July 26th, 2010
by Anika Lehde

At Projectline we have produced dozens of testimonial videos for our clients all over the world. We have also seen hundreds of videos that are just short of great due to a few common mistakes. Occasionally we are even asked to go against our better judgment and knowledge to create a video that is less of a true customer story. We resist when we can.

Lighting? Good sound? A huge production team? Hiring the right consulting firm to help? No, these aren’t where the most critical mistakes are made.

If you are just embarking on your first customer or partner testimonial videos or you need a refresher, let me share with you the 3 most common mistakes that can render a video significantly less impactful. As helpful as they can be with most content, don’t let your branding manager or your senior executive bully you into changing your true testimonials into marketing mush:

• Don’t narrate the story. Here’s the thing: if YOU are telling the story instead of your customer, you are losing the single most powerful effect of the video. A narrator can and will say anything their client asks of them. A customer will not. Let your customer tell the story, because they’ll be more trustworthy. Ask them questions that bring out the full story from beginning to end. To that same end, do not have your customer memorize a script or specific ways to say things. Let them break your brand rules and be genuine.
• Don’t appear in your video. Your audience isn’t interested in what you have to say about your own products or services. Even if your Account Manager, Technical Consultant, or Customer Service Rep was instrumental in the customer’s satisfaction, don’t interview your internal team about how great they are or how they helped. Let the customer tell the story. Let your customer talk about them if it was important.
• Don’t over-emphasize branding throughout the video or place product logos in every shot. We’ve all seen videos where the company shows the product logo every time the customer says the product name! There is no need to show your product logo over and over – in fact, it disrupts the story and turns a genuine interview and customer testimonial into one more piece of marketing fluff. Include your logo and URL at the end of the video with a call to action.

You can have the tiniest budget video, but as long as you let the customer tell the real story, you have gold in your hands. Don’t let over production and micro-management overshadow a real life story. Go forth. Record. Share.

[The videos above are ones we're proud of. One highlights one of our own happy customers, and the other is a video we produced on behalf of a client.]

tags: customer evidence, video

July 2nd, 2010
by Corey Mahoney

This past Sunday (as usual), we found ourselves looking for brunch. The nearest place is an odd little corner café descriptively named the Volunteer Park Café. They have delicious quiche, good salads, and a nearly overwhelming banana French toast dish. From a block away, we could see someone standing in the doorway with a boom mic. Was it a news crew? Was the café still open? People seemed to be going in past the filming operation, so we followed them in.

Inside, there was a note on the register explaining the video shoot: a friend of the café had volunteered to film “Love letters to VPC” in support of the owners and café community. Customers were encouraged to share if they had anything nice to say about the café or their experiences at the café over the years.

Why Love Letters?

It turns out that the café has been working on building a back patio for some outdoor seating, and one of the neighbors objects. That neighbor has filed a complaint with the city pointing out that the building is historically zoned as “grocery” instead of “grocery/café.”

In order to stay in its spot—and continue to grow—the café will need to request a zoning change from the Department of Planning and Development. And in order to do that, they’re collecting customer stories to build a “supportive argument” for the café.

The oldest social media

From my spot by the wall, I can hear what’s going on around me: two elderly gentlemen in the corner are discussing the Federalist Papers; one of the owners is greeting a baby whose mother is standing in line; two men with dueling MacBooks are working beside me; and several pairs of friends are meeting for lunch.

Video testimonials, customer evidence, and new media may be popular buzzwords and growing marketing practices, but this is the oldest “social” media: people gathering to talk with each other, work together, and build communities. It seems only natural that video and “new” media should support this place’s existence.

It’s a good reminder: the boom mic may be new, and the Twitter account might help a little bit, but the real secret to great customer evidence and strong testimonials is helping them fall in love—with your space, with the products, with each other, and with the community.

tags: customer evidence, social media

May 5th, 2010
by Eric Larson

Recently, I ran across something outside of work that reminded me of a lesson I know in my work life: genuine storytelling often gets the message across best.

