In this episode of Elementality, Abby Morton sits down with Katie Braden, a video marketing expert for financial advisors, to discuss the transformative power of video marketing in the financial industry. Katie shares her unique journey from photography to financial planning and how she now helps advisors leverage video to connect with clients and grow their businesses. This episode dives into practical tips on getting started with video, overcoming the fear of being on camera, and using AI tools to enhance marketing efforts. Tune in to learn how video can set you apart in a crowded market and help you build genuine connections with your target audience.
Transcript
Abby Morton: Welcome to elementality everyone. I’m your host today. Abby Morton here with the lovely Katie Braden. Hello, Katie. Hello, Abby. How are you? So, so good. I’m so excited to be talking to one of my favorite people in the industry. Not only that, but a good friend. We’ve gotten to know each other over this last year and we love talking all things marketing.
We [00:02:00] webinar together back in January. We both were talking about it before we started. airing today and we’re shocked that it was that long ago because we are recording this in July. So anyway, go check out that webinar that we did back in January. Some great tips, but we wanted to come and bring you a podcast today, talk kind of all things marketing, what Katie’s doing, why I’m even having her on the show today.
So with that, Katie, why don’t we start with just learning a little bit about you? Who are you? Where are you from? You know, and what kind of change are you trying to bring to the financial industry?
Katie Braden: Yeah, thanks, Abby. So I am someone who is all about getting advisors to take action with their video marketing.
And I had a funny path of getting here, got a degree in photography in Australia, then came back to the U. S., joined my mother’s RIA in Seattle, and then in 2013 started one of the first completely virtual monthly subscription financial planning businesses. So totally natural path through the industry.
We’ll And then it was working with financial planners in [00:03:00] 35 countries. I’ve traveled to over 50 countries and ultimately decided that I love the profession. I’m very passionate about the profession. And I really miss that creative side of my brain with photography and all that stuff. So now I spend all my time.
And Helping advisors leverage video marketing in their business, which is just so much fun. There are so many, you know, cool nuggets that we’re going to talk about today. You know, how it adds value to their lives, their clients lives. And then another fun little nugget, I’m also a private pilot.
Abby Morton: I love it.
I think you’re just so fascinating. I could talk to you all day about your life. When we met in person this year, I was just like, well, tell me about this. And you skipped over this big part of your life. And I want to know more because you’re just so fascinating. So excited to have you on the show. And I love that you don’t just do marketing for advisors.
You do literally video marketing, which is like, you know, a niche within a niche. We talk about niching down all the time and it feels like the way of the world is video marketing, right? It’s It’s being authentic, it’s being on [00:04:00] camera, helping your audience connect with you. And so really excited to dive into that today.
And I have a very interesting stat that I want to share with you that I learned yesterday and it goes right along with this. So we looked at, uh, I’m, I might get this wrong, so don’t quote me on it, but I’m pretty sure it’s the Pew Research Company. And they recently put out, you know, what are the top platforms that people engage in it.
For with people and they ranked it on people that have over 100, 000 of income and and I would say typically those are the people that financial advisors want to target and I want you to guess what the very top, 89 percent of the people engage in this, like, social media, right, like, platform, what’s the top one?
89%. YouTube. YouTube! Is that crazy? It was YouTube. So incredible.
Katie Braden: But it’s also not crazy. And so let’s take just a moment to talk about that. Because we can really come at this [00:05:00] from two different ways. And I think I’m pretty good at like, kind of, I can debate things from multiple angles. Okay. The upside of that, right, is absolutely people are going to video.
People want more video. Research after research after research is showing us, right, video on websites keeps people there longer. People want to see video to learn more about a person, product, service. Companies that leverage video well, you know, are doing better at building those relationships with clients, really building that know, like, and trust in advance.
So like, obviously I’m a huge proponent of video. I am a naturally, um, skeptical person and I’m very much a contrarian. So I always look at research and my brain actually goes to the other side, right? So for example, when we see research that’s like, you know, 68 percent of people that work with a CFP professional, you know, do better in their life.
My brain goes. Well, what about the other 32? Like, what’s happening there? I want to learn about them. So the other side of this, and we’ll touch on this more, is [00:06:00] people are going to YouTube, like, my husband loves YouTube, and he’s, like, learned to do so many things in life on YouTube, and he’s always telling people, like, go to YouTube University, right?
It is such an amazing platform for engaging. That’s the thing, I
Abby Morton: actually didn’t know about that. YouTube University.
Katie Braden: He just calls it
Abby Morton: that, right? It’s like the school. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Got it. My bad. Okay. I’m just making for sure I’m not missing out on some great thing, you know? Yeah,
Katie Braden: just all of YouTube, right?
Like you can, you know, I mean, whatever, be smarter than a lot of people and go to university just from like all the content that you can consume on YouTube because it has everything. But the challenge with that is people do go there just to learn. And I talk with advisors all the time. Advisors are such giving people that they’re like, I just want to put education out there and I want to educate people.
I love that. I love the heart of that. I love the intention of that. But that doesn’t pay the bills. And so one thing that advisors get frustrated with is they’re like, I’m putting out this content. I’m getting [00:07:00] engagement. I’m getting views. I’m not getting any new clients. And so that’s one of the big things with marketing across any platform is, you know, if you’re just doing it for education, then that isn’t going to move the needle and you’re not going to feel like it’s working.
