In a lot of ways, leading the real estate video movement has been a lot like leading the Night Trail Running Without Flashlights Club. Based on the history of demand for real estate video, there is literally zero business-related explanation for why WellcomeMat still exists (ask my wife, whom assisted me in giving up a six figure salary 3.5 years ago). But, from a non-business standpoint, there are three things have driven my business partner (@holaphil) and I to persist against all odds: passion, belief in the power of real estate video and the other nut jobs (WellcomeMat members/customers) that also had passion/belief.

Part of the driving force behind WellcomeMat, and the reason that we now have roughly 12,500 members is the amount of resistance we've gotten from the industry. I think maybe we like getting slapped around and told "no." But, someone once told me something that stuck: "if you look at 'no' long enough, it turns into 'yes' ." This statement is especially true if you are a team of technologists trying to solve a fairly large problem.

"No" is Now "Yes" - Here's How it Happened...

The biggest hurdles standing in the way of video's mass-adoption have been knowledge (how to do video oneself), cost (time and/or cost of hiring a pro) and technological hurdles. Those that want to leap frog all but the price of video hire professionals (which we still recommend highly). But, way back in the old days of 2008, someone wanting to do their own videos had to shoot video using a recording device > render that video onto their computer's hard drive > compress the video into a web-ready format > upload to a video site. Not easy! The Flip video camera was great because it enabled one to skip a couple steps in the video posting process: Flip cameras shoot video in a web-ready format and act as a hard drive when plugged into a USB.

Resistence to Change is Not a Business Model, But It's the Only Barrier Left. Enter Mobile Video...

WellcomeMat just released our iPhone App that allows you:
1. Geocode (Find) Your Location on Google Maps
2. Shoot a Video of Anything Real Estate Related
3. Post the Video to WellcomeMat, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

That simple.

So here's my question for everyone...

If mobile video doesn't blow real estate video through the roof, what will? Is video the new photo in real estate marketing?

 

*You can read more about the app on The Future of Real Estate Marketing

Recently, WellcomeMat has been fortunate enough to find that many of the objections to the use of video in the real estate space have come to surface. We have been covering the most popular objections that we see to the use of video, and have been having a great time doing it. So far, we have covered “Objection #4: Video is Only Good in Certain Niche Scenarios” and “Objection #3: I Can’t Do Video Myself”. In this post, we’ll cover the 2nd most common objection:

“Objection #2: Virtual Tours Are Easier Than Video and Just as Good”

Like it or not, online video has taken off. It is such a big deal now that online videos are being shown on television: “iCaught” on ABC, and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” are great examples of TV shows using online video to capture the eyes of their viewers. Advancement in technology affects everyone; and, no matter what field you’re in, there can be no doubt that we are living in a world in which online video pl ays a significant role. So, what are you going to do to get consumers’ attention?

Asking yourself which is better, video or slideshows/virtual tours, is the wrong question! The question should be “why am I not using all tools available to build up the strongest web presence possible?” As if you needed to see examples of each type of medium, we have assembled a list of examples to contrast the different marketing tools side by side.


Videographers (professionally produced):

Sellers:

Virtual Tours/Slideshows:



http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=355614
http://www.justsnooping.com/Home/Virtual+Tours/USA/Colorado/Boulder
http://www.tourre.com/portfolio/virtualtours/

 

Recently, WellcomeMat has been fortunate enough to find that many of the objections to the use of video in the real estate space have come to the surface. We want to say thanks to all of those who helped launch this discussion, and we hope the following blog series will help shed some light on the subject.  Please be aware that this post is not an anti-video post, as our title might suggest.

Our last post covered the fourth most prominent objection to the use of video: “Objection #4: Video is Only Good in Certain Niche Scenarios”  We had a great time writing about why you should not confine your video efforts to high end listings, neighborhood tours, and profile-like presentations. In today’s post, we will discuss the 3rd most popular objection:

“Objection #3: I Can’t Do Videos Myself”

We are here to say that most of the rules about the use of the word “can’t” hold true when talking about everyday people creating video content.  Many real estate marketing “experts” are building a mountain out of their reasons why you shouldn’t use video for anything other than your most expensive listings: you need scripts, good lighting, a great videographer, a fat bank account, and a huge amount of time to get a video production done.  Scary isn’t it?  Here’s one word that proves that video is not beyond the common man/woman: YouTube.   

