How to Set up a Vocal Video Collector

You can use Vocal Video to collect authentic video testimonials from customers, employees, and more — in just a few minutes. Here’s how to start collecting new videos.

Create your Video Collector

  1. Click Create > New Video Collector. Select a use case ie Marketing, Employer Brand, or Internal Comms. You can also pick a template or start from scratch.

2. Add your prompt - the more detail the better. We give you a lot of ideas for prompts that you can personalize for your use case.  You can of course write your own unique prompt, too.

  1. Then click "Create my Video Collector"

Customize Your Video Collector

In the center of your screen, you’ll see a live preview of your Collector on mobile. Use the Collector Setup menu on the right-hand side to review each section:


You can also customize your collector in additional ways: see Settings and Other.

And when you are happy with your collector, you can Record a Test Response.

Intro


  • Collector Title: This is what shows up for your respondents in the Collector.
  • Spokesperson: Decide who you'd like to represent your brand and add a headshot.
  • Welcome Message: Make any edits you'd like. You can use variables to pull from the information you already have in your account.
  • Welcome Video (Optional): Upload or record a short welcome video (recommended length: under 10 seconds). You can select a specific thumbnail image from the video to display.
  • Incentives: Use our $100 gift drawing, turn off, or choose your own. More details here.
  • Contact Email: Helps build trust that the Collector is coming from your brand.

When you are done with the Intro Page Settings, hit "Next" and move on to Branding.

(You can also track your progress through the collector building process along the top right of your screen.)

Branding

These settings apply to all your Collectors. When possible, we have pre-filled this with the logo and colors from your website. Workspace logos and colors can be set up universally in the Brand Kit on the left hand navigation bar on the Home page.


From this page you can change the text color, the button and accent color and the background color in your collector. If you want, you can also turn off the background gradient and have a solid color instead.

Click "Next" to move on to adding the questions you want respondents to answer in your video collector.

Questions

This is where you can either write your own questions for respondents to answer, or you can use the pre-suggested questions.

If you need some ideas or help with your questions, we have helpful tips and tricks built right into the page, too:

  • Question settings Click on the gear next to each question to:
    • Add custom tips
    • Use a teleprompter script
    • Set time limits for responses (Pro and Enterprise only)
  • You can also toggle on and off the option to allow for audio-only responses for respondents who might be camera shy or have no access to a camera.

Click "Next" when you are ready to move on. You are almost done!

Attribution Page Settings

You are almost done! On this page you set up the attribution settings so you know who responded to your collector. You can ask respondents for their job title and company name too, if you want. This is also where you can add a custom video release form if you have a Pro plan.

Click "Next" when you are done to move on to the last step!

Thank-you

This is where you thank your respondents for taking the time to respond to your video collector. You can customize your headline and message. If you have a Pro plan you can put in a custom call-to-action too.

Hit "Next" and then you are done! Your video collector is ready to be sent out. You can send it via email, get a link to share or a QR code. You can record a test response too, to make sure everything is just the way you want it.

Settings

From the Settings page (on the left hand side of the page), you can manage (or localize) your video collector. From this page you can:

  • Enable audio-only responses
  • Autogenerate draft videos
  • Enable background blur
  • Show "How it Works" info in your collector
  • Show Help and FAQ links
  • Show step numbers
  • Force respondents to use horizontal video for responses

On this page you can also find:

  • The public link for your video collector
  • Email templates to invite and remind respondents. You can customize these as well
  • The option to customize or translate your collector's text
  • Kiosk Mode settings (for Pro customers)
  • Open Graph Image and Description (for Pro customers)

Last but not least you can chose to rename, duplicate, deactivate or delete your collector from this page as well.

Favoriting, Managing Notifications and More

Use the icons in the upper left corner (next to your profile pic and date) to favorite this collector (star), manage notifications (bell) or perform other actions like rename, duplicate, deactivate or delete this collector (three dots).

How many screens does my respondent see? (Can I make it a single page?)

The respondent experience is a short, guided sequence of separate screens rather than a single page. This structure is intentional — it walks people through recording, and gives us a place to capture their name so you know who each video is from. It cannot be combined into one page from beginning to end.

At a minimum, a respondent moves through four screens:

  1. Welcome screen — your intro/title (and optional welcome video)

  1. Recording question — where they record their video

  1. Contact info — their name (required) and any other details you ask for

  1. Thank-you screen

You can't remove the welcome, contact, or thank-you screens, but you can make the flow as quick and frictionless as possible:

  • Use a single question. Every additional question adds a screen, so one question keeps you at the four-screen minimum. (If you add more questions, you can mark the later ones "skippable" so they're optional — but the first question is always required.)
  • Pre-fill their contact info. If you already know who you're inviting, use a personalized link (or add their details as URL parameters) so their name and email arrive pre-filled. The contact screen becomes a quick confirm-and-continue instead of a form to type out.
  • Trim the welcome screen. In the collector's Settings, turn off extras like "How it Works" and the Help/FAQ links, skip the spokesperson, and keep the welcome message short (or blank) so the first screen stays minimal.

That gives you the leanest possible experience: a brief welcome, one recording, a pre-filled confirm, and a thank-you.

For more information see:

How to Request Videos

Tips for Improving Response Rates

Still need help? Contact Support at support@vocalvideo.com

Related Articles