So doing something to do it, not always the best strategy.
Abby Morton: So let’s go down that path a little bit. You have these advisors putting out really great education. They’re not getting new clients. That’s ultimately their goal, right? And I would even say you’re doing a great thing. You’re helping people develop this know, like, and trust factor, right?
That’s a big phrase in my mind too, right? Help them get to know you help them know what challenges you’re going to solve for them, help them know why they would hire you. So what are, what are some tips that you tell advisors to do if they already have this great content engine going? But it’s not really resulting in new clients.
What, like, what should they do?
Katie Braden: Yes, I’d say probably the two biggest things. First, you have to be clear on your target audience. And [00:08:00] I know that’s a challenge for so many advisors, right? And they’re like, Oh, but I just want to tell everybody, you know, what’s the difference between a Roth IRA and a traditional and, you know, how you should be getting the match in your 401k.
Like, again, I love that, but that content is already out there. So Crystal clear on who you’re talking to, because you do need to attract those people. You need them to be like, Oh, this person gets me. And then they’re building that relationship. So, for example, I’ve been looking for a CPA lately, and I have spent hours and hours and hours on local CPA websites.
And Abby, I haven’t taken any action because I’m like, I don’t think any of them get me. Right, their CPAs, right, they can do it, it’s tax, it’s whatever, it shouldn’t be a big deal, but I’m not feeling like I’m building a relationship with anybody. So if I did just want education and I wanted to learn about things, sure, I’d stay on their website, maybe I’d watch their videos, I’m not actually going to call them.
And I am actively searching, like, I need to hire somebody, right? So think about how many prospects are in that position where they’re like, No, I’m [00:09:00] at a point in life where I really do need to work with an advisor. So you need to, like, let people go, Oh, they do understand my specific situation. And so while that’s good.
No, you go.
Abby Morton: I love, no, I am totally agreeing with what you said. Recently I heard someone say, well, it was actually Carl Richards. He said, having a niche or knowing your target audience is the quickest path to relevance. And I love that because that’s exactly what you’re saying, Katie, is no one feels like they’re talking to me and they know my unique situation and my unique circumstance, right?
You have a very unique circumstance with your life and all the things that you have going on. But there’s definitely an accountant out there who could fit that mold. And so, the same way with financial planners, clients are looking for someone who can speak to doctors, speak to dentists, speak to architects, right?
Whatever it may be. And maybe it doesn’t even have to be a niche. But when you speak to everybody, you speak to no one, right? And that’s exactly what you’re saying, is know the unique people that you’re speaking to. Instead of talking about [00:10:00] Roth conversions, speak to Roth conversions for women in transition who are going through a divorce, right?
Like something like that, right? Yeah.
Katie Braden: And that’s exactly it. So Abby, I kid you not, like 15 years ago, I was giving presentations and I don’t know why, um, but for some reason I always use an example of a 38 year old, um, woman paralegal in Seattle.
Abby Morton: Okay.
Katie Braden: I don’t know why that was always my example, but I would always present on this and say, okay, let’s say there are three 38 year old women, paralegals, at the same Seattle law firm, even.
Right? So you’d think, oh my gosh, could that be any more niche down? Right? I mean, that fits like, that’s brilliant. Yep. Guess what? One of them is a single mother with a special needs child. One of them is married, and she doesn’t even need to work, she just works for, you know, fun, but like, her husband makes all the money.
Abby Morton: Right.
Katie Braden: One of them is single and has no intention of, you know, having kids or being married, like, loves traveling, has all these hobbies, right? They have [00:11:00] completely different needs in their life. So that’s where, like, when people think about, like, oh, I need to niche down, they always say, like, get one particular person.
I always want to make sure that people take it beyond just what’s their profession or what’s their age. Right? Like, what are those other big things? Because again, that’s going to attract three very different people.
Abby Morton: Well, and I love that because I do often think we go to occupation because I do think it’s kind of the easiest thing to come up with, right?
But I’ve, I’ve seen advisors, uh, we serve people who love golf. Like how fun is that? And that might be hard, right? You’d have to like, understand that you are serving a wide number of people and multiple career professions. Right. But they play golf and that’s kind of all their metaphors and everything they use in their practice are golf related, right?
I’ve seen another advisor who serves families with special needs, right? That is so unique and niche. I’ve seen other advisors who serve, you know, expats, you know, Indian expats, for example, you know, in the U S or. They live in the U. S. now, but they want to go home, right? They have unique challenges. So [00:12:00] I love exactly what you’re saying.
Like, brainstorm. Think outside the box. Think of your clients, even. And who do you like in your clientele? And what unique challenges do they have? And how can you find more people that are just like them?
Katie Braden: Yeah, and what are some of those characteristics? I don’t know if you’ve seen, but I recently updated, like, the video on my homepage.
It’s like a 28 second video. And I literally say in there, if you are the type of person that has conversations on speakerphone in public, If you leave public restrooms worse than you found them, and if you drive slow in the left lane, I don’t want to work with you. Like, because I’ve realized over the years, like, those are characteristics of people that are generally, in my experience, you know, rude, inconsiderate, ungrateful, you know, kind of like, just in their own minds, and I was like, I don’t want those people in my life.
