Using Online Video To Promote Your Accountancy Firm

June 7, 2015

I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who works in an accountancy firm here in Dublin. His firm was looking at creating some basic videos around their products and services.


After doing some research, they ran into a problem. The issue he was describing is exactly the same problem I’ve heard from many other small and medium size businesses. Below he explains the difficulties they were having.



We have recently started doing blogs on various topics and services we offer and these are now shared daily on our twitter feed. We are looking for other ways to create new traffic towards the website and potentially attract new clients. We had looked at doing videos before but the cost was the main reason why we didn’t go ahead with it. I think it could be a great way to promote the firm going forward if we can find a cost effective way of putting videos together ourselves“.


From my experience, the cost of creating videos is the main sticking point for many business owners. When it comes to creating videos, most people probably believe they do not have the necessary skills or experience to do the job in-house. As a result, they may inquire about hiring an outside video production agency. They are immediately put off by some of the quotes – (btw I am not staying every agency is over-charging). Nonetheless, most small businesses will have a limited marketing budget which has to be used in the most cost effective way.


In a previous blog, we identified areas that we believe can help any beginner create a video – check out our Top 10 must-read posts for creating your first video. By investing a small amount of your budget on equipment – you can also borrow – as well as committing some time to learning basic camera and video editing techniques, any small business owner can begin to create their own in-house videos.


Getting Started.



Most companies when they start out want a video that explains who they are and what they do. The video above showcases “MAG Bookkeeping”, a firm specialising in helping Churches with all their bookkeeping needs. The video hits the mark as you understand what MAG does exactly and the services they provide.


The real success of the video is the script. The core message in this video is excellent and could be copied by any accountancy firm trying to promote their business and build traffic. You can tell they have taken their time to plan what they want to say and how they will say it. They have also used a client to help express this message and it really hits home. Using keywords like “accountability”, “confidence”, “clear-path”, etc. exudes belief and goodwill that this firm is looking after your best interest.


The Next Steps.



Creating your first video is a huge step forward, and every video you make after this will get easier. Despite this, there will be times when you think “What video should I create next?”. This is a great opportunity, not only to build brand awareness but to highlight some of the extra services you offer, as well as the people behind the company.


The video above presents us with an employee spotlight. Yet, the video is much more than that. We learn about the experienced people behind “LyondellBasell” and how involved they are in their community and social work.


Kathryn talks about the culture within the firm and how it’s family orientated not just for clients but employees as well. All this information is building confidence and trust for potential clients and delivers much more of an impact than any brochure could do.


With regards to the editing in the video, these are all shots that can be easily replicated. Note down some of the shots and angles the videographer uses, so you can incorporate them into your own video.


Example shots and benefits:



  • We see Kathryn enter her work booth.
  • The videographer has taken their time to capture different shots from within this small space.
  • We see her name tag on the wall, answering the phone, using her mouse, objects on desk, etc. These type of shots are called “Fill or B-roll” shots and they help tell the story – you can never have enough of these shots.
  • We also see some nice shots of Kathyrn walking past the company logo on a couple of occasions which reinforces the brand identity.

Give Advice.



A great way to show off your skills and expertise as a reputable firm is to create “Advice” and “FAQ” videos. These types of videos are perfect for sharing on social media, blog posts and newsletters and will help your Google search ranking. You could create many videos on various topics such as:



  • Auditing
  • Tax advice
  • managing Payroll
  • Back office / Software
  • Government Budgets

PWC is one of the biggest professional services firms in the world and will have a lot of resources at its finger tips. Nonetheless, this is quite a simple video with PwC Director, Smita Baliga, sitting in front of a white background.


Smita is discussing the implementation of an inter-government agreement, however to keep this discussion interesting to the viewer, the editor has used a combination of different shots. The video above is been recorded with two separate camera and edited and synced together in post-production. If you do not have a second camera handy, you can always move the camera to different areas to capture a new angle – this may involve the interviewee repeating the answer a couple of times.


Finally, you can also use an effect called “Picture-In-Picture” to achieve a similar look to that shown in the above video with two videos playing in the one screen at same time. There are numerous video editing software packages like trakaxPC, iMovie, Sony Vegas, Pinnacle, etc. that you can use to achieve this effect and many more.


This post first appeared on the trakax.com blog

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