The Value of Video

How to use video in your marketing

Pop quiz: what type of digital marketing has the longest shelf life? We sat down with Laura Garfield from Idea Decanter to talk about the value of video production and answer your DIY video questions. Learn why this is the marketing magic you can’t afford to sleep on and how to get started. Find your voice and get loud with our latest Ask Us Marketing!

“There is something about video that is just much more personal than having a phone conversation.” - Laura Garfield, Idea Decanter

Read the DISCUSSION

Kalli

I'm your host Kalli Fedesenko, of Kalli Collective, a digital marketing agency serving financial advisors. Uh, now you've probably noticed a trend on your social media feeds and even on websites where you visit videos because here videos, there are videos everywhere. While video has become a newish trend for advisors, today's guest is no stranger to video. In fact, I'd be willing to bet she was telling us all how vital video would become long before it was even on your radar. Today's guest is Laura Garfield of Idea Decanter, a video production company serving advisors. Laura graciously agreed to be in our hot seat today to answer your questions about video marketing, specifically how to record and produce, so I'm going to start us out here with some of my own questions, but please ask your questions in the comments, and we'll see them on our end and answer them as they come in if we happen to get more than we can handle we'll reply in the comments after the events so Laura thank you so much for being here today we're really excited to learn some new strategies from a long time video pro.

Laura

Kalli, thanks so much for having me. I feel like I'm getting flashbacks from my TV news days because as we started this, life there was this countdown, and I was all of a sudden flashing back to being in the studio right before the show began 30 seconds, and then the countdown from 10. I was like, here we go, we're live. Hold my breath a little bit. Get ready, and keep breathing.

Kalli

Um, so I've known you, Laura, for almost a decade now, which is crazy. Um, we met for the audience we met internally for when I was working as an independent firm that had hired Idea Decanter to do some videos, and Laura, even back then, which was 10 years ago, I remember you being such an advocate for video and you're like this is where it's gonna be this is where the future is everyone should be on video um so why did you believe it was like so powerful and relevant even then? 

Laura

There is something about video that is just much more personal than having a phone conversation with someone hearing their voice which I mean I feel like I never do anymore like our business is conducted mainly on video conferencing calls um for the main reason because you can feel like you're with people um and that's what video really brings there's some statistic out there that you get 60,000 times the amount of information from one second of video than you do from one second after reading copy and it's just because the facial expressions the body language the inflection all of those pieces help people really understand you in fact I have an interesting tidbit that just happened to me last week I was going back and forth with someone coordinating a project for a conference through video and um the person who was coordinating I think felt like we were losing um communication or losing the the message was getting lost in translation yeah they should just recorded a quick video for me and in 60 seconds she said so this is what I'm trying to get at this is what I want to make sure you're not missing and it just reinforced everything I know and believe about the power of video.

Kalli 

Yeah, I mean, it's so strong, uh, even you said you know our business is conducted, and it's so true, I mean, both of us have remote businesses, uh, I have seen people in person maybe once in the last two years, and it is crazy how much can be conveyed through this medium.

Um, so you've produced video for a long time. What would you say to the advisors who are like well, why should I? Yeah, it's powerful, but what can I expect as my return on investment, and then how long would you say that return takes?

