Why Is Video Marketing Good for Conveyancers?

Video marketing has skyrocketed in popularity with marketers to attract and engage with potential customers across the board. People love watching videos - and with so many convincing statistics why have conveyancers - generally - missed the launch? 

While I was doing a little research for this blog, I was astounded at what appeared on page one of the SERP when I Googled ‘conveyancing news Australia.' I’m located in Sydney and these are the Top 4 results that I got: 

The results aren't great, even if they all clearly serve different purposes outside of the fact they are marketing content.

This group of top video SERP listings demonstrates a clear lack of competition in this channel - I mean this is Sydney, Australia right? There is room for a more creative approach to conveyancer marketing with a little imagination and commitment…. 

Video marketing isn’t going anywhere - and video marketing for the conveyancing and property law industry will evolve at the same pace as other industries. You need to take advantage of the opportunity it presents within your industry now. 

Advances in digital channels mean marketing is becoming more of a challenge for everyone. It requires more effort and commitment to craft, and continuously improve your marketing strategy to make it work. Even in the conveyancing field where information can be sensitive and private, leveraging the current (and future) video marketing trends will make a difference.  

Here are a few other related and powerful observations to inspire you to get in the game: 

• The pandemic effect on video marketing will continue as we all move ahead into the ‘new normal'.
• Online video consumption has almost doubled since 2018. 
• Marketers see video as a priority - both in spend and use. Most increased both in 2021, and plan further increases in the following 12 months. 
• Experts predict more positive ROI for video, as it continues its strong influence through all parts of the buyer journey. 

Why Video Marketing...And Why Not? 

By now we know that video has become the primary way to maintain key relationships, communicate effectively and interestingly, and maintain a (kind of) level of face-to-face dialogue during the pandemic. 

While there is a clear opportunity, not only for conveyancers, to get in the game, we thought it may be beneficial to look at why so many are still dragging their feet. 

While not specific to conveyancers, these are some of the general reasons and statistics around why marketers don’t use video -  perhaps you can relate?

• Lack of time - 23%
• Don’t know where to start - 16%
• Don’t feel it’s necessary or needed - 13%
• Believe it’s too expensive - 10%
• Unclear of ROI of video -7%
• Unable to convince key decision-makers the use it/benefits - 5%

We are going to push back at these reservations (or as we see them - excuses) with our blog and a final word to convince you - conveyancers - that engaging video marketing will be one of the best things you ever do for your firm’s marketing

What are The Benefits for Conveyancers? 

Data shows that video marketing has the highest ROI - as above 87% of marketers agree - and is growing faster than any other form of online content. 

One of the key benefits of video is that you can communicate complex information in a much faster and simpler way than with copious amounts of text or even infographics. 

These are just some of the benefits that your conveyancing firm can experience: 

Enhance Online Presence

• Breaks up boring text and imagery
• Google and other search engines love video - Google considers it ‘high-quality content’ (see Google's Webmaster Guidelines)
• Videos can be shared across social media easily and embedded in blogs, newsletters, and even your email signature.

Create a library of educational videos

• Information is what users want 
• Impress prospective clients with your expertise 
• Great for FAQs 

Create a great first impression - it’s personal!

• Your clients have an opportunity to ‘meet’ you 
• Users love video (yes we’ve already said that), and introducing yourself and your services through video can not only promote all the things you need (such as trust and expertise), but it can also make you approachable. 

Strengthen User Engagement 

• Attention is a commodity - because distraction is everywhere. 
• Users share videos that inform, impress or entertain them. 
• Helps build rapport - it’s the most user-friendly way to disseminate information about your firm, your services, your team and your local area. 

Deliver Impact 

• It’s dynamic and can show personality 
• Pitch your services in an engaging way
• Convey complex information quickly and simply 
• Video is memorable, and it will increase the likelihood that your firm’s name will be on someone's mind (and lips) when another one says ‘conveyancing’. 

Improve SEO and Increase Traffic 

• Useful, well-edited/clear and SEO optimised videos can boost your search rankings
• Google classes video content as high quality 
• Increase your online visibility - see the first point above.

