When you type “What is testimonial marketing?” into ChatGPT, the answer it gives is: “a strategy where businesses use positive feedback from satisfied customers, clients, or influencers to promote their products or services.”

But that in itself feels like an undersell—a robotic-sounding response to what is fundamentally a very human thing. Which perhaps isn’t surprising, given that it’s come from an AI chatbot (more on that here).

There’s a school of thought that says there is no more B2B or B2C marketing. All marketing (done well) is now human-to-human, or H2H. People want to form connections, and that means finding commonality by stripping jargon from our language to create authentic, genuine conversations.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better way of doing that than via a human story, communicated in a compelling way. That’s why testimonial marketing can be so effective—it gets to the heart of what makes H2H impactful: building trust, fostering empathy, and creating connection.

With a good chunk of our client base in the healthcare and MedTech space—where patient stories are essential for establishing confidence in a product or therapy—we’ve been fortunate enough to work on a host of powerful testimonial projects over the years.

We’ve delivered creative solutions telling the human stories behind innovative deep brain stimulation systems, produced videos highlighting the life-changing impact stoma care products have had on people’s lives, and set up interviews with inspiring individuals. We’ve even facilitated in-person testimonials, live on stage. The common thread linking every one of these projects is the power of the human-interest story.

It’s no coincidence, then, that these are some of our favourite and most rewarding jobs to work on. In fact, if you were to ask any of the Outlook Creative team about the projects that have stuck with them (cue campfire stories of gathering round an editing suite screen, shedding a tear at first cuts), we’d bet on their answers being variations on a testimonial theme.

A recent case in point is the story of Elliot Awin who, in December 2023, became the first person to row solo and unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean with a pacemaker. It was an honour to meet Elliot and help share the story of how his own experience of living with a heart arrhythmia has inspired him to support others.

“Elliot Awin is such an inspiration to all, especially those that are nervous about getting an implantable cardiac device. It was such a pleasure to work with him and Outlook Creative to create his patient testimonial.”

— Sr. Global Product Manager

So, yes, testimonial marketing is “a strategy where businesses use positive feedback from satisfied customers, clients, or influencers to promote their products or services.” But let’s rewrite that from an H2H perspective:

“Testimonial marketing leverages personal stories and real-life experiences to foster authenticity, trust, and emotional connection with a product or service.”

Because ultimately, when you block out all the noise, escape the buzzwords, and step away from the salesy lingo, the success of every campaign boils down to one thing: connecting with your audience.

And that’s where human stories will always win.

Keen to see how we can help shape your next patient testimonial? Got a patient story you want to share? Drop us a line: sales@outlook.co.uk