Abby Morton: Yeah, totally. No, I love it.
Katie Braden: So then the second thing, right, I mentioned, so first is really having that clear target audience. The second thing that’s also hard for a lot of advisors and a lot of people in any business is actually nudging [00:13:00] people to take action. Right? So advisors are like, how do we kind of get them to convert?
And yes, people are going to YouTube, they’re learning all this stuff, but because there actually really are so many people out there just giving financial education and that’s their platform. Maybe they’re a financial coach or they have a course or they have an MBA app or something, right? They’re not there to actually try to attract clients one on one.
Advisors actually have to tell people, I can help you with your situation, right? And like,
Abby Morton: flip
Katie Braden: that switch in their brain that’s like, Oh, I don’t have to do this on my own. I don’t have to sit here watching YouTube to do it myself. Like you can help me and do it with me.
Abby Morton: Well, and I think that’s maybe the challenge for a lot of advisors is they really do just want to it.
They want to be the doctor giving the advice, right? They just want to provide the good education. They don’t want to be the sales guy, right? That’s helping that person to convert. But without that sales bit, that pitch, no one’s going to know that you can buy. I remember years ago, [00:14:00] we had this, um, at Dennis Advisors, we had a guy come in to teach us how to get referrals.
And I will never forget one of the things he said is, Tell your clients that you want more clients. And I’m not, I thought, well, of course they know I want more clients, right? Like they came in and I hired them, you know, hire them on as a client and we’re working together. Don’t they know we want more clients?
He says, no, they don’t know that you want more clients. That doesn’t even cross their mind. And so you need to tell them that you can help them, that you, your door is open, that you’re accepting new clients, that you want to be able to provide, you know, a better way to help them with their financial life.
And I You know, that’s really all we need to do. We don’t have to be like some sleazy sales guy, but what you’re saying is, help them know that you do have a place for them, you know, a way for you to actually help them out.
Katie Braden: Yeah, that’s exactly it. And not all advisors are taking on new clients, right? And some advisors, you know, are successful with marketing.
And so they really are at a place where that is kind of their way of giving back. And they’re like, no, I really am just providing education, right? I can’t work with [00:15:00] you. I don’t have capacity, right? But I still want to be out there and help you. So yeah, I think people are going to see some of those videos.
learn that, have experience. So yeah, just need to make sure you, you do make it crystal clear.
Abby Morton: Yeah.
Katie Braden: Oh, I love that.
Abby Morton: Okay. So we talked about, kind of started maybe, you know, later in the story, you already have a platform, you already are great at creating content. So let’s go kind of to the front end. How did those advisors who know they want to start video marketing, they know it’s important.
Maybe they’re shy, maybe they’re scared. They, they know they should do it, but all the head trash, right? That we all have. You know, what are some kind of tips to get started and maybe know, like, how do you know if you’re the right person to even do that in your office? Like, what are some tips you give people?
Katie Braden: Yeah, so I also want to kind of use that to loop around because you used the word authentic in the beginning. Yeah. Right? And some people are like, I don’t like that word, you know, like, For me, the word I don’t like is unprecedented. Every time I hear that, I’m like, oh, I’m tuning out. So when we talk about authentic, [00:16:00] to me, that’s having the same person that people meet in person show up on video.
So a lot of times when people get into like really highly produced, scripted videos in a studio with all the lights and everything, they are not comfortable. They don’t feel like themselves. They don’t come off like themselves, right? That isn’t authentic. It might be professional, right? Which I’m putting in quotes because I’ve never really liked that word.
To me, professional is like putting on this mask, right? And like coming across as this certain persona to the world. So when we talk about the really effective video, It is that authentic part, right? I even have conversations with advisors like, oh, should I be wearing, you know, a suit and tie in this video?
And I’m like, well, when clients show up in their intro call, are you going to be wearing a suit and tie? And they’re like, oh no. And I was like, then don’t wear a suit and tie in your video, right? All those little things like what’s in your background, what’s, you know, how are your hand gestures? [00:17:00] That is the biggest thing that sort of leads to success.
And so when advisors are starting out, I always say, start with one to one video emails. Super simple, right? Don’t start trying to go viral, don’t start with a YouTube channel, just start with one to one video emails. So why, yeah, why there? Go ahead, sorry. Yeah, well, A, it’s super low stakes, right? You don’t have to do anything fancy.
You can do it on your phone, like, just use the setup you have. And the biggest thing is, like, it’s easy to practice. You’re actually doing one on one, and so it’s, it’s really the exact same thing as leaving a voicemail. Yeah. Except hopefully you’re making perfect eye contact with your camera lens. Yeah.
And with that, the thing with all marketing, and you know this, Abbey, like, you’re never ever going to know what works. No matter who you work with, right, no matter if you work with the biggest ad agency in the world, you’re never going to know what works until it’s out into the world. Okay. And you have to see what comes back.
So when you start with these one to one videos and people responded like, that was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Right? I’ve never [00:18:00] gotten one of those before. That was awesome. You can use these for happy birthday messages, you know, congrats on your kid graduating high school, you know, hope you had a great vacation.
