How Financial Advisors Can Use YouTube To Grow Their Business in 2020
When I think about the future of marketing for financial advisors, I’m excited about two things: webinars and YouTube. Webinars are an incredible solution to get in front of your ideal prospects 24/7 online with an up-front investment of 4 to 8 hours of your time. YouTube for financial advisors is an up-and-coming way to get exposure to millions of people searching for the exact answers you’re offering.
Marketing on YouTube is still pretty much in its infancy for financial advisors. There are a handful of advisors running away with all the success. Here’s one strong YouTube Channel with over 14,000 subscribers and almost 4 million video views. Jeff Rose, the marketing genius behind Good Financial Cents, has over 335,000 subscribers and publishes content almost daily on his channel Wealth Hacker.
Key Benefits Of Investing In YouTube Marketing For Financial Advisors
First and foremost, YouTube is a great way to get more traffic and exposure without paying for ads. Did you know that Google owns YouTube? This means that when people type in a search query, Google puts YouTube videos right at the top of the search results. If your video is the best (or only) video on that topic, you are automatically at the very top of search results.
Next, there is relatively low competition from other advisors. Because of compliance, lack of confidence on camera, or whatever other reason, there are only a handful of advisors using YouTube well. Any advisor willing to do a decent job on the platform will rise to the top quickly.
YouTube is a rising platform. While today YouTube is the second social media channel behind Facebook, it is growing every day. Over 58% of those over 55 years old use YouTube regularly, and that is projected to increase in the future. To invest in a marketing foundation for tomorrow, it may be wise to start a YouTube channel today.
Watching videos helps people know, like, and trust you. While no single video is likely to land you dozens of new clients, people who have watched your videos are more likely to work with you, more educated about the topic and your firm, and more willing to take the next step.
People would rather watch videos than read. Research shows that people are four times more likely to watch a video than read an article on a topic. An easy way to quadruple your exposure? Create both videos and written articles on each piece of content you put out.
Video is an easy way to create content on a regular basis. Every advisor should be creating regular marketing content to stay top of mind. Shooting videos is one of the easiest ways to do so in a hurry. You’re already comfortable speaking in front of people on financial topics, so use that strength to get your marketing content created in an authentic and easy-to-consume format.
YouTube can help you narrow your niche! Using videos for your marketing strategy can help uncover marketing niches that you should focus on going forward. Bridgeriver Advisors’ Dan Casey has a YouTube channel with several dozen videos that have about 100 to 200 views on average. But his top 3 videos have tens of thousands of views:
8 Fatal Retirement Mistakes That Can’t Be Undone (65,000 views)
Social Security Changes After The New Budget (35,000 views)
The Good, Bad, And Ugly of Long-Term Care Insurance (16,700 views) (In fact, if you search for “long-term care insurance” on YouTube, Dan’s video is the top result!)
I would suggest that Dan dig deeper and create more content on one of these topics by creating a playlist on that topic and gaining even more traffic to his videos. By experimenting with different topics, you can understand which ones will get you the most exposure and focus on what works.
YouTube Best Practices For Financial Advisors
Narrow Your Channel’s Focus
You’re not going to win searches for “401k investing” (that award goes to this video) but guess what? If you created a video for “Maximizing Your Ford Motor Company Benefits Package and 401(k),” you would be the only YouTube search result on that topic.
Publish Regularly
The name of the game on YouTube is creating a lot of videos consistently. This manages the expectations of your subscribers and helps YouTube promote your videos. Beyond that, creating lots of videos on the same topic can help you dominate search results for those search terms. If you’re going to dive into YouTube, I recommend that it be your top marketing focus for at least a year and that you commit to publishing new videos weekly or biweekly until you reach at least 50 videos.
Optimize Your Videos For Search
People can’t find your videos unless they contain the correct keywords. Work with a YouTube professional to optimize each video so that people who are typing their questions into Google will find your video as a relevant result.
Convert Your Viewers
Include a call to action to convert that traffic. Video views mean nothing if you can’t convert that traffic into leads. At the top of your description, offer an easy next step for viewers to take, such as scheduling a call or asking a question. Include a clear link and remind viewers at the end of your videos to take action.
What Should Your Videos Be About?
The best advice here comes from Blair Kelly at Twenty Over Ten: “Simply keep a list on your computer of all the questions your clients and prospective clients ask. Each time they ask you a question, write it down! If they have the question, that means others do too—and it could be a great piece of content for you to record a video answering.”
In addition to answering common questions for your target audience, create videos that showcase your story, your passion, and garner emotion from viewers. Check out my video on Why I Love Working With Financial Advisors. Think about creating videos on your team members, updates at your office, and current events.
Want to learn more about creating a YouTube channel? Review how to set up and optimize your YouTube channel and examples of excellent advisor YouTube channels; then don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have questions about your marketing strategy!
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