In the ever-evolving landscape of financial marketing, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. Cue video marketing—used by 87% of businesses in their marketing. With its ability to engage, educate, and entertain, video content is a must for financial brands looking to shine. So settle in, grab a cup of coffee, and explore the latest in video marketing. Hot tip: we’ll also dive into the art of optimizing videos for SEO, a must for those looking to make conversions.
The power of video marketing
According to marketing guru Neil Patel, “Video has become the go-to format for audiences seeking quick, informative, and visually appealing content. For financial brands, leveraging video marketing is not just an option, it’s a necessity.”
The stats are compelling. Research shows that 88% of consumers have been influenced by video to click on a purchase, with video preferred by 80% over written text. To misquote Madonna, we are living in a video world—and video’s reach is growing every day.
Social media platforms such as LinkedIn and TikTok further highlight the sheer power of video marketing. TikTok is the main destination for financial literacy for the under 24s (FinTok, as it’s known, is a growth bomb). The hashtag #Stocktok bagged 1.4bn views whilst #PersonalFinance reached more than 5.7bn.
The benefits of video
Video involves story and story has the ability to hook people in on an emotional or subconscious level. Hence, why well-crafted videos connect you with your people without sounding salesy. As marketing pro, Bill McKendry, once said (quoting Antoine de Saint-Exupery): “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood or assign them tasks. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
“ With its ability to engage, educate, and entertain, video content is a must for financial brands looking to shine.”
On an analytics level, video is the smart kid in the class. It provides in-depth digital marketing analytics and data that helps define what users seek. The Dubs social media director Andrew Frith is adamant about the rich opportunities at play here. “The effectiveness of video content on the website can be measured by capturing video completion rates whilst also looking at partial completion times,” he says.
Video creation doesn’t need to cost a bomb, either. If you’re unfamiliar with video production and lack the budget for a professional, check out the relatively new MagicBrief (www.magicbrief.com) an innovative platform revolutionising the video creation process. Using generative AI, MagicBrief allows anyone to swiftly transform written content into video narratives, saving time and money. There is also Synthesia, which swiftly creates webinars and short videos with AI actors.
For B2B marketers, LinkedIn is the best social platform for video, fostering solid connections in a professional setting where pockets are deep. It’s a place for trusted advice, with a rich thought leadership aspect to the content. Boasting over 850 million users in over 200 countries, LinkedIn is excellent for generating new leads. 62% of financial advisors claimed to have scored new clients through the site.
According to Megan Anderle, Senior Marketing Consultant at LinkedIn, “Finance as a whole continues to be in the top five for most-read topics on the platform, and interestingly, 75% of engagement comes from members who do not work in finance, according to our data.”
Chris Nichols, Chief Strategy Officer at CenterState Bank, has been a fan of LinkedIn for years, doubling down during the pandemic when it was impossible to call on prospects or attend conferences. Many of Nichols’s relationship managers generate most of their leads through LinkedIn networking. “If you are in B2B sales you have to be on LinkedIn. It’s raised the profile of our business bankers.”
This is exactly why we harness the potential of video shorts for finance brands on LinkedIn. Concise, impactful video shorts—pulled from longer videos—not only capture attention and highlight critical statistics and key statements but also serve as a gateway to deeper content. This means attention can be captured whilst refreshing a steadily growing retargeting pool. It’s a beautiful way to nurture—or nudge—potential leads.
SEO
So you’ve made a video and put it online. Optimising videos for SEO is crucial, or nobody will find your Oscar-worthy work.
- Firstly, crafting a compelling video title with relevant keywords will significantly enhance the video’s discoverability.
- Secondly, write a thorough video description that outlines the content and includes relevant keywords that further contribute to SEO success.
- Additionally, make sure you use accurate tags and categorizations to help search engines understand the context of the video.
- Remember: don’t embed the same video on multiple pages or else you’re essentially competing against yourself. Wistia’s video SEO expert, Phil Nottingham, agrees. “If your page and video are both relevant to each other, and you’re hoping to ensure that page and video get ranked, then there’s no sense in embedding the video elsewhere on your public-facing website,” says Phil.
Essentially, video marketing is not just a trend; it’s a strategic imperative. It’s about telling your brand’s story in a way that resonates with your audience. Since the evolving landscape of financial marketing demands innovative strategies that cut through the noise, video is vital. Whether through groundbreaking platforms like MagicBrief or innovative use of video shorts on LinkedIn, video is king.
