When it comes to finance, breaking down complex topics for the audience or selling relevant services is always a challenge. Finance has a reputation for being boring — anyone interested in a financial instrument or service is overwhelmed by the never-ending paperwork and lengthy brochures. Since the banking and finance sector is a highly competitive industry, it is also a huge challenge to attract more clients and retain them.
Even though most financial companies and banks invest in setting up a website, it is not enough. If you are serious about beating the competition, you need to take it up a notch higher, and here’s where video marketing can come to your rescue.
Gone are the days when videos were used as a medium for providing entertainment alone. With the right video marketing strategy, marketers can expect to receive 66 percent more qualified leads per year. Videos also score brownie points with the audience since they are easy to digest compared to a massive chunk of information conveyed through text-based modes such as brochures or flyers.
Viewers report that they can retain 95 percent of a message conveyed through a video but only 10 percent when the same message is in text form. It’s not surprising that 54 percent of customers also look forward to videos from their trusted brands that can convince them to try a new product or service.
If you are serious about harnessing the attention of your audience and keeping them hooked, let us tell you three effective video marketing ideas that can help you become persuasive as a brand, along with the best practices to create a video marketing strategy that works.
Table of Contents:
- Why does video marketing work for a finance business?
- Top video marketing ideas you can implement to offer a more personalized digital experience
- Best practices for creating a successful video marketing strategy
- Final words
Why does video marketing work for a finance business?
If you want a prospect to borrow a loan from you or invest through your trading platform, gaining the trust of your customers is the first step. But simply putting up the information on your website doesn’t allow you to present your personality as a brand. If you are unable to come across as a trustworthy solution provider who will not fleece their customers or run away with their hard-earned money, cultivating a connection with prospects can be an uphill battle.
In such cases, video formats such as promo video or customer testimonial videos can go a long way in making your brand much more than a faceless business and establishing trust. The bottom line is simple — if your business is likable, you have a greater chance of attracting customers.
Take, for instance, this video by WealthSimple, an online investment management platform. Through this video, the company has managed to convey a powerful story about human emotions and the reasons to invest. The video helps WealthSimple come across as someone who cares for you. In fact, the tagline “Tomorrow begins today” that appears on the screen right at the end beautifully ties in the overall message.
Videos are also effective for increasing the time a prospective customer spends on your website. This is also known as dwell time, and it is one of the factors that determine your ranking on search engine pages. Higher dwell time signals Google that your website is a valuable one and should be shown to more people. Since videos are much more engaging and captivating than written content, placing the right kind of videos can skyrocket the dwell time.
For example, take a look at the website of Kabbage, an automated lending platform for small businesses. The website features a resource center with a number of helpful videos to guide small business owners with day-to-day operations. Here is a video on ways to boost revenue when sales are slowing down and how Kabbage can help.
Lastly, you can also improve the user experience of your prospects through the correct video marketing strategy. Videos provide an immersive experience and create the correct sentiment. With videos, you can personalize the user experience. Research also shows that personalization is extremely critical for marketers who expect more engagement from their customers.
Top video marketing ideas you can implement to offer a more personalized digital experience
Promo videos
Promo videos can provide a bird’s eye view of what your finance business offers. You can also use promo videos for increasing brand awareness for those who are right on top of your sales funnel.
Promo videos work because they make a solid impression on the prospect. They are also great for driving traffic to your website and can be placed on critical points on your landing page to pique an interest in the visitors.
Besides, since promo videos condense a lot of information into a biteable format, they are also highly shareable. So if you are keen on generating buzz about a new service you are providing, nothing can beat promo videos.
Take inspiration from this video by Bank of America about the virtual financial assistant in the Bank of America mobile app. The video highlights the personalized insights that the assistant can provide for managing your finances and encourages the viewers to download the app.
- Demo videos
Demo videos help showcase particular features of a product or service. These videos work as they allow you to communicate the value of your offering in a fun way without bombarding them with too much information.
Check out this video by Esusu Financial, an app that helps people residing in marginalized locations plan their finances better. In this demo video, we can hear a simple voiceover that explains the features of their app savings guide and how it can be used for saving and sending funds.
Demo videos must feature in your video marketing strategy as 72 percent of customers prefer using videos to learn something about a product or service. If you are wondering whether you’ll need to hire a video production team to shoot these videos, don’t worry. With a little bit of creativity and planning, you can create stunning demo videos using a free online video editor. To save time, you can also use the product demo templates and customize them instead of starting the video from scratch.
