Idea Decanter’s 2026 State of Advisor Video Report Exposes Advisor Roadblocks & Shares Best Practices

Half of advisors aren’t creating videos even though successful financial professionals are only spending a few hours a month on this and are gaining new clients as a result

SEATTLE – April 8, 2026 – The average person watches 17 hours of video online each week; this a powerful medium for financial advisors to meet clients where they already are. Idea Decanter, the video marketing company created for financial advisors, released its first ever 2026 State of Advisor Video report today detailing how advisors are currently evaluating video marketing and some of their challenges. 

A little more than half (52 percent) of surveyed participants are creating video content already and 73 percent of advisors think they are worth the time and financial investment. But within the last year, six percent of advisors surveyed stopped doing video, failing to see the value in it and/or finding it too cumbersome to continue. 

“Creating video content and particularly doing so consistently requires effort, there is no doubt about that,” said Laura Garfield, co-founder of Idea Decanter. “But when advisors develop repeatable processes that are manageable, this can be an avenue that moves advisors quickly up the know, like, trust meter with prospects and clients.”

Aaron Hager, president of Harbour Investments, was surprised by how many prospects felt as if they knew him upon first meeting because they watched his videos. 

“[Video] shows personality in a way text and images cannot, and clients often feel like you are speaking directly to them,” Hager said in Idea Decanter’s 2026 State of Advisor Video report. “With so much content consumed through video today, it has become one of the most effective ways to create familiarity and trust.”

Among the ways advisors can keep video production and distribution at a steady and doable pace is to devote a few hours a month to it, as 80 percent of surveyed advisors do. Additionally, recording one longer video that can then be split into multiple pieces of content over the course of a month can be beneficial and save time.

The 2026 State of Advisor Video report found that 49 percent of advisors don’t track their video marketing results; many did not understand how to determine if their videos were successful. Idea Decanter suggests advisors can measure videos by asking prospects during meetings if they have viewed any videos and record those responses. Another way to make video content more successful is to post it in multiple channels including social media, their website, email sequences, client onboarding and meeting follow-ups. 

The obstacles to creating videos either consistently or sporadically according to the 2026 State of Advisor Video report were: time (56 percent), hands-on video shooting and editing expertise (52 percent), coming up with fresh ideas for content (38 percent), sharing videos successfully (35 percent) and cost (21 percent).

On the other hand, 83 percent of advisors feel video marketing has helped them increase their assets under management (AUM), 23 percent of those creating videos know it helped them win new clients, 25 percent feel it drives client engagement and six percent utilize videos as their main lead generation source. 

“Video marketing is one of the most powerful growth engines available to financial advisors at this moment in time,” said Sharon Gottula, Idea Decanter’s co-founder. “The more we, at Idea Decanter, understand how advisors are actually using it, where things get stuck and when things start to click, the better we can step in with the right support, the right resources, and the right guidance to help them turn their expertise into a marketing strategy.”

Other interesting findings from Idea Decanter’s 2026 State of Advisor Video report were:

• 66 percent of advisors won’t consider utilizing an AI avatar in their videos

• 46 percent don’t know what their return on investment for video is

• 37 percent track their videos’ click rates and views

• 9 percent are surveying prospects and clients to 

To see the Idea Decanter 2026 State of Advisor Video report, go to www.ideadecanter.com/2026report. To learn about Idea Decanter’s services, check out https://ideadecanter.com/.

About Idea Decanter

Using  its proven three step process, Idea Decanter works with financial advisors to create videos that move them along the know, like, trust factor quickly with prospects while providing valuable information to clients. With a team of digital marketers, videographers, performance coaches, editors, and video producers (many of them former journalists), Idea Decanter leverages those experiences to help advisors create visually appealing, high-quality videos for social media, their websites and more. Learn more at https://ideadecanter.com/.