Boosting Your Mortgage Marketing with Short-Form Video

Ben: So talk to me first. What type of benefit, what type of benefits are you seeing with people that are doing short form video on social media?  

The Benefits of Short Form Video

Brandon: Yeah. So short-form video is a very beneficial tool when it comes to social media for a handful of reasons. Some of the ones that stand out to me is, first off, it's super easy to create.

With cell phones now, you can essentially just pull out your phone and create a video answering a question. That you, you know, heard in a conversation with someone the next is, you know, it provides higher engagement. Those videos tend to do really well, especially the shorter videos.

And so if you're able to create these kinds of short form videos, they are watched more frequently and they're easy to share.

It's also real easy on these platforms to find a target audience. And one thing that I love about short form video that you can use it in just about any channel.

You can use it in email, you can embed it on your website, you can do a whole number of things with your short form video to kind of aid in your multi-channel marketing approach.  

And yeah, it's a great way to get people to see you and engage with you before they ever even meet you. 

Ben: Yeah. I think it's interesting to see like how videos are doing compared to every other piece of content, right? It's it's doing better than written content images. It's doing better than blog posts, all that good stuff. And it's because consumers want to see, want a quick video to understand the message of the companies that they're following and the people that they're following.

I guess one thing that I always get asked is like, how do I get started or do I need to have like top notch quality videos and microphones and all these different things.

There's a lot of questions around how do I begin doing social media and, and short form videos. So what tips would you give to people that are trying to just get started with videos? 

Tips for Getting Started

Brandon: Yeah. So one thing that I've seen is that it's really common to kind of feel that there's a barrier to short-form video. And most of that is that it's easier to write a post than it is to put your face on camera. But getting started is actually not that difficult.

1. Keep your audience in mind

First and foremost, you want to just make sure that you're keeping your audience in mind.

You want to make sure that the content that you're creating has value for the people that you're trying to reach. Nothing's worse than creating content just for the sake of content.

So if you can target your content and know what people are looking for and create that, that is the first step.  

2. Keep it simple

Second is that when you go to make your video, Just keep it simple.

You don't need to have fancy microphones. You don't need fancy lighting. Those things are nice, but they're not super essential.

Some great videos that I've seen on TikTok and Reels are just people walking and talking, you know, out there walking their dog and talking into their camera, right?  Imagine just starting off a video with, Hey, if you're looking to buy a home in the next year, this is something you need to know right now.

That's a great hook and it catches people's attention. About one minute is perfect.

3. Use subtitles to keep it accessible

And then I highly, highly recommend everyone adding captions to their videos.

Verizon Media just did a survey not too long ago, 69 percent of people surveyed said that they watch video without sound. So you want to make sure that you have those captions  so that you're reaching people even when they're. You know, they can be watching your video even if they can't hear it, right?

Ben: Yeah, on Facebook I watch every video without sound. It, I, it, sometimes I even for, like, can't even figure out how to turn on the volume, right? So I'm like, okay, so as long as it does have captions, it helps me, you know, stay engaged.

And like you said, your first sentence, your first question should be a hook that gets people to say, hold up. Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna watch this video real quick. And so the thing I hate worse is. Hey, like I was just thinking about this and I'm like where are you actually though? Like, but something that like real quick, something that people can benefit from is, is just a very quick and easy hook.

Something controversial, right? Grab someone's attention. Like, Hey, don't buy a home right now. Or Hey, like, we're all going to be bankrupt in five years. Like, and let me tell you why, like these things, and then you can dial it back and be like, okay, we're not actually going to be bankrupt, but X, Y, Z. Right. 

So short form video is easy. Have those captions and have a hook and it'll make it really beneficial.  

What Social Platforms are Best For Short-Form Video?

So we talk about short form video and there's so many different platforms to play with when we think of, you know, posting these videos. So what platform or platforms would you recommend to someone who, if they're clean slate, they aren't doing any social media and they want to do videos, where would they go?

Brandon: So there's kind of three main platforms that people are utilizing when it comes to short form video. 

TikTok

The first one is the obvious one that's TikTok.

And the platform does tend to skew a little bit younger, but they surveyed people 18 and over and 50% of those surveyed who are active TikTok users were between the ages of 25 and 44 years old.

So it's kind of prime home buying age. There's a lot of opportunity there. So if you're not marketing on TikTok, you're really missing a lot of opportunity.

And then another recent survey that you and I have talked about is that 51% of Gen-Z women said that they tend to search questions on TikTok before they use Google Search.

It's just a platform that because you feel like there's this kind of barrier that's, Kind of removed with these personalized short form videos, it feels just a little bit more trustworthy. So I always recommend TikTok. And if you're not on TikTok, you should certainly start.

