How financial advisors can increase business with video

Key takeaways:
Video marketing is key for client acquisition and retention
Industry leaders are investing in advisor video programs
Video allows advisors to grow their brand and reach a wider audience

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Why did more than 90% of surveyed financial advisors kick off video campaigns in 2022?

Video drives deep connections and authentic engagements, both of which increase wealth advisors’ marketing and client retention opportunities. With it, wealth managers can create personalized experiences (and messaging) at scale!

Wealth advisors migrated to video in droves during the pandemic and discovered immense value in the ability to meet with clients and prospects — regardless of location.

Video is no longer a nice-to-have, but a vital part of driving personalized experiences for clients. That’s why Merrill Lynch invested in a virtual video studio. It’s why PGIM uses snackable video at the heart of its communication strategy, providing immense value for clients.

Both approaches show that the financial industry is in the middle of an arms race to build out the best client experiences with video.

Here’s how to gain an edge on the competition in that battle.

Digital marketing for financial advisors

Wealth advisors know how to help people reach their financial goals. If you’re reading this, you probably have that part covered.

But digital marketing might not be as intuitive.

There are tons of tools pitched to advisors, promising more meetings via a multichannel approach. Agencies and tech platforms will sell their social media or email strategy and complex campaigns to help advisors connect with prospects and clients.

None of it replaces face-to-face communication.

Relationship-building at scale through video

Any digital strategy for a financial advisor has to include a personalized approach. Clients desperately want advisors to provide clear guidance, tailored to their needs, and video is the way to scale up that human touch.

Socialive CEO David Moricca went in-depth on the power of building relationships at scale in a 2022 Forbes article. The main takeaway — advisors have to focus on delivering tailored client experiences at scale.

Video expands an advisor’s reach without draining budget

Meeting with every client, prospect, and potential lead in-person isn’t realistic, particularly for ambitious advisors. Mass messaging lacks personalization and can be expensive to maintain.

Video provides the best of both worlds. It’s a way to be in the room at scale.

Besides, clients and prospects prefer video interactions. There’s no travel time or logistics to worry about, just log on and craft your message.

Advisors are using video to send market updates, pushing out time-bound communications, sending personalized birthday or congratulatory messages, thought leadership, and so much more.

Promotional content made easy

There are tons of ways advisors can leverage video for marketing and client retention, but perhaps the most important is that any video created looks professional, is compliant, and is branded appropriately.

Socialive makes it easier than ever to create professional-looking video.

It shouldn’t take a degree in video production or years of experience to create the perfect video for prospects. Advisors have all the knowledge they need to get out their message, they just need a video platform to quickly get it in front of prospects.

By using Socialive, advisors can record on their own and create video within minutes. Take an introduction to a prospect, for example. Rather than requesting a videographer come help shoot tons of generic messages, an advisor can record for “Jane Smith” on the spot.

Here’s a quick example of the process:

• An advisor records their message in Socialive’s Recording Booth
• Add pre-loaded graphics at the click of a button
• The video is ready for review
• The advisor sends the approved video to the prospect

Think of how long it takes to get a full campaign together, how many moving parts are involved, and how much work goes into personalizing messaging.

Advisors already know what they want to say and how to say it. A quick self-recording in Socialive’s Recording Booth saves time and recipients will be thrilled with the results.

A big key with this workflow — by enabling advisors to handle multiple steps of the creation process, it becomes more cost-effective to create each piece of content. This is a massive ROI boost for institutions looking to create more video content.

Adding value for clients and prospects at scale

We’ve mentioned a few times now, clients and prospects crave digital interactions. It’s vital to meet them where they are, and create content they want to consume.

Relax, we’re not advocating you create a TikTok account.

Once advisors identify how to create video, the next step is to make sure to focus on the right types of video. Fidelity’s quick “smart money” posts gain traction on social media and are a great example of how to provide helpful tips for clients and prospects alike.

As Millennials are aging into their peak earning years and Gen-Z enters the workforce in greater numbers, the largest pool of potential clients has lived online for the majority of their lives. So it only makes sense to reach them where they are, powered by snackable video. It’s not just social media, either, as Google is making changes to feature more short-form video to serve its users.

That type of snackable content keeps the firm, and the advisor, top of mind for existing clients. Of course, those interactions also help expose expertise to new audiences.

With the power of cloud video creation, it takes only minutes to create top-funnel content that also serves existing clients.

Controlling the narrative with snackable thought leadership

Getting your institutional knowledge in front of clients and prospects in a digestible format should always be a goal.

If the audience isn’t served the information they crave in a snackable format, they will go and find it somewhere else — whether it be a popular podcast or a competitor’s video feed.

Instead, make sure your audience views you as a go-to resource.

PGIM has crafted an entire library of commentary-driven content to make sure their clients don’t have to go anywhere else. When there’s a shift in the market, advisors are able to quickly craft messaging for their clients and get the video to them within hours, rather than days or weeks.

Speed to market is vital to keeping clients informed and coming back for more knowledge.

Providing peace of mind with data security

On the subject of customization, we recognize that it can’t come at the expense of information security.

Prospects might be a bit wary of discussing financial information with strangers. Likewise, advisors might want to ensure that while discussions are confidential, they can be reviewed at a later date.

From the home office or just at home, it’s crucial to use a secure platform that protects users’ data. Socialive’s end-to-end encryption ensures any financial or sensitive information within the content will only go to the intended recipient.

While the ability to create a personalized financial plan video is great, clients and advisors alike will find comfort that their information isn’t accessible to other users in the system.

Efficient, effective advisor marketing with video

Financial advisors looking to grow their business need to nail their video strategy — it’s a way to stand out from the competition. Video is no longer a luxury, it’s a key part of any financial advisor’s marketing and retention strategy.

Whether it’s a promotional video for lead generation, a personalized introduction to a prospective client, or providing answers to questions that prospects have about the market, video is a powerful tool for financial professionals.

To learn the six crucial things your financial institution needs to implement a video strategy successfully, download the wealth advisor video program strategic guide.

To see how AI video editing works, take a look at our recorded demo of the Editor.