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Video is the Most Powerful Yet Under-utilized Form of Marketing in Real Estate

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Director, Communications & Partner Strategies, WellcomeMat

Having spoken to literally thousands of real estate professionals over the last 7 years, till today, the one thing I could almost guarantee that the majority are not doing marketing wise is using video to tell the story of -  What's it's like to live here.

To me, that is a huge untapped opportunity for an agent, broker or brand.

Problem:

From listings to statistics, the types of information consumers are finding on many real estate websites is starting to look the same. No wonder consumers have a hard time differentiating, from the surface, who to choose. 

Solution:

Create unqiue content that your competion simply cannot. As bloggers, each of you knows exactly what i'm talking about. Blogging gives each of you a voice to share your knowledge and local market experise in fun and creative ways. Video, done well, can be as powerful or even more powerful as blogging has been for you.

According to emarketer, over 50% of the US population is consuming online video. But Rudy, what does that really mean to me as a real estate professional? 

Well, it means that there is a great number of folks that are craving video. If you were to write a blog post and insert a video into the blog post, which do you think they would consume first? Actually, which did you consume first in this instance?

I added a fantastic hyper-local real estate listing video by my good friend Loren Sanders to the top of this blog post. Come on, admit it, did you watch that first of read the entire blog post first?

If it were me, I would have watched the video first. Simply because it's easier to click play and listen.

Now imagine that property listing video was front and center on your listing details page along side the typical listing info? Do you think consumers would read all the details of the listing first or just click play?

I'm thinking, with my consumer hat, that if I searched for listings within my specific parameters, and 5 search results appeared, I would click on the one with a video first. But hey, that's just me. And I'm in that 50% group I mentioned above.

Now I've got tons more examples on this topic and it just so happens that I will be hosting a special Active Rain only educational webinar on Real Estate Video, The Winning Strategy next week. 

Just click here to sign up.

Time to go and watch some more awesome real estate videos.....

Posted by

"Video is the powerful, yet underutilized form of real estate marketing" - Rudy

Rudy Bachraty
Director, Communications & Partner Strategies, WellcomeMat - Fort Collins, CO

@andrew - "The emphasis on the agent, broker, brand as you point out should be more on the property listing, the local community area flavor though. Way way too many 26 second "Hi, Jessica here in my car in six lanes of traffic and just so busy listing and selling and being the best agent in the land but want to remind you I would like to be your agent" type."

Agreed. And what you mention above is typically what happens when real estate agents go the DIY route. There is a place for that type of video, in my opinion, that's best suited for more or a realtime spur of the moment update. 

But in order to get the attention of the consumer while at the same time creating a really strong brand statement, I think the below example is the way to go.

http://www.williampitt.com/eng/video?video=31217FDDBD

 

Feb 17, 2012 11:22 PM
Rudy Bachraty
Director, Communications & Partner Strategies, WellcomeMat - Fort Collins, CO

@Fernando - Wow, 300 videos is a lot for sure. However, you got my attention when you said "I'm being very consistent but so far I can yet seem to find a direct connection to call as opposed to just branding effect. I have tested several ways and I even have a video that has nearly 1/2 million views.. . Your message is correct.. but the way to do it still debatable. ."

I looked at your channel and see that what you are actually doing is screencasts of the listing detail pages with your commentary as the voiceover, not full motion videos. While this adds a tremendous amount of context to each property in a good way, this type of presentation could be a reason that you have not had the type of reaction from consumers you were looking for. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/ReallyNiceHomesMD

Have you thought about having someone shoot a full motion video for you to compare to what you have been doing?

Feb 17, 2012 11:34 PM
Rudy Bachraty
Director, Communications & Partner Strategies, WellcomeMat - Fort Collins, CO

@Kathy - In my opinion, the best thing to do is to use a click to play image of your video in your email, something our platform easliy provides. This way, the recipient sees the image, clicks it, and is then taken directly to the video itself.

Have you tried that yet?

Feb 17, 2012 11:37 PM
AJ Karas
AJ Karas Auctioneers, LLC - Denver, CO
AJ Karas Auctioneers

Beautifully done video with your natural and inviting voiceover. This is so much more effective than a static slide show or the typical virtual tours. We have used professionally edited videos with voice overs and music for years using still photos.

However, the personal touch of live video and a "real, regular" person doing a walk through and explaining everything in real time like you have done here is very compelling. Thanks for the inspiring example!

Feb 18, 2012 01:46 AM
Stephen Turner
House Broker Realty - York, PA
The BIG Guy of NEW HOME SALES

Also video is great at cretaing content for your site, which will help bring in more business overall! Thanks for the great ideas.

Feb 18, 2012 03:30 AM
Greg Gillespie
GumTree Realty / Genesis Realty Services,Inc - Tupelo, MS
CRS / Broker Owner

That was a great presentation.  A lot of thought was put into putting that together and was very professional

Thanks for the post and the ideas.

