Video marketing is here now, has been here for years and it is here to stay. Video has become such an integral part of online marketing that your credit union CANNOT afford to ignore. It is the most effective tool for sharing information and entertaining content with your members.

Most credit union marketing tends to be basic and in print, or simply isn’t done at all. So how can your credit union stand out from the crowd? The nation’s top credit unions all have one major thing in common: they engage heavily in digital marketing.

Video advertising for banks and credit unions is evolving far beyond classic commercials and traditional TV screens. Digital disruptors keep coming up with new ways to slice audiences, and reach them with innovative formats and messages that engage and entertain viewers.

With Facebook Live, Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories, and all the video we see popping up in our social media news feed each time we log in. It is clear that video is being used not only by consumers but also effectively by businesses. However, throughout our video production services, we still find that many credit unions are not utilizing videos. Why are marketing directors hesitant to start or even consider this? Many credit union marketing directors share the same concerns about getting set up to successfully start video marketing.

• What is the monetary investment necessary for my marketing team to start using video?
• Even if we have the money in our marketing budget, where do we even start?
• Do I need to hire more staff or do I need to outsource?
• Do my members really care about video? I thought it was just for social influencers, entrepreneurs or a waste of our time.

So, the question becomes, do the benefits of developing, executing, and sharing a video marketing campaign outweigh the amount of effort needed to successfully do so?

The answer is YES. 100%, there’s no doubt in that.

Here are a few reasons your credit union marketing team should be using video marketing.

1) Members love watching videos

Why does it seem that videos are popping up all over social media and in all of our emails? It’s because people love watching videos. Your members prefer watching videos over reading long loads of text. Videos have the ability to convey a ton of information in a quick and easy to understand format. Video also allows your members to connect with your local credit union. They receive the personal touch that they would not get with a text article or from a big bank. Youtube has over 4 billion video views per day and is currently the second largest search engine, after Google. Video content online is only going to continue to grow.

2) Search engines are all about video

Video is imperative if you are paying attention to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Your credit union is 53 times more likely to show up on the first page of a google search if you have a video embedded on your website. With this in mind, it should be throughout your social media marketing. Since Google acquired YouTube, marketers have seen a significant increase in how videos affect your company’s search engine rank. Simply put, your credit union cannot afford not to have videos on your website. You aren’t considered relevant by search engines if you don’t have video on your page.

3) Video helps to build a member’s trust

We all know the Know, Like and Trust factor. How often are the credit union executives are in the presence of their community? Going a step further, with mobile banking, how often are your members are even in your branch to even see who represents them? Having video on your website, social media channels, and marketing emails helps to put a face and personality behind your credit union’s brand. Video is a terrific way to build trust with your membership and connect with members when they aren’t in a branch. A terrific example of this is when a member first joins your credit union. Instead of sending a lengthy welcome email full of text, send a video welcoming the member. Send additional quick videos with a couple of helpful tips, links, and information that a new member would need.

4) It’s effective in grabbing and keeping attention

Video can also be used in marketing campaigns to quickly and effectively grab a member’s attention. This can inform them about products and offers available to them. An email with a video embedded is likely to increase email click-through rates and improve email engagement. Video tracking also allows you to see which members opened the videos, who watched it all the way through, and who replayed it. Having this information is crucial for your marketing team. It’ll allow them to build out lead nurturing campaigns and thus build a more effective sales pipeline. Your marketing team will also have a better idea of what content your membership finds relevant, and this will help you build more successful campaigns.

5) They increase dwell time

In general, the average website user spends 88% more time on a website that has video. So if your bank wants to nearly double the time users spend on your website, video is a great solution.

Beyond that, why is dwell time important? Dwell time is the time a user spends on your website, and it’s no secret that the longer a user spends on your website, the better.

It’s even something Google looks for when ranking websites in search engine results pages (SERPs). If Google sees that the dwell time on your website is high, you’ll have a much better chance of ranking higher.

That’s because the longer a user is on your website, it becomes a signal to Google that you’re finding useful and beneficial information — meaning they want to show it to other users looking for banks.

Videos keep users on your banking site for longer because they present a much more engaging way to receive information. Conversely, someone may bounce from your page because it’s a wall of text, a user will be more likely to stay on your page if there’s a video to tell them the facts instead.

6) They provide a better user experience

Users become overwhelmed when they look at a site page and see a huge wall of text. They feel as though in order to get all the information, they’ll have to read the entire page. But videos allow them to watch the information instead.

When users can do something other than read the information they need, they’ll be more engaged, which is another reason video works for marketing.

Hopefully, you now agree that video marketing is imperative for your credit union. But how do you get started?

Still have a few questions about adding video to your marketing strategy?

Schedule a Discovery Session to see how our talents can match your vision.