WHY DON’T PERSONAL FINANCE EDUCATORS HAVE A LARGER AUDIENCE?

The very first blog post was published over 20 years ago. Newspapers, magazines, books, radio and television started even earlier. The personal finance educators tend to use those media. Yet financial literacy remains a serious problem. Maybe the audience has been shifting their attention elsewhere.

What about the trends towards video and mobile devices? Canadians are big users. According to the 2014 Canada Digital Future In Focus report

• video viewing is up 33% since 2012
• 74% watch online video
• viewing time is 1,769 minutes per month – 43% higher than Americans

There’s a huge (and growing) audience on YouTube. How much personal finance information is available there?

As we’ll see from case studies, current approaches to using video for financial education aren’t working well. There are opportunities to experiment and make breakthroughs. If you’re a less established blogger, you might want to focus on video. Ditto if you’re established and looking to evolve.

Case Study: Investor Education Fund (585 views)

You’ll find good videos on the InvestorEDFund channel from the nonprofit Investor Education Fund. Host Rob Carrick conducts short 1-2 minute interviews which are co-branded with The Globe and Mail. The last 15 videos garnered 585 views. The most popular title got 84 views.

Viewership might improve with

• Better thumbnails: the current images aren’t always enticing; might show the title, guest and host
• Longer videos: short clips tends to simplify and generalize (e.g., 84 seconds on whether to cancel your home insurance); more time might let guests give better, less rushed answers

Case Study: Financial Post (714 views)

You’ll find good videos on the Financial Post channel. I especially like the ones with Melissa Leong. The last 15 videos got 714 views. The most popular had 134 views (an ice bucket challenge).

Viewership might improve with

• Better thumbnails: generally good but some don’t look enticing or relevant (e.g., “Can I leave my estate to my pet?” could show an animal)
• Start titles with the important information: move the less important like “Save your #@%* money” or “What the what?!?” to the end (e.g., “What the what?!? My husband drives like a…” is incomplete)

Case Study: Money Minute (undisclosed views)

Money Minute with Ashleigh Patterson has good content and lots of visuals. The title is odd since the videos tend to be 3-4 minutes long (a satisfying length). The thumbnails are nicely done.

The basic problem is that the videos aren’t on YouTube. That means you won’t find them with the #2 search engine and there’s a learning curve. For instance, I couldn’t figure out how to improve the playback quality or share a video with Buffer or Hootsuite (each video uses the same URL ca.finance.yahoo.com/video/money-minute). I couldn’t find a way to subscribe either.

Viewership might improve with

• Hosting on YouTube: likely a nonstarter but who goes to Yahoo for video?
• Transparency: Yahoo hides the number of views and even the publication dates

Case Study: Taxevity (737 views)

Our new Taxevity Insurance Advisory channel features in-person interviews over tea in my office. The last 15 videos got 737 views with less than 50 subscribers. The most popular title had 124 views. The lengths varied from 13:54 to 64:03 minutes. As much as 1,290 minutes of content was viewed on a single day.

The topics are diverse but all relate to money (especially the often overlooked aspect of investing in yourself). The guests are diverse and some wouldn’t be considered conventional money experts. That helps reach people who avoid financial education. The questions and flow are planned with the guest before recording. The thumbnails are going to be redone to include the interview title. Most of the marketing takes place on LinkedIn, the place you’ll find people with money. Canadians are big users --- #5 in the world.

You'll have your own approach.

Your Turn

If you create personal finance content, why not create three new videos? One isn’t enough because of the learning curve.

All you need is a webcam or smartphone, a free video editor and free natural daylight. You can upgrade later (e.g., our recommended gear on Amazon).

You might want to

• talk directly to the camera: impromptu or with a script (which you can re-use in a blog post and the YouTube video description)
• do interviews: in person or over Skype (Singularity 1 on 1 with Nikola Danaylov uses both) or a Hangout (the Because Money podcast with Jackson Middleton, Sandi Martin and Robb Engen)
• get creative: say with a whiteboard, an animated whiteboard or a PowerPoint voiceover. Use your imagination (e.g., the funny series The Tax Man from Allan Madan).

Video has impact and is easy to share. Your tools include visuals, audio, text, music and movement. You don’t have to use them all. Maybe you’ll find that video is more enjoyable for you and more valuable for the vast audience waiting.

Links

• How to get 1,000 YouTube views in 60 days
• How to create your own business videos
• Get ready for your video debut
• One billion reasons to create your own videos

PS Have you got a moment to subscribe to the Taxevity channel?