Note, each financial industry has it’s rules, so make sure you read about those specific rules before creating any content. Reviewing the rules from Lawyers to Realtors to Financial Advisors to Insurance Brokers to Mortgage brokers, to Dentists to Doctors and health care professionals, stating facts and honesty are the biggest take aways. Don’t make outlandish claims or discuss any past success as it would happen to everybody.
Inside of the rules, you can still create informative and entertaining videos which can help develop your brand, to attract more people to what you do.
This article is one in a series on our Small Business Marketing ideas for financial services professionals. We attempt to digest some of the unique storytelling ideas for different industries. This one references realtors, insurance brokers, mortgage brokers and financial advisors in the specific and general sense.
- Intro video.
A basic intro video, talking about your past jobs, the summer job from heck while in college, or some other personal anecdotal video can be a great way to give a new layer to who you are. - Basics of your industry video
Think of the absolute basics that any new person might be asking when they’re curious about your industry or service. This can take some work as you’re now way too in the weeds on your business and service, but understanding what questions people are asking by the time they get to you can help create a really great sales video.
IE, tips for getting qualified to buy your first home. How to make a refinance successful. How to buy a 2nd home as an investment. Using a refinance to fund home projects. - General ‘real-time’ industry updates
How fast do things fluctuate in your industry? Remember, what you lay down is what you lay down, so if you’re making a big claim, that’s going to stay there. But if you present factual information as it might pertain to people, that can help brand you as a thought leader on your industry-specific topic. This becomes an unquenchable beast, as each week or month you need new shows. (mercy on your soul if you try to do daily real-time updates)
IE, did the FED come out and make comments about mortgage rates? Or did a national and/or local real estate sales report come out? Report the numbers and appear neck to neck with the news.
To keep it hyper-local, report on local business affairs. Be especially supportive of businesses in the area. - Referral videos
So imagine you’re a realtor or insurance broker or financial advisor or mortgage professional in a small neighborhood in chicago. The 4 of your industries and businesses go great together, and thus any combined videos could be a way to grow their and your audience together. Together, you can create a cooking show, or a local restaurant show, or just a local interest show and the 4 of you sponsor it! Imagine if each of you took a part in producing a project together and it’ll help create a cooler/bigger final piece. You’re now in a marketing business with these 4 people but if starring on video alone is daunting, consider a project with your friends.
This is where a writer can help craft the stories and messages you’re hoping to convey so you can have talking points. Trust me, you think you can go off the cuff while you’re doing a beer show, but, it really helps to have a map so you don’t say some stumbly drunken stuff.
Can you all do a weekly round table discussion of your industry? Bi-monthly discussion? These days with zoom, something like this is so much easier to do. To coordinate 4 peoples schedules regularly can be very difficult, but if you no one needs to commute in theory they can just commit to the time weekly.
And yes, most web cams suck, but with decent lighting and using a lavalier microphone you can capture a really great product. It would be nice to get the wide shot of everyone at a table, but, honestly…. to now be able to have a camera on every guest individually saves a ton in production costs. Usually 2 cameras are standard and so you’d always have 2 people in 1 shot, but now each person can have their time to shine. - How to videos
This can be similar to the above, but if you’re comfortable doing videos on your own, explain things as you do to a client. As you go throughout your life keep a journal of interactions you have with people, the funny requests and solutions. Eventually you’ll notice some things are written 3 or 4 times, and then you should make videos on that!
IE, difference between term and whole life insurance? What’s a bull vs bear market? What are call and put options? How to i convert my owner oc property to an investment? How do i purchase investment property outside of my state? How to I include my kids on the title of my house?
*realtor bonus tip-partner with a contractor or handyman or some other service that you know people will need and create how to videos with them. plumber, electrician, etc, just little basic stuff but that can apply over and over to client after client.
Keep it general, stuff that would apply to 51% of people kind of stuff.
The most important thing to remember is the videos you’re creating should be used to attract attention to you and what you do. A lot can be done on your own but also getting writers and other professionals to craft your messaging can create the best product you can, while keeping this an asset for a long time.
If you’re a financial person I’m sure you can appreciate viewing ROI on a video. Say you want to create a promo to get 1 new home buyer in (insert area) Chicago suburb. Since you know those homes are $350k or higher, you know you’d receive a 3% commission, so you can easily see what 1 client is worth immediately. Then there’s repeat buying and referrals for other friends and family that are happy, etc, all because you sprung for a $1500 video package.
posting it once doesn’t mean it’s over, either. This video has a life and can live on in reposts and paid promotions for the first 5 seconds of youtube AD or as a recommendation in the side bar, or during someone else’s video on one of the other channels. If you’re a member of any chambers of commerce they’ll probably share it with their audience, too! So you’ll have more eyes that see your video, and hopefully go from not knowing who you are, to being a favorite client. - Remember the rules of your industry!
This isn’t a video type, but get familiar with the specific rules of your industry. Try not to make any outlandish claims, don’t make it seem like everytime someone uses your service you’re a midas touch, etc. Remain factual, honest and extremely grounded, focusing on information that could apply to a wider audience.
Good luck! I hope you found this list of small business marketing ideas for financial services helpful. Reach out if you need pre-production, post-production, (in person production eventually), or editing help! And don’t forget paid promotions! PPC.