CPA_Practice_Advisor_June_2020 - 26

MARKETING YOUR FIRM

Summer Challenge -
A Video Marketing Campaign
Reflect for a moment on how much video content you consume in a week. Is it none, only a few minutes, or possibly
hours? According to Marketing Charts, by the end of 2020,
nearly 100 minutes per day of video will be consumed in
the U.S. Like a good summer barbeque, that smells like an
opportunity. Now's the time to put together your first video
marketing campaign.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Despite the desire to jump right to
the video production, answer these
questions first.
■ What is the singular goal or most
important objective you want to
achieve-increase brand awareness,
drive sales, gain email subscriptions,
escalate event registrations, etc.?
■ Who is the target market? Define
the geographic and demographic
information for the people you wish
to reach.
■ Where will the video be shared?
Google ads, YouTube, Facebook,
Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, email,
etc.?

CONTENT
Now that you know your objective, for
whom to create content, and where to
post it, one question still remains...
what's the topic?
If you're stumped for quick, easyto-create video content, consider questions clients ask via
email or in meetings.
If those questions can
be answered with a
bulleted list or with
step-by-step instructions they'd work
perfectly for a video.
Still stumped,
enter a topic into
A n s werThe P ubl ic.

JUNE 2020 ■

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

By Becky Livingston

Provide a clear call to action, such as
"Stop wasting money and sink your
teeth into profits. Download our ebook
today!" Use an easy-to-remember
link, like https://firmdomain.com/
zero-based-budgeting (not a real URL).
■ End with your firm's branding and
contact information.

THE TOOLS
com to see the most frequently-asked
questions about millions of topics. You
could ask staff what questions they
often answer. Or, you could search for
the top 10 frequently asked questions
about a topic using a search engine.

THE HOOK
MarketScale's 2019 research claims
that 59 percent of people will watch
a video to its end if it's shorter than
one minute.
Knowing that and to grab the
viewer's attention, it's important to
share high-value information at the
video's beginning. Try to make it
evocative, relevant, and something
that will invoke an emotion. You can
do that with the headline, music, and
imagery.
An example:
■ Headline: Sink Your Teeth Into ZeroBased Budgeting
■ Music: royalty-free, similar to Jaws
■ Image: shark or an alligator
■ Opening Statement: When was the last
time you heard of a shark/alligator
wasting food? Never! Exactly. Like
that, a zero-based budget can help
you avoid wasting money when your
finances are upended. Here are 3
things you need to know...
■ Video Screens: Briefly talk about each
of the bullets referenced using simple,
clear language.
■ Call to Action: Tell them what to do.

There are a lot of video tools and
royalty-free music you can use to
create engaging videos, including
RawShorts, Biteable, Lumens5, Animaker, Pikwizard, Keynote, iMovie,
QuickTime, Promo, Adobe Spark, and
InShot (app only). Some free, online
tools, such as Pixabay and Canva, also
have predesigned video you can import
into other applications.

POST PRODUCTION
Now that the video is ready, you
can post it on your video channel or
website, or share it directly through
social media. Links from the video to
your website will be tracked via your
website's analytics.
If you choose to include paid advertising in your marketing efforts, video
is often accepted in all major social
media platforms and search-engine
marketing tools, like Google, Bing, and
YouTube. Remember, video marketing,
in most cases, does not cost more than
text-based advertising, yet could yield
a higher ROI.
Now that you have a plan, what will
your first video marketing campaign be
about? ■
Becky Livingston has over twenty-five years'
experience in marketing and technology in financial services and engineering firms. She is
the President and CEO of Penheel Marketing,
a marketing firm specializing in social media
and digital marketing for CPAs.

http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

CPA_Practice_Advisor_June_2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CPA_Practice_Advisor_June_2020