If financial advisors are busy looking for the “next big thing" to accelerate their marketing efforts, they might be missing the “real big thing” that’s already here—video. And yes, video has been around for a while as a form of digital communication messaging. However, the accessibility of smartphones and high-quality cameras combined with online video platforms and social media channels have made video for financial advisors one of the most compelling forms of content in digital marketing.
In addition to adding value through the video content itself, utilizing YouTube for financial advisor marketing videos can help improve the SEO visibility of your financial advisor website.
With seemingly infinite content on the Internet, finding compelling content that produces readers and visitors requires a sophisticated search engine. It should be no surprise that YouTube is owned and operated by Google. As such, YouTube is the 2nd-largest search engine in the world behind Google itself. Does that mean the exact same rules apply when it comes to producing SEO results? Not Exactly.
While YouTube has search engine functions, it is a search engine that is specifically designed to serve up the right videos to the right parties at the right time. That begins, as with traditional website SEO, with keywords. But this is where the similarities end. When searching for videos, specifically videos that explain a concept or demonstrate how to do something, effective keyword will often be different for video.
For example, for someone seeking instructions on how to create an estate plan, popular search keywords may start with phrases such as “how to create an estate plan” or “What do I need in an estate plan?” Understanding what people are looking for on YouTube will help you decide the most effective keywords for YouTube SEO.
Once you’ve decided on your keyword strategy, it’s time to put the keywords to work in your video titles. Again, understanding what visitors are looking for and delivering that in the clearest way possible is a great way to get to the top of YouTube video searches.
Remember, people often type in search terms the way that they speak, so keeping search terms conversational can also be worthwhile. The video title should be able to explain both what the video is about, as well as benefits to the viewer in a concise manner.
Just like Google, the more information you provide YouTube about your channel and your business, the better chance you have of getting your videos delivered to people who are seeking advisors, information about advisors, and financial information. This can be done through video descriptions on YouTube. Each video is allowed a 5,000-character description.
Keep in mind that only about the first three lines are visible on the page and the rest of the description will be under the “show more” prompt. That’s important information for writing the description to appeal to viewers and encourage them to click on your video instead of another one.
However, YouTube’s search engine can read and interpret all of your description, so don’t waste that valuable space! Even if you assume that very few actual visitors are reading your entire description, use that space to feature keywords and phrases that will appeal to YouTube’s algorithms.
Like using tags for blog posts, YouTube tags are an additional way to provide descriptive text about a video. Used within YouTube video titles and descriptions, tags are usually used in conjunction with relevant keywords and phrases. Pro tip: When it comes to video tags, more isn’t always better. Because YouTube is trying to understand what your video is about, if you offer up too many tags, it will be unclear and could return fewer video views.
If you don’t already have a branded channel for your financial advisor videos, now is the time to create one! Treat this channel like you would any other social media platform, like Facebook or LinkedIn. Meaning you should treat it as an extension of your website and overall online presence, because it is.
When it comes to online content, everything is connected. Meaning someone can find your video on Google, click, be sent to Facebook, and then end up on your website. Without consistent branding and messaging, this could become very confusing. And, confused investors exit those sites and seek information that is not confusing.
Also, having your videos titled and organized in a logical way not only can help with SEO but also help enhance the user experience for visitors to your page. If you have videos that are part of a series, be sure to label them clearly and have them listed in order.
Another way to get improved SEO from YouTube is to include transcripts of your videos. A transcript of the video includes everything that was said on the video and helps YouTube get an even better understanding of the content of your video.
This transcript, when formatted properly, can also provide the viewer the option of playing captions while listening or with the sound off. This helps your video become more accessible to those who are hearing impaired or are in a place where they can’t use audio. Pro tip: having your video transcript typed up in advance can help some advisors get approval from compliance faster.
SEO is no doubt a powerful financial advisor marketing tool for getting both visitors to your page and video views. However, SEO will only help get visitors – it can’t help keep them there. That’s up to the financial advisor and/or their digital marketing team. Good SEO can’t make up for things such as irrelevant or outdated content, a poor user experience, non-optimized pages, or incomplete or missing content.
These are all common pitfalls for any digital marketer without the time, knowledge, or help from a marketing professional who specializes in financial advisor digital marketing. If you’re looking to enhance your YouTube SEO or get started on YouTube with your financial advisor digital marketing videos, consider teaming up with an experienced digital marketing agency that specializes in the financial service industry.