In the past two years we have seen an acceleration in the adoption of digital communications including the use of Zoom meetings, FaceTime and even more recently video and audio notes.
For advisors, that means a world of new opportunity to level up digital marketing efforts with smart content and communications to reach their ideal audience. But what’s the best approach to maximize your marketing that makes the highest impact and produces real results? The answer is video.
Today, YouTube is the second largest search engine when you consider users, searches and minutes spent on the site. The first, of course, is Google, which favors YouTube video according to a 2020 study by the Wall Street Journal.
Why is YouTube becoming so dominant in the online space and for advisors to build into their digital strategy? Several reasons, actually. It’s the prime platform for people to find answers and learn more about every imaginable topic. The content has longevity – unlike a Tweet that gets buried in 2 minutes – a YouTube video lasts for years if the content is evergreen. And it’s easily shareable.
Here are a few interesting stats from a Hubspot blog on YouTube’s demographics and the platform’s impact on today’s web user.
- 81% of adults in the U.S. used YouTube in 2021
- 500 hours of video are uploaded every minute(!)
- 59% of executives prefer watching video to reading text
- 70% of viewers bought from a brand after watching content on YouTube
The data is compelling, and the shift toward video is happening across the RIA industry as more and more advisors are creating content that is easily searchable, evergreen and helps them reach a wider audience.
So how do you get started? It’s easier than you think with the right mindset. We partnered with Mike Zung, Founder of Java Wealth Planning and YouTuber, to gather his insight and tips on creating to sophisticated, informational videos that are authentic to your voice and position you for success.
Mike was ahead of the advisor video curve when he started creating content with YouTube videos in mid-2019. He started with an approach that was very familiar to him – with whiteboards and visuals that he had long used in meetings with colleagues and clients. As the pandemic hit, his approach translated easily to videos that continued to keep him connected to his clients. The approach worked incredibly well – one of his videos just passed 54,000 views!
The keys to his success, he says, lie in two simple, overarching themes:
- Authenticity all the time. One of the main goals you should have in creating videos is to allow the audience to get to know the real you. Show up as yourself!
- Don’t take yourself too seriously. In the beginning, Mike says, creating a youtube channel and posting video seemed daunting. He was concerned about the time commitment involved, the value of his content, the production quality of his videos, even his own voice as a YouTuber. “It’s important not to get too hung up on all the little ‘what if’s’ that stop you from getting started,” Mike says. “Just take that first step and focus on getting better with every video.”
As for the technical elements for optimizing YouTube videos, here are Mike’s top 4 key elements to include in all of your videos.
4 Key Elements to Optimize your YouTube Videos
- Thumbnails
- These are the tiny images that represent a “preview” of the kind of content the user is going to watch. Thumbnails should feature a photo of you and the title of the topic you’re covering.
- Video descriptions
- Within each video is the option to add a description with links. Here is where you can add engaging content. Why should they watch this video? What will they take away from it? Where can your target audience go to get more information?
- Use hashtags
- At the bottom of your descriptions, add hashtags to allow the algorithm to know what your video is about. This way it can be promoted accordingly and be seen by more people!
- Look at your page’s analytics
- YouTube Studio offers a wealth of insights about your videos’ performance. You can see which of your videos are reaching a greater audience, what your audience is responding to and when is your optimal time to post. From there you can hone your craft and keep making YouTube videos that your audience wants.
Remember: The first step is always the hardest, so just hit record and go. YouTube offers advisors a tremendous opportunity to let people get to know you. Even when you receive a referral from a client or COI, you can bet that your prospect has done their research online about you. With videos appearing prominently as part of your online narrative, you can quickly build a relationship with people even before they reach out to you. And while you might not see a lot of results at the beginning, that is okay! Keep being consistent, get better and be true to yourself. Over time and with practice, the videos you create can continue to generate website traffic that leads to new prospects who become loyal, engaged clients (and video superfans!)
Ready to be a YouTube star using video?
Sign up for our 1-day DIY Video workshop to receive a download on all the key components of acing video in your marketing strategy.