Make Your Message Crystal Clear

In our last article we talked about the three E’s of content marketing.  Creating great content that aligns with the three E’s begins by knowing your audience.  Although the importance of knowing your audience and narrowing down a target market is critical, clearly defining your message is just as important. In other words, don’t try to cram everything into a single animated explainer video.

Create Tailored Videos

We offer a ton of programs in the mortgage industry.  It’s not just one widget.  So, you’ll need different videos for each of these. For example, you might need:

• An explainer video to give basic consumer application process
• A more complex video overview of VA Home Loan Benefit qualifications
• A powerful TED Talk-type of message from your CEO

Don’t try to explain what your company does, what programs you offer and the great service you provide all in the same video.

Take the time to create a tailored video with a specific message and a specific goal.  When you do this it will be much more effective.

The best way to do this is to write down your audience.  For example, you have people who want to buy a home and people who want to refinance a home.  In the people who want to buy a home segment, you have people who have never bought a home, want to buy a second home, want to buy an investment property, want to buy a condo, want to buy using their VA entitlement.  You get the picture.  Always get crystal clear on your audience.  This doesn’t mean you have to specialize in just one area, this means, you just need to have a clear message in that one video or article.

Think about what questions this type of person may have.  If you don’t know, you can search online to see what types of questions are being asked.  The website, Answer the Public allows you to type in a word or question and it will deliver to you exactly what phrases or keywords that are being searched. You can use those queries to create content answering those questions. 

Write First – Shoot Second

You wouldn’t go on vacation without knowing where you are going, making plans, visiting the place online and maybe even creating an entire itinerary.  Same holds true for shooting video.  Have a plan!  This means that you should write out your content before you shoot your video.  Even if it is just an outline.  This will help you stay on topic.  I like using the top three things you should know about….  This way you stay focused and only answer those three things.  Shorter content delivered over time is much more effective than a long article.  Peoples attention spans are short, so stay tight on your message and get crystal clear for your audience.

In our next article, we will share how to set a realistic budget for video production.