In a past episode of The Business Video Playbook, we featured Alex Hoff of CoverStory. A former reality TV producer, Hoff shared a winning formula for customer story videos. We followed his formula step-by-step; here’s how!

If your customer story video doesn’t hook viewers in 10 seconds, it probably won’t at all.

Drawing from binge-worthy shows that use documentary-style filmmaking, Alex Hoff of CoverStory crafts testimonial videos that ditch scripted talking points and generic benefits for emotional tension and character-led storytelling.

The result? A customer story video that holds attention and drives action.

Here’s how we used Hoff’s formula. Apply this framework to your next customer story or testimonial video and watch it transform viewer engagement.

The Results: Customer Story Video Examples

“If it feels like a press release, you’ve lost them.”

— Alex Hoff, CoverStory

Example 1: The Founder’s Story — CoverStory

During our interview, Alex Hoff shared CoverStory’s formula for testimonial videos. A longtime SproutVideo customer, he also shared his “before” story and why he chose SproutVideo over other video hosting platforms. Our Creative team turned his responses into an engaging one-minute testimonial video.

Example 2: The Production Partner — VMG Cinematic

Years ago, Creative Director Nick LaClair visited Ontario to capture a customer story video from VMG Cinematic, a high-end production company that chooses SproutVideo. Inspired by the CoverStory formula, LaClair dug into old footage and crafted a new 1-minute cut. 

New 1-Minute Testimonial Example

Original 2-Minute Testimonial Example

How to Create Compelling Customer Story Videos 

Step One: Prep

As if preparing for an exam or presentation, familiarize yourself with your customer or main users and their industry. Map out their use case and consider why they might need your product or service. 

  • What features do they use most? 
  • Have they already left a positive review? 
  • What challenges are they addressing by way of using your product or service? 

Step Two: Draft Interview Questions

The most powerful testimonials sound like conversations, not commercials. Interview with open-ended prompts like: 

  • “Take me back to the moment you realized you needed help.”
  • “What would have happened if you didn’t find our product?” 

The questions should capture details about the individual, their business, and why they chose your company. Design the questions to elicit more than simple yes or no answers. 

“Don’t aim for a soundbite. Aim for a story arc.”

— Alex Hoff, CoverStory

10 Example Questions for Customer Interviews

Tailor your questions to your customer’s day-to-day and the connection to your product or offering. Here’s what we asked Alex Hoff about his background and his path to using SproutVideo: 

  1. Can you think back to the first time you uploaded a video? What was your motivation, and what were the outcomes? 
  2. What led you to start a business built around video testimonials and storytelling? 
  3. What gap did you see in how companies used video to connect with customers? 
  4. Do you have any tips for sales or marketing teams trying to capture customer stories themselves?
  5. Can you walk us through your workflow—from prepping for a testimonial shoot to final delivery?
  6. How have your needs for video hosting evolved, and what did you use before finding your way to SproutVideo?
  7. Why did you choose SproutVideo? What boxes does it check?
  8. If you were to coach someone comparison shopping for a video host, what would you encourage them to consider? 
  9. What are three SproutVideo features you love and why? 
  10. What role does SproutVideo play in giving your videos a ‘branded but lean’ delivery system?

Step Three: Tools to Capture the Interview

Capturing customer testimonial videos in person is ideal yet often expensive and logistically challenging. We’ve had luck thus far using Zencastr to capture and record the interviews. When the interview is captured locally on your computer, it’s relatively easy for both parties to join. Local recording also ensures pristine video quality even if your internet connection fluctuates. 

The rules of good lighting and sound still apply. To ensure a smooth process, we provide interviewees with a tip sheet before the interview.

Instructions for Interview Guests

Before the Meeting:
  • Choose a room with soft surfaces (less echo).
  • Raise your laptop so the camera is at or above eye level.
  • Restart your computer and close extra tabs.
  • Preview your video (Photobooth on Mac, Camera on PC).
  • Check lighting—avoid harsh shadows or glare on glasses.
  • Use headphones with a mic (e.g., AirPods).
  • Avoid shirts with small patterns (causes weird visual effects).
During the Meeting:
  • Mute notifications.
  • Select your headphones as the audio source.
  • Close unnecessary tabs.
After the Meeting:
  • Wait for the upload to finish before closing your browser.

