Use case
Testimonial video ads: made from your customers' phone videos
A testimonial video ad is a real customer telling, on camera, what your product did for them. Cutroom turns a customer's phone video into a finished 9:16 ad with captions.
In short
- A testimonial video ad is a real customer saying on camera what changed after they bought from you.
- Specific, honest details make it believable, like 'I nearly returned it in the second week'.
- Ask each customer one narrow question, such as what changed in the first month, not 'tell us what you think'.
- In the US, the FTC bans fake testimonials, including AI-generated ones, and expects paid ones to be disclosed.
- Cutroom turns a customer's phone video of up to 3 minutes into a 9:16 ad for 110 credits.
- Longest customer video you can upload
- 3 min
- The shape of the finished ad
- 9:16
- Basic, about 22 testimonial ads a month
- $39.99
What makes a testimonial ad believable
People know a brand picks its own testimonials. Specific, honest details are what make them believe it anyway.
- Keep the doubts in. A line like 'I nearly returned it in the second week' makes the rest sound true.
- Let the customer film it on their own phone, at home. Studio lights and a script make a customer look like an actor.
- Keep the customer's own words. Fix a misheard word in the captions, but do not change what they said.
- Keep the customer's face on screen for most of the video, and use clips only where they name the product.
How to ask customers for a video
A clear, small request gets answered far more often than an open one.
- Ask one narrow question, because open questions get polite, empty answers.
- Ask soon after the product starts working for them, while they still remember what it was like before.
- Ask several customers, because not every video will have a line you can use.
An ask that gets little back, and one that works
Question
- Gets little back
- Tell us what you think
- Works better
- What were you doing before, and what changed in the first month?
Length
- Gets little back
- As long as you like
- Works better
- A phone video under 3 minutes
Timing
- Gets little back
- Months after the purchase
- Works better
- Soon after the product starts working for them
Place
- Gets little back
- Anywhere
- Works better
- A quiet room
| Gets little back | Works better | |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Tell us what you think | What were you doing before, and what changed in the first month? |
| Length | As long as you like | A phone video under 3 minutes |
| Timing | Months after the purchase | Soon after the product starts working for them |
| Place | Anywhere | A quiet room |
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
How the customer sends you the video
Phone videos are large files. A video of a minute or two is often too big to send as an email attachment.
- Gmail takes attachments of up to 25 MB. Anything bigger becomes a Google Drive link.
- Ask the customer to share the video through a file link, such as iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox or WeTransfer.
- A file link keeps the original quality. Some chat apps shrink a video before they send it.
- Once you have the file, you upload it to Cutroom from your computer or phone.
What the written permission should cover
Get the customer's permission in writing before the ad runs. It should cover these points, and this is not legal advice.
- That you may use their video, face, voice and name in paid ads.
- Where the ad will run, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and for how long.
- That you may shorten the video and add captions, without changing what they said.
- Whether they were paid or given anything for it, because the ad then has to say so.
- How they can ask you to stop using it.
Rules for testimonial ads
Testimonial ads have legal rules. These are the US ones, and other countries have their own.
- The FTC's 2024 rule bans testimonials from people who do not exist, such as AI-generated ones, or who never used the product.
- If you paid the customer or gave them something for the video, the ad has to say so clearly.
- Cutroom adds no disclosure label on top of the video. Have the customer say it out loud so it shows in the captions, or use the ad platform's own disclosure setting.
- Check the rules in every country where the ad will run.
How to turn a customer video into an ad with Cutroom
A raw customer video is often mostly lead-in, with one strong part in the middle. You keep that part and cut the rest.
- Cutroom keeps the lines that were said, so trim a long lead-in off the clip before you upload it.
- If Cutroom mishears a word, you type the right one in the transcript and the captions follow.
- To make the key sentence stand out, you select those words and give just them their own caption style and colour.
- The style you pick before you upload sets the pace. The clips Cutroom adds cover at most 40 percent of the video on the calmest style and 52 percent on the fastest, so the customer stays on screen.
