I love marketing. I love the opportunity presented by a brand new marketing campaign to be creative and stand out from the day-to-day noise of everyone else. Unfortunately, most agents don’t share my zeal for marketing. At least, I assume they don’t; how else to explain the mind-numbing dreck I see every day. Whether by email, on Twitter, over Facebook, online; even on flyers! (When there are flyers.) Most agents seem to have attended the Detective Joe Friday school of marketing: “Just the facts, ma’am.”
Video affords us a new form of communication. It includes multiple modalities that can reach – and interest – many more people than an equivalent, uni-dimensional form of communication. Some people are predominantly visual, some auditory and some kinesthetic. An email loses two of those groups, so does a radio spot. But with video we can reach out to all three groups; we can create terrific visual, we can add sound and we can tell a story that creates emotion. But even with all that going for it, there is still a limit on effectiveness: us. In the computer world there is a maxim: garbage in, garbage out. That can be true of video marketing too, but let’s give it a positive spin. Here’s the maxim I suggest:
CREATIVITY IN, CASH OUT
I expect some might find that a little too crass, but never forget: the ultimate goal is skinnin’ cats. In any case, my point is creativity. Believe it or not, a marketing piece for a listing does NOT have to include all the details; that’s what the single site is for, right? A marketing piece, and especially a video marketing piece, has as its purpose one real objective: TO STAND OUT FROM THE NOISE! Be memorable, make someone laugh; if you’re really creative: go viral. This serves the dual purpose of generating interest in what you’re marketing AND generating interest in you – the best damn agent that viewer has ever met. Now that’s getting bang for your marketing buck.
Neither of the following two videos is about real estate. Nor, really, are they much about their product. But they are creative, they are memorable and they are viral. Look at what they’re doing, steal some ideas for yourself, and think inside the box: the video box.
Barry Bevis says:
You wrote “In the computer world there is a maxim: garbage in, garbage out. That can be true of video marketing too”
Swagger Wagon is Brilliant!!
But, I have seen some pathetic Real Estate Video tours. Or even photo slide shows disguised as video. One agent I know is paying a Film School student to produce his video tours- that focus on him walking around talking about the house. They are COMICAL at best.
Quality at a price is the struggle. In my market the average home is about 200K… Without going “Hartman” I cant figure out how to make a good video at a reasonable cost.
June 14, 2010 — 7:16 am
Scott Schang says:
Once again you’re right on Sean – and can marketing get any more fun that it is right now? I think not!
Video marketing can be as simple as having a Skype conversation with your client instead of a phone call or even busting out a quick Jing screencast update instead of a plain old email.
Also, don’t underestimate the “Juice” that a Hartmanish flip quality walk through can earn you. If a buyer does a google search and your shaky walk through comes up along with a sanitized corporate options….that buyer is going to give you some eyeballs.
If those eyeballs are on a Youtube channel of a neighborhood that you dominate…they may just assume that you know the area pretty well – AND you’re crappy at shooting video, but hey, who here is?
June 14, 2010 — 7:53 am
Joe says:
We are taking full advantage of YouTube for marketing,- search in particular. Folks need to understand it’s not just about posting the video, but optimizing the channel it sits on. For instance Google, ‘panoramic heights kennewick homes for sale’ and you’ll see one of our videos displayed in search.
June 14, 2010 — 9:04 am
Scott Gaertner says:
It seems we may be stepping over the obvious. How about just using video to sell your product? Why does that get lost in all the potential hype?
Example: In the end, most buyers really don’t know a great deal about what is important in a home and what isn’t. There reality is pretty much what I tell them it is, so why not use video to tell them en masse?
Below is a video of a home that has the least popular elevation (due to flat roof) a floorplan that is a bit dysfunctional, is considered too far away from the communities amenities, and most importantly is not updated. (Updatedness has become huge here) So I use video here to point out the properties best points, and ignore the weak ones:
http://www.hrmhd.com/4395316.html
June 14, 2010 — 9:23 am
Jeff Brown says:
We think alike much of the time, Sean. Not sure which one of us that should scare more though. 🙂
Scott G — That video alone would push me to list with your if I lived in that area. Impressive to say the least.
Scott S — Please call me immediately about JIng.
June 14, 2010 — 10:32 am
Anita Koppens says:
I believe that most real estate agents face and incredibly steep uphill climb when marketing, especially on the web, they have to get the people to their site before they can show videos or anything else about themselves. In real estate, people are looking for properties, not Realtors. I absolutley agree though that a well-done video (humorous or otherwise) even if it’s not completley on topic could benefit the agent greatly, especially if it has the quality of a viral video.
Scott S – I use Jing on a daily basis and it’s an awesome way to get a point across.
June 14, 2010 — 12:11 pm
Don Reedy says:
Sean – love this. Simply love it.
Scott G – VERY nice indeed. You’ve managed to actually market and sell a product. Here are the features. Here are the benefits. Want it? Nice job.
June 14, 2010 — 12:26 pm
Sean Purcell says:
Barry got me thinking again with the very first comment:
Without going “Hartman” I cant figure out how to make a good video at a reasonable cost.
I’m hoping Scott G might shed some light on that, as his video has a very polished (translation: expensive) look and feel. In the mean time, I think creativity can overcome a lot of problems. Tomorrow I’m going to post some quick ideas for videos and my hope is that others will add more and create a mini-library of fun, creative ideas for listing videos.
June 14, 2010 — 5:55 pm
Alex Cortez says:
Scott G, nice video. That’s precisely the type of quality that stands out from the trash (and there’s plenty of that out there).
Good points, Sean. Video is a great method of communicating with an audience, but obviously care must be taken to do so properly (again, too much trash out there).
June 14, 2010 — 6:29 pm
Teri Lussier says:
Scott G-
Very impressive job. Sold the home beautifully, but the underlying sale was yourself as a solid, knowledgeable, and professional Realtor. I didn’t cringe once. 😉
June 15, 2010 — 8:17 am
Scott Gaertner says:
Thank you all for your kind thoughts on the video. (Thanks for not cringing Teri)
Regarding the cost effectiveness: I paid $250 for that video. Hi Res Media (highresmediallc.com) here in Phoenix did all the filming, editing and distributing to the proper sites for me. Of course it depends on the price range you are working, but at least for me – that is far too good of deal to pass up. If for no other reason than the advantage I have in listing appointments.
June 15, 2010 — 9:58 am
Jeff Brown says:
Scott G — Something tells me Phoenix’s unemployment rate is about to drop a bit. ResMedia will be hiring soon.
June 15, 2010 — 10:37 am
Teri Lussier says:
Scott S and Anita-
Revisiting this to go off topic a bit- sorry Sean- but I’m curious about Jing- thanks for that tip. Looks like an incredible tool for sharing with clients. Perhaps I’ve been living under a rock, but I’ve never seen it before. Your clients must find it really useful?
Any tips or hints or best practices you can share?
June 16, 2010 — 7:40 am
Scott Schang says:
Terri – you can call me if you still have my number. I use jing for training employees, enhancing email messages, sprucing up blog posts….i’m with Anita, I use it every day!
I plopped down the big fat $20 or so to upgrade it to pro and have it installed on mall of my computers (2 PC’s and a Mac)
June 16, 2010 — 9:53 am