Increase conversions, sales, dwell time and more

• There are too many statistics around the ROI and increasing many factors of your website and business engagement.
• We suggest you take a look here. 

What are the Best Ways to Use Video for Conveyancers? 

We touched on this point a little bit in our social media blog, but we’ll take it a little deeper here. 

Videos are created for all types of purposes in business from training or onboarding new staff, to product demos and how-to’s, to direct and straightforward video ads. Some types are more common than others for whatever reason, and some obviously, are more successful for various purposes and businesses. 

We have - with our intimate knowledge of conveyancing content - selected a few of the ones that can benefit your firm and the marketers' statistics to support them. 

They are all fairly self-explanatory, but here’s what some of our clients do with their video marketing: 

Customer Service Videos

This could be your chance to clearly introduce yourself and your process to the client - but remember it’s about them - it's about putting them at ease. Think about talking about: 

• How your service is customer-centric or customised to their circumstances?
• The things you will help them with and what they need to bring initially are about them
• Options for meeting places - your office, their home, a local cafe - you are at their service
• How your expertise in a particular suburb or town, and relationship with local councils etc streamlines the process - you want them to have a simple and great experience
• Service guarantees, bulk billing for complete services etc? Use this to demonstrate their advantage and your customer experience over others. 

Onboarding Clients

What do they need? What do you do to help them kickstart their process? 

• Talk through a whiteboard presentation or infographic with a list of requirements or steps you go through
• Your service promises
• Help them get prepared for their initial meet - assuming this is fairly standard. 
• Tell them who they will be working with, perhaps have a few of your team introduce themselves and briefly outline the part of the conveyancing process they are responsible for and what they do 

Product or Services (and Sales) Videos

We recommend whatever you do here be specific. Prepare them for the journey. 

• Introduce yourself, your team, your firm and its history in regard to the community - and make it personable and relatable. Are you a family business that lives and breathes for your local area? 
• Talk directly about parts of the conveyancing process, the requirements and why it matters. 
• As above - use props if it enhances or clarifies your message 
• If you offer a money-back guarantee or discount for missing deadlines etc, this may be the closer they need

Testimonial Videos 

When I travelled solo through Europe and the UK a few years back, I visited and stayed at places that real people I’d met on my travels recommended. I was compelled by word of mouth, and then confirmed things by looking at reviews and testimonials. I can’t remember one place I visited or stayed that I was dramatically disappointed with. 

That’s the power of honest, unbiased and unscripted testimonials. So contact your happy clients, and ask them if they will assist you. Mostly, people are happy to talk about their great experiences - camera shyness will be your only hurdle. 

Depending on your target market - think variety, and let your happy clients tell everyone about your service and their experience, so think about the breadth of your successful client base. Consider: 

• Young first home buyers, families upsizing etc
• LBGTQI+ clients
• Retirees 
• Return customers
• Clients with a great outcome but who overcame challenges that you assisted with (perhaps they went somewhere else first and weren’t happy)

Presentation Videos 

These are about you, and your expertise, but also about clarity and relatability. They should also include support and evidence - statistics, numbers, charts and other visuals.  These can include : 

• Successful sales and growth of your firm with maps that you speak to
• Whiteboard demonstrations of how to complete documentation.
• Mixing media such as you interspersed with a PowerPoint or slides presentation
• Videos with voiceover

Explainer Videos

There is a reason why these are the most popular choice for video marketers, as the key difference between video and other mediums is the ability to present complex information clearly and dynamically, in a short space of time. Think about:

• Answering and explaining a series of common or related FAQs - especially concerns that you’ve been confronted with. 
• Clarifying some of the legal terms or activities that are prevalent in the conveyancing process. Note: only use jargon if it's presented with an explanation or meaning - else use layman's terms. 
• Present what they can expect is included in their property purchase, and other buyer or seller related stuff (that to you may even seem trivial). It’s about explaining things - not just necessary the conveyancing process - but related info that your potential buyers want to know. 

Generally speaking, your videos should reflect who you are and relate to your target customer. Not every firm is going to be a good fit for every client, so go back and look at your personas, and talk to them. 

10 Steps to Create Great Video Content for Your Firm

You must be sick of reading through this rather ordinary, yet informative, text content by now… so I’m going to present the fail-safe process in a well-crafted infographic. 

