SaaS growth: 3 simple case study examples to inspire you
SaaS marketers are always looking for new ways to connect and better engage with customers and leads. An idea that is gaining ground rapidly in recent times and with good reason is getting your customers to put in a good word for you, your business, products, or services.
Should your SaaS business use customer testimonials or remote video testimonials on your website as proof of your credibility and trustworthiness? Well, the short answer is yes.
So, why does everybody agree that customer testimonials are invaluable?
Let us try to find out in this 3-part article:
Before we go any further, let us look at:
This is a customer testimonials video for Peter Thomas Designs, a custom wood furniture company, created by epic productions.
The video is well-made with high production values. We have a restaurant concepts company, a design company, a marketing company, and a homeowner talking about the quality of work, service, and ease of collaborating with the company.
The video provides reassurance, delivered by real people, to prospective customers as to why they should do business with Peter Thomas Designs in a convincing way.
In today’s competitive marketplace, building trust is critical to any brand’s success. Consumers are inundated with ads from every kind of brand imaginable, and it’s hard to stand out. But how do you convince wary shoppers that you’re a reliable name they can trust?
We all know that building trust is not only important for a business to be successful but critical.
But what exactly is trust?
Trust is a belief or feeling that something or someone can be relied upon. It’s a feeling, and you can’t create that feeling if no one believes in you.
As a result, many businesses are falling victim to consumer skepticism, which is a good reason for us to learn from the titans of the industry about:
| 1 | The power of brand trust and credibility | “Consumers don’t just buy products and services anymore; they buy experiences. This demands a new approach to marketing, sales, and services; one that hinges on winning customer trust.” |
| 2 | Natalie Doyle Oldfield, Forbes | “No longer is it good enough for companies to have the best product or the best service. To grow and succeed, companies must have the trust of their customers and stakeholders.” |
| 3 | Carlos Guerrero, Gartner | “Caring is good, authentic is better, but dependable is best." |
| 4 | Natalie Doyle Oldfield, Forbes | “Nothing builds trust like the truth, and most customers value truth and honesty above everything else.” |
| 5 | Deloitte | “...when a positive emotional connection is created with a brand, 92%of us are more likely to stay loyal to a brand, 88% are more likely to spend more, and 91% are willing to advocate on behalf of the brand.” |
When it comes to customer purchase decisions, it’s all about trust and credibility.
“The purpose of a business is to create a customer who creates CUSTOMERS – Shiv Singh”
The quote pretty much sums up what companies need to do to expand their business. If you can get THAT customer to speak favorably about you, that would be a good testimonial.
And shows how customers are central to your business’s success or failure. Let’s look at some more quotes from eminent personalities from the field of business.
| 1 | Adam Rogers | “It’s important to remember that trust is a matter of perception and something every business has to earn.” |
| 2 | Robert C. Lucas | “Trust is the basis of any customer-provider relationship. Without trust, you have no relationship.” |
| 3 | Michael LeBoeuf | “A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” |
| 4 | Philip Kotler | “The best advertising is done by satisfied customers.” |
| 5 | Seth Godin | “Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers…” |
Although people may disagree on which is more important for a customer purchase, it’s safe to say that most people—customers, vendors, and managers—agree that customer trust and credibility are both critical to customers’ purchasing decisions.
The importance of trust and credibility in customer purchase decisions is not just about the lack of trust in a company or its products, but it’s also about the lack of credibility and trustworthiness.
A company may have an average SaaS product, but it can build credibility through a variety of methods. One way this can be done is by having an active social media campaign, multiple customer references, and a strong online presence.
The importance of trust is emphasized in the marketing literature by using the notion of “believability” as an evaluative factor for an advertisement (We will see how to create this factor using remote video testimonials in Part II).
The believability factor has become important as public trust in institutions including government, business, and non-profit organizations is on the decline.
As far as this discussion is concerned, it is safe to assume that:
“It all boils down to how good is your business’s credibility; and through it, how willing is your customer to trust you.”
If you’re looking for testimonials for your SaaS business, you may be tempted to just ask your friends or family to write something nice about your company.
While their feedback is important, it’s also good to have testimonials from your customers—even if they bought your products or services remotely.
If you have done the first part right, customers who have used your SaaS product or service may decide to reward you with a testimonial. They may even take to the internet to share their positive experience.
All good marketers track these reviews and comments so they can use them to attract new customers. This form of marketing is growing in popularity as companies offer products and services online. Next, let us discuss:
Before we discuss why remote video testimonials are important, let us talk about testimonials in general.
