If you’ve logged onto Facebook anytime in the past year, you may have noticed an increase in the popularity of video. It’s effectively stealing the spotlight away from the more traditional status update featuring solely copy and images — and there’s no sign this trend will slow down anytime soon.
Live video, in particular, is so important to marketers because it inspires a huge amount of engagement. Research from Skyword shows people spend nearly triple the amount of time watching live video versus non-live video. Having said that, both live and recorded clips can do wonders for your online marketing.
You might wonder what video has to do with you, someone who sells homes or helps buyers purchase properties for a living. The fact of the matter is this: Focusing on real estate video marketing as a part of your digital marketing — including your lead generation and nurturing efforts — can help you drive the traffic needed to make your site a valuable marketing commodity and keep your audience coming back for more.
Video gives you the opportunity to present your content any number of ways — to better attract, generate, and nurture leads, build your online presence and appeal to your primary audience, just to name a few.
Convinced? Use our tips and tricks below to start growing your real estate video library!
Attracting New Prospects with Dynamic, Thoughtful Real Estate Videos
Before you rush out and invest money into expensive video equipment and time trekking out to the perfect locations, you need to have a video strategy - basically, a plan for what you’ll create, how long it will take, and who will benefit.
Make sure you know the answers to these questions before you begin:
- Who/what will be featured in your videos?
- How long will each of your videos last?
- Will you require the help of a videographer, or will you produce videos on your own?
Once these questions are answered, you can turn to the ideation, execution, and editing process to develop the videos below.
1) Share who you are with in-depth brand explainer videos.
A good place to start with your initial real estate videos is by filming an introduction. Describe why you’re truly passionate about real estate, or how you got your start in the business, and remember to be authentic. These videos should also include some of the properties you represent to give your prospects an idea of the market you primarily work in. If you choose to film outside of your office, include shots of the community as well.
In her introductory video, Becky Frey of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s talks about her background in sales and the importance of the communities she works in.
2) Strive for brevity, as shorter videos tend to attract more views.
By and large, video marketing for real estate should be entertaining and not a huge time commitment for your prospects to undertake. Research shows video that’s two minutes long is perfect for viewer engagement, so aim for that window when shooting.
If you’re uncomfortable speaking in front of the camera and tend to ramble or lose your words, jot down notes beforehand so you have a plan in place for what you’ll say, and practice the script to be as conversational as possible when filming.
3) Film the most beautiful neighborhoods in your community.
As a real estate professional, you have a larger amount of technology at your disposal than you might think to provide your prospects with visual examples of the neighborhoods and homes you are an expert on. Neighborhood tours offer locals and relocating prospects the chance to get a full view of the surrounding community they’ll be living in, rather than just the home.
Here’s an example where Kristi Cotton of Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers takes viewers on a tour of the Kona Vistas Subdivision in Kailua Kona, Hawaii:
There’s budgetary and safety aspects to consider, but using drones to accomplish Hollywood-quality aerial shots and property tours is absolutely on the rise, and will garner you a much improved product over an iPhone panoramic.
4) Optimize all of your real estate videos for search engines.
As with all of your other forms of content, you’ll want to ensure the vital aspects of SEO are within any videos you create so they rank in local search results. Keywords are paramount, and the relevant phrases that you mention in your videos, or those that relate to what you’re sharing, should be included in the title, meta description, and tags.
5) Include lead capture forms or CTA links directly in your videos.
Instead of solely gaining prospects’ contact information after they view a few listings on your IDX website, you can add lead capture forms directly in your videos. That way, if you’ve done an appropriate job of explaining your value prop, or relaying interesting details about your business in your videos, you can acquire leads before they’ve even done viewing.
Converting More Leads Into Clients with Nurture-Savvy Clips
The goal of sharing carefully crafted video content on your website and social media platforms is to ultimately turn your audience members into bona fide clients. Remember to include specific details within your videos.
6) Add nurture videos to your email drip campaigns.
Film a compelling community video or a series of interviews with local business owners, and use them to replace a written message in the drip email campaigns that you send to your most qualified leads . Your prospects will delight at the unexpected media, and you’ll likely see increased engagement because of it.
