Well, it was bound to happen. Actually, video testimonials are nothing new, but with video getting bigger and bigger everybody, they are more common now than ever. Because of this, copywriters have to learn how to handle these little buggers. They’re a little different from your standard text testimonial and therefore, have to be handled a little differently. This article is going to give you some tips on handling video testimonials for your sales letter.

The biggest difference between a video testimonial and a text testimonial, besides the fact that one is video and the other is text (duh!), is that with a text testimonial, the prospect has the choice of either reading the testimonial or skipping over it. Now, why am I saying that is a difference? Can’t they just skip over video testimonials? They can IF they are not set to autoplay. Then you run into problems. See, a lot of people don’t like videos that automatically start playing, especially if they’re reading at night and have a kid sleeping in the next room. So my suggestion, if you use video testimonials, is to turn autoplay off.

Another difference between the two is length. Most text testimonials are very short…maybe a paragraph or two. With a video testimonial, you’re not talking about text length now. You’re talking about length in time. Some people don’t want to sit through a ten minute testimonial, no matter how good it is. So you want to request the people making these testimonials to be brief. I suggest keeping them under two minutes. A 90 second testimonial should be more than good enought.

Finally, you have to decide where you’re going to host these videos. If it’s only one video, you can probably get away with hosting it on the client’s site. But if you have several video testimonials, the bandwidth being eaten up could be a real problem. In that case, I suggest you host the video either at YouTube or a third party site. Yes, there is always the chance that they can take it down, but you can worry about that when the time comes. It’s not hard to find another hosting place.

Video testimonials are getting to be very big, so if you want your sales letter to meet today’s high standards, get your customers into the habit of giving video testimonials. They will greatly increase your conversions.

To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim

Want to write copy just like the pros? Visit my site at http://www.bcipe.com/ and discover killer copywriting tips that have allowed me to write my own copy for years and earn myself a 6 figure a year income selling my own products.