Laura

Well, that's a great question I answered that weekly for advisors it is my belief that anything you do with marketing you should give it at least 18 months to try it and um behind the scenes we talk about folks who give things a try for a month or two as squirrels because if you expect to um have a major impact from any kind of marketing initiative from trying it for four weeks eight weeks 12 weeks um I think you just have the wrong expectation now that's not to say you can't get ROI from your first video and you've seen that happen for advisors I'm thinking specifically of an advisor we work with in the Chicago area he recorded his first video got it compliance approved sent it out to 300 people on his email distribution list he had done some other things with the video first he put it on his website he pushed it out on social but we find email is crucial with video marketing and yeah he blasted this email out to 300 people um his clients a short list of prospects and his COI's and within eight minutes of sending it out a prospect emailed him back and said they were ready to get started and later that same afternoon another prospect came back to this is crazy gave him a call so he won um two new clients really began two new relationships from that very first video and that is not a the standalone story, we do hear that from advisors um, but I think the key to getting strong ROI with video marketing is what I call the fourth quarter of the football game, so quarters one through three are what we do at Idea Kit um and what you can do when you're dying, and that is really planning and then recording and producing the story but that fourth quarter you'd never play a football game without playing the fourth quarter, right? Um, the fourth quarter is really that post and promote, and that's building your internal standard operating procedure to make sure that all of the things that should be done with your video get done, um, or hiring someone to help you do that like Kalli.

Kalli

Yes, yes, preach not just that but also preach about the 18 months part because I do feel like, uh, those stories that you gave, they do exist obviously, but they're more of the exception, at least in my experiences. Usually, you gotta stick with it, and what's great about the video that we've seen when we're pulling the metrics is that video has the longest shelf life out of any medium, so a blog it doesn't maintain as long and neither does the social posts socials I mean are like you got to keep up it's going but videos um I mean I remember having when I worked internally at a firm, and it was like a year later after producing a video they had a prospect who watched it and reached out to them, and that was like a year ago so the investment you know sometimes it just takes that the long haul.

Laura

Yeah, and that's a story I hear over and over because if you think about the way you engage with any business out there, um, you typically Google them before you ever make a move, whether it's a product or a service, and I hear from advisors um frequently that they have prospective clients coming in and saying I crawled around your website and watched every video that I could find before I made the decision to see this first meeting and it is a really powerful especially if you have a great value proposition kind of video on your home page and bio videos on your bio page that is giving them a chance to really get to know you in a way that frankly we've been in this since 2014 working with financial advisors doing video, but it is still not kind of this the cost of doing business not every financial advisor has video all over their website when you do it is still um putting you in front of the rest. 

Kalli

Yes, I love that.

Um, okay, so a couple of years ago, we created a document um for our Savvy advisors, which for our audience, if you're our Savvy advisors, is um, it's a membership to our website that allows you access to a lot of our free resources and on there we had budget-friendly video equipment lists and as I understand it Laura advisors who use Idea Kit receive equipment from you is that right and what kind of equipment are you sending and is it included in the cost because that's huge.

Laura

Yeah, we do send out all of our tried and true tested equipment I mean I think we went through 30 different clip-on Lavalier mics before we settled on the one we used um for years and we are just now beginning to use a different one because we found something we like even better um for an insider's look at what we're using for audio our favorite mic had been and we still love the quality it's the Rode Smart Lav we like it, is R-o-d-e and then smart loft loft is for Lavalier um and we like it because the audio quality is really amazing it's definitely not the cheapest mic out there but it's not the most expensive um some folks like to use sort of a podcasting mic which is more of that directional mic out in front of you um most of our videos we shoot with advisor standing on their feet moving around to multiple locations so we like that clip-on love mic that just catches the audio right here kind of in a personal way and then um a new mic we're beginning to use is something that's produced by Sennheiser and I wish I could spell it off the top of my head I think it's s-e-n-n-h-a-u-s-e-r maybe spelling bee live on AUM but the Sennheiser are also great audio quality um and then as far as lights we're typically sending out a ring light and an extra stand um we like to do that because um when we're setting up a shot we'd like to be able to offset the light so it's not sort of giving you the flashlight and um setting up uh the talent in a way that we can use some natural light also um so that's an option I have a couple of lights set up around my desk right now that are called the Dazzne’s it's d-a-z-z-n-e um and I always recommend them if people kind of want to upgrade and go to sort of the next level um they're just a couple of LED panels but they give you a lot of um flexibility and there's a little remote that goes now that's great wherever you are you can adjust your bit here let me adjust my white a little.

Kalli 

That's amazing, and that's what you're sending in the Idea Kit?