For a SaaS business, they are an asset; the more positive reviews/testimonials you can collect, the better. There are several benefits and reasons why using client testimonials is good for a SaaS business:
“They are video testimonials that your customers can record by themselves at home on their own devices.”
Before they became popular, the practice was to use text-based testimonials on a company’s website, in promotional materials, or on social media sites.
Over a period of time, testimonials started sounding monotonous and looking a bit jaded. Businesses were quick to realize that even though text-based testimonials from industry doyens still worked, a remote video testimonial could do a far better job of showing B2B SaaS customers how a product or service works.
They make a powerful addition to a SaaS business’s marketing armory and allow it to present a more authentic view of its brand, products, or services.
When we started back in 2020, we could not have picked a more inopportune time to start our company. With the pandemic raging soon after, businesses began shutting down around us.
We knew the only way we could survive was to produce quality content that solved a real problem for our clients—and quickly.
And we persevered. Over the years, we have worked with more than 70 top B2B SaaS companies worldwide. Today, our clients include ManyChat, ScaleX, Kissflow, Book Like a Boss, Lawcus, and many more.
This is one of the earliest testimonials that played a big role in establishing our credentials in the B2B SaaS video space:
Here is what Chad Burmeister, Founder & CEO, ScaleX, has to say about converting their first prospect, a full-service customer education company:
“When we played their product demo video for our first prospect, he asked us to send him a contract right away.”
The 80 seconds product demo created by Content beta played an important role in convincing them!
For Content Beta, this is high praise indeed, coming as it is from the CEO of the company.
Here’s the remote customer testimonial video:
The 3-step process we follow to create your remote testimonial video could not be any simpler:
| Step | You | Us |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Provide information on your goal, audience, landing page, branding, product sandbox, and loom videos | Ask questions at each stage if required. We want to take as little of your time as possible |
| 2 | Review and approve. Also, direct the overall vision | Deliver our script and storyboard |
| 3 | Review the first draft | Deliver the first draft |
So, you have decided to use video testimonial tools to create video testimonials remotely.
But remember, not everyone is tech-savvy. Even if a customer agrees to do the testimonial, they might find it difficult to manage the shooting or run into technical issues which may affect the schedule and quality of the final product.
We present a list below of some tools that are fairly easy to use:
| Sr. No | Tool | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trustmary | Automation and Zapier integrations. There is a free ‘Solo’ plan and the ‘Business’ plan costs $99 per month. |
| 2 | Boast | You can use forms to allow customers to record with one click. The ‘Solo’ plan costs $25 per month. There is a No credit card, 14-Day Free trial |
| 3 | Testimonial | Send a link for your customers to be used for recording. There is a free ‘Starter’ plan as well as a 7-Day free trial |
| 4 | GetBravo | Provide forms to collect and display video testimonials. Plans start at $5 per month and there is a No credit card, 7-Day free trial |
| 5 | VideoPeel | Send a link or a custom request to your customers to record their testimonials on any device. There is a 7-Day free trial and the ‘Pro’ plan costs $69 per month |
Remote video testimonials are powerful B2B SaaS marketing tools because they allow potential customers to know exactly what others have experienced with your service or product.
You can see the benefits they offer in numbers in the table below:
| Sr. No | Factor | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viewers whose purchase decision is influenced by video | 64% |
| 2 | Increase in email click-throughs if video is included | 200-300% |
| 3 | Positive ROI reported by B2B businesses who use video | 73% |
| 4 | The recall rate of video ads seen in the last 30 days by consumers. | 80% |
| 5 | Rate by which a well-made video ad increases purchase intent. | 97% |
Before we wrap up it is worth summarizing the benefits of Remote video testimonials:
Expect a timeline of 10 to 21 days from guest opt-in to final video delivery. When we’re done with the interview, we’ll clean it up, remove the best bits, and deliver a rough cut of your storyline video within a week.
You will receive a scheduling link along with instructions from us. You can share the link with your customer(s). After that, all the steps and workflow will be handled by us. If you want several clips from the same video, you can avail them from a separate video editing service at an additional cost.
Anywhere, thanks to our 100% remote process the physical location does not matter. This means you can film your guest anywhere without having to deal with an onsite crew. You can use the recording equipment your guest already owns.
If they opt for our recording supplies, they get our recommended camera, lighting, and microphone. They receive our recording supplies like camera, lighting, and microphone in about three business days.
Ideally no, because due to vagaries of the internet bandwidth quality may suffer. That’s why we have created our own recording platform. It allows a direct remote shoot via a webcam and captures full video quality locally on your computer or phone. This is streamed directly to our editors to work on.