In my non-work life, I’m lucky enough to be on the board of the Bellevue Boys & Girls Club, which does fantastic work in my neighborhood and beyond. This year, we’re working on a new program called Be Great Graduate!, which aims to find students who are likely to drop out of school and give them the support and motivation they need to graduate from high school. Of course, it’s easy to explain—but hard to actually carry out. As we got started on the program this year, we found out that we were going to need a lot of help to succeed. We’d need to earn the trust of teachers, kids, parents, community members, and donors—all of whom have different priorities, worries, and doubts.

So, for the first year, we worked with just a few kids. As they’re winding up the school year—successfully!—we are more committed than ever to making this program work for other kids. Next year, though, we’ll have an advantage: the stories and voices of this year’s students, parents, and teachers. It’s much easier to earn trust with their stories, because they are wonderful people with genuine voices; their experience means more than our intentions.

What does this have to do with marketing? Well, projects and programs—implementing new technology or trying new ways of doing things—also require a lot of trust and buy-in. In the flurry to convince people we’re right, it can be easy to focus too much on intentions when they really need to hear about experiences. A few sentences from a kid’s mouth can mean more than all our fancy plans. A quick reference or a short success story from someone who’s tried the technology already can mean more than all the features/benefits lists you’ve got.

But it’s important that we take the right lesson from this: the story has to be genuine. The storyteller’s personality has to come through. Sometimes it’s more important to have a powerful story than a powerful job title (the kids might not be President of anything, but our partners would often rather hear from them than from the Principal). Maybe the PC Support guy (or gal) is the right person to explain the new help desk tracker, instead of his (or her) boss’s boss—or maybe they can both help tell it. The story can be simple. In fact, it’ll probably get across better that way.

We’re facing a tough challenge with the Boys and Girls Club—but we know we’re better off armed with good stories.

And, of course, if you need some help telling a great story, we work on Customer Evidence and Customer Reference Programs that do just that. Rather hear it from someone else? See what our customers have to say.

tags: customer evidence, success stories

March 17th, 2010
by Tom Pollock

For effective customer evidence, it’s hard to beat video: it lets the customer’s story shine through, pairing visual context with the familiarity of listening instead of reading. We certainly believe in video—we use it to share our own happy customers’ stories as well as producing video testimonials on our customers’ behalf.

Many companies are self-producing video shorts these days. The lower cost of high quality cameras, even in HD, makes this more practical than ever. Companies post videos on their own website as well as using YouTube channels so clients and employees can stay plugged in.

Self-producing video is all well and good, but it’s easy to end up frustrated with the resulting audio quality. After all, even the most visually-appealing video isn’t going to do the job if people can’t hear your message. Poor audio also leaves a negative impression about the quality of results your company strives to achieve. Getting good quality audio involves two steps: capture and post-processing. Let’s consider audio capture first and we’ll follow up with post-processing tips next week.

First: Capturing good workable audio.

Very little can be done with audio that’s captured badly, so we need to make sure we get good stuff up-front.

Really, it’s all about the microphone! The type and placement of the mic are the critical factors in capturing decent audio. Consider the standard camera-mounted mic. The on-camera mic is as far away from the subject as can be. Even though it’s “directional,” meaning it tries to be more sensitive to sound coming from where the camera is pointing, there’s still too much sound coming from other sources, bouncing off walls and ceilings, and even coming from the camera operator, to capture decent audio. We need a better mic–and we need it closer to the subject.

Many cameras have a “mic in” or “line in” jack. If yours does, life just got a lot easier. If not, better audio isn’t impossible, it’s just more complicated. Let’s cover the “mic in” case first.

The “mic in” jack allows you to connect an external mic to the camera that will override the mic attached to the camera, i.e. a cable attached to a mic that your subject holds by hand like a news reporter. You’ve now moved the mic much closer to your subject—a good thing.

