Video Marketing the Future of Real Estate Marketing

Real estate marketing methods are constantly evolving. We’ve gone from advertising homes through the printed page to then providing detailed images and information over the internet in just a matter of a few decades; time continues to march on, revealing more innovative ways to market properties to prospective buyers.

For a while now, video production has been one of the real up-and-comers when it comes to real estate advertising methods. High-speed internet connections and constantly-improving mobile devices with huge, HD-quality screens make video content more accessible than ever – and savvy real estate agents have been capitalizing on that for a while now. But is video marketing truly the future of real estate marketing? Here’s what you need to know – and how to make it work for you.

The Benefits of Building a Personal Connection

The real estate industry is highly competitive by nature. There are only so many houses on the market at any given time, and there are only so many people looking to buy those houses. This makes building relationships and forging personal connections with prospective buyers and sellers the key to success for any agency; you need to stand out any way you can from the massive sea of competitors in ways that help you build that personal connection.

This is one area that video marketing truly excels in. You can leverage the impact of personal stories with video, allowing you to tell the story of your business directly to consumers. Now you can attract clients with stories such as why you originally entered into the real estate industry, the history of your business, what the best part of the industry is for you, and offer glimpses into the day-to-day of running your own real estate agency. Such candid and personal videos showcase your real estate business as a personal, likable brand, and this in turn helps customers come to trust you and see you as an authority in the industry.

Speaking of Authority

One of the other great things about real estate video marketing is exactly what we just discussed – showcasing your knowledge of the industry in order to establish yourself as an authority. While many real estate professionals might think that using video marketing is most effective in showcasing properties themselves, this is simply not the case. Again, it’s all about forging connections; prospective clients will be impressed by not just your knowledge of the industry but by the facility you explain certain aspects of it, adding to the effectiveness of your online videos.

The types of videos that you can create to fill this niche are broad and varied. You can create list videos that discuss common misconceptions about the home buying process, as these will help educate and entertain viewers. You can also talk about aspects of the real estate industry that are unlikely to be widely known to individuals not involved in the profession. Also, you can also provide information about the history of or the amenities present in certain neighborhoods you specialize in, which also demonstrates your authority as well.

The Elephant in the Room: Property Videos

It’s time to address the biggest and possibly the most important aspect of video marketing for the real estate profession: property videos. Using video marketing in this way makes it extremely easy to showcase properties to potential clients in so many different ways. You can provide property tours, of course, but that is truly just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using real estate video marketing – there are so many other benefits to this marketing method as well.

Live video is especially effective when it comes to video marketing tools. Being able to walk through a neighborhood or property in real-time as you narrate what you’re showing viewers and also being able to respond to viewers’ questions about price, location, amenities, and other details of the property are all crucial capabilities. In the post-COVID world we live in today where social distancing and remote connectivity have become so important, being able to offer safe alternatives to walk-throughs to clients is an incredible benefit to both you and them.

The Down Side

Despite its many benefits, real estate video marketing is not all tea and roses. Knowing you should be using video marketing and being actually capable of using video marketing yourself are certainly not the same thing; while real estate agents are easily some of the most competent and independent professionals out there, oftentimes there’s little in the way of easily attainable knowledge when it comes to learning how to both shoot and edit videos. This is perhaps the strongest drawback to real estate video marketing. Without the knowledge, expertise, tools, and equipment to both record and then edit professional-looking video, there’s no way to unlock all the benefits of using this marketing approach. There are options open to you, if this is the case.

There is the DIY route, which involves you learning, possibly from scratch, how to shoot videos, how to edit them effectively, and how to then distribute them through email or on social media. Another approach is through outsourcing the task to a video editing service. Both of these approaches have their own challenges; with one, you may not have the time to devote to learning these skills. With the other, you may not have the budget to afford to outsource the work to a reputable professional. These are the primary barriers to using video marketing in a real estate space; while these barriers may get smaller, they’re unlikely to disappear entirely.

The Last Word on Real Estate Video Marketing

Despite the challenges that go along with being able to create and edit professional-quality video content, the benefits that real estate video marketing can provide your business are certainly worth the time, effort, and resources. As online video isn’t going anywhere any time soon, you’re doing yourself a disservice without at least seriously considering whether you should leverage real estate video marketing.