Additionally, we test for audio quality, lighting, and composition before every interview. 

Our Remote Recording Toolkit

Here are the tools we use to capture high-quality remote video. On-camera employees have a home recording kit that includes: 

You don’t need much equipment to get the job done right. 

Step Four: Conduct the Interview 

The best insights come from an informal conversation that feels like friends getting coffee. A documentary-style interview approach starts with the camera rolling, a relaxed conversation, and open-ended questions for reference. 

The interviewer listens and guides the conversation, using open-ended questions to help the subject expand on thoughts. Employ active listening to reveal unexpected divergences in the topic and keep notes for follow-up questions.  

Another important consideration is to think like an editor. Did the subject share a partial answer that would be gold if completed? Feel free to ask the subject to expand on a thought or repeat answers in full sentences. This ensures you’ll have a strong soundbite when editing the full interview. 

Example of Asking Follow-Up Questions During A Customer Interview

Step Five: Edit Interview

We edited the two customer testimonial video examples using Blackmagic Davinci Resolve and followed the CoverStory editing formula, which includes: 

  • Emotional Hook: Start with emotion or urgency. Viewers decide in less than 10 seconds if they’ll stick around. Make them feel something.
  • Introduction: Introduce us to the person and the context of their experience.
  • Story & Product: Contrast “before” and “after.” Show what changed and how. The “before” tension gives meaning to the “after.”
  • Final Zinger: End with a quote or insight that sticks. The ending should be as powerful as the beginning. 

We shared the first draft versions with Alex for his feedback. Here’s what he said: 

“I love it! You guys did an awesome job! You nailed all the hooks and formats. The only little thing I would say is that it starts with a graphic. If possible, I’d start with the soundbite on screen as it’s more attention-grabbing.”

— Alex Hoff, CoverStory

Step Six: Distribution and Repurposing Your Customer Story Video 

We built a video distribution plan to launch alongside this blog post:

  • Publish video to SproutVideo Video Library
  • Share the testimonial within this blog post
  • Promote the video to email subscribers
  • Share video shorts (15-30 seconds) across social media
  • Share text-based carousel posts on social media

Additionally, here are a few ways we plan to repurpose the content:

  • Create behind-the-scenes content or highlight blooper moments
  • Upload and save the raw interview for future content
  • Share the transcript with the Product team for valuable feedback and with the Marketing team for use cases, quotes, blog posts, success stories, and other promotional material.
  • Embed the testimonial video on relevant pages of our website 
  • Integrate the video into our free trial onboarding email sequence 

With this approach, each customer testimonial video becomes a gold mine of branded content.  

Final Thoughts:

Most customer story videos fall flat because they haven’t evolved with our attention spans. The CoverStory approach combines a modern understanding of video engagement with timeless storytelling techniques. 

Give Customers Room to Be Themselves

“I’ve created hundreds of customer stories over the years. Like many B2B marketers, I have followed the tried and true model: explain the customer’s industry and background, their most significant challenges, and how the product or service solves them. This model often includes a section on the resulting ROI.

“The CoverStory interview style and reflective questions give the customer room to be themselves, let their guard down, and go into more detail about their jobs and what makes them successful. The resulting footage gives the brand several options for telling an original story. This emphasis on what life was like “before” can be very telling and often more potent to viewers than ROI outcome data.”

— Tim Ryan, SproutVideo Head of Marketing

Customer testimonial videos are tremendous gifts: real people sharing real stories about your product provide insights you might otherwise never discover.

When done right, testimonial videos become powerful multipurpose assets your business can use to build trust and drive sales. 

Grow Your Business with Video

“YouTube is built to keep people watching—just not your content. I’d rather host it where I control the experience, the branding, and the analytics.” — Alex Hoff, CoverStory

SproutVideo is private video hosting with the analytics you need to capture viewer attention and generate real business results.

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