Feb 18, 2012 04:05 AM
Anonymous
Anonymous

Great post and thanks for sharing your tips.  I just recently set up a You Tube page and started a few demo videos (not yet released).  It is interesting to discover that people (consumers and non-consumers alike) really enjoy videos and they like hitting the play button.

Best of luck in 2012!

Feb 18, 2012 04:08 AM
#14
Tyra General
240.706.7653 - Fort Washington, MD
DC Metro Short Sale & Luxury Specialist

Hi Rudy,

Thanks for sharing this video. I normally see a lot of videos that just highlight the home, but it's interesting how they added in video of his website as well.

Feb 18, 2012 07:07 AM
Eric Michael
Remerica Integrity, Realtors®, Northville, MI - Livonia, MI
Metro Detroit Real Estate Professional 734.564.1519

I know I need to start doing video, but I just haven't yet. There are a million things that we can do and I'm trying to figure out the best ones, the ones that will bring in most leads and clients.

Feb 18, 2012 09:24 AM
1~Judi Barrett
Integrity Real Estate Services 116 SE AVE N, Idabel, OK 74745 - Idabel, OK
BS Ed, Integrity Real Estate Services -IDABEL OK

I use video quite a bit for listings.. post it to youtube.  Haven'ts een much results from it though.  Maybe it's there and I'm just not aware.

Feb 18, 2012 10:02 AM
Jackie Connelly-Fornuff
Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Babylon NY - Babylon, NY
"Moving at The Speed of YOU!"

I read the blog post first because I know that it may be different than what is in the video. And, the video was perfect! I have to do videos more. I did sell a listing last year because the buyers viewed my video that ranked #1 on Google for the keywords they used. They were in their late 20's and I know that group will look at videos first most times.

Feb 18, 2012 11:06 AM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

It's a lot like an art gallery for a house if you think about it. :)

 

Love and light,

Laura

Feb 18, 2012 11:59 AM
Cheryl Dukes . . . . . Intown Atlanta
Guaranteed Offer for your Home - eXp realty - Atlanta, GA

Using that Loren Sanders video was a great way to illustrate your point, Rudy Bachraty. I'll make a note to keep Wellcomemat.com in mind for anyone seeking real estate video services.

Feb 18, 2012 12:04 PM
Sharon Parisi
United Real Estate Dallas - Dallas, TX
Dallas Homes

Your post is an introduction to quality video presentations.  Many Realtors in the Dallas area are using a generic format that is boring and uninformative.  This is an opportunity for Realtors and for Dallas area filmmakers. 

Feb 18, 2012 02:05 PM
Orita Isssartel
Coldwell Banker - Coconut Grove, FL

Great post! I've been a professional photographer for over 25 years and got my real estate license in 2004. I've wanted to make a video of myself working and put up on our photo and video website for quite sometime now but was never able to totally convince my husband. We have the tools and the knowledge but never took the time.

Now I'm transitioning to real estate full time and slowly leaving the photo business. I definitely see the value of a great professional video like the one by Loren Sanders. And the addeded value of seeing him and hear him talk a bit about himself too.

Thanks for sharing,

Orita Issartel

Feb 18, 2012 04:00 PM
Rudy Bachraty
Director, Communications & Partner Strategies, WellcomeMat - Fort Collins, CO

Good morning AJ "Beautifully done video with your natural and inviting voiceover. This is so much more effective than a static slide show or the typical virtual tours. We have used professionally edited videos with voice overs and music for years using still photos.

However, the personal touch of live video and a "real, regular" person doing a walk through and explaining everything in real time like you have done here is very compelling. Thanks for the inspiring example!"

I agree, Loren and his team of filmmakers painted a fantastic picture. My pleasure to share it with you.

Feb 20, 2012 11:27 PM
Rudy Bachraty
Director, Communications & Partner Strategies, WellcomeMat - Fort Collins, CO

@Steve - Absolutely! Creating unique video content for consumers can help them envision what it's like to live there in much more detail.

Feb 20, 2012 11:29 PM
Rudy Bachraty
Director, Communications & Partner Strategies, WellcomeMat - Fort Collins, CO

@Greg - Thanks! I love highlighting agents, brokers, brands and filmmakers who are doing wonderful things with video.

Feb 20, 2012 11:30 PM
Russell Haskins
Homes & Land - Knoxville, TN
Think Big. Think Homes & Land. Print | Direct Mail | Web

Thanks Rudy for spreading the word about video! Fantastic video above! I've been using WellcomeMat since 2008 and love you guys! Was the webinar recorded? I hate that I missed it and would love to watch it if it's posted somewhere. Keep up the great work!

Feb 23, 2012 01:02 AM
Arlow Real Estate Group in Savannah, Pooler & Richmond Hill
Keller Williams - Richmond Hill, GA

Great video presentation and great home.

May 05, 2014 08:37 PM