One step further is a lavalier, or “lav” mic. These are the small clip-on mics you see used on talk shows. Lav mics can be wired (i.e. plugged directly into your camera) or wireless. The wireless versions are particularly useful. Your subject wears the mic connected to a transmitter pack. A receiver pack attaches to your camera and plugs into your “mic in” jack, and voila! You get great audio, and your subject is free from wires and mic holding. You have a good quality mic literally attached to your subject.

The best audio requires another person. On film sets you’ll often see a person with headphones holding a long pole with a mic at the end called a “boom mic.” The mics used in this fashion can be very high quality (also high priced!), and having a person dedicated to capturing audio ensures the best result. But this technique isn’t practical for most self-produced projects. A good handheld or lav mic wired into your camera will do the trick.

Now to get back to those of you with a camera that has no “mic in” jack.
In this case, you’re stuck recording decent audio separately from the camera. This can get tricky, as you’ll need to make sure you can later join the video and audio together, and that can sometimes be difficult. In these cases, audio is usually captured into a computer-based audio system with “frame-accurate” capabilities that make matching the audio and video in post-production much easier. You’ll need the help of an audio professional to make sure you have the right equipment and software to record this way.

Okay, we’ve captured good audio. Excellent! Next week, we’ll cover how to manage audio during the editing process for a clear, quality final video.

Any tricks that work well for you? Any recommendations about what to try and what to avoid for really great audio results?

tags: customer evidence, testimonials, video evidence

February 22nd, 2010
by Eric Larson

Recently, we sat down as a team to talk about what makes Projectline different from other customer engagement and consulting companies. As we shared various stories about who we are, what we do, and why it matters, we found that some of the best input came directly from the feedback we have received from customers. Their perspective is probably the best indicator of what it is we do better than other companies.

Of course, we know how we see ourselves as different from our competitors, but that is tied more to market positioning. But in this meeting, I was reminded that it’s healthy to ask your customers how THEY think you’re different. The more you deviate from actual customer feedback, the more you are talking about positioning and less about proven differentiators.

So how can you make sure that your customers’ insights about your product or company are being integrated into your story? How can you use their feedback to tell other possible clients what sets you apart?

• Look for your enthusiasts online. When people tweet that they love you, why is it? Don’t just say thanks—pass those tweets back up to your sales or marketing team or make a note to include their messages (at least in spirit) in your explanation of how you’re different. Bonus: they’re already short and sweet.
• Look to reviews. If bloggers have mentioned you, reviewed your product, or noted new developments in your brand, what have they seen as different? Read between the lines: what made your brand or product worth reviewing?
• As you gather customer evidence, think about using the insights beyond the case study or testimonial. Have sales teams consider what each story teaches them about why the customer succeeded, and consider incorporating those key points into the core story about your brand.
• When advisory boards or customer communities provide feedback for future iterations, use their feedback to inform sales and marketing as well as product development teams. Even if the feedback is critical, look again: customers are often most critical about the features that are most crucial to their business.

tags: branding, customer engagement, customer evidence, customer feedback

November 2nd, 2009
by Corey Mahoney

In about a month, the FTC’s new Guides for using endorsements and testimonials in advertising will go into effect (read the press release or the full text in PDF). It can be easy to get sidetracked by a narrow understanding of endorsements, but these guidelines have implications for all kinds of marketers.

So, what’s the big deal? How will this affect customer engagement marketers?

(Keep in mind: we’re not lawyers, and we’re not giving you legal advice.)

• The new Guides throw out the old loophole that let advertisers get away with putting a cursory disclaimer next to an exaggerated claim (i.e. “Results not typical”). They stress that one way to avoid implying typicality is by providing the details of the situation—we think the best way to do that is a thorough, detailed case study!
• The revisions explicitly address new and social media, stressing that “consumers’ willingness to trust social media depends on the ability of those media to retain their credibility as reliable sources of information” (see page 11). Arguing for transparency and honesty, they make clear that both advertisers and endorsers can be liable for obfuscation or dishonesty.
• The Guides expand potential liability to the endorser, which makes sense in the context of blogs and customer communities. The key to avoiding the pitfalls of consumer-generated endorsement-confusion? Clear policies and processes.