- Your product clips from your library play where the customer names the product.
A customer's phone video into an ad
Ask one question
A phone video under 3 minutes
Upload
Cutroom writes out every word and makes the first edit
Check the words
Fix a misheard word, keep how it sounds
Export
A 9:16 MP4 with captions
What a finished testimonial ad looks like
You get a 9:16 MP4 with the captions in the picture, ready to upload in your ad account.
One frame of a finished testimonial ad
The customer stays on screen, a clip sits on a card beside them, and their own words run as captions.
How many testimonial ads to make
Make several, from different customers. One testimonial that runs for months keeps reaching the same people, and a different customer can reach new ones.
- Use customers of different ages, situations and reasons for buying.
- Twenty 30-second testimonial ads cost 2,200 credits, which fits in one month of Basic at $39.99.
- Most ads do not win. Motion's analysis of 550,000+ Meta ads found that only 5 to 8% become winners.
What it costs
A 30-second ad costs 110 credits: 100 for the edit and 10 for the export. Exporting costs 20 credits per minute of video.
Cutroom plans and 30-second ads per month
| Plan | Price | Credits | 30-second ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, no card | Your first video, made within 7 days | 1, with a Cutroom mark |
| Lite | $19.99 a month | 1,250 | About 11, no mark |
| Basic | $39.99 a month | 2,500 | About 22, plus avatars and generated music |
| Premium | $79.99 a month | 5,000 | About 45 |
| Top-up | $39.99 once | 2,500 | About 22 more |
Plan: Free
- Price
- $0, no card
- Credits
- Your first video, made within 7 days
- 30-second ads
- 1, with a Cutroom mark
Plan: Lite
- Price
- $19.99 a month
- Credits
- 1,250
- 30-second ads
- About 11, no mark
Plan: Basic
- Price
- $39.99 a month
- Credits
- 2,500
- 30-second ads
- About 22, plus avatars and generated music
Plan: Premium
- Price
- $79.99 a month
- Credits
- 5,000
- 30-second ads
- About 45
Plan: Top-up
- Price
- $39.99 once
- Credits
- 2,500
- 30-second ads
- About 22 more
What Cutroom does not do
Cutroom edits a customer's phone video into a vertical ad. It does not fix a bad recording.
- Cutroom has no colour correction and no audio clean-up, so ask the customer to film in a quiet room.
- Cutroom takes up to 3 minutes of video. Trim a long interview first, or ask for a short answer.
- Cutroom only exports 9:16. It does not make widescreen case-study films.
- Cutroom's avatars are not for testimonials. A generated presenter reading a customer's words is not a real customer.
Questions people ask
- How do I make a testimonial video ad?
- Ask a customer to film a short phone video answering one question, and get their written permission. Then trim off the lead-in before you upload, and Cutroom adds the captions and exports it vertical.
- What should I ask customers to say?
- One narrow question: what were you doing before you found us, and what changed in the first month? Avoid 'tell us what you think', which gets polite, empty answers.
- How can a customer send me their video?
- With a file link, such as iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox or WeTransfer. Phone videos are often too big for email, since Gmail attachments stop at 25 MB, and a link keeps the full quality.
- How long can a customer video be?
- Up to 3 minutes in Cutroom. Ask for something shorter, because a narrow question usually gets a shorter, better answer.
- Do I have to disclose a paid testimonial?
- Yes, in the US. If you paid the customer or gave them something for the video, the ad has to say so clearly. Other countries have similar rules.
- Can an AI avatar read a customer's quote?
- Not as a testimonial. The FTC's 2024 rule bans testimonials that come from someone who does not exist, such as AI-generated ones. Use the customer's own video instead.
- How much does a testimonial video ad cost with Cutroom?
- 110 credits for a 30-second ad. Twenty ads cost 2,200 credits, which fits in Basic at $39.99 a month for 2,500 credits. Your first video is free.
Turn a customer's phone video into a running ad today. Your first video is free.