5 Aspects of Testimonial Videos That B2B SaaS Audiences Respond Most To
A SaaS company’s marketing strategy should include B2B software testimonial videos such as customer testimonial videos and remote video testimonials. They not only help build trust and credibility but also help describe how the product or service has benefitted the customer.
The average conversion rate on sales pages increases by 34% when testimonials are included according to an Impact study.
But how can you leverage the power customer testimonial videos offer to deliver the results you want?
Using customer testimonials videos, of course!
SaaS customers have come to rely on testimonials from satisfied customers who have used the product or service and found it useful for their business needs. Other reasons are:
Statistics further strengthen the case in favor of testimonials. Let us look at some numbers:
As the world turns more visual, companies are forced to host their video content online.
Here is an example of a B2B software testimonial video, for Leadfeeder from Cooleaf:
Some companies choose to host their videos on their website.
In this guide, we will discuss alternative options such as a video hosting service.
Many companies are wondering whether to host their videos on their websites or on a video hosting platform as video has become an increasingly popular format for online content.
Let us see why companies should consider video hosting platforms over hosting videos on their websites.
The most important reason is that hosting videos on a company’s marketing website is resource-intensive and can significantly impact website loading times.
What are the advantages of using a video hosting platform?
While video hosting platforms offer a convenient way to share and view videos, there are also some disadvantages to using them:
Now that we understand the importance of providing customer video testimonials a forum to shine, the next step is to consider a few free and paid options you can use for the purpose:
We’ll begin by looking at some of the disadvantages of free video hosting platforms:
No discussion of videos can be considered complete without mentioning this behemoth from the Google stables.
Launched on Valentine’s Day 2005, it consistently ranks number #2 on Alexa, just behind its parent company, Google.
This B2B software testimonial video from Lawcus is hosted on the Content Beta website and links to the Content Beta YouTube page:
Let’s look at some statistics to understand the power it wields:
Do these factors automatically make YouTube the best choice for hosting software testimonial videos?
What are the disadvantages of the platform for businesses?
If you are hosting your B2B testimonials on the platform, it’d help to learn more about YouTube video formatting guidelines:
According to the YouTube Help Page, the following formatting specifications ensure the highest quality when playing videos :
| Sl. No. | Factor | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Video File Format | Currently accepted file types: .MOV, .MPEG4, .MP4.AVI, .WMV |
| 2 | Frame Rate | Frames per second or FPS : 24,25,30,48,50,60 |
| 3 | Aspect Ratio | The standard is 16:9, but others are auto-optimized. |
| 4 | Audio File | MP3 audio in MP3/WAV container | PCM audio in WAV container | AAC audio in MOV container | FLAC audio |
| 5 | Minimum & Maximum dimensions | 240p (426 x 240) | 4K (3840 x 2160) |
| 6 | Max file size | 128 GB |
| 7 | Max video length | 12 Hours |
| 8 | Total file storage | Unlimited |
Vimeo is a dedicated video hosting and collaboration suite. It may not be as popular or widespread as YouTube, but it boasts of a dedicated following, especially among professionals.
Consider these statistics:
What comes with a Vimeo Basic Account?
This information is sourced from Vimeo Help Center:
| Sl. No. | Factor | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upload space | 500MB per week |
| 2 | Total account storage | Up to 5GB |
| 3 | Maximum video length | Restricted by file size |
| 4 | Limited privacy controls | "Private," makes it visible to only you. |
| 5 | Limited video creation using Vimeo Create | Max 30 seconds, 10 drafts, some templates & Vimeo watermark |
| 6 | Daily upload | 10 videos |
| 7 | Video formats | .MOV, .MPEG4, MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .FLV |
| 8 | Cost of ‘Starter’ plan | $12 per seat / month, billed annually |
Additionally, you can create 1 channel, 1 group, and 3 showcases, publish videos natively to social and eCommerce accounts and access basic embedding features & analytics.
This B2B software testimonial video is provided by Metadata.io for Content Beta. The testimonial is hosted on Content Beta’s Vimeo account and is embedded in the Content Beta website:
What makes Vimeo useful for business users?
What are the disadvantages of the platform for businesses?
There are two main drawbacks of Vimeo: Its limited upload capabilities and a relatively small audience. These are not disadvantages per se as Vimeo caters to a specific audience that does not care much for these two aspects.