Customer testimonial videos
Testimonials are extremely beneficial for every business. They also impact the decision of other customers because word-of-mouth marketing remains one of the most effective ways to persuade prospects. In fact, 72 percent of consumers feel that positive testimonials can result in them having more trust in a business because the seal of approval from other customers matters.
But here’s a catch — traditional text-heavy testimonials are old school and boring. The new-age customer wants something that is quick to consume. And that’s why customer testimonial videos can be another video format your finance business can explore. When someone talks straight to the camera, the bond is at a much deeper level. The expressions also come off as more authentic. Contrast this with a long-written testimonial that lacks a personal touch and can be easily faked, and you will know why customer testimonial videos are so popular.
Here is an example from Sunlife Financial, a company that provides insurance and wealth solutions. In this video, a real-life client of Sunlife Financial talks about the importance of good financial advice in their lives.
Link to the video: https://www.sunlife.ca/en/tools-and-resources/money-and-finances/managing-your-money/real-client-stories-jeff-video/
A video such as this is a wonderful approach to storytelling and seamlessly conveys a range of emotions to keep your audience hooked.
Best practices for creating a successful video marketing strategy
Planning and creating a strategy for attention-grabbing videos may seem like an unachievable assignment, but it isn’t. To simplify the process, here are some best practices to help you get cracking:
Don’t create videos without a goal
Unless you know your marketing goal, spending any time or effort creating videos may not yield results. Different video formats exist for a reason — so make sure you pick on a format that aligns with your goal. For example, if you are trying to create awareness about your brand, opt for a promo video.
Make story the hero of every video
Videos are a medium of storytelling. If you want your audience to watch them without hitting the pause or exit button, you need to tell a story that connects with them. However, lengthy videos result in lower levels of engagement. That’s why, focus on building a cohesive and concise story that delivers your message.
Learn more about your target audience
Unless you have a thorough understanding of what the target audience is looking for, your videos will fail to make an impact. Go beyond the demographics and think about which stage of the sales funnel they are at. It will make it easier for you to tailor the content of your video. For example, if the target audience is at the decision-making stage, a compelling customer testimonial video can nudge them in the right direction. In contrast, if the audience is at the awareness stage, explainer videos or promo videos will be a better choice.
Always have a hook
Your videos are competing with several others — unless there’s something unique about it, the target audience can simply scroll past it without giving it a second look. Here’s where a hook at the beginning of your video can help.
The first five seconds of your video are precious. You can start with an interesting fact or pose a question to pique the interest of the audience. Once you’ve drawn in the audience, the chances are that they will continue watching the video till the end.
Don’t fuss over the sound
While adding sounds in the background of any video is a great idea, most of your audience prefers watching videos on mute. The video must remain highly watchable even when consumed as a silent video.
To do so, add closed captioning or subtitles. Captions also enhance the accessibility of videos, making them easily consumable by people with hearing loss. You can also focus on adding engaging visuals to improve your storytelling without too much reliance on sound effects or voice-overs.
Aim for simplicity
A video with too many messaging goals is a sure-fire way to disappoint your audience. You may end up forcing them to exit your video and start watching something else.
It’s best to keep the video straightforward so that the audience doesn’t get confused.
Don’t ignore optimization
Optimizing your videos is also a part of your video marketing strategy if you want to rank higher on search engines.
You can optimize your videos by adding a transcription. You can also add the keywords in the title and meta description.
Work on the CTAs
Call to action is a huge part of video making. For a successful video marketing strategy, jot down the various CTAs you can add to your videos. The viewers should know exactly what they need to do once they watch your video. For example, if you have a customer testimonial video to persuade the audience about a new financial product, the CTA can be ‘click here to invest.’
CTAs ensure that your customers are not left confused. So work on making them meaningful.
Focus on making videos mobile friendly
A vast majority of your audience might watch the videos on their mobile devices. Make sure to pay attention to the format and size of the video. Test the look and feel of videos on smartphones and tablets.
Monitor the performance
Don’t leave the performance of your videos to chance. Follow the analytics to track how they are faring. You can also create multiple versions of a video and carry out A/B testing. It will give you an indication of what works for your audience.
Final words
Video marketing may seem like a lot of work, but the results make it all worth it. To make the best videos for your finance business, you must have a well-crafted video marketing strategy.
So if you are serious about skyrocketing the conversions and grabbing more clients, make sure to put these video marketing ideas to practice.
For more insights on building a foolproof video marketing strategy, check out Mention’s guide here.