If hiring a professional videographer and team is not in your budget - and let’s face it for many of us it’s not - you don’t really need Oscar-winning cinematography anyway. Practice makes perfect right, and these are the key steps you need to plan and deploy that will absolutely help you to produce great video content. I’ll expand on a few of the steps later…

Here’s a little bit more info about the above…

• Goals - if you need clarity around your goals it's best to brainstorm with your team. Use our SMART goals template to get your video marketing strategy and project kicked off. 
• Topics and Keywords - you may have already done your keyword research, but don’t be complacent, user intent changes and so will your keywords, phrases and long-tail keywords. Check out this YouTube clip from Ahrefs. 
• Use a Good Camera/Audio/Lighting - if you or one of your team doesn't have the equipment, and you can't buy it or source it gratis - think about hiring it. If you have everything else in place - it might only have to be for a day or 2. 
• Type of Video - start simple, then get a little more adventurous as you get better at it. 
• Script & Editing - see below

Writing Your Script

Winging it here just won’t cut it - even if it’s a short video about something you are an expert in. Like they say in scouts - be prepared - this is your foundation. 

It’s not hard, you just need to follow a few simple steps. If you don’t believe us - check out this blog with a template from Hubspot. 

Editing Your Video

You need to polish your product - you’ve followed the script and shot your video, but you still have a few things to do before you put it out there.

Check the colour and sound. Important too are:

• Intro - strong statement and visuals at the beginning such as your conveyancing firm’s branding and title text etc. 
• Outro - (yes that’s a word) well-supported statement at the end with a visual where it's relevant and a CTA should be considered. 
• Keep it short where possible. 2 minutes max if you can. 
• Watch it with your team, and get a second opinion before rendering it for publishing. 

There are some great FREE tools that can help you, and you’ll need to consider the platform you are going to publish it. (See below) 

Publishing - Which Platform will You Use? 

Let's get a bit technical as this will depend on where your target audience is hanging out - or not. The landscape is changing and so is social media. We cover some of that in our social media blog, - that is don't dismiss TikTok. 

So you need to consider your aspect ratios, resolution and file sizes.  

While the most obvious for professionals are the big guns - YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn there's more to it. There are some minimum and maximum file sizes, and resolution specifications for some of the platforms that you can check out here. 

We used smartphones in our graphic as laptops, desktops and tablets are fairly cohesive with most aspect ratios - it’s the social channels that dictate your specs. 

Video is also widely watched on mobile devices (although smart TV viewing is increasing for channels such as YouTube) and 63% of searches (in the US) originate from mobile phones. So that’s your priority. 

LinkedIn for Conveyancer Marketing - the benefits of video marketing and other aspects of conveyancer marketing on LinkedIn is outlined in our LinkedIn for Conveyancing Firms blog. 

Strategy: Other Rules and Tips

Look - let’s be honest. You can find the rules you don’t want to follow if you look hard enough, and I sure found a whole heap of contradicting information across experts and blogs etc. 

With some time and a lot of cross-matching,

I think I’ve come up with a smart and actionable list of important points that I haven’t covered above.

