There are two ways to communicate the benefits of financial planning:

1. Telling
2. Showing

Which is best? Showing, of course. And, the most effective way is through client videos.

But, to work their magic we need prospective clients to watch them.

We’ve noticed that too many financial advisers and planners aren’t getting the most from their client videos. Often simply uploading them to a page on their website and nothing else. That’s a massive wasted opportunity.

So, here’s a list of eight things you should do with your client videos. (Note: if you haven’t recorded client videos yet, start by clicking here which explains more about our Client Stories Starter Package).

1. Build a client stories section on your website

Your website is your shop window and a key staging post on the journey prospective clients take to your door.

Therefore, it’s the obvious place to display your client stories.

We recommend building a page to hold all your client stories. For each video on the page you should include:

• A headline and preview text, to help the visitor choose which videos to watch
• A snippet image from the video (be careful here, it isn’t easy to get a flattering image!)
• A call to action button leading to a sub-page

Then on the individual video’s subpage include:

• A snippet image of the video with a play button which people click to start playing the video
• A featured hero statement pulling out the best quote from the video so visitors to the page see the key message even if they don’t watch it all
• A transcript of the video so visitors can read what the client had to say if they can’t, or don’t want to, watch the video (the transcript will also have a marginal SEO benefit too)

You can see an example of this structure by clicking here.

2. Make them easy to find

The average visitor only looks at 2.63 pages on each visit to your website. That means you need to make your client stories quick and easy to find.

Start by placing a prominent link to them in the main navigation of your website.

However, that doesn’t guarantee that people will visit the page. So, we need to take a leaf out the social media giants’ playbook. Facebook doesn’t have a page of adverts you can visit if you choose to do so. Instead, they scatter their ads throughout your timeline, so you’re forced to see them and will inevitably engage with some.

Do the same on your website. Scatter your videos (and other social proof) throughout the most popular pages so people can’t avoid seeing them as they look at the pages which they’re interested in.

3. Make showreels of the best bits

We talk a lot about repurposing content. For example, turning a blog into a series of social media posts extends the life of the blog and ensures the key points are seen by a wider audience.

Do the same with videos by taking the best bits of each interview, often along a common theme, and building a showreel video.

It works like this:

• We agree with the adviser/planner two or three questions we’ll ask each of their clients. For example: “What’s the best thing about working with <insert name of firm>?” or “Would you recommend <insert name of firm>?”
• We finish each client interview with the agreed questions
• We then build a showreel for each question

By doing this, the prospect gets a variety of perspectives in a short, punchy and fast-paced video. Click here to see an example of a showreel video.

Once the showreel is produced, go back to tip #2 and scatter it around the website.

4. Post snippets on social media

Every video we film has a few stand out quotes. My current favourite is: “Recommending my financial planner to friends is like a gift I can give them.”

How good is that?

So, pull out those great quotes in a short video (it might only be a few seconds long) and post them to your social media accounts for prospective clients to see.

5. Add them to your LinkedIn profile

If LinkedIn is an important part of your marketing strategy add the videos to the ‘Featured’ section of your profile.

This gives people who visit your profile, many of whom might be potential clients, the opportunity to watch the videos you’ve created.

Click here to learn more about the ‘Featured’ section of your LinkedIn profile and how to add videos.

6. Send them to prospects

After your very first conversation with a prospect, you will inevitably send a follow-up communication. You might be confirming the details of the fact find meeting or simply sending further information about your services while they consider their options.

Either way, it’s important that whatever you send continues to affirm the benefits of working with you. Your client videos are a great way to do that. They will show that you work with people like them, demonstrate the benefit of financial planning and confirm why you are the right adviser/planner for them.

Simply select relevant videos and send the prospect links to them on your website.

7. Don’t add the videos directly to your website

We occasionally see an adviser or planner adding videos directly to their website, this can significantly reduce the speed of your website for all users.

Instead, create a YouTube or Vimeo channel, upload the videos and then use the embed code to add them to your website. Remember though, especially on YouTube, to turn off the automatic ‘next watch’ suggestions at the end of your video. You want visitors to stay on your website, not get distracted by yet another cat video on YouTube!

If you need help with any of that, please get in touch.

8. Include them in your newsletter

All financial advisers and planners should send regular newsletters to clients, prospects and professional connections.

Adding links to the videos to your newsletter is the perfect way to get them seen by a wider audience and remind all three audiences of the benefits of working with you.

We recommend:

• Adding a section to your newsletter which always contains a client video
• Ensuring the section is prominently positioned and is designed in a way that makes it stand out from the articles you’ve included
• Rotate your client videos putting a different one in each edition. For example, if you have six videos, use one a month for six months, then go back to the start (or record some more videos!)

Two ways we can help (aka the sales pitch, but you’ve got this far, you might as well read it!)

We passionately believe that client videos are the best way to show the benefits of financial planning.

We’re here to help too.

Firstly, our Client Stories Starter Package provides a low-cost and Covid friendly option to develop a package of videos for your firm. Click here to request a proposal, which includes examples of the videos.

Secondly, if you’ve already recorded the videos, we can help you show them off by adding them to your website (even if we didn’t develop the original site). We won’t just plonk them on a page and hope for the best! Instead, we’ll think carefully about the site structure and recommend where they should be placed. Again, if you’d like to chat, please click here.