That’s like such
Abby Morton: a low key state to start, it’s just. The little wins that you want to share with your clients and help them know that you’re there and you care. I love that idea.
Katie Braden: Yeah, and it does. It’s a total, total differentiator. So it’s also fabulous when used as part of, like, an onboarding. So even if somebody, like, schedules a call, let’s say you’ve got a Calendly on your website, they schedule a call, you get an email, and it’s like, Hey, Abby Morton’s booked a call.
Cool. I’m gonna send you a quick 30 second video. Right? Just saying, Hey, Abby, really looking forward to our call on Tuesday. You know, hopefully you got the Zoom invite. You know, if you didn’t, let me know. This is just going to be, you know, a quick call to get to know each other. You know, see if we’re a good fit.
Right? Something super casual and easy. And think about the impact that that would have on a prospect. Well, I,
Abby Morton: I remember one of the first times I met you, you did that to me. Yeah. And I remember, and I was like, what is this? Right? [00:19:00] And I clicked on, I mean, we watch videos on YouTube all the time, but getting it in an email.
And it looked nice, and it was you, and you’re just there and smiling and happy. 30 seconds, right? We’re not talking 2 or 3 minutes. It actually might be hard to make it 2 seconds. 30 seconds. But just a quick hello. You didn’t even really say much. It was just like, I see you, Abby. I hear you. I’m excited to chat.
Can’t wait, you know, talk to you then. And it was, it was, Such a difference to get that in an email. I mean, just like what you’re saying, a prospect is going to be blown away. I think even now when they get that, because it is just such a different experience. Uh, to receive. So I love this. Like, keep going.
Keep giving me more. This is so, so great.
Katie Braden: Well, and I have so many examples of like people who have gone through my workshops that I kid you not have landed clients just from sending those emails either right before that initial meeting or as a follow up right after the initial meeting, right? To say, Hey, Abby, it was really great meeting with you.
You know, I really do think we’re going to [00:20:00] be a good fit. We work with people exactly like you, right? Just kind of reinforcing that. And people like clients, prospects have said. I hired you, like I interviewed multiple advisors, and I hired you because of that video.
Abby Morton: Right? And again,
Katie Braden: it’s such a small thing, but it is, I have to say, important to make it personal.
Right? Like saying, hey, Abby, it’s not one of those generic ones that just automatically gets sent out, like, in your Calendly follow up. Okay, that doesn’t have the same effect. It’s got to be that individual one. But once you start doing that, right, and again, getting that feedback, people are like, this is really cool.
That just kind of tells your brain like, oh, so it doesn’t have to be perfect, right? It doesn’t have to be scripted. It’s okay if I just got back from the gym, right? And I’m sweaty. I don’t have to wait until everything is flawless. Like, people want to build a relationship with you.
Abby Morton: Yeah. Well, and I’m thinking too that having your environment set up so you really can just click a button, record the 32nd video and move on with your day, that’s going to make it so much easier for you to be able [00:21:00] to continue to do that over and over and over again.
Right? Because if it’s in your head that you have to be in a suit and have this perfect lighting and from A to Z has to be absolutely perfect. You’re never going to do that. That’s not going to scale. So I agree, like showing off, up authentically, putting everything ready, your lighting, your camera, your office set up so that you can just hit play and record.
Those 30 second videos will really only take you 30 seconds to record, you know, 30 more seconds to put it in the email and hit send. Right? I mean, we’re talking about a minute’s worth of time to land a client. I mean, it seems so worth it.
Katie Braden: Yeah, it is. And I’ll say. Yeah. I agree. Yes, and I want to touch on, like, what do you need to do to make sure that your setup is ready.
But I’d also say, like, don’t let that stop you, right? It’s so easy as humans to be like, everything has to be perfect before I can start this. A lot of the videos that people have told me they remember the most are, like, I have a cat jumping on me, right? I’m, like, maybe downstairs in the kitchen, or I’m in the backyard, or I’m out, you know, [00:22:00] shopping, and I got something, and I wanted to make sure to respond to that person right then, right?
And they see, like, they just reached out, and they see, oh, hey. I am sending a video immediately, right? I’m not saying I have to get, I have to turn on my lights and I have to do everything. Like, don’t let any of that stop you. Just, just get started with that stuff. I
Abby Morton: love that. No, I agree. I’ve, I’ve used that app Marco Polo, where I’ll message just my friends back and forth.
And I’m surprised at how much is being in front of the camera, talking to my friends. about my personal life has made a huge difference for me to show up at work being in front of the camera. So, Katie’s not lying to you people, like, really, even just messaging your family and your friends, like, seeing yourself on camera and how you show up is so, so beneficial.
Katie Braden: Yeah, and that’s why, again, starting with those happy birthday messages, right? Or, we all know, we do this all the time, friends and family that we think about, and we’re like, Oh, I need to reach out to Abby, I haven’t talked to her in a while. Right? And then we move on to the next thing. And four more months flies by.
Like, taking those moments to pause, [00:23:00] and just sending a quick video, even if it’s literally just, Hey Abby, just wanted you to know I’m thinking about you. Like, hope everything’s going well, I’ve been busy, like, let’s catch up soon, just wanted to say I hope you’re doing awesome. Right? That’s it. It can be like, just that short and sweet.
