Paladin Digital Marketing Blog for RIAs and IARs

How to Create Event Videos for Your Financial Advisory Firm

Written by Debbie Freeman | August 5, 2020 at 12:00 PM

Financial advisor marketing videos can be used to advertise an upcoming event that your financial advisory firm wants to promote. Event videos have substantive differences that distinguish them from conventional web videos.  There is an extra sense of importance surrounding these types of videos.  These videos are exactly as they sound – online video content in which a meaningful event takes place such as an announcement, the demo of a new product, the revealing of a new service, etc.  

Event videos are important for every financial advisory firm as they build much-needed interest in the company’s offerings and brand.  Let’s take a closer look at the importance of event videos and how to maximize their value for your financial advisor firm. 

 

The Best Event Videos Build Anticipation 

Tease an upcoming event video on social media and within your email newsletter and your audience will buy into the hype.  The buzz will gradually build as you move toward the day of the event video, setting the stage for a meaningful presentation that reveals or demonstrates something of considerable importance.  

As long as the service, announcement, or other information presented in the video event is of actual significance, your audience will be satisfied and the video will prove memorable.  Such indelibility is essential for brand recall that leads to prospect conversions moving forward.  

So don’t schedule a new event video every week or even every two weeks.  If the service or announcement in question is insignificant, a regular video posted to your website or social media page will suffice.  Event videos should be truly special events that present something of considerable value to your audience once every month or quarter. 

 

Short Event Promotional Videos are Better Than Long Videos

Truly impactful event promotional videos are less than five minutes in length.  In fact, the best event promo videos are only a couple of minutes long.  Though you might have enough material to fill up 10+ minutes of time in your pre-event video, doing so is a mistake.  Investors have transitioned to content that is on-demand, meaning people are willing to give about a minute or two of their time before considering moving on to something else.  

In other words, you only have about 45 seconds to preview your upcoming event video.  Save the brunt of the content for the actual event video and/or a more expanded version on YouTube video that follows the event video.  Keep your preview videos short and sweet and your audience will be hungry for more.  A hungry audience is a group that is likely to show up in big numbers on the day of the actual event video.

 

Simplify the Presentation

A large part of event video success is making it easy for your audience to find your videos.  Use the proper keywords, key phrases, and relevant identifiers when naming your video, creating its description, and advertising it on the web’s inbound marketing channels.  Event videos with such search engine optimization (SEO) are that much easier to find when people search for the event video, the topic of the event video, or simply sleuth for “financial advisor firm” and your location.  

Even the subtleties of your event video such as its tags and URL should be optimized for search engines.  It is a mistake to use long tail keywords in the title of the video as doing so has the potential to sabotage your YouTube SEO.  YouTube videos should have a maximum video title of 70 characters without any spaces.  If you are uncertain as to which keywords and key phrases will help make your event video more “findable”, do not hesitate to consult with an SEO marketing agency that specializes in this type of video.  

 

Event Videos are Partially Judged by Their Thumbnails

An unsightly, unclear or otherwise flawed thumbnail will discourage your intended audience.  Though it is unsettling to think about, a thumbnail that does not make the optimal visual impact really will send potential clients scurrying away from your event video to another one of the internet’s countless sources of information.  

Take some time to select a visually striking still-shot for your event video thumbnail.  In fact, it might even be worth a minor investment of time and effort to generate a truly visually pleasing thumbnail with a video editing software tool.

 

Event Videos are a Branding Opportunity

Regardless of the specific announcement, service, or other value proposition presented in the event video, the content should be viewed as an opportunity to expand your brand.  This is your chance to reinforce your financial advisor firm’s brand, value offering, and the overarching merit of your services.  

Keep in mind the audience will judge your financial advisory firm based on every aspect of the event video.  Even something as subtle as the quality of the clothes your financial advisor firm’s selected speaker wears while presenting in the video will play a part in shaping the audience’s perception of your company’s brand and professionalism.   

 

Accessibility is Key

Whether you are interested in hosting a virtual fireside chat in which you field questions from the audience, a Facebook Live streaming session, or a webinar, your financial advisor video must be easily accessible.  If prospective audience members have any difficulty finding your event video on the web, they are likely to move on to something else within seconds.  

This is precisely why the onus is on your financial advisor firm to spell out exactly how your audience is to access the event video.  Type out a short list of steps your audience is to follow to access your event video quickly and easily.  Post these steps to your homepage, blog, and social media.

Be sure to add captions to the bottom of the event video so audience members with hearing challenges can understand exactly what you are communicating.  Keep in mind a considerable portion of your audience will watch your event video with the sound off even if they have excellent hearing.  

According to Verizon Media, a whopping 83% of United States consumers watch videos with the sound off.  Present clear text captions at the bottom and you will keep these viewers in the fold throughout your event video, thereby increasing the chances of conversions. 

 

Don’t Forget to Tout Your Upcoming Event Videos

Your video will prove that much more popular if you hype it up before hosting it.  Post reminders to your website and social media pages in the weeks and days leading up to the debut of your video.  If the lineup of speakers changes or any other important alterations are made, make note of them to keep the audience in the loop all the way up until the big day.  

Gradually sprinkle in interesting tidbits about the event in the days leading up to its airing to whet the audience’s appetite.  This strategic approach maximizes viewership, ultimately boosting your financial advisor firm’s conversion rate.