Marketing is all about reaching out to your target audience, and providing videos that deliver a unique message can be advantageous for your business.
“Video just has amazing reach,” says Michael Wickware, creative director of Wickware Communications Inc. in Toronto. “It can be shared with friends [and] if you do something interesting enough and it’s timely it can reach people around the world.”
Monday’s BYB Daily piece offered tips on how to get started with videos. Today, Wickware offers the following advice on the type of content that you should include in your videos:
> Give an introduction
Use videos to introduce prospects to you and your business.
Videos are a great way to tell people who you are, what you do and how you can help them, says Wickware.
“It’s a rich enough experience that, unlike text on a page, gives people a sense of who you are and your personality,” he says, “and you can start to build a little bit of that sense of trust and that comfort level that they need before they want to see you face-to-face.”
> Educate viewers
Grab the attention of prospects with educational videos.
Providing insight on an investment strategy, financial planning topic, or a timely economic event, says Wickware, can draw in new viewers and give you a source of prospective clients.
> Let clients speak out
Give clients a second opinion of your business with testimonial videos.
Client testimonials offer prospects the opportutniy to hear from someone who may have similar goals to theis, says Wickware, and how you, as the advisor, can help them.
> Introduce the team
Include team members and third-party experts, such as a lawyer, in videos, says Wickware, to show prospects the depth of service and knowledge your business has to offer.
Having other experts and team members in videos really builds credibility with prospects, he says, and provides a great reason to create and post multiple videos that will maintain viewers’ interests.
> Get to the point
Make sure videos are short and to the point to keep your audiences’ attention.
Some advisors create videos that are five or even 10 minutes long, says Wickware. As a general rule, videos should be approximately 90 seconds in length and focus on one topic.
Don’t be afraid to break up a topic into a video series, he says. For example, if you have enough information for five videos you can have new information for clients and prospects for five weeks or more.
As well, don’t forget to include some type of call to action, he says, such as inviting the viewer to contact you for a meeting.
This is the second of two articles on using videos in marketing initiatives.