And again, that’s when it can be like, you could be having a really bad day and be like, oh my gosh, like, that just made my day, right? Like, knowing that somebody’s thinking about you and it’s so much more impactful than a text of like, hey, let’s chat soon.
Abby Morton: Totally. Okay, so getting started, just start doing one to one interactions, one to one outtreats, birthdays, anniversaries, even with your family and friends.
That’s a great way to get started. So after they’re feeling comfortable doing that, You know, what do you recommend them doing next?
Katie Braden: Yeah. So I want to talk about the setup, but I want to make sure, so when it comes to platforms, because people are always like, yeah, how do I send those one to one video emails?
Yeah. Doesn’t matter. Don’t spend seven hours researching different platforms. If you use Loom in your business and you like it, just use Loom for this. If you want to try something else, you know, try Vidyard or try BombBomb. Like, the [00:24:00] platform doesn’t matter. So I just want advisors to know, like, Just get started.
That’s one more thing. But do not, like, record a video on your phone and email the video file. Or on your, like, never ever email a video file. Because that’s going to get stuck in 99 percent of servers. Nobody’s ever going to get it. They have to download it, they have to find it, they have to Don’t do that.
So these, these platforms make these one to one videos super, super easy. Okay, great tip, yeah. Yeah, so then when it comes to, okay, what should you, you know, look like, sound like, three quick things. One, I am on a mission, Abby. Everyone, love you all. Don’t love your ceilings. Tilt your cameras down. How about we do this?
Abby Morton: I just, I just moved my camera up. You can see the ceiling and barely my eyes for those that are just listening.
Katie Braden: And I have seen so many webinars with advisors on them. I spent all day in calls with advisors and I’m like, if this is how you’re showing up in [00:25:00] your client meetings and your prospect meetings, this is not building that strong brand that you want it to.
Yeah. So. Biggest thing to think about, you should always have more room below your chin than above your head. Whatever you need to do to, like, put yourself in the frame, more room below your chin. Because really what we’re trying to do is emulate what it feels like to be in person. So we want to see your head, we want to see your upper body, and we want to see some natural hand gestures, just like we’re sitting across from each other at a table.
Yeah. So that’s the thing, like, it shouldn’t be all in on your head, it shouldn’t be super far back, like, get your camera so that it’s nicely there. Please, please, please stop using fake virtual and blurred backgrounds. I have nothing good to say about them. Don’t do it. You can turn your desk a different direction.
Believe me, I have been in the tiniest of spaces. I have been in, you know, weird spaces from, you know, travel and moving. There is a way to do it. I promise. [00:26:00] Stop using those.
Abby Morton: I don’t, I don’t like them either. I, I, I hate them. I, I feel like they’re trying to hide something from me. Right. So going back to being authentic, going back to showing up wherever you’re at.
I mean, I feel like nowadays too, you just see a lot of people walking down the road outside. I love that too. Right. If you’re sending a personal message, doing that right now, a time and a place for a video walking outside. Right. But I mean, just know there’s, like you said, a lot of options, a lot of different ways to be able to show up authentically and not have to use a virtual background.
Katie Braden: Yeah, and you, like, you’re so right. It is the, what are you hiding? And then again, like, most people, the majority of people are visual. And so think if you’re in a meeting and half of your head is missing and, you know, you only have two fingers on a hand that normally has five, right? Like, if you’re sitting there and you’re trying to, like, pitch your services to me or talk about some, you know, really serious financial planning topic and I’m sitting there counting how many [00:27:00] fingers you have, right?
Right. As the client, I’m not engaged. I’m, like, so distracted. I don’t know what’s going on. So people really do, like, you should absolutely be putting as much effort, and it’s not even that much effort, honestly, but as much effort into cultivating a really good virtual presence that everyone always did in their offices and in person, right?
People would hire a decorator, and it’s like, I love that. Virtual should be taken just as seriously, which takes me to the last two things. One, your audio, even though we’re talking about video, if people can’t hear you or you sound like you’ve been dropped down a well of a tin can, again, so distracting.
Right? You, you’re having real conversations with people like you need to be able to be heard. So having good audio is important and microphones are not expensive. Abbey, you can get great microphones for like 50 or 60 dollars. Right? Which is nothing. Yep. And then make sure you’re lighting. I get on calls with [00:28:00] advisors and they’re just a big dark blob with a big bright light behind them.
And I’m like, again, I’m like, I, I can’t build a relationship with you. If I can’t see you, then there isn’t kind of anything happening there. So just make sure you’ve got good lighting.
Abby Morton: I feel like my lighting’s not very good today. So yeah. I’m feeling called to repentance here, needing to fix my lighting.
So, but I think all you’re saying is, you can see me. You can see my eyes. You can see what I’m doing. You can see my background behind me. Even this lighting probably is not absolutely terrible. Right? Not at all. No. It’s like those, What are those, those, uh, dateline, right? I’ve been in meetings, right, where the person looks like they’re on dateline, they’re like this shadow and you can see some of the background, but you’re, you’re, it’s just like, who am I talking to, right?
So, 100 percent agree. Great tips there. Yeah.
