Many of you will be aware of video as a marketing tactic – as a way of connecting with an audience on a deeper level, generating brand awareness, attracting visitors to your website and driving conversions. 

But many people remain unsure about several key elements of this approach. For instance, what type of videos should you be making? How much should you spend? And will you get a good return on your investment? 

Perhaps the best way to initially answer the question of whether video is a good idea for you is to look at its reach and how other businesses view it.  

According to figures from Wyzowl, the amount of online video people watch has almost doubled since 2018, while 86% of businesses now use video as a marketing tool. 

The research also showed that 92% of marketers believe video is an important part of their marketing strategy, while 87% feel it gives them a positive return on their investment - up from 33% in 2015. 

That last figure in particular stands out, as it reflects a greater understanding among marketers of how to use video and, crucially, how to measure its effectiveness. 

A look at the options

One of the biggest advantages of video is that it can take many different forms, from a slick film that looks like a Hollywood movie trailer to a rough clip filmed on your phone.  

Here are eight marketing video options you might want to explore. 

1. Brand videos 

This type of video would usually be part of a wider advertising campaign, and be designed to showcase your brand, your ethos and generate awareness, so people are intrigued by your proposition and tempted to get in touch with you. 

2. Demo videos 

Videos are a great way to showcase a product or service. That could mean talking a viewer through how you work, unboxing an item or testing a product on camera. This approach can be very effective for marketers, with the Wyzowl study showing 94% believe videos have helped increase user understanding of their service or product. 

3. Explainer videos 

Videos can help you explain to potential customers why they might need your product or service. Perhaps you could depict the struggle of your ideal client and show how you helped them overcome their problem, so viewers can clearly see and understand the benefits of working with your firm. 

4. Educational videos 

Financial services can be full of complex and confusing jargon, so you can help to demystify these terms and clearly explain what certain terms mean, perhaps with slides accompanied by a voiceover, a person in your team speaking to the camera, or a basic animation. 

5. Videos of events 

If you’re attending a charity event, trade show, industry conference or any other occasion, you can showcase clips of interviews, presentations and the wider event in a video. 

6. Interviews with experts 

Video is a great platform for stakeholders in your business to share their views on the latest industry trends and developments. This can help to raise the profile of individuals within your firm and establish you as a thought leader in your sector. 

You could also speak with names in your professional network to showcase how well-connected you are. They might not necessarily share your opinion on certain matters, but a lively discussion could certainly generate engagement and get people watching. 

7. Case studies 

If you have happy, satisfied customers, they will often be prepared to recommend you to their family, friends and colleagues. So why not take this a step further, by asking if they’d be willing to discuss their experience with you on camera? They could describe what issue they faced that made them get in touch with you, how you helped, how they feel about their client experience and if they’d recommend you to others. 

8. Live videos 

Live videos are a great way to bring a sense of immediacy to your day-to-day operations and help clients and prospects feel truly engaged. You could use live videos to show people how you work behind the scenes, share what’s happening at an event you’re attending or perhaps answer questions directly from the people who are watching. 

Ok so those are the different types of video you could use, but why? 

Video can help your Google rankings 

Much of your digital content will be designed with search engine optimisation in mind, so your brand ranks highly when people use popular search terms on Google. 

Video can help to support this effort, as you can include relevant terms and hashtags in the name of the video and the descriptive text. 

Video is cost-effective 

As we’ve discussed, most marketers believe they get a strong return on investment with videos, which provides a strong business case for working with a specialist agency with experience of creating marketing videos. 

At the same time, there’s nothing stopping you from complementing professionally made videos with clips made with your smartphone, such as live videos or quick statements on camera. In this age of Zoom and FaceTime, this type of video looks real, authentic and relatable, which are crucial qualities for financial advisors to put across. 

Videos can be used on different platforms 

YouTube is the world's biggest video streaming website, but it is by no means the only place to showcase video content. For example, you can embed videos on your website and share YouTube videos on your social platforms. 

You can also create videos exclusively for your social platforms, such as short excerpts of longer clips published elsewhere or live videos. That means your videos have a broad reach, can target different audiences and work at different stages of the customer journey, from introducing them to your brand to engaging with long-standing, loyal clients. 

In short, video is a versatile and effective means of showcasing your brand values, your products and services, and your expertise in your field. 

That makes it a powerful tool for engaging with your prospects and existing clients, and one that looks set to be a critical element of many businesses’ marketing campaigns in the future.

Sources:  

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/state-of-video-marketing-new-data

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing

https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics