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A client wrote to me that “business was pouring in” after his refreshed website went live. I asked him what stood out to visitors. He replied, “Most people tend to comment on the videos. You worked some magic there.”
His feedback was very gratifying. I’ve worked hard to pioneer an entirely different kind of video for my website clients.
In this article, I’m going to share exactly how we do it, so you can replicate our process if you find it appealing.
High-quality production
I don’t cut corners on production quality. I only hire cinematographers (also known as director of photography or DPs). I require two cameras, with great lighting and audio.
Nothing erodes your credibility as rapidly as video that’s poorly lit, with tinny audio.
If you don’t have the budget for a professionally produced video, you can do it yourself, using the camera on your smartphone. There are a lot of articles with suggestions for making professional looking videos.
No script
Our breakthrough came when I had the idea of making our videos totally unscripted. When I used scripts (often with a teleprompter) the advisors came across and stressed, robotic and boring.
I decided to see what would happen if we prepared questions to be asked by the cinematographer and didn’t give them to the advisor in advance. I told the advisor not to worry about how they came across, because I was going to shoot a couple of hours of video and edit it down to two 90-second videos. I explained that I could fix just about anything in post-production, so they could relax and just have a conversation with the cinematographer.
The difference in their demeanor and how they came across was immediate and transformational.
Questions are key
The key to making videos that emotionally connect is to avoid educating, lecturing or explaining technical investing subjects. My research taught me that visitors to a website will make a decision primarily based on whether they like the advisor and can relate to him or her.
My questions are customized for each advisor and designed to get the advisor to “open up.” Here are some representative questions I recently prepared for an advisor, who is also a certified public accountant:
- Everybody has a story. What’s yours?
- Which came first, CPA or wealth advisor?
- Why did you make the transition?
- How does being a C.P.A. impact your financial advice?
- What’s the best thing about being a financial advisor?
- What’s the worst?
- Tell me about your family. (How many children do you have, what do they do, where do they live, how long have you been married? Etc.)
- How did you meet your wife?
- Tell me something most people don’t know about you.
- What do you do for fun? Why do you enjoy those activities?
- What makes you laugh?
- We have this image of CPAs: staid, conservative, perhaps a little stodgy. Is that you?
- Who’s your ideal client and why?
- What motivates them to reach out to you?
- What do you do for your clients?
- Every advisory firm claims to be “different”. What sets you apart from your competitors?
- Do you think you were put on earth for a reason? If so, what is it?
- What’s the best experience you’ve had as a financial advisor?
- What’s the worst?
- What has surprised you the most about being a financial advisor?
- What do you wish prospects who were considering retaining you knew about you?
- How can prospects tell whether they can trust a financial advisor?
These questions elicit very interesting responses, probably because they’re spontaneous. The authenticity of the advisor is evident.
Marketing Services For Evidence-Based Advisors...and a New Book!
We offer consulting services on how to convert more prospects into clients through Solin Consulting, a division of Solin Strategic, LLC.
We offer a full range of digital marketing services exclusively to evidence-based advisors through Evidence Based Advisor Marketing, LLC . You can see examples of our work here.
I'm working on a new self-help book for the general public. It's called:
Ask
How to Relate to Anyone
Ask will be published in mid-2020. For more information, click here.
Schedule a call with Dan here
Post production is critical
My client was correct. There is “magic” in our videos, but the credit goes to post-production.
Here’s my secret: I take the raw footage and send it to https://scribie.com/. They prepare a transcript using speech recognition software for 10 cents a minute. I get a transcript within 15 minutes of placing the order.
It’s not perfect, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s good enough so I can piece together snippets of the video that tell a story. My editor then makes it look like it flowed seamlessly, when it’s really a compilation of a sentence or two (and sometimes even fragments) from different parts of the video.
All that remains is to add a title slide with graphics, B-roll and music and we have a video that’s warm, engaging and relatable.
For more information about marketing and branding opportunities with Dan’s upcoming book, Ask: How to Relate to Anyone, click here.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.