In my blog from a few weeks ago, I discussed five questions I always use to start planning any marketing video. I’m now talking you through the practical application of these questions for various business sectors. This week I’m looking at Professional Services. To illustrate the answers I would give to my five questions, I’ll be using accountants as an example of the whole sector.
1.Who Are My New Customers?
There are two possible sets of new customers. The first is existing businesses who already use an accountancy firm and could be tempted to switch for a number of reasons. The second group are new businesses who are yet to engage with an accountants. Within this second group are a number of further divisions that may be of interest in deciding what kind of opportunities can be exploited. New businesses may be larger enterprises that have funding and experience behind them or they could be smaller. They could be small enterprises with first time business owners starting up. They could be freelancers and self employed people who may normally not employ a firm of accountants or many other professional services.
Having outlined who your potential new customers are, you now have to decide which group you will target. You must always remember that moving out of your usual customer bracket will require new knowledge and new research to inform your answers. For today’s example I am going to assume a small practice of accountants who are looking at capturing freelancers as loyal clients before they become successful and grow their businesses.
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2. Where Are My New Customers?
Your clients are likely to be freelancers, probably trading as sole traders. The term itself implies a certain type of self employment. We don’t think of plumbers or electricians as freelancers. We’re thinking of those in the creative industries – publishing, graphics, performance. Knowing that our prospective clients are creatives and relatively new business people provides the answers to our question.
Our new clients are desperately trying to market themselves. They are all over social media. You may have seen them advertising in your local area and online and building a reputation by word of mouth. They are also looking for business help. They are using YouTube videos made by other accountants to learn how to complete their tax return. Almost certainly they are reading business advice pages and they are attending training courses and networking meetings.
3. What Are They Looking For?
They are looking to make their lives easier. They are looking to concentrate on their skills and not the mundane aspects of business. They are people who work freelance because they love their work and don’t want to work in the corporate world. Freelancers are artists who need to make a living. Therefore our marketing video needs to show them how our professional services will give them that freedom to create and remove some of the humdrum business necessities.
4. What Do They Want To See?
They want and need to see themselves reflected and catered to. In your videos they want to see themselves being freed to create their work and please their clients. They also want practical advice and skills that will help them. They need to know what they can claim in their allowances and what tax they must pay. You should also consider that they want to know how to complete forms correctly and what they need to report to fulfill their legal obligations.
5. What Makes Them Decide?
They will decide which accountants firm, if any, to call based on three factors. Do you care? Are you skilled? Will you save them more money than you will cost them? We have to get these points into our video in order to earn their interest.
What Are The Elements I Would Use?
There are two strategies I would consider, based upon your available budget. The first, and lower cost option, is to produce a single video utilising testimonial and case study elements. We do this to show prospective clients people like themselves who have already benefited from our services. We also get to show them specific areas where our expertise has created wealth for clients. The video should be full of friendly helpful people who are happy to assist and eager for the clients business. The single video approach, however, is not the most powerful I would suggest.
I would consider a strategy involving several marketing videos in order to draw new customers from this market. Production of a testimonial video with real clients is a must. I would record them explaining just how beneficial it was for them to have your firm take care of their finances. The video would be a series of thumbnail case studies showing just how good your service is. The alternative is to spend our production budget on some practical “How To” videos. These videos would feature explanations on completing on-line forms, creating a calendar of financial tasks during the business year and some tips on minimising taxation. You may be thinking that this means giving away the professional services that we are trying to sell, but that is not the case. I am proposing giving away some basic and vital advice in order to establish your firm’s credentials as friendly and knowledgeable experts. These preliminary videos should all contain a call to action to contact your firm for further help and advice and should not include any information pertaining to the deep knowledge your professional staff have.
Where Do We Put Our Videos?
We then have to get our video out to our prospective customers. YouTube is a must but so is Facebook. I would especially look to target local business groups on Facebook. Many parts of the country have Totally Locally groups or local digital business groups. I would also look to use our video as a part of helpful advice sessions given to local enterprise groups. Targeting freelancers in their early business years is a long term growth strategy. To succeed we need to make a time investment early to gain the rewards from those few clients who will become successful later on.
