Video as a form of content marketing has given financial advisors an extra foot in the door to connect with potential clients. While an influx of videos across various channels can partly be attributed to the availability of smartphones and other devices with high-quality cameras, it has just as much to do with how people are getting information and being entertained.
There is no space on the Internet where video doesn’t play a role—from clips on trusted news sites—to videos with hilarious animals—and everything in between. So, where do financial advisors fit into the video space? The short answer is everywhere.
Read on for ways financial advisors can leverage video as a tool to inform, educate, and even entertain.
How beneficial is video content for financial advisors
Depending on the quality of a financial advisor’s content, the power of video has multiple benefits.
Use Videos to Become a Trusted Source
While there is no shortage of information online, it’s not always clear where to find the most accurate and current information. This is especially true in the financial services industry. Financial advisors can use video to show a personal side of their business while sharing valuable information.
SEO
When it comes to all things on the Internet, Search Engine Optimization should always be considered when producing content. Video content is no different. In fact, financial advisor video content can help boost SEO when leveraged correctly and created with SEO in mind, including the video title, description, and even video length.
For SEO purposes, having a video on your homepage can be helpful when looking to decrease your bounce rate and increase your time on page analytics. Both of these metrics are used by Google to determine search rankings, so using video to improve them can be highly beneficial to your financial advisor website’s SEO.
Lead Generation
The better and more relevant your financial advisor video content, the greater chance it has to increase lead generation. Good content gets liked and shared, and the more people watching your videos, the better. This strategy works especially well for videos shared on social media platforms and emails.
However, when videos appear in other channels such as your website’s “about” page, gating the video content behind a lead form can help capture those leads for future marketing campaigns geared toward moving those prospects throughout the sales funnel and ideally leading to a new client.
One Video Can Be Shared Across Many Platforms
Since creating videos can be time-consuming, it’s helpful for busy financial advisors to use one video and create different versions that are tailored to each specific channel they will appear on. For example, some social media channels have different length limits for videos.
Also, not all channels have the same video sizes, so what displays perfectly in one news feed might need tweaking to work on another. In short, while the same content can be used across multiple channels, it’s still not a one-size-fits-all scenario, and modifications need to be made in some cases.
Types of Videos
While there is no limit to the types of videos that can be found online, there are certain types of videos that financial advisors have the biggest opportunity to excel with.
Educational/Explainer
We all know the phrase “Educate first, sell second.” Educational or “Explainer” videos are a popular way financial advisors can appeal to an online audience. Explainer videos can cover hard-to-understand topics and make them less intimidating to an audience of inexperienced current (or future) investors.
There are many types of explainer videos, including animated videos, motion graphics, infographics, stop motion, whiteboard, and screen sharing, to name a few.
Testimonial Videos
With the SEC’s recent ruling on amending the advertising rule for financial service providers, testimonials are now fair to use in marketing and promotional materials, including videos. This form of social proof shows prospective clients that others are happy with your services.
Keep in mind that the diversity of your audience should dictate that your testimonials show the variety of your current clients as well.
Webinars/Seminars
Whether you recorded a session that you presented to a live audience or recorded the session to create a video, this type of content has become more popular than ever in a post-pandemic world. While in-person events are slowly coming back, there’s no denying that online events are here to stay.
Whether it’s because of mere convenience or for your and your clients' safety, the ability to host events and meetings virtually is now a must-have.
Market Commentary
When something happens in the news that affects the economy, clients will have questions for their financial advisors. Whether it’s a weekly commentary on the markets or special videos released to coincide with big news (or both), being visible and creating current content shows your audience that you never lose sight of what’s happening in the financial realm.
How financial advisors can start using video for marketing
See a need, fill a need. When thinking about the kind of financial advisor videos you want to create, it’s unnecessary to reinvent the wheel. Start with the most popular content on your website or social media channels and turn it into a video or video series. Or consider addressing clients’ FAQ in video format.
Have the Right Equipment
While it’s true that videos can be filmed and edited all from your smartphone, there are benefits to having some additional equipment to improve the quality of your videos. Such equipment may include lights, tripods, and even video editing software.
Include Captions and/or Transcripts
Not everyone listens to videos with sound on when using a mobile device. This could be due to the viewer being hearing impaired or many other reasons. If your videos don’t have captions, you could be missing out on this segment of your audience.
Making the video transcript is helpful for SEO purposes, so consider keywords and semantic search terms when writing your script.
Be Prepared – But Don’t Sound Scripted
When it comes to having a script for your financial advisor videos, there’s a difference between preparing a topic to come across as knowledgeable and just sounding like you memorized a script. Instead of fully scripting a video, consider making bullet points you can follow to keep the content on track while still keeping the video conversational.
Most financial advisors possess ample knowledge to fill hours and days worth of video content. Are you one of them?
