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
We make a promise to our clients that projects will be ‘passionately delivered,’ and we mean it. This is something that my fellow MD and I are… well… passionate about.
You may not be aware, but my background is that of an account handler, and Adam is an event producer by trade. We have been passionately involved first-hand in the delivery of thousands of projects.
Personally, I think it’s a pride thing. When delivering a project, or even a part of a project, I want to be proud of the outcome and how we got there—the easiest way to ensure that is to be passionate about the delivery of the project from the very beginning.
I asked Adam how he felt about it, and he said:
“There’s no better feeling than seeing your hard work, collaboration, and sleepless nights (!) come together to deliver the original vision (and beyond).
It’s a line of thought that our industry is one of the most stressful there is, but I strongly believe it’s one of the most rewarding. It takes a certain individual to work agency-side; passion is a key element. Without passion, the long hours, rounds of amends, and challenges would seem insurmountable. Some call us crazy. Maybe they are right—but we love it.
Passion can certainly be influenced and developed, and being around like-minded people helps keep this burning. Everyone has the potential to be passionate about what they do. As humans, we are intrinsically motivated to master skills, grow, and get excited about the tasks we’re working on. Here at Outlook, one of our core values is collaboration and we believe this is one of the key drivers when transforming creative into reality.”
We are fortunate that there are many other people at Outlook Creative who share this sense of pride in themselves and their team. It shows in the passion which fuels the delivery of their projects.
It’s part of who we are, what we do, and where we will go.
Recently I stumbled across a video of Barack Obama giving advice for people starting out in their careers; it got me thinking.
It was clear to me that the advice he went on to share is relevant for a business and especially an independent creative agency like Outlook Creative.
What he said was, “learn how to get stuff done” and that he looks for “somebody who says, ‘Let me take care of that.’”
My experience shows me he is right.
As I approach my 15th year in this industry, I haven’t yet encountered a client who doesn’t like it when we say, “let me take care of that.”
Reflecting on my interview at what we then called The Outlook Creative Group, way before I moved into the leadership role I hold today, I recall being encouraged by the can-do attitude that existed and how everyone was focused on providing solutions. Not just a solution but multiple solutions, allowing for clients to make informed decisions.
Seemingly, this agency’s leaders before the current team established a great culture in this regard.
Which brings me to my point; sorry it took so long to get here. It is all about solutions first.
Every brief we receive has a challenge for us to overcome, a problem to solve. The journey to finding the optimal solution isn’t always linear or direct and often requires us to lean into many of our specialist capabilities to crack it. But it’s those twists and turns and bumps in the road that can be the catalyst for uncovering some of the most creative ideas.
Mr Obama also says “I’ve seen at every level people who are very good at describing problems, people who are very sophisticated in explaining why something went wrong or why something can’t get fixed.” That has never been us at Outlook Creative and never will be. We will say “let me take care of that” and find a solution.
A solutions-first mindset has served us well for 25+ years and it is here to stay.