Before we go diving into a huge argument on why you should be producing your own video content, we do believe that you should hire a videographer whenever there is a justifiable return on investment.  Based on the professionally-created content that WellcomeMat receives, justifiable ROI on video productions typically means the following: homes that are $300,000 or more, neighborhood tours, news-related segments, and agent/team/brokerage profiles.  Here’s the good news: Generation X and especially Generation Y expect the most real presentation of a place that you can provide.  To meet this expectation, you needn’t spend massive amounts of cash.  In short, they want to know what the “human scale” of a property is, regardless of the production quality.  They want to know exactly how it would be to live in a place: how does it navigate, where is the master bedroom in relation to the electric garage door, etc.  Perhaps most importantly, they will be nothing short of irate if your touchy feely marketing misrepresents a property. 

The Echo Boomers
“They are the most sophisticated generation ever when it comes to media. They create their own Web sites, make their own CDs and DVDs, and are cynical of packaged messages. They take their cues from each other…”

You might be thinking, “these WellcomeMat guys are off their rockers if they think that I am going to put anything less than professional video productions on the web.”  You’d be hurting yourself in a big way if you don’t believe that your marketing only has to make sense to your target buyers/renters.  YouTube itself doesn’t make much sense to most grownups: does that mean we should doubt its importance?  Heck No!  Additionally, Team WellcomeMat has the luxury of knowing for a fact that homeowners get video.  We won’t be winning any friends on Active Rain by stating that we are the guys/girls powering video on ForSaleByOwner.com.  But, what is important is the fact that the number of videos being uploaded on their site (videos shot by homeowners themselves) is more than doubling every month.

The finale to our “Why You Should Not Use Video in Your Marketing Initiatives” series will be a how to guide on video tours.  But, in the meantime, here are some links that you may find helpful:

Check out this 3 Part Do-Video-Yourself Series by Fred Light (videographer for hire in NH):

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Tutorials on Video:

iMovie Tutorial (Mac Users)

Moviemaker Tutorial (Windows Users)

Top Four Reasons Why You Should Not Use Video in Your Marketing Initiatives:

Recently, WellcomeMat has been fortunate enough to find that many of the objections to the use of video in the real estate space have come to the surface. We want to say thanks to all of those who helped launch this discussion, and we hope the following blog series will help shed some light. Please be aware that this post is not an anti-video post, as our title might suggest. Starting today, we are going to dive into the four most popular objections that we have found to our medium (video). Let’s start with what we consider the least solid of all objections.

#4 Video is Only Good in Certain Niche Scenarios

Here’s how the objections have been communicated:

- Video is only appropriate when I have to sell/rent a very unique property.

- Video is only worthwhile for my most expensive listings (ROI).

- Video tours will never be affordable, and will therefore always remain a niche marketing tool.

- Homes are rarely “tidy” enough on production day for a video shoot to occur.

Stating video as a niche marketing tool (as all of these points do) in order to quickly resume the status quo is professional suicide. Why do I use such drastic terminology to describe video’s dismissal? One word: demographics. Justifying a professional shoot might be tough for listings that are less than $300,000, but not doing videos for homes worth less neglects the majority of the two generations that will expect video the most: Generation X, and Generation Y. Both of these generations (Gen Y is 60,000,000 members strong) expect transparency in your marketing, the truth about your product, and the use of the most up-to-date technologies. Most importantly, they expect you to match what is real (your listing) as closely as possible online.

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Tough customers: how to reach Gen Y

“…When pitching Gen Y, keep in mind that they've grown up on slick ads and commercial messages. ‘They don't trust advertising”

“In general when marketing Gen Y, be honest. Any whiff of over-promising or false advertising will send them running…”

Generation Y Today's teens--the biggest bulge since the boomers--may force marketers to toss their old tricks

“The marketers that capture Gen Y's attention do so by bringing their messages to the places these kids congregate, whether it's the Internet, a snowboarding tournament, or cable TV. The ads may be funny or disarmingly direct. What they don't do is suggest that the advertiser knows Gen Y better than these savvy consumers know themselves.”