Even though Facebook is primarily a social media platform and messaging platform, no other platform can compete with it when it comes to building an audience from scratch.
Consider these statistics:
Facebook video guidelines:
| Sl. No. | Factor | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aspect Ratio | Landscape (16:9) | Portrait (9:16) | Vertical (2:3, 4:5) | Square (1:1) |
| 2 | Dimensions | 720p (1280×720) px to 1080p (1920×1080 px) |
| 3 | Maximum file size | 4 GB |
| 4 | File storage limits | Unlimited |
| 5 | Maximum video length | 120 minutes |
| 6 | Supported video formats | .MOV, .MPEG4, MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .FLV |
What works: You can host unlimited videos for free and share videos on Facebook.
What does not:
An example of a B2B software testimonial video from Airtable, hosted on Facebook:
Let’s begin by looking at the advantages of paid video hosting platforms over free hosting platforms:
What about the disadvantages?
The company offers sharing tools, collaborative tools, and advanced analytics along with lead capture forms.
Let’s look at the features offered by the highly customizable player:
SproutVideo guidelines:
| Sl. No. | Factor | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aspect Ratio | 16:9 |
| 2 | Maximum file size | Up to 100GB |
| 3 | Maximum video length | Unlimited |
| 4 | Supported video formats | .MP4, .MOV, .AVI, .WMV, .FLV |
| 5 | Max storage |
Plans Sprout, Tree, and Forest come with 500 GB of storage. If you exceed this amount, you will be charged according to your plan level for any additional GB. |
| 6 | Pricing | Sign up free for 30 days. The basic ‘Seed’ plan costs $24.99 per month. |
What are the advantages?
On the flip side, there is a fair bit of a learning curve.
Perhaps, the easy embed options that require no coding skills make SproutVideo attractive for SaaS businesses that want to host B2B software testimonials on their marketing website.
You can embed videos as easily as copying and pasting. In addition, they integrate seamlessly with platforms such as Shopify, WordPress, Squarespace, etc.
The other embed codes offered are Responsive inline embed codes, Lightbox (pop-up overlay) embed code, and embed codes for marketing campaigns and emails.
With Brightcove, you can integrate video hosting with other marketing automation tools.
How is Brightcove different from YouTube?
With YouTube, companies cannot have full ownership of their video content, but it is possible to do that by using Brightcove for hosting and streaming.
Brightcove guidelines:
| Sl. No. | Factor | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aspect Ratio | 16:9 |
| 2 | Maximum file size | No max size |
| 3 | Supported video formats | .MP4, .MOV, .AVI, .WMV, .FLV |
| 4 | Max storage | Plan-based |
| 5 | Pricing | Not available |
The Brightcove platform:
What are the advantages?
And the disadvantages? Small businesses may find the platform a little complicated to manage.
Before we wrap up, let’s recap how to choose a hosting platform for your B2B software testimonial videos:
We looked at the merits and demerits of various free and paid hosting platforms. It might be worth reiterating here that testimonials are good at creating a deeper emotional connection with prospective customers.
B2B software video testimonials can not only help the B2B software company to connect with its customers, but they can also show potential clients how the company differs from the competition and provide them with valuable insights about a product or service.
Finally, in case your SaaS company does not have the expertise to create B2B software testimonial videos you can avail the remote video production services offered by external video production agencies like Content Beta to create remote video testimonials at reasonable rates.
They help B2B SaaS companies to showcase their products in action. By featuring real customers and showcasing the impact the software has made on their business, businesses can give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at how their product is being used to solve real-world problems.
Most paid platforms allow the host to customize their player to match their brand, and many offer advanced analytics that can help the host understand their audience and fine-tune their content. In short, choosing the type of platform depends on a SaaS business’s needs.
Video hosting platforms can be expensive, and the quality of the video may not be as high as you would like. Additionally, these platforms can be challenging to use if you are not familiar with them, and you may need to invest some time in learning how to use them effectively.
Business testimonial videos can be outsourced to an external video production agency like Content Beta which offers video testimonial services. The company specializes in remote video production and testimonial video production. Other services they offer includes customer support videos, client video testimonials, sales video examples, remote video testimonials, onboarding videos, and more.
