What is Financial Video Production?
Why Video is a Game-Changer in today’s Finance Industry
Have you ever noticed how a good video can make you forget that you’re watching an ad, a how-to, or a simple introduction to a new topic? For your target audience, finance isn’t always the easiest topic to digest. Video, when done right, has the capability of capturing an audience for a much longer period of time than text, images, or any other form of media. For finance firms, great video can be essential for marketing, SEO and lead generation.
With videos trending and becoming more important than ever, financial companies are seeking either in-house videographer talent, or external video production companies to help kickstart their video marketing efforts.
By the end of the article, you’ll find simple tips, tricks, and resources to get started in creating videos for your financial service firm.
Why use video production in the Finance Industry?
Here are some reasons to choose video production for financial firms:
Creating Easy to Understand Content: Videos can turn complexities into quick, easy to learn soundbites. Video will be able to to spin financial facts into compelling stories. Professional Service firms benefit greatly from having
Build Trust with Your Potential Clients: There’s something about seeing a person talk about finance that builds trust. Videos bring that human touch to a world often lost in spreadsheets. We have a few statistics we’ll dive into for more on that.
Improving your Marketing Efforts, and Expanding Your Reach: Video is also a great way of being able to expand your reach beyond traditional platforms like web and print advertising. Beyond the SEO implications, video is a great way of expanding reach into different social media advertising platforms. Even creating a single 15 second video can give you a great advertisement for LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and your own website.
Financial video production is typically used for marketing purposes such as video testimonials, how-to guides, digital advertising, brand videos, and message to investors videos.
Additionally, financial service firms may benefit from creating videos for uses within their own company (this is called industrial film production). These videos can be recruitment videos, training modules, or other procedural videos that stay in-house.
Our Favorite Example
In fact, here’s a great example of a financial firm doing both recruiting and brand promotion in this corporate video by Barclays Group:
This is an excellent example of how perfect visual storytelling, and the right information come together to create a captivating advertisement.
Video Production Statistics for Financial Service Firms
Financial service firms are increasingly using video production to enhance their marketing strategy and prospecting. Vidyard has given a great report on these statistics from the last year:
Leading the way:
Financial services companies are currently leading in video creation in all professional industries. On average, financial services companies produce about 934 videos per company, which is the highest among all industries.
Purpose and Effectiveness of Video:
In the financial services sector, video is primarily used to build trust with clients, offering a way to make face-to-face connections even at a distance. Brand Videos, Video Testimonials, and Message to Investor videos can all make a huge impact on brand authenticity. Consumers perceive authenticity in brands that actively engage with customers (61%) and those that show real people in their marketing (49%).
Increase in User-Generated Videos:
Financial services firms are also embracing user-generated (in-house) video content. They are creating 87% more user-generated videos, with an average of 681 user-generated videos per company. Typically, user-generated video is used for Outbound Prospecting, which can be effective as a more personal way of connecting with customers. User generated content, however, may look unprofessional as cornerstone content on a website.
Financial professionals can take note of the types of videos you can produce for your company:
Types of Videos That Financial Firms and Other Industries Create
What are some types of videos that the financial industry creates? We’ve already touched on a few, but there are some main cornerstone videos that every financial service firm should have in the wheelhouse.
Brand Videos
A brand video puts employees at the forefront of the video, while telling the story of the brand, and highlighting the mission and vision of the company. This is a great example of using all of the core principles of a brand video, combined with excellent visual storytelling & great pacing.
Example of a Video Testimonial
Video testimonials are an excellent way of showing customer success stories. Typically combined with their “day in the life,” or an example of how a financial product helped them.
Bio Videos
Financial Commercial Advertisements
Commercial advertisements are the most creative side of video production, where story is paramount, and the end call to action is directly related to the story told throughout. There’s a lot more passive selling involved here, and there’s plenty of different ways of going about it.
Now that we’ve shown some examples, here’s an outline on how to get started with concept development for your next video project:
Getting Started: Developing the Right Video Concept for your Finance Firm
Pre-Production, in our eyes, is the most important phase of production when it comes to video. You can develop a consistent message, get the tonality of the project right, and make sure there’s no added expenditures once filming is complete.
Here are the main things to consider when developing a concept for a new video campaign:
Understanding the Goals of Your Campaign
First things first, ask yourself, what’s the mission for this video project? Is it showcasing innovation or reliability? Or do you want to focus on brand authenticity and customer relations? Or something completely different? When discussing with a video production company, like us, we’d always start off by solidifying your campaign message, so it can be clear and consistent in every video we create.
Develop a Clear and Consistent Tone
Are you the wise advisor or the friendly guide? The tone of your video should match your brand’s voice. Are you looking to come off as professional, casual, or funny? These are all things financial brands consider when going forward with a video campaign. Depending on your tonality, you can create different types of videos. These can all align with the type of company you want to present as.
Brainstorm some Narratives:
For brand videos, your story can easily become a narrative for a web video or advertisement. How did your brand start? What challenges has it overcome, and what has the core mission been from day one? These can be unique selling points. In a slew of financial services, what makes your brand the best? Is it your innovative approach, your customer service, expert insights, or all 3? These are things to factor in when writing your next video.
