Real Estate Video Marketing

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Real estate video marketing continues to increase in popularity, especially in today’s uncertain market that requires agents to think ahead of the competition and find new ways to reach to potential clients and buyers. In our post Unique Ways to Use Videos we listed several ways to add videos to a real estate website to make it more appealing and attractive to potential clients.

It’s also important to understand there’s a big difference between real estate video marketing and just creating a video and posting it to your website. Marketing requires effort in making sure that video is seen by the people who need to see it, as well as making continuous contact with others. Like any other marketing media, video also needs strategy. In the same way you would target a “move-up” neighborhood for Just Listed postcards, you need to develop a targeted plan for marketing with video. You also need to have a video that is going to make people want to watch it. If no one is enticed to watch the video, it is ineffective in marketing.

Here are some tips for video marketing online:

Have a Video Section on Your Front Page: Very few real estate websites or blogs have a section on the home page that features videos. You can embed a video in the sidebars or the center of the page to grab your audience’s attention. Don’t forget to link to other videos below on different topics or have a category/page dedicated to updated videos.

Choose Useful Topics: Consumers need to have a reason to watch a video. People like “how-to’s” especially, but a quick video on “Important Things to Know Before You Sell Your House” can also be attractive to online viewers. Things with a “top secret” kind of appeal can work also. Make the topic interesting and give it a catchy headline that makes people feel like they will have lost something by NOT watching the video. Alternatively, you could go for “shocking” or funny topics that can create buzz and interest – just make sure you keep it professional.

Make it Quick and Let Them Know How Quick: Most people have a short attention span, especially online. Showing how long the video is on the front video player screen or directly above it that says something like “Watch our 60 Second Video” will give viewers more incentive to watch it. There’s nothing worse than a video that loses your attention in less than 10 seconds or one that drags on for 10 minutes of repetition.

Use Your Email List: Sending a quick email to your list that you’ve posted a new video with the must-have info they might want can bring your video more traffic, and if you’ve done the above, chances are they’ll stick around long enough to actually watch it.

Make it Share-Able: There’s nothing worse than watching a great video and then when I think, wow, I’d like to pass this one on to someone or embed in a blog post there’s no button to do that. Youtube’s video format is a good example of how to make videos easy to share with others.

Get the Video in Targeted Niches: While I just mentioned YouTube, it’s important to remember there are other places you can submit a video to that may bring much better results. This alternatives to Youtube article has some very good suggestions. Try typing “submit your video yourcityname” in Google for more local places, as well as checking on your news sites to see if they have sections to submit user created video.

Start a Discussion: Having a comments section below a video allows people to ask questions or add their thoughts – this creates interaction which can possibly bring more people back to the site for repeat visits if the discussion is interesting. It also gives you the opportunity to shine as the expert as you reach out and answer others questions. You may also want to post your video in forums for others to watch, just be careful they don’t consider that to be spam.

Take Video Offline: If your target customers aren’t online 24/7, there’s a good chance they’re not visiting your website OR watching the video you’ve posted. Give your customers a DVD they can watch at home, or consider hosting an event to show the video to your audience. You could also set up a television screen in your office’s reception area that plays videos with information visitors may find interesting while they wait. (They do it at doctor’s offices, why not real estate offices and other businesses as well?)

Do you have any other tips for real estate video marketing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.