the risk of being perceived as fabricated.
“People prefer video content rather than reading written ones that are easier to fake,” said Tim Clarke, senior reputation manager at Thrive Local.
2. Emotional Connection
Videos are inherently better suited to creating emotional connections with viewers and potential customers. You can directly sense a person’s emotions through video, such as enthusiasm or gratitude. This emotional pull might just be what you need to close a sale.
This level of connection isn’t as strong in written reviews. Sure, you can still convey emotions through written words, but the effect isn’t as strong or apparent.
3. SEO Benefits
Written reviews have a greater direct impact on SEO than video testimonials. Reviews using product-specific language often naturally incorporate relevant keywords that boost your SEO rankings over time.
Video testimonials can also contribute to SEO by increasing visitors’ dwell time, signaling the value of your content to search engine crawlers. However, the impact on SEO isn’t as straightforward, and you will need to optimize the video’s metadata to get indexed by crawlers.
4. Conversion Rates
Video testimonials are arguably more effective at driving conversions than written reviews due to their ability to connect emotionally, elicit trust and drive audience engagement. They show your product or service in action, making them more convincing and likely to push conversions.
However, while written feedback can be less engaging, it still has many of the benefits of online reviews. It is simple to read and skim, allowing customers to easily compare and contrast their options. Snippets of these reviews are also perfect for incorporating into newsletters and other marketing platforms.
5. Content Creation Costs
When comparing a video testimonial vs reviews that are written, text-based reviews stand out for their cost-effectiveness. It’s much cheaper and easier to collect written reviews from customers than to stage a full production for a video testimonial.
Written reviews also allow you to collect feedback and show social proof even when customers want to be anonymous.
“A lot of times, customers aren’t willing to do video testimonials. This is especially true for medical, legal or some other sensitive industries where customers want confidentiality,” Clarke explains.
Maximize the Benefits of Online Reviews With Thrive Local
The importance of reviews, whether in a video or written format, cannot be overstated. In a world where customers are becoming more discerning about the brands they support, it’s basically a requisite to leverage the power of social proof.
Managing reviews and testimonials can be challenging, especially when dealing with multiple platforms and formats.
Thrive Local can help you rest easy and simplify the process by handling your ORM tasks. We understand why reviews are important and how they affect your overall reputation. We ensure that every aspect of your brand’s online presence performs at its best and works together to help you achieve your business goals.
Let’s work together. If you’re ready to drive sales and improve your online reputation, talk to our experts today.