Things to consider during concept development: Get Feedback! Feedback from your team, a select audience, maybe from a focus group, or friends. We’d consider checking for feedback with family, friends, team members, and your most trusted customers. They may bring up additional points that you can touch on in the video project.
Storyboarding and Writing a Financial Video
This is where your video project really begins to come to life. With collaborative help from a video production company, as well as your in-house marketing team, your brand can write and visualize your next video project.
How we create our Scripts
Every great script has a solid structure – a beginning with a great hook, a middle that educates, and an emotional ending, whether it be funny, or uplifting, that gets the client ready to sign up. A great writer for Pixar uploaded a video essay on tools they use to set up a longer form story. This can help get the ideas going for your project, check it out here.
We traditionally go by the “5 second rule,” (not the food on the floor rule!), which essentially relies on the average attention span of a human in 2023. We make sure that the first 5, 10, 15, 20, seconds (it goes on) begins with a pop. This way, your video should continue to captivate. What’s the main takeaway you want your audience to have? Thanks to the things we kept in mind with pre-production, this should write itself!
Things to consider when writing:
- Target Audience: Who are you talking to? A seasoned investor or someone new to finance? Make sure your script speaks to them.
- Call To Action: What do you want your viewers to do after watching your video?
Next, let’s turn the script into a storyboard.
Creating a Storyboard and Visualizing Your Video
In Pre-Production, it’s essential to describe scenes, locations, and graphics. This gives everyone involved in the video a clear idea of what to expect when the edit is complete.
- Break down your script into visual scenes and sequences.
- You can draw frame by frame, or create a required shot list
- Scout Locations, Consider Permits and other local laws
- Factor in scheduling and costs
A storyboard is best developed by a video production company or a videographer. Now, it’s time to turn the script to the screen!
Getting your Financial Firm’s Video Produced and Completed
How much does video production for professional service firms cost?
From hiring on-camera talent to off-camera professionals, renting equipment, locations, food… the list goes on. Funds dry up a lot quicker than expected with video production.
You can expect to spend at least $10,000-15,000 on a single professionally produced video.
Scheduling: A well-thought-out schedule can help with bulk hiring of personnel, renting equipment for multiple shoot days, or using off-peak rates for locations. We suggest to get all videos that you’re looking to produce over the next year or two, and time them to be produced at a similar time. This can help with costs related towards crewing, rentals, and keeping the off-camera talent consistent with your messaging.
Low Cost Solutions: When you don’t feel like opting for high-end video production – there’s always opportunity in the digital age to create video. With a phone camera, a well-lit room (keep the background darker, and the foreground lighter to add contrast), framed with a zoom-in above the shoulders, a quick talking head video can be made in an hour. Remember – the quality of the content is always more important than quality of the video itself. If you want to spend a bit more, opt for a decent microphone, which can dramatically improve the production value of any video.
High End Solutions: We’re a video production company, so obviously, we’re going to make a pitch, too. Give us a call, and let’s see if we’re fit to partner up on your next project.
Things to Keep in Mind When Hiring A Video Team
A videographer, video team, or film crew can all achieve different scales and scopes of success for your next project. They’re all different in capability. Videography is more about flexibility and cost-effectiveness, suitable for smaller, less complex projects. A Film Crew is about high production values, specialization, and is best used on large scale projects requiring cinematic quality and detailed storytelling.
Distribution of Your Project & Video Marketing for Financial Firms
This is where the footage transforms into a polished masterpiece. We consider this to be a collaborative effort between your team and a video production crew to create the most impactful videos possible.
Editing: Editing is the third time a video gets written. This consists of making the right cuts, sequencing, and pacing your footage to tell a compelling story.
Sound Design and Music: The right sound and music can elevate your video from good to great. Choose and integrate background scores, sound effects, and voiceovers that complement your visual content and enhance your message.
Graphics and Animations: From simple lower thirds to complex animations, graphics can add a new dimension to your video.
Once your editing team or video production company polishes the final edit, it’s time to distribute.
Before you publish…
It’s crucial to ensure your video meets all legal and compliance standards. Make sure you have licenses to all music or stock imagery used, as well as release forms for all talent involved.
Distribution and Video Advertising
Now that your video is ready, it’s time to share it with the world. Distribution is key to ensuring your masterpiece gets the attention it deserves. This part will focus on:
Choosing the Right Platforms: Whether it’s YouTube, social media, your website, or all of the above, these websites can either help organic campaigns or digital advertising campaigns with video.
SEO for Videos: Just like with web content, your videos need to be findable. We’ll cover SEO best practices for videos, including titles, descriptions, tags, and more, to help your video rank higher in searches.
Social Media Integration: Effectively use social media to promote your video, from timing your posts to engaging with your audience.
Email Marketing and Newsletters: Don’t underestimate the power of email.
Measuring Performance: Understanding viewer behavior and feedback is crucial for improving future video projects.
Ready to get started and create a great video? Give us a call and let’s team up!
