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Key takeaways:
- Video content beyond home tours can help foster engagement and connect agents with prospects.
- Avoid broad topics, and focus on showcasing your expertise in specific areas.
- Use analytics to gauge which video topics do and don’t resonate with your audience.
Real estate marketing has changed drastically due to health and safety concerns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While people are still buying and selling property, the way agents show properties has shifted to reduce person-to-person contact. Many real estate marketing tactics that relied on face-to-face interactions, such as open houses, local events, and in-person networking, are all much more difficult in the current climate.
To combat this challenge, agents have ramped up online marketing efforts. One tactic that resonates well with leads is video marketing. Clients prefer video; in fact, 73% of homeowners say that they are more likely to list with a real estate agent who uses video, but only 10% of agents use this strategy.
Brokers and agents can do more than create listing videos; they can include video marketing in their overall strategy to gain new leads.
- Video drives a 157% increase in organic traffic from search engine results pages.
- Social video results in 1,200% more shares than text and images combined.
- Fifty-one percent of marketers say video is the type of content with the best return on investment.
Create an Appealing Video Marketing Campaign
It’s essential to use video in a way that stands apart from the competition. Listing videos are one element of a campaign, but additional marketing videos can help foster engagement and connect agents with prospects.
Creating videos that center around a certain topic will help build a consistent presence and avoid a scattered, chaotic video marketing campaign. It should be clear what the campaign will discuss and what the benefits are to the viewer.
Brokers and agents should go beyond just talking about commercial or residential real estate because those two topics are quite broad. Instead, agents can hone in further and become the go-to person for advice on something more specific, such as financing, flipping houses, staging, or a local neighborhood. Buying and selling property is not a quick process, so a series of videos can offer useful, actionable advice pertaining to the specific subject.
Find Your Niche Topic
One of the most challenging parts of a video marketing campaign is coming up with ideas. What problems need to be addressed? What themes make a persuasive video series?
Before you begin shooting a video, consider the following questions: What am I good at talking about? What do my clients ask me over and over again that I feel confident explaining?
For example, if you’re a real estate pro who consistently fields questions about home staging, a series of short videos on this subject could be incredibly helpful to prospects and current clients alike. Focusing on staging could lend itself to videos covering the staging basics, the dos and don’ts of staging (drill down to certain rooms), and the often-overlooked area of curb appeal.
The videos can be short since viewers’ attention span tends to wane, so consider breaking up certain topics. Use visual elements to showcase the subject matter, and always provide links to a blog post or piece of content that goes more in-depth.
Getting started doesn’t mean you have to create 20 videos. It starts with one video that converts viewers to clients.
Track Video Marketing Efforts
Measuring a video campaign is crucial to success. Maybe one video doesn’t resonate well with prospects; maybe viewers stop watching after 30 seconds because they become uninterested. Understanding what works—and maybe more importantly, what doesn’t work—ensures a strong campaign.
Depending on where you house the video, different analytics are available. For example, YouTube has its own analytics dashboard that highlights views, average watch time, engagement, and other metrics. If viewers are only watching the video for a short period, it might be a good idea to create videos that get to the point faster. Brokers and agents who put videos directly on their website can use Google Analytics to track how it performs.
It’s also important to track viewers who engage and take action from the video. If someone clicks on the call to action and enters their email, this is a lead that needs to be nurtured. Agents can track their touchpoints and create a follow-up campaign for all leads coming in from video marketing.
The Lasting Effects of a Video Campaign
There are many other ways to use video in a marketing campaign, but creating a strategy around a niche helps establish a real estate professional as a go-to person on a specific real estate topic. Video introductions, videos in ads, and video walk-throughs are also excellent ways to help potential clients meet their real estate needs.
With the ongoing safety concerns related to COVID-19, real estate will continue moving online more and more. Already, 93% of home buyers use the internet to search for homes. Agents who create a distinct experience can gain new leads and maintain current clients. Nine out of 10 buyers said they would use their agent again or recommend their agent to others, so keeping clients happy is key. Video can help provide useful and informative content for clients, making the selection of their agent an easy choice.