Laura

So the Dazzne's are not. They are kind of an upgrade with the kit, so we're typically sending out a ring light and then the separate stand. 

Kalli

I mean, I think the remote is worth it, especially if you're doing it on your own there's a lot you have to think about, and probably so much easier than when we walk over here adjust this.

Now if you or anybody has spent time on the internet probably seen a bad video or two, um, where having a coach advisors who are experiencing anxiety over creating a video because they don't want to look dumb. Like how do you walk someone through that because that's definitely, I mean, that's, a fear everybody has. If they've made a video, it's hard are people gonna laugh at me?

Laura

I would say that you need to accept the mantra your first video is your worst video. You say that again, your first video is your worst video, and it's just gonna get better and better from there. It's just like anything, you know, it's like working the muscle getting the practice in, um, you really do have to do the work in video to get better, and Kalli, I've watched your progress. You can probably believe this. I've watched your videos get better and better as you get more comfortable.

Kalli

Oh yeah.

Laura

What's been your uh secret sauce in doing it?

Kalli

Just like you said, you know, um, I mean, even with the live stream, right? I mean, the first one, we definitely have some awkward pauses, and that's when like, you know, you just learn as you go, I go, so I went, and I'm like, okay, I need to have a long list of questions prior to getting in there. Otherwise, there's gonna be some silences.

Laura

So beyond just recognizing that you're gonna get better and better, you just hit on the other thing that's really important for video, and that is, um, preparation. I do think people take for granted that okay, if I can just get past the fear, I'm gonna record this, and that's gonna be, it's gonna be good. Really there are ways you can practice or get ready before you record a video, and I am sure what you're doing to prep for a live stream is a little different than how we would prep for an advisor recording a two to three-minute video that is already fully pre-scripted as opposed to right for this live q&a that we're doing but when it comes to recording a script that you already have um I'm assuming you'd probably be using a teleprompter as opposed to trying to memorize it.

Kalli

Great, this is actually my next question. Let me say, what do you use, and what do you recommend?

Laura

Absolutely.

Let's get to that but let me walk you through what I do with the script so my recommendation is to print your script out and then Mark it up and we used to do this in news all the time and so if you imagine you're anchoring a news you are going from um doing a full 30 minute show at five o'clock at six o'clock and at 10 o'clock so there's just all of this all of this content that you have to constantly be reading live and so the way that anchors prepare is they get all of their scripture printed out and they go through and they mark them up so just marking the most important word in each sentence and so when you print it out it's really nice to be able to mark up your script um and then the second step of that is to take the script and stand in front of your bathroom mirror or a big mirror in your bedroom or a mirror in your office and read your script and so that's just hold your script up make some eye contact with yourself in the mirror and deliver it and even practice what you're going to do with your hands um typically Sharon my co-founder likes to say this all the time don't do the guns don't point at the camera but like what can you do with your hands that feels like a natural gesture that reinforces those important words that you're calling out.

Kalli

What kind of hand gestures do you recommend?

Laura

Um, I do a lot of, like, I'm gonna do it high since this is kind of corrupt type. Still, I do a lot of, you know, reinforcing words this way, or like this, um, Sharon does a lot of kind of presenting, so just something you can do that's within the shot, um, because you kind of know where you're framed and what's cropped out and what matters and what doesn't.

Kalli

Yeah, that's actually a great point about the hands. I'm gonna turn you. I don't know if you're frozen for our viewers or just on my end, so real quick, I'm going to turn your video off and back on and see if it happens it well. It's all frozen on my end, but if it's working on yours, I'm gonna assume it's working for everyone else.

Um, great thing you said about the hands is that's also what we have studied with thumbnails are it's really great if you get someone in an action shot because, uh, people, you know, you're only seeing a tiny little square, and so the more motion or uh interesting pose you can grab, the more people are going to click on it, um that. That kind of goes back to you, so you know the first video that you produce is, um, your worst one. And I feel like your first video is yours. I feel like with the thumbnails, people get very self-conscious of how they look, um, but I find that it's more important you get more clicks if you have an interesting pose than you do if you are smiling and looking great, um, so you kind of just have to lean into it lean into the awkward.

Laura 

Yeah, and I can tell you, um, we live by that Idea Decanter, and my personal feeling when I see my thumbnails with me making like some big excursion, I'm like, are we really gonna use that? I look ridiculous, but you're right. Like it looks more animated, it looks more action-packed, and people are more likely to click on it if they think it's entertaining, obviously.

Kalli

Especially on YouTube the social posts, I feel like the videos play automatically a lot of times, so the thumbnail isn't as important, but on YouTube, it's like you live and you die by those thumbnails.

Um, okay, let me see what other questions I've got here. 

Laura

Oh, I did want to add that our teleprompter apps out there okay and so you were asking for tips and hacks for teleprompters there's one I like called Teleprompter Pro but they're depending on if you're apple or if you're Android just go to your Google Play store or your App Store and search up um teleprompter there are oftentimes um teleprompter apps you can download and load in like up to three scripts and use for free what I think is important and the reason why I pay to subscribe to Teleprompter Pro is because if you don't you get their watermark in the corner of your video which you don't want you want your own branding on it um but I think that's a great app to use and um you can control speed you can control you know the background is black and the font is white or if it's reversed you can change the font size and it actually records within the app so you can see you know what's happening and then decide at the end of that record if you want to trash it or if you want to save it to your camera.

Kalli

Does that work on your phone and computer? 

Laura

Yeah, I do not use teleprompter apps on my computer

um, but I believe Teleprompter Pro does. 

Kalli

Okay, perfect.

Um, I personally like to record on my computer. Uh, if people are recording on their phone, what do you recommend? Um, so I've got my phone right here. I'll show you can, like, have it facing towards you, or this way, obviously there's three cameras, on this end, so I'm going to assume the picture quality is gonna be better here, yeah, but then I can't see my um teleprompter, or you know what I look like so what do you recommend for people.

Laura

I would say if your phone is you've bought it within the last two years you bought it new within the last two years that, you are safe to record on the selfie side um so that you can use a teleprompter app, you can check your face, and make sure your hair looks good. Uh, the cameras all over the phone have come a long, long way, and most films these days, if you can record in 4k on the front or the back, um, you're right. I only have two cameras on the back of mine, but they are amazing, so we use the back cameras on phones a lot to shoot what we call b-roll or cover video um, but in any situation where you think you want to be able to see yourself, I would go ahead. 

Kalli 

Got it love that advice. 

Um, okay, I've got a question here. We're about seven minutes out, so I think I'm gonna go to some of our quick questions for you. Um, they're practical ones, so how many videos should I shoot at once?

Laura 

I like to do three if possible okay and the reason why is depending on your cadence most of our advisors we work with record or release rather a video a month and so when you record three at a time you actually have a whole quarter's worth of content it goes through compliance and is ready to use all at once um for our own marketing purposes our cadence is once a week and so but I am not starring in every video so if I can record there'll be a lot more video in a shot um I'm just getting more content done at one time um and what I'm talking about here is probably like two to three minute videos if you're shooting shorts you can probably do more in one session um what you really run into is just being able to be present and be in the right mindset and keep your energy up through as many videos as you can so if you go in thinking I'm going to shoot 12 shorts you know 12 one minute videos and knock this out and we're going to be set for the next three months um that's fantastic but if you can if you find that you have the energy to keep it up or if you want to drink coffee beforehand and really amp yourself up right um but. 

Kalli 

That's what I do. 

Laura

Kalli's secret video tip. 

Kalli 

Um, now speaking of that, if I'm doing three videos in a row, is it okay if I wear the same thing in all of my videos? 

