Webinar Replay: Implementing a Video-First Marketing Strategy-The Tools To Help Financial Advisors Succeed With FiComm

In this webinar, Chief Evangelist of Twenty Over Ten & FMG Suite Samantha Russell,  CEO & Co-Founder of FiComm, Megan Carpenter and Head of Advisor Education, Candice Carlton shared insight into how financial advisors can implement a video-first marketing strategy with tips and tools to catapult your marketing strategy in 2021 and beyond.

Agenda [2:06]

1. Old School vs. New Skool Mindset
2. Necessary Gear to Get Started
3. Video Editing with Little Experience
4. Video Engagement Best Practices
5. Distribution Channel Best PracticesWe learned that video is so important.  

Why Video? [6:24]

Either you aren’t using video or you want to start, or you are currently using video and you want to improve. 2020 taught us that this is the time for our industry and to think about how we are evolving and connecting with people by meeting them where they are at, which is mostly on mobile or in front of a screen. 

Last year solidified that the client and advisory relationship have evolved, and advisors are such a crucial part of the lives of clients. So, how do you connect with people when you can’t go and see them? This is an industry that needs to connect with people and there are so many opportunities to make connection points in new ways. 

We are already living in a digital world, and 2020 forced us all to catch up, and video is a great way to do this and make a real human connection.

Connect and Grow With Video [9:11]

1. Scale and humanize your communications 
2. Build trust quickly and increase closing ratios….by the time they do meet with you, they will feel like they already know you. 
3. Have more meaningful meetings
4. Drive retention plus expand your wallet share

Old School vs. New Skool [10:44]

It’s really about how you are using it to connect with people. 

Old School:

• High production and expensive
• Create credibility
• Jargon
• Charts and Elevator Music
• 1x Website Video

New Skool:

• DIY-Creating video without high-end crew and gear
• Drive Connections-Does your prospect connect with you?
• Human to Human Language
• Authenticity
• Prospect + Client Experience

Video is no longer just “one and done” but a tool that you can use in multiple ways. 

With “New Skool,” you want to connect with clients in a really authentic way. There is so much content out there, and there is a lot of noise to cut through, but if you are authentic, then people can tell and it will really help to drive connections. 

Use Video Across Experience [18:04]

You can use it in email, on your website, on social media. 

Gear To Get Started [18:54]

Keep it simple and the less gear you have, the higher chances that you create video. 

Before and After Video:

The before and after video shows how one of our users changed up the video that they produced after our three-week class. See the difference for yourself.

Before: https://soapbox.wistia.com/videos/EgXAT0T7P8

After: https://vimeo.com/424147497/5d3a5bd495

What’s even better is that you can skip the fancy gear and simply shoot your video on your phone on your webcam! Download the FiComm gear checklist below. 

Leverage Technology to Simplify [23:24]

Shoot with your phone: If you are traveling or you want to shoot away from your computer, you can simply use your phone. You can also shoot with your webcam and pair it with video. Two tools that we suggest using are  Soapbox by Wistia or Loom. If you are going to incorporate video into your workflow, you want to make it as simple as possible. It should simplify your workflow and help you to connect with clients. Some tips to follow when shooting video are:

Camera Angle [24:11]

• Capture a shot that you love
• Most Flattering is at eye level or slightly above
• Use a stand
• Stack books, puzzle boxes, printer paper

Natural LighT [26:40]

• Window in front of you
• No windows on the side
• Note the time of day
• Experiment with turning off overhead lights

Back Drop + Dress [29:37]

• What is authentic to you?
• What does your “who” expect?
• Keep it professional but not old school

Make Editing Easy:

• Take a minimalistic approach
• Trim the front and the end
• Bumpers should be 5-7 seconds max
• Skip the elevator music
• Use the same music for the fade in and fade out
• Outsource as you can

So, “New Skool” isn’t about being unpolished, but rather just authentic.

Social Media Editing [31:08]

Two great social media editing tools are:

• Animoto
• Zubtitle

As far as connecting with others, see what works over time. What are prospects responding to? 

Distribution: YouTube [35:04]

We are big believers that every advisor should have a YouTube channel, as it is the second-largest search engine behind Google. 

You want to come up with a cadence of how often you are going to add video and then stick to it. YouTube rewards consistency, and cadence impacts performance and results take time. Additionally, it’s important that you are creating content that speaks to a very specific audience. 

• Subscriber count does not always equal success 
• 37 million YouTube Channels=Narrow your audience

Thumbnails are so important, as they are one of the biggest contributors to click-through rates (CTRs). Use can use Canva to create these. 

They should feature a person making an animated phase plus bold text, and those two things combined make for a really great thumbnail.  Using 2-4 words, big and bolded seems to be the sweet spot. Subscribe to the Twenty Over Ten YouTube channel and get our videos to help boost your marketing. 

YouTube algorithm pays attention to:

1. The amount of view time
2. The total percentage of the video that they complete
3. How many of the viewers are unique versus returning 

We like to look at our top videos and see how people are finding them. It can show you how many subscribers you got from a certain video and how many people watched it. You can see on average how much people watched it. 

Where is the Traffic Coming From? 

You can see where people are coming from and see all of the external traffic…where is it coming from? This can open you up to an entirely different audience. 

What Keywords Are People Searching For?

You can go in and edit the description to include keywords that did really well to drive traffic to your site. You can use 100 words in the description, and she wants you to use almost all 100 words if you can. It is very important that whatever you title your video and whatever you put in your description…you should say those keywords in your video, as well. 

YouTube wants to ensure that you are actually speaking about what your title is, as they do not want anything “spammy” or any clickbait. 

We also summarize what the video is about with links to follow us on social media, etc. We then use hashtags at the end, so we choose three hashtags that will help more people to find our videos. Lastly, add in your thumbnail. 

For more tips on how to optimize your video, check out this handy blog.  

In terms of compliance, it could be a good idea to create a script to give to compliance first so that they can approve it before you record the video.  

Social Sharing Best Practices [53:19]

1. Upload video natively to each platform 
2. Length: 1-4 minutes
3. Add hashtags
4. Include subtitles
5. Tag people and companies that you mention
6. Ask questions that you want people to answer in the comments
7. Link to blog, landing page, etc. 

Videos on Stories:[56:56]

• Announcements about company updates and happenings in real-time
• Post “Ask Me Anything” Sessions
• Employees share everyday work-life moments
• Share quick tips, knowledge, tutorials
• Post a question of the day or weekly feature

Website Landing Page Best Practices:[57:19]

Websites are 52 times to be found when they have an embedded YouTube video in them.  Use Thumbnails to let people know it is a video.

• Static Pages should be 30 seconds to one minute
• Vlogs should be 4-20 minutes
• Do not use auto-play
• Embed from YouTube
• Take a blog you already have and record a short video
• Transcribe for compliance approval and use transcription for an SEO boost

How To Utilize Video in Emails:

According to Biteable, video content in emails can improve CTR by up to 300%

Best Practices:

• Include word [VIDEO] before the subject link for higher open rates
• Don’t actually upload or send video
• Take a snapshot from video and add the play button using Canva.
• Embed images into video, link image, which will take readers to YouTube to watch.