There's no doubt that we are seeing more real estate videos on the web on various sites. Many pundits claim that 2008 will be when web video will break out and transform the real estate business online. That remains to be seen but there is no doubt that the push for video will only increase this year.
So how can you market your property once you have your video completed? Here are 5 ideas to get your real estate video before an audience that will hopefully increase eyeballs for your properties and hopefully your sales:
- Put your video on a DVD. You can always have the DVD ready to show it to a prospective client at your office. You can also mail it to them by integrating DVDs into your mailing campaign. Compared to watching video on the web, the compression rate is much higher on a DVD and thus the quality will do justice to your property. Also, make sure to upgrade your TV screen to a flat panel plasma or LCD screen (or better yet HD) to complete the showing experience for a client. Most real estate agencies are already investing in flat panel, large screen TVs.
- Upload your video to as many video sites as possible. By doing so, you create a vast network of getting your video seen by a huge and diverse audience. Because each video site might appeal to a different demographic or geographical area, your property stands a strong chance of being seen by potential out of town buyers. A great site that helps you upload your video from one single site to many others is Tube Mogul. It provides a one-stop solution to upload your video to sites like YouTube, Yahoo Video, Google Video, Vimeo and MetaCafe. The strongest part of this strategy is that your video will be crawled and indexed by Google and other video search engines. If you're the only real estate agent using video in your area, guess whose video listing shows up higher during a video search?
- Send your video through e-mail as a video e-mail. Video email is a relatively new phonemomen whereby the recipient of the e-mail is able to view your video inside the email without having to click on anything. Video email goes a step further by allowing you to add a personal greeting before the video clip. You can also send the video as a link. Since many agents already use email as a primary marketing tool, why not incorporate video in that email. It's easier for a recipient to read a few lines of your email and then click out of it but much harder when they're gripped by a video. There are some robust platforms and tools out there that are making this available to everyone. Some of the include Eyejot and Springdoo. Microsoft Outlook already offers a plug-in for video in your email.
- Feature your video prominently on the main page of your website or blog. This is a deceptively simple idea but how many sellers or real estate agents are doing that right now? Less than 5% of real agents do any kind of video listing at all so imagine coming to your site and being greeted by a fantastic looking video. The impression you create is something immediately visceral for potential buyers.
- Send your video to your partners and affiliates so they can further spread your video property virally. Mortgage consultants, home stagers, interior designers, you name it, comprise a large network of people that can help you market your video. But they would be more willing to do so with video since that helps market your property and message more effectively and efficiently.
All the while, there are many measurable metrics to track how well some of the methods outlined here work for you. It's a matter of adjusting and refining what will work for you. Best of luck!
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