Continuing our series of blog posts on video marketing in Real Estate, we would like to talk about the different types of videos you can create to increase traffic and engagement. Previously we wrote about the benefits video marketing brings and what you can do to elevate your video content to another level.
Just like with any content creation, video content evolves around creativity. There is no limit on what your videos can be. The more unique the concept behind them is, the higher the chance that viewers will find them interesting.
You can use videos in newsletters and emails, add them to websites and social media, use them instead of presentations at events and much more.
Overall videos can be incorporated in every stage of your company’s lifecycle and can help make your life easier. To help you get started on finding your own video style, here are a few ideas that can inspire you.
Type 1 – Profile
A profile video is your company’s face. It shows your potential clients who you are as a brand, what services you offer and what values you have. Within a few seconds you can create a feeling of trust amongst the viewers and prompt them to get in touch and work with you.
A good profile video can make or break your conversion levels and help to bring brand awareness to new heights.
Just like when meeting a person for the first time you want to make a good impression and try to look your best, you profile video should showcase all of your company’s best features. It needs to have a fluid, honest feel to it and evoke emotions.
A great example of a profile video is the Seaport Real Estate Group Company video. The company chose a very unique introduction style, showcased the area it works in and its team. The key speakers for the company talked about things viewers can relate to like team work and a personalised approach for each customer.
Type 2 – Testimonials
According to B2B Content Marketing Trends Report, customer testimonials and case studies are considered the most effective content marketing tactics, identified by 89% and 88%, respectively, of B2B marketers. This isn’t surprising as, people tend to trust other people much more than brands.
Testimonial videos carry only 1 goal – to prove to your potential customers that you can be trusted.
By having existing customers share their stories and experiences with your brand, you are allowing viewers to receive actual proof that you are legit and that you can help them. This is key for any business, but especially for Real Estate.
When people are trusting you to help them choose their future home, they need to feel secure and protected. Testimonial videos can give them just that.
Make sure that your videos are honest and not staged. Film your clients in a comfortable setting, where they can relax. Don’t use scripts and allow them to speak from the heart. The rawer your video is, the higher engagement it will get.
In our opinion, a great example of a testimonial video is the Post & Company Real Estate Client Testimonial Video. The company filmed clients of different age groups and different experiences, in their own homes, talking about the difficulties they faced and how the company solved them. By seeing the variety of different scenarios, the company handled, viewers immediately feel that they are dealing with a professional brand that knows what it is doing. And that’s essentially exactly what any Real Estate business needs.
Type 3 – Educational
According to Google, “How-to” videos earn the most attention of any content category on YouTube. 80% of Gen Z teens find that YouTube helped them become more knowledgeable, while 1 in 3 baby boomers use it to find out about a product or a service. This means that across all generations, video is mostly used as a learning tool.
But what does it mean for Real Estate? It means, that your company’s target audience is out there, and they are hungry to learn from you.
Homebuyers are mostly looking for companies that look and feel professional. That’s why it is important to showcase your expertise to them. By talking to them about your industry, helping them to learn more about it and showing them how they can solve the obstacles they face, you are not only building trust among your community but also encouraging conversation.
Take FOCUS Real Estate for example. They created a whole weekly series on their YouTube channel, dedicated to Real Estate topics their audience might find interesting. BrookField Residential went a step further and actually started a channel called “Homebuyer’s School” that offers more than 170 educational videos. Sharing knowledge with your audience is important, and its importance shouldn’t be overlooked.
Type 4 – Animation
Animated videos are one of the easier options for companies to get into video marketing. They are usually designed in-house and are much easier and cheaper to make. They are also a great way to simplify messages and showcase difficult concepts in a straightforward and engaging way.
With a few simple illustrations and text, you are guaranteed that your audience will receive your message even if they play the video with the sound off.
These types of visuals are great for sharing on social media channels and can help bring more traffic to your profiles and your website.
A Real Estate investing company called Fundrise took the difficult subject of investing and explained it in a simple, short video through the use of animation. By highlighting the main points with text, the company made sure that the viewers remembered them. Animation doesn’t need to be overcomplicated. The simpler and clearer the idea behind it, the better your message is conveyed.
Type 5 – Live
Continuing the trend of the importance of human touch in marketing, live videos have become more and more popular in the past few years. Now almost all of the top social media platforms offer lived video tools for companies and users to explore.
Facebook actually discovered that the daily watch time of their live broadcasts grew 4 times in the last year.
Live videos allow your viewers to feel that they are having a direct conversation with you in real-time. They are more personalised and authentic than anything you can prerecord. This is probably why viewers spend up to 8.1x longer with live video than with video-on-demand.
Another great trend among live videos you can try is vlogging. By allowing your customers to take a peek into your company’s everyday life and showing them exactly how it works, without any filters or PR razzle dazzle, you are strengthening your connection with them. It’s also unbelievably affordable, as all you really need is your phone camera.
A Real Estate agent called Ryan Serhant, chose vlogging as his go-to video content and it gained him more than 460 000 followers. Viewers get to follow him along his day, from the gym to getting ready for work. They see him in action as he receives calls from clients and can be their own judge of his professionalism on the spot. After a few of these vlogs, you don’t just see Ryan as another agent. You see him as someone you already know and because of that, trust more.
Many times, other agents may take a more professional approach to their vlogging. But even though they use better equipment, more visual effects that give their vlogs a more high-end feel, their vlogs may receive much less views due to their lack of authenticity. If they opted for something less flashy and more real, we might have seen a different picture.
Type 6 – 360 degrees and VR
Thanks to the rapid evolvement of technology we all have access to new innovative ways to visualise our brands. This is especially great for Real Estate companies, as they can offer their clients a more personalised unique approach and change the whole way, we view the industry.
One of the most popular video trends that is now made possible because of technology is 360-degree videos. They allow Real Estate clients to experience the listings’ locations and get a better understanding of them. The typical flat photos that we find in Real Estate brochures, cannot compare to the ability of showcasing your property from all sides and corners. And the great thing about these videos, is that you can literally make them with a GoPro camera and special editing software.
Just check out these amazing examples of 360 video house tours (just use your mouse to move around the video. Click, hold and move):
- Veer Penthouse Unit 3502
- Prodigy Real Estate 360 Home tour
- Adeo 360 Reality Real Estate Tour
- 360VR 4k Real Estate
Another big trend gaining momentum with the rise of technology is Virtual and Augmented Reality. These types of videos can take your marketing to a completely new level, as they give your clients a fully immersive and interactive experience. They don’t only get to see your listings from all sides, but they can actually walk through each room as if they are there physically there.
AR videos even allow viewers to test how their furniture would look inside the house or experiment with the colour of the walls. Just think about it – you can allow your clients to design their perfect home and see the results in a few minutes, all while they are sitting in your office.
Here’s an example of how a VR Real Estate video works:
