“But, what would we make videos about?”
“No one wants to watch videos about insurance.”
“It’s too expensive, and we’re not sure what the return will be.”
“Good luck getting anyone here to be on camera.”
We’ve heard all the excuses when we’ve recommended video marketing to insurance clients. But, our risk experts have a hard time denying the data:
- A survey of over a thousand people showed video was their #1 favorite type of content.
- 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand of business they support.
- Video marketers get 66% more qualified leads a year and experience a 54% increase in brand awareness.
Why does video work so well? Video marketing has the potential to create an emotional connection with viewers when done correctly. People like to buy from 1) who they know, and 2) who they like. And when your audience sees you on video, they then feel like they know you more and have a chance to decide if they like you.
Still not convinced? Here are some more reasons to take the plunge.
- Videos Are Cost-Effective
You don’t need a James Cameron, Avatar-style budget to create compelling and captivating marketing videos. All you need is a working smartphone with a camera, a decent microphone, good lighting, and willing participants. These simple elements can get you started on the right foot.
Once you’ve found your groove in creating and uploading videos, and you’re looking to add a little something to your production, you can purchase items like tripods and lights for under $300. Most smartphones can shoot in 4K quality, and you can pair them with a Bluetooth microphone or small boom mic. Those items alone can enhance video quality with minimal equipment.
- Videos Make Your Work More Efficient
What kinds of conversations do you have with clients that find yourself repeating? When have you thought, “I’ve explained this so many times, I could do it in my sleep?” Instead of becoming a broken record, you could record a video of that explanation, and then use it as a resource. Post that resource on your social media account or company website, send it in an email, or even send a link in a text.
What’s great about video is that you can always depend on them to convey the same information every time. When you make a video to use as a resource, you know each client gets the same explanation each time with no deviations or variations.
- Videos Is Easy to Repurpose
Once you create one video, you can use it in many different ways. You can share the full video through email, and then you can cut it into smaller clips to share through social media.
And, it’s not dead once you’ve used it once. You can add it to your social media calendar a few times, and try posting at different times or on different days, seeing when it gets the most engagement.
Once you’ve created a series of videos, you can then create mash-up videos by taking parts of all of them and putting them together. For example, say you have videos of different agents or brokers talking about something similar. You can take topical sound bites from all of them and put them together in one video where your audience can then hear multiple viewpoints on the same topic.
- You Could Edit Video Yourself
Many people may feel spooked by having to take on the editing portion of video creation. There are several free and easy video editing platforms available to edit your content. It’s true, your editing would never cut it in Hollywood. But, you can learn enough basics to put some clips together and stick a title on a video.
Or, you can opt to outsource the work at a fair price. There are plenty of talented editors looking for freelance work. Rates for an experienced editor may run you $75 – $100 an hour. But since you probably won’t be needing advanced editing or effects, you could hire a new editor or a production student to edit for you for around $50 an hour.
“But we know nothing about producing video.”
Pish-posh! When Tik-Tok’s taking over the world, this is not the time to let fear hold you back. No one expects you to be good at it—even the pros started somewhere. Just start doing it, and you’ll learn as you go, honing your video marketing chops.
Here are some content tips to get you thinking about all the videos you can create.
Create Client Testimonials
Ask satisfied clients to either film their message about their experience with your agency, or ask them to come to the agency to film a sit-down testimonial. Ahead of recording them, create a list of questions or prompts to make it easy for clients to talk on camera.
Clients can be your most powerful selling point because consumers usually look at reviews to determine if they want to use a service or product. Seventy-two percent of [consumers] say positive reviews and testimonials make them trust a business more.”
Shoot Some Presentations
Consider recording your seminars or presentations on insurance topics and present yourself as an elevated professional or “thought leader.” Usually, events are costly, so it might be wise to record them to make the most of time and money and share them with other insurance professionals. Once you capture these events, edit them. Remove long pauses or minor mistakes, and edit them according the channels where they’ll be shared. For example, the average optimal length for social media videos is one minute, 10 seconds or less, whereas you could justify posting a longer video on a webpage.
Have Them Explain Their “Why”
For each agent at the insurance company, ask them to record their own mission statement. On websites, the company usually has a section introducing the team with names and headshots. Adding video statements for each agent may allow clients to feel more connected with them. It can add some familiarity for potential clients to see faces and hear the voices of someone they might work with, especially with insurance plans and claims.
Additionally, adding these statements to the agency’s social media profiles can be a fun marketing strategy to introduce the agents individually once a week. These videos can make potential clients feel like the company is more personable. Eighty-eight percent of insurance customers demand more personalization from providers.
Produce Video at Parties
Does your staff participate in parties and fundraisers? Of course they do. … And most of them will get pictures and video of the event, so half your job is done already! Have them send you their pictures and video so you can share them on social media. By far, the posts that get the most views and engagement on our insurance clients’ social media accounts are the ones that include pictures or video of their staff members. So don’t miss an opportunity to cash in on group gatherings.
… Yea, You Know You Like Risk Mitigation
In a hard market, clients are always asking how they can get better rates or avoid being denied. You can create videos that share risk mitigation tips for different types of coverage. Partner with your staff members or even local first responders (those who are there right before a claim is filed) who can demonstrate how people can prevent dangerous situations. When you invite “special guests” to be a part of your videos, you also get to capitalize on their social media capital since you can tag them in your video or they may share your video with their own networks.
If you’re still intimidated by the thought of video marketing, our team at Liger Partners can put you at ease by creating a video marketing plan and executing it for you. Contact us to learn more about how our experts can coach your SME’s, handle all the production and editing, and schedule the posts and releases of all your video content.
… And we guarantee people will actually watch them — it helps to know how to make insurance interesting.