Perhaps the best start point from which to answer the question “is video an effective marketing tool for lawyers and accountants?” is the past. If this sounds more than a little strange, I shall explain …
The way lawyers and accountants market has changed massively over even the last 25 years as has the way their marketing communications are received. Let me give you an example.
In the 90s your firm would probably have started by creating a brochure. Blood, sweat and tears would be poured into its creation (and into the writing of the accompanying letter). Then no small budget would be apportioned to print it and send it to the relevant contacts and clients.
Then – and I speak from my personal experience in the IP world – we learned there was a lot of post going unopened and therefore a lot of money being wasted so we switched our focus to one-page faxes (ask your parents!). For a short time at least, response time increased while response levels were maintained.
Fast forward 10 years and we’d moved to mass email marketing. Newsletters and long-form articles became the currency of the early noughties.
Today things have moved on again.
While there is of course a very significant part for (strong, relevant and specific) content and (strong, relevant and specific) marketing materials to play in a lawyer and accountant’s marketing plan, we do consume ad hoc information in a very different way.
We don’t read as much because we don’t always have time to read.
We want to find our we want to know instantly.
We want the maximum information in the shortest time for the least amount of effort.
Step forward video!
Video is an effective marketing tool for lawyers and accountants because it introduces the key points and the associated benefits in less than a minute. And the viewer doesn’t have to do anything strenuous to absorb the information.
2 more proven reasons video marketing is effective for lawyers and accountants
The reason video marketing is effective is not simply limited to increasing usage figures. There are two more proven reasons why video is such a powerful marketing tool.
1. More clients engage with videos on social media
According to studies 50% of people prefer to engage with videos on social media.
On Facebook alone, over 1.25 billion people use the ‘Watch Video’ feature every month and on Twitter 10 times more people engage with Tweets with video.
Surely with that level of engagement in play, you should at least try video marketing?
2. Video makes purchasing decisions
According to Google 55% of people watch videos while they’re looking for something and according to leading animator Wyzowl’s figures 84% of people make purchasing decisions having watched a video and an incredible 96% will actively search for ‘explainer videos’ to tell them more about the subject they want to know about.
This second statistic shows just how many people you could reach with a ‘talking head’ style video in which a fee earner would discuss the way they would approach the specific issues the viewer faces.
At this point I am often told that while they can see the benefits of video, the time it would take to research and write scripts would make it a time-inefficient exercise. Well, I’m willing to bet you have a large back catalogue of FAQ style blogs you could dip into …. that is the perfect start point!
The levels of engagement video marketing is currently creating means it is a marketing tool every law or accountancy firm should at least try. If you’d like to discuss how to get started, why not get in touch?