7) Incorporate your agency contact info at the start and end of each video.
Your agency’s logo, contact details, and any other information necessary to get in touch with you need to be visible in the introduction and conclusion of your video. You can choose to create a separate page to feature your brand’s details, or add them in as footers to your videos.
8) Use annotations in your YouTube videos.
Annotations are a platform-specific way to entice viewers to continue consuming your YouTube content by linking to other videos posted on the website. Keep in mind, annotations won’t work to connect a YouTube hosted video to another clip on an outside channel (like your website) -- but you can increase engagement if you have several videos on that platform.
9) Share videos for certain lead segments on distinctly created pages.
Design unique landing pages for each type of video you produce. They’re an excellent way to clearly communicate your agency’s value prop and the benefits prospects can only receive from your representation in buying or selling their home. Remember to keep these capture videos brief, entertaining, and to the point. Essentially, don’t be afraid to make the ask in your landing pages.
10) Create an overtly promotional video telling leads to call you now.
As we’ve explained above, videos featured on Facebook are huge. Live video is sailing past the next “big thing” designation to become commonplace, and that means you can effectively use the moments captured on Facebook to convert your real estate leads. For instance, take advantage of your website and the power of social media to experiment with promotional videos. Use humor too if it’s fitting for your brand, but craft a clear message that directs your viewers to call you now for more information.
Nurture Leads with Educational and Enlightening Recordings
If you’ve generated a satisfying amount of leads from your real estate video tours and agent and brand introduction snippets, you then need to plot out a strategy to nurture those existing leads with your video content.
11) Exhibit the most desirable properties in and around your market.
It’s possible your real estate leads are just as interested in being represented by a competent agent as they are in being able to see every unique detail and surface of the properties you sell. And since listings that include video receive 403% more inquiries than those without, taking the time to shoot a few to enhance your listed properties will likely increase the odds that your prospects’ interest will be piqued.
12) Promote each of your videos across your social media accounts.
Leverage your Realtor social media accounts to share and promote your filmed content with your Facebook or Instagram followers. Video thrives on these platforms, so go ahead and post that day in the life of a real estate agent film or interview with a local restaurant owner.
13) Repurpose written testimonials into videos with willing clients.
Take stock of all the testimonials your previous clients have written up for you and invite them to translate their glowing reviews of your agency’s services into a visual accolade.
Turning written testimonials into a video that your prospects can watch will allow them to connect emotionally with you and your business. For instance, if you film a couple’s thoughts on the home buying process with you as their guide, as well as how they’re settling into their new home, viewers will respond to their story and connect their happiness with your business savvy.
14) Create a series of micro-advice videos — ones featuring quick tips.
Inventory the existing written content you have up on your website, as well as the most popular questions you’ve been asked by your prospects just heading down the buying or selling path, and put the answers to those queries on film. These real estate videos can be relatively casual, shot in your office or car, or whichever setting you’re most comfortable in. The goal here is to inform and put your prospects’ minds at ease through the level of knowledge you communicate.
Below is Jessica Edwards’ video of The Carolina’s Finest in Wilmington, NC, relaying the best questions to ask your Realtor when you’re in the process of purchasing a home:
15) Establish an advertising budget so you can expand video awareness.
An important component of being a real estate professional is setting money aside for an advertising budget, whether it’s for distributed whitepapers or to boost awareness of your latest brand video. Simply put, if no one knows about the recent video content you’ve created, it will probably return a disappointing amount of engagement.
Getting familiar with programs like Facebook Ads or Google AdWords will help you to devise a marketing strategy to ensure your content is seen by the right audience members and isn’t floundering on your website.
Understanding and implementing these tips and tricks will help you to make the most out of your real estate video marketing strategy so you’re able to not only improve your online reach but effectively attract, nurture, and capture your ideal prospects.
Want to learn more about using real estate videos across your real estate website? Tune into our exclusive webinar for Realtors.
Have you created a real estate marketing video that you’re proud of? Share with us in the comments below!
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