Katie Braden: Yeah. Again, just remove, remove all those distractions, make it so that whoever you’re meeting with can focus on the meeting. I love that. So [00:29:00] important. And then last thing I kind of want to touch on is like, as we’re thinking about, you know, for those of us who are like, Hey, I’m using video, but where can I take it?
What can I do next? Yeah. Do we have a minute to talk about AI a little bit, Abbey?
Abby Morton: Oh, you know what? We gotta talk about AI. I would be in trouble if we didn’t talk about AI, so let’s talk about it.
Katie Braden: This is where, like, there are so many great tools, so, and again, I am, like, platform agnostic on everything, right?
Whether you like ChatGPT, or Gemini, or Clod, or Perplexity, it does not matter. But this is where advisors, like, get stuck in their heads, and they’re like, I don’t know what to talk about, and what’s important, and then kind of creating valuable, engaging content. This is where, like, one of my favorite things, and I have, like, a hundred things I love about AI, but one of my favorite things, it just breaks through that barrier.
Where it breaks the writer’s block or overthinking and you can just, you know, put into any of those like, Hey, I want to do a video on backdoor Roth IRA conversions for people making over whatever a million dollars a year. Probably a horrible example right there, but, [00:30:00] um, you know what I mean? Like whatever it is, you can put that in and you can, you know, just give it a little bit of instruction.
Like my, my number one piece of advice to anybody using AI. is you absolutely have to treat it like you would a human. Okay. And that’s where a lot of people get stuck. And so literally think you just hired a new person, right? You just hired a new director of marketing. They don’t know your business. They don’t know you.
They don’t know your tone. It’s day one in the company. What are you going to tell them, right? If you don’t tell them anything about who you’re trying to attract, what your tone of voice is, you know, what you’re trying to accomplish, you can give them an assignment and they’re going to come back, right? As a human.
And you’ll be like, well, this wasn’t very good. Right. So then what exactly are you going to tell them? So that’s exactly how you should treat AI. Like give it everything that it needs to know, literally the same as you would a new human on your team. And then if it comes back and you’re like, that wasn’t good, cool.
What other feedback would you give?
Abby Morton: So I [00:31:00] love this and I, I think that we at Elements have also been really harping on this idea and this concept lately. Uh, Jeff Morgan and I actually did a webinar, it was actually yesterday and then back in June, we did a webinar. It was titled how to pick the right marketing strategy, but the idea behind both of those webinars was all about how can I help advisors create their purpose, their mission, their values, their vision statement, all of this content, basically to set up your target audience, right?
What are the things that are important to you? How do you help people? How do you put that together in a document so you can literally Copy and paste all of this information you pulled together into AI and then you have this AI bot that literally knows what you said, your tone, who you’re talking to, what your audience is, and that’s exactly what you said.
Well, tell it, give it specifics, right? It’s only going to do the job that it knows to do, right? An intern can’t do a good job. Even your director of marketing can’t do a [00:32:00] good job. On day one if they don’t know your business. So take some time, write down, go back and watch that webinar and, and kind of put down those key things about your business.
And I think even outside of the AI world, writing that down and having a minute to really like, reflect on what is your purpose, what’s your vision, what’s your why, who are you serving? All of those things are really going to help you in your business. Right? And then you can literally plug that into ai.
Or if you’re not into that, you can literally take that and go give it to any marketing external partner that you want to hire, right? Anyone you hire is going to want to know that. Any new team members that join your team will want to know that. So, I don’t think thinking of that as a waste of time, I know you might have it all in your head, but it is so worth putting it down on paper because even in the simplest free version of using it for AI is going to benefit you tenfold, right?
Get it.
Katie Braden: Yeah, it keeps you focused, right? Again, I’m like, who, again, who are you trying to attract, right? What do you want them to [00:33:00] do? What do you want them to kind of feel while they’re engaging with your content, whether it’s a blog or a podcast or a video, you know? making sure that you’re trying to get people to take action.
Um, you know, what action do you want them to take? So yeah, it’s like, it’s almost like a, it’s not a checklist, but you could turn it into a checklist in a way, right? Of like, is this the right tone of voice? Is this the right brand? Is this sort of, um, helping us get to where we want to go?
Abby Morton: Yeah. So, and I, I love what you’re saying, using it to help you come up with talk.
Hey, I want to talk about, I want to create some videos. Uh, for content and you know, this is kind of my audience. What are maybe some main topics? And just scrolling through that to get your mind thinking of, you can probably literally talk about any one of those topics it’s going to list, but sometimes it’s hard coming up with that list, right?
And so that’s how you can use it for video marketing, but also whatever you’re doing for marketing, whether it’s a podcast, whether it is videos, right? Whether it’s writing articles, whatever your flavor is that you love. You [00:34:00] then can take that one piece of content, put it into this AI bot that you’ve trained with your tone and your voice, and tell it to give you a video script, tell it to give you, like, YouTube shorts, or Instagram posts, or TikTok reels, like, whatever it may be.
I think I used that word wrong. TikTok, do they not I don’t think they have reels. That’s Instagram. It’s just TikTok. You get, you get my gist. You get my gist, right? Is, is using that platform to help you create all things, right, marketing. Have you, do you see that valuable as
Katie Braden: well? Hugely. And the other thing, like the other way I like using it is, um.