Instagram Reels

Reels is the second most common and I think has the easiest barrier to entry.

Most people already have an Instagram account and any video that's been put on Instagram is kind of become a Reel anyway, so they're shorter than TikToks, but Instagram's kind of testing longer video links right now.

But the biggest benefit with Instagram is that you have a much larger kind of user base than you do on TikTok.

YouTube Shorts

And then finally is YouTube Shorts, is here for video clips.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend YouTube Shorts for people just getting started. It really benefits YouTube creators more than anyone else. And so if you're not actively uploading to a YouTube channel and have kind of cultivated a following there, I would definitely focus on TikTok and Reels first.

Ben: You know, if you're going clean Slate.  Yeah, I think YouTube shorts I feel was created to kind of. Keep up with Instagram Reels and TikTok.

Obviously, there's some hesitation. Oh, is TikTok going to get banned in America? Are they going to get rid of it completely? And so, you know, there is this kind of like weird hesitation to have TikTok.

But what you said about searching things on TikTok when you and I were in Nashville last week for the TMC Conference to find out where we were going to go eat.

I searched places to eat in Nashville on TikTok, and we got video reviews of the best food in Nashville on TikTok in the palm of my hand.

I was able to have multiple video reviews with pictures, images and and video talking about, Hey, this is where you should go. This is why you should go there. And, you know, and then showed me how, you know, the, the Nashville hot chicken was, you know, all over the macaroni and cheese, like, yeah.

A Unique Experience

Brandon: And think about the difference in experience there, right? There's two different experiences that you'd be getting.

As someone who knows Google and Google Search very, very well, had we searched "best places to eat in Nashville", we would have probably gotten Yelp and Trip Advisor and a number of different places with reviews, which is fine.

But by searching on TikTok, what we got was real people that, for the most part, I would say, don't really have an incentive to lie or make up what was good or bad.

But then they also gave us, "hey, I've been living here for the last eight years. Here's my favorite restaurant. Here are three things that I love on the menu."

It also let us know that they didn't have Coke. They only had Pepsi at the restaurant we went to. It's just little things like that. And it feels a lot more personal and it feels like it really kind of scratches the itch that we were looking for.

Ben: Yeah. Personalization is key there, right?

We want to make sure that the videos that we're creating, especially for those mortgage professionals are as personal as they can be, because in the end, mortgages are mortgages across the board.

The education that you are providing is going to be similar to that of another person providing that education.

But if you keep it personal, something that can be quickly digested, it's going to be super beneficial across the board.

We talk a lot about visibility and the reasoning behind doing video content is you have better visibility to be seen by more people. We know algorithms are pushing shorter form video to more than just your followers.

How can an individual or company be more visible, not just on social media, but online? 

Improving Your Online Visibility

Brandon: Yeah. So I think visibility on the internet in general, whether it's, you know, website or social media all comes down to creation and optimization.

So first is creation and that's your content creation. 

You mentioned short form video being pushed right now really heavily in algorithms. So obviously that's where I would emphasize your content creation right now at least for your social media.  

And really just trying to post about, you know, between four to five times a week on your platform, a combination of content and emphasize that short form video where you can, the more consistently you post, the more consistently you'll show up in feeds.

But the second is optimization.

Is your social media profile optimized for conversions? Are you directing traffic from a post to your profile, to your website? Where you can then, you know, have them fill out a form or whatnot.  Are you creating opportunities to turn a video into an opportunity? 

But it's more than social -- it's your website as well. So, you know, a website that has good content and is optimized well for search engine optimization, or what is commonly referred to as SEO is crucial.

I always recommend if you don't have an SEO agency or specialist that you're working with, certainly take a look into doing it. It can be very, very beneficial for your website and help you show up in the searches that you're really trying to be ranking for and certainly improve your visibility.  

Ben: Awesome. Well, Brandon, we're excited to have you here at social coach helping, helping everyone with social media being, you know, more optimized in their, their social media presence.

And obviously these tips and tricks that you bring in to this industry are going to be very beneficial for everyone moving forward.

Ready to Get Started with Short-Form Video?

If you're ready to get started with short-form video, all you need to do is start. Try reading our Mortgage Instagram Reels Guide or Mortgage TikTok Guide to learn more about how to start

See our mortgage social media ideas guide or read our article on some of the most influential mortgage TikTok creators.

If you're wanting help with your short-form video, Video Catalyst from SocialCoach gets you 4 short form videos for your social media accounts to post monthly. Click to learn more about Video Catalyst from SocialCoach.