Time to Go Video With Your Real Estate Marketing

Contributor Suresh Srinivasan says:

According to the California Association of Realtors, sellers are 73% more likely to sign with a real estate agent that uses video as part of his/her real estate marketing strategy; however, Realtor.com calculates that only .8% of real estate professionals are actually using video on a regular basis. You heard that right: Point. Eight.

This revelation is oddly similar to reports from earlier this year concerning social media, web sites and blogging activity among Realtors. Ninety percent of home buyers begin their home searches on-line, yet less than 50% of real estate agents have their own web sites and less than 8% have a blog. Video is just as crucial. Realtor.com notes that over 100 million Americans watch 1 billion online videos every month. It goes without saying that this is a media format you don’t want to ignore.

In the same way a moving picture/home video of a child’s school play performance improves upon the still photograph, so does the online listing of a home. Photo after photo of a staged home for sale can’t provide the depth, dimension and overall effect of a video tour with a voiceover. And keeping in mind that 12 year-olds are out there shooting, editing and posting video diaries on YouTube, real estate agents should feel every bit as confident they can do the same to market their listings, business and reputation.

So where do you start? How about your smartphone? Many have built-in video cameras. The same goes for your iPad or laptop. Then again, you might have a digital video camera, so you’re good to go. Staging the home is important, but you’ll be following essentially the same rules as with still photography. Lighting, etc. But there are differences, mainly to do with the moving-picture aspects of this tour. Wobbly movements or overly quick movements will not be pleasant for prospects to watch. According to the California Association of Realtors, sellers are 73% more likely to sign with a real estate agent that uses video as part of his/her real estate marketing strategy; however, Realtor.com calculates that only .8% of real estate professionals are actually implementing this on a regular basis. You heard that right. Point. Eight.

This information is oddly similar to reports from earlier this year concerning social media, web sites and blogging activity among Realtors. 90% of home buyers begin their home searches on-line, yet less than 50% of real estate agents have their own updated web site and less than 8% have a blog. While those figures might have changed these several months later, they can’t be too far off the mark. Video is just as crucial. Realtor.com notes that over 100 million Americans watch 1 billion online videos every month. It goes without saying that this is a media format you don’t want to ignore.

In the same way a moving picture/home video of a child’s school play performance improves upon still photographs, so does the online listing of a home. Photo after photo of a staged home can’t provide the same depth, dimension and overall effect of a video tour with a voiceover. And keeping in mind that 12 year-olds are out there shooting, editing and posting video diaries on YouTube, real estate agents should feel every bit as confident they can do the same to market their listings, businesses and reputations.

So, where to begin? How about your smartphone? Many have built-in video cameras. The same goes for your iPad or laptop. Then again, you might have a digital video camera, so you’re good to go. Staging the home is important, but you’ll be following essentially the same rules as with still photography. Lighting, decorating, etc. But there are differences, mainly to do with the moving-picture aspects of this tour. Wobbly movements or overly quick movements will not be pleasant for prospects to watch. For a good primer on how to shoot, edit and publish a video for real estate marketing, click here.

To view the original article, visit the ReachFactor blog.