“…Gen Yers respond to humor, irony, and the (apparently) unvarnished truth. Sprite has scored with ads that parody celebrity endorsers and carry the tagline ''Image is nothing. Obey your thirst.'' J.C. Penney & Co.'s (JCP) hugely successful Arizona Jeans brand has a new campaign showing teens mocking ads that attempt to speak their language. The tagline? 'Just show me the jeans.' ”

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Can we agree that video offers the most real rendition of a place even if Steven Spielberg would not nominate your production for an Oscar? Does any other medium communicate “human scale” (livability, or how a place navigates from front to back) like video can? I am a mere Generation X member that would state my opinion as clearly as possible: if you waste my time, I’m not happy. If you sugar coat your listing(s), and I show up in person to find something unexpected, you are likely further from a sale than closer. Is transparency scary? Heck yeah it is! But the real question is, “can you ignore that transparency is the reality of the real estate space moving forward?”

Say a property is $150,000, and your buyer demographics suggest Gen X or especially Gen Y; is this Go Time for you and your trusty little Canon, or Sony video camera? Ask your kids what they think (heck…maybe get your kids to shoot your less expensive listings). They’ll likely match the desires of their generation better than you are able to ;)

The agent of tomorrow cannot depend on being privy to information not readily available to anyone else. What real estate professionals can do-whether representing the buy or sell side-is be a masterful guide through the real estate experience and transaction. Video is very new (the fears of picking up yet another new game are heard loud and clear). We do empathize! But keep in mind that the levels of service that you require from a videographer are on a sliding scale. Yes, you will spend more money on videos for more expensive listings than for less expensive listings. WellcomeMat sees videos produced from $79 - $3000 per video where a videographer is hired to do the project. As volume gets easier to come by for honed business models (check out NH’s own Fred Light or Colorado’s Eric Manthey), these prices are dropping. Choosing photos over video or vice versa is a bad move. Denying that your buyers love video (even shaky or not-so-well-lit video) and ignoring demographics is an even worse move. Spend as much money as it takes to market your more expensive listings. For Gen X and Gen Y, your marketing better be as close to real as possible.

Google has finally hoisted the ad flag on YouTube, and there is no turning back. Their move signifies the official beginning of video sites either a) proving their model (via ads, or a paid services), or b) folding. The most amazing thing about video on the web is that it is the most expensive form of content to host and distribute, and-no matter where companies sit in site ranks/traffic-so few have proven their business models. Smell that? It is the burn of VC money...and I can guarantee that there is some enormous pressure on entrepreneurs at this very moment to monetize their sites up to investor expectations, or get off the pot. What does this mean for the real estate industry?

Anyone using video to better market their properties deserves a bow: you have lead the pack to the most consumer-centric presentation tool on the web. Well done! There is a hurdle that everyone needs think about now: advertisements. The free for all is going to slowly come to a halt. We can't say when, but if you are using a service that has not yet proven themselves in some growth-oriented way, chances are they will monetize your content via ads. This means that you are going to have unknown people selling ad spots into your content.

So, what are your thoughts? Are you comfortable with someone unrelated to real estate selling advertisements to be displayed within your videos?

Good things are happening…

Be encouraged. A success story:

Susan, a writer for The New York Times, needed to sell her NYC apartment. Videographer Teddy Stoecklein was found on WellcomeMat and hired to shoot the video. After Susan listed her property with real estate agent Doug Heddings, the video was viewed by an Italian woman who only viewed the video twice before scheduling a physical appointment. The woman couldn’t decide whether or not to put an offer on the property, so she decided to send the video link to her family in Italy. The video was then viewed three more times by her family. With the help of WellcomeMat and her family, the woman decided to put a contract on the $800,000 apartment at list price. The apartment sold after being viewed only five times. Now that’s the power of online real estate video.

We know there are success stories like this one happening time after time with WellcomeMat users. We look forward to hearing more of these stories, and sharing them with the WellcomeMat community.