If you’re a mortgage broker, you know your clients are using the Internet for their research, and if you can demonstrate your expertise, they are more likely to choose you. One of your most powerful tools is online video (and yes, it’s not just for silly cat videos on YouTube or $4.5 million SuperBowl advertising!)
According to Google, which owns YouTube, over 60 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute. Yes, that’s 60 hours every minute! That means that if you wanted to watch all the video uploaded to YouTube in a single day, it would take you 10 years – and that’s watching it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year!
Here are five simple ways to use video in your marketing.
1. Create a welcome video for your Web site
This video sits near the top of your home page, and is a nice, simple, friendly video that introduces people to you, your business, and what you can do to help them. It shouldn’t be more two minutes long – and one minute is even better.
Start by stating the biggest problems your clients face (high interest rates, unable to understand loan products, poor credit history, uncertain economy, or whatever is the biggest concern for your typical clients), then explain what mortgage brokers do to help, then explain what makes you different, then tell them what to do next on your Web site.
Record this video and upload it to YouTube. Try it out – it’s easy!
2. Send a private video using EyeJot
If you’re worried about splashing your face on YouTube right away, start with something simpler: Send video e-mail using Eyejot.com.
You log on to their site, record a short video, and then send it to somebody as an e-mail. They get the e-mail and click the video link to watch your message.
This is perfect for keeping in touch with people, and it has a “Wow!” factor because it’s impressive – and unexpected. For example, after your first meeting with a client where you discussed their situation and options, you probably send them a follow-up e-mail. Send them a video e-mail instead!
This is so easy to do, because people expect e-mail to be friendly and casual, so it doesn’t matter if your video isn’t slick or elegant.
3. Tap into a current news story
Of course, you will always be aware of news that affects your business – such as interest rate cuts, a dip in the property market, a change in government, a new Budget, talk about abolishing negative gearing, and so on. Your clients might also be aware of this news, but won’t know what it means for them. So record a short video that explains it in language they understand. You don’t have to provide an in-depth analysis of the news (in fact, doing it in video form will prevent you from falling into that trap!); simply explain what it means for your clients.
4. Create an educational slide show
This one takes a bit more work, but it’s worth it …
Take an important concept you’d like to teach clients (for example, using equity in your home to buy an investment property), and create a short PowerPoint slide show explaining it – just as if you were going to use those slides in a live presentation. Instead of a live presentation, though, just run the slide show with the “Record Slide Show” option, and speak as if you were presenting it. PowerPoint records your voice and matches it with the slides. Then save the file as a video (WMV format), and you can upload it directly to YouTube.
5. Share all your videos on social media
Uploading your video to YouTube will give you some exposure, but you can do more – for example:
- Publish the YouTube link on your LinkedIn news feed.
- Add it to your LinkedIn profile (LinkedIn allows you to add photos, videos, slide shows and other documents)
- Publish the YouTube link to Twitter
- Write a blog post about it, and embed the video
Which of these ideas could YOU use?
Don’t worry if your first attempts at video seem clunky and artificial. That’s normal, and it just means you need to practice more. So go through a few takes each time until you get something you’re willing to publish. But don’t aim for perfection either! Just get your videos out there and working for you.
