If you’re not doing video marketing, you’re not marketing yourself or your listings as effectively as you could. This real estate video marketing guide will help you understand why you need to use video, and provide actionable tips on how to create them.
Why Real Estate Agents Need Video Marketing
Here are some statistics that will illustrate the power of video marketing:
- Buyers and sellers (85 percent of them) want to work with an agent that uses video in their marketing.
- Listings that include videos receive four times the inquiries as listings without video.
- People will understand your real estate service offering 74 percent better after watching a video.
- Achieving high ranking for a page on Google is 50 times easier with a video.
These are only a few of the statistics, and they provide reasons to have a variety of real estate videos, including videos for listings, neighborhoods, testimonials, buyer and seller videos, and more.
Alternatives for Creating Videos
If you have the budget, you can hire professional videographers to create any type of video for you. On the other hand, if you want more flexibility in creating videos, you may prefer to find ways to record things yourself or at a minimum cost — that’s the approach that this real estate video marketing guide will address.
One of the most difficult challenges for most real estate agents is just figuring out how to get started. Most agents find that creating videos isn’t a painful and time-consuming task once they’ve jumped in to get a process in place.
You went through the same process when you first started using a showing solutions system or other types of real estate agent software. The most important thing is just getting started.
Creating Videos with Your Smartphone
This do it yourself approach is getting easier all the time, and it’s definitely worth a try. After a couple practice runs, you’ll probably find it’s a quick way to communicate directly with your marketplace using a medium that will really grab their attention.
Eliminate Shaky Videos
Video on new smartphones has evolved quite a bit in the past couple years. Many phones can now shoot HD video. And, there are ways to overcome the biggest drawback of using your cell phone, which is stabilizing the video.
- The iPhone 5 has native stabilization software.
- The Google Photos app for Android phones, all you need to do is turn it on.
A side-by-side comparison of a video with and without stabilization is impressive.
Smartphone Tripods
If you’re going to record yourself talking about your services or giving tips for buying and selling, you’ll need a Smartphone Tripod. All you need to do is find a location that has a good background for you to sit or stand in front of, and then set up the tripod. Good tripods cost about $30-40. You can also choose a spot without a desk because the legs of the tripods can typically put the phone 50-60 inches from the floor.
Your Background
You don’t need a fancy background, although you could invest in seamless background paper if you feel you need it. That type of paper comes in large rolls and you can attach a few feet of it to a blank wall to give it some interest. The rolls are available in solid colors or abstract designs.
Many people are moving more toward real-life backgrounds that show more of their personality. Keep these tips in mind:
- Pick a spot with a clean background that has some interest; a blank wall will work, but it won’t add anything.
- Find a spot that has some interest, but isn’t overly busy; a wall with a picture or two without overly ornate frames would work.
- Avoid sitting directly in front of a window because the light coming in will show you as an outline.
- Be careful to test the location you choose to make sure there aren’t things behind you that will look like they’re growing out of your head — your lucky horseshoe, for example.
There are no hard and fast rules about backgrounds. All you need is something that won’t distract from your message, and will show up well on a video.
Video Editing
Any real estate video marketing guide must address the issue of editing. The odds are that any video you make yourself will need editing. If you’re recording yourself, you’ll see yourself after you turn on the video getting into position and the opposite when you’ve completed the recording. If you’re creating a neighborhood video, you may want smoother transitions from one location to another.
This is the point where many real estate agents decide that making videos isn’t for them. However, you can get editing done at a minimal cost if learning editing software isn’t on your to do list.
- Do It Yourself Editing: You can acquire a video editing app for your phone. Some are free and you can purchase others.
- Low Cost Editing: Many people on Fiverr advertise video editing. Their services start at $5 and go up. According to their reviews, many have done very quick and excellent work for hundreds of customers. You’d need to choose based on their reviews and services.
Intros and Outros
Another thing to consider is what you will put at the opening and closing of your videos. A video intro is the short portion at the beginning of videos you’ve seen that displays the company’s logo. The intro often includes animation and music.
Outro is the term that describes what you see at the end of a video. The outro may also include animation and music, but its main purpose is to reinforce your brand and provide a call to action and contact information.
For informal videos, you may not need an introduction. For others videos, such as an introduction a home tour, or a tips video, an intro and outro will make the video look more professional and reinforce your brand.
Again, looking at Fiverr for the intros and outros is one low cost alternative. If you’re looking for recordings to go with your Smartphone recordings, explain your goal to whoever creates the intro and outro to make sure that the format will be compatible with the recordings you create.
Where to Promote Videos
The short advice on where to promote videos is: everywhere. You’ll need a place to host your videos. YouTube is typically a good place because you may end up with people finding your video while they’re looking for information on a real estate topic.
For example, go to YouTube and search for Tips for First Time Homebuyers. After that, you can post videos to your Facebook page, and embed them into your website.
The key to promotion is to ensure that your videos are SEO friendly. Use the right tags on your YouTube posting, and add a short summary or a transcript when you embed on your website. Search engines love videos, but they can’t watch them. An SEO optimized transcript will make your posting even more effective.
Next Steps
Give It a Try! Use your smartphone to record a few minutes of a neighborhood overview. If you don’t like it, try it again. A small amount of practice should prove to you that creating your own videos is something you can easily do. And, it will have a big impact on the effectiveness of your marketing.
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