• Be conversational (and relaxed) - it will take practice as it's not as easy as you think - especially if you haven't done any public speaking or the like. You are talking to potential clients, not another conveyancer - so keep it clear and conversational. 
• Shooting Your Video - stick to the rule of thirds, it makes everything better, balanced and gives a professional look.  
• Thumbnails are important - especially when you start getting a library of videos to present FAQs and other conveyancing related videos. They are essential when you are connecting with LinkedIn or your YouTube channel from your website, and some have specific naming protocols. Use the right size - 1280 x 780 pixels - and include the title of the video and the best image or still from the video to represent the context. If not - get creative. Business Insider has a great step-by-step to get the job done.
• Include branding - in the background of your video - like a watermark. Or on the screen use your logo when sharing presentations etc.
• Use a CTA to create urgency and encourage viewers to contact you.
• Keep your video style and look consistent - it will eventually become recognisable as your brand signature. 
• The text should be clear and simple - don’t use fine fonts, large incongruous jargony words or too many words. 
• Encourage feedback - enable your viewers to comment and or like your videos - it’s a great way of measuring what’s working and what’s not... and to engage with your future clients. 
• Find a balance - between immediacy and the time spent fine-tuning. If it needs to get out, if it's time-sensitive, keep it simple and get it out, rather than wasting time and money. Without compromising integrity - sometimes it's a trade-off.
• Share Video Assets wherever you can, and add them to your content and social media schedule. 
• Don’t forget your Google My Business platform - you can now use video for customisation of your conveyancing business profile. 
• Think about hosting a webinar and using your video collateral in presentations etc. 
• Email marketing engagement increases with the use of video in your communication. 
• LinkedIn - don’t be afraid of promoting your conveyancing firm on LinkedIn - sure it’s a business platform, but those business people also are consumers - individuals on the platform buy and sell property too. But don’t forget you can use it for networking - connecting with other conveyancers even interstate can help if they know people moving to your location. Front of mind always helps, and it’s a professional platform anyway. 
• SEO - ensure your filename describes the content of the video and the description with focused and relevant keywords. This goes also for the page - including the metadata - where it sits. YouTube and Vimeo require unique optimised descriptions and links that are relevant to where your video asset sits. 

Last Words: AKA Invalidating Those Excuses

So now you know all the facts, let’s revisit that pesky list of ‘why nots’ that were outlined above, and see if we can’t invalidate them. 

• Lack of time - in most cases you will be better placed taking the time to put together videos for your marketing than producing that glossy booklet. Sure it will take time and practice to get your first one or two videos produced, but digital media - as we know - is user friendly, and before you know it you’ll be saying “what booklet? Let’s make a video about that.” Digital media is also much faster to circulate to a broader audience. 
• Don’t know where to start - well we’ve outlined some fairly simple processes and strategies above, so now you know. 
• Don’t feel it’s necessary or needed - did you see the statistics or the gap in the digital marketing space for conveyancers? 
• Believe it’s too expensive - it doesn’t have to be. Start small, get your team involved - I guarantee there's a millennial in your midst that has an innate understanding of the digital tools you may not. Sure - you may have to shell out for a bit of equipment (or even a few social media subscriptions) but these are one-off or relatively economical costs that give you the foundation to put together that library of assets, yes assets, to get you ahead of your competition. 
• Unclear of ROI of video - see the statistics - but here it is again.....87% of markers say video marketing is ROI positive. 
• Unable to convince key decision-makers of the use, or the benefits to it - I’m going to assume you are a conveyancer or property lawyer, and as such you are one of the head honchos at your firm or business, and this is irrelevant. If not - then send them this blog or a few of the statistic links below. Or even better - make one yourself, and show them how easy it is. 

I write blogs and other text content - not just here - and I’ve also been involved in creating video content. Good content takes research, planning, composition, editing, fine-tuning then revisiting - no matter the media. There is a myriad of information online to help you with every aspect of your video creation, and the marketing of it. 

It’s not only worth it - it’s a distinct disadvantage if you don’t. 

Additional Resources 

• If conveyancing is only part of your firm's big picture - or not - Uptime Juris Page has some great tips about inbound marketing for legal firms. 
• If you want to use video as part of your networking strategy, you may want to learn the difference between B2C and B2B video marketing.
• Statistics and more statistics to convince you that video marketing needs to be part of your strategy with:
• Backlinko
• Wyzowl
• Hubspot
• Shopify has a great blog about FREE video editing software
• There’s detailed information about video specs and platforms on Hootsuite’s blog. 
• Medium has an abundance of information on writing and digital media marketing from those in the game, and I found this awesome article about video marketing benefits from Status Digital. 
• See our Social Media for Conveyancer blog for more about video marketing 
• FAQs are also important for conveyancers and video is a great way to showcase them and educate your potential clients.

Skypoynt are Australia's only agency dedicated to working with Conveyancer's for all of your digital marketing and integration needs. We've created extensive resources through our experience and research to show you we are committed to offering you the best partnership for your growth. Check out our FREE articles and blogs covering all aspects of Conveyancer Marketing, and talk to us about getting in front of the conveyancing customers that YOU know will help your firm grow.