The people are like, no, you know, it has to be my writing, right? Advisors are kind of very protective of like, but it has to be, you know, all my stuff. Cool. Right. So this is where I’m like, I can argue both sides of it. Either use it in the upfront to kind of help create that script, that outline, those bullet points.
Or if you’re like, no, no, I really want to write my own scripts myself or my own outlines. Cool. Then I encourage you to take that, put that into AI and say, you Is it [00:35:00] clear, you know, who my target audience is? Is there a clear call to action? You know, is this formatted well? You know, is it, does it have enough, you know, stories or analogies that are relevant to my target audience?
Because again, we, and we do this all the time, right? As humans in any project, when you’re working on something for so long, then you can completely not see that you spelled a word wrong or you, you know, got something right. You’re just, you’re too in it. And so using AI as that second set of eyes. Is freaking brilliant.
Yeah. So that’s like the other fun thing, like the advisors are like, really hesitant, I’m not going to use AI. You know, and I’m like, cool, let’s take something you’ve written and then show, okay, this made sense in your head, and yes, it’s good, but again, not clear who your target audience is, no call to action, like it’s not structured well, so.
I like that.
Abby Morton: That’s a good tip, too. Totally a good tip. What other hesitations, uh, have you heard from advisors about using AI and how do we overcome that?
Katie Braden: It’s all, you know, there’s so much of, oh, it just spits out really cheesy stuff. Of course it does, right? If you’re [00:36:00] not telling it anything, then it’s going, it’s going for like the easiest thing it can possibly spit out.
So that’s where, you know, think about what format for things do you like, right? A lot of advisors, and I love the story brand framework. A lot of advisors love the story brand framework. So you can even tell it. You know, hey, draft a 90 second talking head video on, you know, social security at age 65, you know, in the story brand framework.
Okay. Right? That way it’s walking through that. And by the way, talking head video literally means like, it’s you, it is your head talking on video. That way, that way it knows. Otherwise, sometimes it tries to be like, Oh, animate this and have a thing of that. And you’re like, no, no, it’s a video of me, of me talking.
But yeah, so there are, or if there are people that you like or, you know, styles that you like, tell it that and it can, it can incorporate that. That’s so great.
Abby Morton: I think too, I’ve just heard is like, well, it’s never going to sound like me. It’s going to sound like AI. And so you can tell it, take on a more business tone, take on a more friendly [00:37:00] tone.
You can tell them things like that. But I think too, is I don’t think I’m a very creative writer. And sometimes I just don’t think of all the different words, so I’ll literally type something up and then I’ll say to ChatGBT, Make this sound better. And it literally rewrites what I wrote. I’m like, Ooh, I like that word.
Oh, I like how it phrase that. I’ll maybe copy one sentence out of the whole paragraph that I end up using. And so it’s just helping me. Be a little bit more creative, I think, in my writing, and think about words and phrases that I might not normally think of, that other people, I think, use and is commonplace, but I, Abby Morton, don’t always think about it.
So, that’s kind of another tool that I’ve used. I want to get up really
Katie Braden: Go ahead. I was gonna say, last thing, you also, um, you know, tell it that. Right? So, like, if it does a script or something and you’re taking, like, different pieces from a script, put it back in and tell it, you know, this is my final script.
Please analyze this, you know, for tone and structure and use that going [00:38:00] forward. And even before doing that, it’s ideal if you do have writing or scripts or whatever that you’ve done before that you really like, put those in there to start and say, this is my tone, this is my voice, you know, make sure you’re always matching this.
Abby Morton: Yes, no, I love that. I think that’s so great. So at the beginning, you threw out four quick names. I just wanted to quickly, and I agree, I’m agnostic, but I have learned that some tools do better at certain things than others. And so I wanted to maybe try to give people a little bit of direction as to where to go based on their unique theme that they want to use for AI for.
Is that okay if we just take a second there? Sure. So perplexity is one that I personally have not used, but all my co workers are using it. So I need to get on, but I’ve heard and correct me if I’m wrong, but perplexity is to be used similar to a search engine. It’s a better search engine. So when you’re trying to do research, for example, give me a list of all my competitors, uh, financial advisors in the Chicago, Illinois area, right.
And list out, you know, their [00:39:00] pricing and, you know, assets that they manage. I don’t know if it could really give you that, but like literally use perplexity like a research tool to give you charts and graphs and things to just help you more quickly analyze data. That’s what I’ve heard perplexity is.
Absolutely.
Katie Braden: Yep. So I’ve kind of like, that’s almost become my new Google. And so it works for. Great. If you’re going to do right. A lot of advisors are doing content on technical topics. So it’s just a good way of double checking, right? What are the latest updates to the secure act? You know, what are the latest updates to the IRS tax codes, right?
Just to put that in there and just make sure, um, you know, that you have the right, right.
Abby Morton: Yeah. Then you also mentioned Claude and I’ve heard Claude is really good for writing, right? If you want to write a piece and your output is going to be blog posts or newsletters. or you want it to write you a script, right?
Anything where it’s writing and you want to just really take that, uh, for your writing piece. I think that Claude does a good job at that, is what I’ve heard. Better than ChatGBT. I think [00:40:00] ChatGBT is great, I think, for a wide number of things, but I’ve just heard Claude is better in Some people’s opinion as as to kind of the writing aspect.