Laura

I think absolutely you can, um, and it's certainly fun to also do a quick wardrobe change. I mean, you could take a top and change a jacket. Yeah, you know your whole body isn't really showing, so if you have three options that are, you know, hanging on the back of your door and you can do a quick change, I think that's always a great idea.

Kalli

Yeah, um, someone who works on our team, um Jesse, is always saying, well, the more places you can shoot, the bigger you look like it looks like you're a bigger office, um, so I and I always think that when I'm recording so, I'm like should I change my clothes will anyone even notice I don't know so.

Laura 

When it comes to wardrobe is what that looks like if you're putting all of your videos onto a digest kind of landing page on your website or if you think about how that shows up on a YouTube account with video after video after video want to be wearing the same thing in all of those um we get a lot of questions about what do I wear for video and the answer pre-covid was always 10 better than you would when you were meeting a client yeah really like take the time um we do have some some advisors who will get their hair done with their makeup done before a record session which is very nice to be able to bundle records and do like three videos at a time when you're investing that kind of time in preparation into it but these days I do think that there has been a real move and how advisors are dressing when they meet with clients and definitely a more casual approach so I would say just show up as who you are um I mean we have advisors who even record videos um in workout clothes so be yourself. 

Kalli

Yeah, that's comfortable. 

Um, if I make a mistake when I'm recording, should I start over, or is that something you guys edit out in the production process?

Laura 

So for our Idea Kit clients, we do edit it out if you are DIY. I think that can be one of the biggest barriers I have to give this clean take. I have to get this perfect from the first word out of my mouth to the clothes, and that can be really daunting and, in fact, that can keep people from recording videos and I like this advice that I borrowed from someone who was teaching about presenting live on stage to audiences, and it was that the crowd is really pulling for you. Um, they want you to deliver the message so they can absorb it. I really do find the same is true for video, um, so if you can let go of that, this didn't come out perfectly. I stumbled in the middle, um, I can't use that take. It's going to take me 80 takes to get through this flawlessly. That's gonna stop you from ever creating video. You're never gonna harness the power of it, so let me know and just do it naturally and know that your audience isn't trying to pick you apart. Yeah, they get your message, so just go with it and deliver your message. You know, if you totally ramble off track or need some editing, um, then do that but give it a shot with, you know, allowing yourself some grace or a stumble or two. 

Kalli

Yeah, that's hard for, uh, you know, us perfectionists.

So we are coming up here to the 30-minute Mark, so I just want to thank everybody who has joined us um if you asked a question that we didn't get to or we didn't see, we will be responding to your comments on social media and you can always, of course, email us at info@kallicollective.com.

Now if you want to find out more about what Laura and the Idea Decanter team do and how they can help you with video, she can be reached at the following, and we'll put that up and it's I think we've got a QR code for everybody yeah that QR code.

Laura

I think goes straight to our free strategy session, so if you want to find out more about getting some help from start to finish with video production um in a way that can help you

Um set some achievable goals and um track them as you go and really use the power of video, harness it to grow your business. That's what that link is for. That's what we can talk about whether or not you have, uh, tried video before or, um, for a total newbie we had. This would be a great conversation for you to have if you're interested. 

Kalli 

That's awesome. I definitely recommend it for our audience.

Um, be sure to join us next month as we talk to Saša Mirković about Generational Transitions and how to prepare your business and marketing to outlive your working days. Um, you also can get our budget-friendly equipment list and our six video thumbnail tips which I had mentioned earlier about the hands um, and you can use our template to make your own um thumbnail just by becoming a Savvy advisor on our website. Just go to https://kallicollective.com/get-savvy/.

Laura

Do that because thumbnails are important.

Kalli

Okay, and thank you, Laura, again so much for answering all of our video questions, and everyone, make sure to schedule that consultation with Laura because she's got some great ideas. I mean, she knew video was going to be the IT thing 10 years ago, so thank you, Laura. We love you and Idea Decanter.

Laura

Thanks for having me, Kalli.



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