So, are the new guidelines good or bad?

Of course, there are some tricky things about the Guides. You’ll want to make sure you have someone monitoring or managing your social media presence, blogs about your products, and customer communities. You’ll need to double-check that you have solid processes in place for reviewing and approving consumer-generated content. You’ll have to make sure that final editorial pass has legal and ethical issues in mind.

But ultimately, we think the revisions are pretty great. Social media, testimonials, and customer stories are only as powerful as the trust between companies and their clients. The FTC’s choice to weigh in (relatively) early, rather than in a few years, is only a good thing for those of us who know the real value of customers’ trust.

tags: customer communities, customer evidence, editing, ftc, social media, testimonials

September 2nd, 2009
by Corey Mahoney

We put the “N” in “CRKSN” and the “Ann” in “mAnnagement.”

In our latest video blog, Brooke shares some of her insights about what it’s like to work in the customer reference industry and lets you know you’re not alone. Then she chats with Ann, the head of our content development team, about being a ‘lapsed novelist’ and what Projectline content development does.

tags: CRKSN, customer evidence, customer reference knowledge sharing network, customer references, vlog

November 18th, 2008
by Projectline

Are you passionate about technology and marketing? Do you like to solve problems, create project plans, and execute efficiently? Do your friends consider you a smart, humorous, and positive person?  If this sounds like you, then please read on!  Projectline Services, Inc. is looking for an enthusiastic marketing project manager to help our clients produce high quality and influential customer testimonial case studies.  This position will be responsible for working with clients to manage customer testimonial production processes to support sales and marketing activities.  [read more]

tags: customer evidence, marketing, Recruiting

July 28th, 2008
by Projectline

This position will drive strategic Customer Reference execution efforts across many product lines. This role will function as a centralized resource to research, qualify, secure, and track customer references for:  customer-to-customer (C2C) sales calls, direct marketing needs, advertising campaigns, public relations (PR) and press phone calls, analyst relations, events/executive speaker opportunities, and much more. These customer reference efforts are critical for driving sales revenue, increasing market credibility, and demonstrating the business value of our client’s solutions and therefore someone ready to step into the spotlight is required.

Customer Reference Program Desk Manager

tags: blogging, customer evidence, customer reference, Recruiting

October 29th, 2007
by Anika Lehde

 So I have been thinking today (not the first time) about my least favorite approach to customer evidence, (case studies, success stories, customer testimonials, whatever you want to call them). I think it is a problem that permeates the execution of so many sales and marketing activities: goal-agnostic metrics.

What do I mean? I mean when some poor marketing manager has been given the task of “creating XX number of success stories by XX date” as the goal of a customer evidence program. This is a fine target number, but not the goal of the program. The goals of an evidence program should be more like: to create stories that are instantly readable and genuinely connect with the audience, to create testimonials that are true and informative with a reasonable call to action, to produce stories that resonate and can be passed on to your customers’ industry peers, and most importantly to create materials that actually get in the hands of buyers and influencethem at all stages of the sales and marketing life cycle.

So my quick advice, if you are ever asked to “create XX number of success stories by XX date” is to consider these 4 questions:

• How will these materials get into the hands of potential customers, specifically? Events? Online? Sales calls? Proposals? Direct mail? Press releases? and how can I make sure that it actually happens?
• What formats will be most useful in these channels?
• What quantity of success stories is needed to be successful in these channels based on coverage across industry, geography, and segment?
• If I were someone in my audience, what would I really bother to read that would make a difference in my buying decisions? (See little chat on empathy in marketing or more ideas.

Once these questions are answered, then set the best target possible for your budget, and include a few more details such as what formats will be used in what channels (online, direct mail, advertising, sales calls, events, etc). That is sure to generate more success for your company in the long run, and you’ll still likely hit hit your targets. And if any one ever asks you, “why 20?,” you’ll have an answer.

tags: audience perception, B2B, case studies, customer evidence, customer reference, marketing, marketing goals