Katie Braden: So I have been playing, I feel like I’m playing my own little game of like AI survivor. Yeah. Where, right. This is what I sort of do all day. So I will very often like give the exact same criteria to chat GBT and Gemini and Claude. Okay. And. I feel like it’s like three interns that I have where like some of them have a good day and some of them didn’t get enough sleep and somebody’s coming down with a cold.
Really? That’s so fascinating. Like depending on what it is and so like depending on the day you talk to me I’ll be like Gemini is the best thing ever and the next day I’m like well Gemini just failed me there but Claude did and then I’ll go like a week where Claude is my favorite and then I’m like oh wait chat GPT is coming back today so they’re all Evolving so quickly that again, that’s what I say.
If you have one that’s working, I use all the tools because that’s what I’m here for. Um, but just do something to get started and it’s going to be again, the same [00:41:00] thing as a human. Humans have good days. Humans have bad days. And there are some days I’ve totally seen chat GPT breakdown. I’ve actually asked it like, are you sick today?
It just stops working, spits out terrible stuff, and I’m like, okay, you can get the day off. Like, we’re done here. Yeah,
Abby Morton: interesting. No, I love that. I think that’s great. And it’s easy just copying the same prompt to the three different places and, and maybe you don’t want to, right? But you make a good point.
They’re evolving faster than I think we probably even realize, and that’s why they have bad days and good days, and one day, Quad will be your favorite, and the next day, ChatGPT will, and the next day, Gemini. So, anyway. That’s probably enough with AI, but thanks for taking us down that path, because I think it’s an area that a lot of people are scared, and I’m starting to feel like, if I don’t figure out how to use AI and use it well, like, I’m going to be left behind, right?
It’s like, I feel like the Microsoft suite back in the day, right? If you didn’t know how to use Excel and Microsoft Word, like you got left behind. And I’m starting to feel like that [00:42:00] about AI. So it’s totally, how can you train it? How can you treat it? a human being to work for you and, and, and leverage it for the best of your ability.
So, yep. Awesome. Okay. Well, I think we’ve kind of run the gambit. So many great tips from you today. We didn’t really get to hear, we know you do video marketing, but if people want to find you and if they want to connect with you and, and understand more specifically, maybe get some more one on one help.
Talk to us just for five minutes about what you do and how you help advisors if they, if they want to learn more. Okay.
Katie Braden: Yeah, I love that. So my main thing is running a 12 week virtual workshop for advisors and people that work with advisors. So some people in there are, um, B2B, but people in the financial advisory space.
So we meet once a week for an hour and we walk step by step through everything you need to know. And so the first six weeks is really focused on building that comfort and confidence, And building on, you know, all your structures. So getting your lighting and your audio and your [00:43:00] background and your framing and figuring out what is your tone of voice, you know, what’s your personality coming through and getting that set up so that, like you said earlier, you can just sit down and have that ready to go anytime you need to do a video.
And then the second six weeks really dives into that content, right? Once we’ve got that really good foundation, that is the most important part, right? Building that comfort and confidence. Then diving into. Content that can cover everything from your operations, your internal communications, employee onboarding, your website, YouTube, social media, like you name it.
If you think about every piece of your business, video can and should touch it. So we touch on all of those things. So every week there’s just a one to two minute video assignment to make sure you’re practicing, right? You have to get that practice in. It’s a safe space. There are small workshops, like maximum of 10 advisors.
That way everybody’s getting super personal coaching. Throughout, you build that camaraderie, building that habit, and you also get two edit professionally edited videos. I’ve got a full time editor on the [00:44:00] team. We do your YouTube banner, your YouTube thumbnails. Like, so we’re really trying to get you by the end of that 12 weeks.
At the latest, hopefully, you’ve got video out into the world. It’s part of your practice. Um, if you want to work with us ongoing, there’s an option. Only for those people who have gone through the workshop. Um, but it’s so much fun, Abby. And like, the, even the relationships that advisors have made, and that other, you know, workshop participants have been, have made.
It’s been so much fun.
Abby Morton: I love it. I love it. Well, thank you for that. So go check Katie out. The website is Advisor Video Marketing, right? Advisor VM. VM. Okay. I knew I’d get that wrong. Apologies. So advisor VM, uh, you can also go check out that webinar that I talked about that we did back in January. It’s in our help center.
Always go look into that and get a little bit more of the nitty gritty about, you know, what those workshops are going to be and kind of some tips there. Um, but I think we talked about so many amazing tips. I’m so glad the ground we covered today. I think it was really helpful content. Thanks so much [00:45:00] for your time, Katie.
Always a joy to have you.
Katie Braden: Yeah, and last thing I say, I always love hearing what people’s favorite part of a, of a podcast is or what questions you have that we didn’t answer. So if you head to advisorvm. com, there’s a little talk to me button in the bottom right, and you can send me a text, audio, or ideally you can send me a video message right from my website.
And I always respond the fastest to those video messages.
Abby Morton: You’re going to get major props if you send Katie a video message after you listened to this episode. So love it. Okay. Thanks so much, Katie. Thanks, Abby.