Digital marketing still an under-utilised resource

More than half of Sydney’s event declared that keeping up with content creation was their most feared aspect of digital marketing.

Tim Reid, founder and host of the podcast show Small Business Big Marketing, said that in order to be successful at content creation, it’s vital for brokers to remember that “less is more” and deliver short, sharp pieces of information that are easy to digest.

“Think of digital marketing as helpful marketing,” Mr Reid told attendees.

The next rule of digital marketing, according to Mr Reid, is consistency. He said there is nothing worse than seeing a post that is more than two years old, and advises brokers to make content generation part of their regular work routine.

Paid advertising was also a hot topic raised at the Boot Camp, with most brokers sharing the mindset that it is too expensive for them to justify.

However, The Collective’s Greg Cassar said it doesn’t have to be. He noted that brokers can lower the cost of advertising by being selective to ensure maximum effectiveness.

Mr Cassar added that many brokers are over-paying by simply not doing enough research when selecting an ad designer. He recommends starting with “explainer” videos, which are all done via animation and voice-over.

“What’s great about explainer videos is that you don’t need to hire a big, fancy studio set. You write a script, record it, then pay someone to do the animation. Some videos can be done for as little as $400,” he explained.

Of course, “what not to do” is just as important as what to do, and the experts had plenty of no-nos to share.

Among them were avoiding driving website traffic to YouTube, where there are too many distractions – instead, they advised attendees to embed the link within their website and staff email signatures.

Websites should also be mobile responsive to avoid losing potential clients, the experts added.

Furthermore, the experts emphasised the importance of having a “second set of eyes” read over content before it’s sent out or uploaded, with a real-life example recounted of someone who emailed their entire database addressed “Dear Rich Bastard”.

The Adviser's Digital Marketing Boot Camp was held in Brisbane on 1 July, Melbourne on 2 July and Sydney on 3 July, attracting a total of 754 attendees.

An in-depth overview of the workshop and its key points for brokers will be available in September’s print edition of The Adviser.

[Related: Social media underrated, says broker panel]