As a real estate professional, you are the brand. Your top priority as an agent is to help customers buy and sell houses. However, you can't do that if buyers and sellers don't know who you are, what you do, or the value you bring to them. One of the best ways to build your brand and showcase your value is by utilizing videos in your marketing strategy.
According to NAR's Real Estate in a Digital Age 2019 Report, social media was the tool cited as the best source for generating high-quality leads among REALTORS ®. There are many ways to share content on social media, but social video generates 12 times more shares than text and images combined. As a real estate professional, creating videos beyond social media, such as adding videos to your listings, website, and, yes, a YouTube channel, can help build your brand and generate more leads.
Creating videos may seem overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. If you don't know where to start, we've put together a list of video ideas to get you started.
#1 Tell Your Story
A great way to start with video content is by telling people your story. You can use the information that's already in the about section of your website and turn it into a video. If you don't have an about section to base your video on, here are topics to get you started:
- Where are you from?
- How did you get started in real estate?
- What special certificates or designations have you earned?
- What's your sales history like? Or, what are your specialties?
- Is there any professional information you can share?
- What type of hobbies or interests would you like others to know about you?
# 2 Show Off Your Listing
If you thought making videos for listings is something every listing agent must be doing, you're wrong. According to NAR's Generational Report, sellers reported that only 10% of their agents used video to market their property. By creating videos for your listings, you're putting yourself ahead of the game.
You can create a walk-through video with full production teams or on your own! Grab your smartphone (or your real estate photographer), take some short videos and pictures of your listing, and then drop those into an Animoto project. With Animoto, you don't need any video editing skills. All you need is your imagination and the listing information.
For other content ideas to showcase a listing, visit our blog on the different ways to market your listing.
#3 Introduce Your Team
Consumers want to work with people. You can create videos to share on multiple platforms that introduce your team. Your staff can introduce themselves, speak about the history of your brand, or make a video of fun facts about each team member.
#4 Talk About Industry Updates & News
A great way to give value to your clients and colleagues is by sharing videos with short industry updates. Is there a new trend in real estate? Have mortgage rates dropped? By creating this information, you bring helpful insights to your audience and position yourself as an insider and expert. Plus, because you are giving information to people and saving them time (from having to read lengthy articles or search for information), they'll begin turning to you for future information.
#5 Educate Your Audience
After Google, Youtube is the second most visited website with more than 15% of its visits coming directly from a search engine. Many individuals are searching for how-to’s videos, DIY tutorials, or guides to help them solve a problem. Create videos to answer commonly asked questions or inform clients and colleagues of important information. You can create videos with information like "How to Save for Your First Home" or "How to Prepare for Moving Day." Also, you can create a series of videos, for example, "Title Tips" or "Real Estate Reminders", and release these videos daily, weekly, or at whichever interval works for you.
Another idea is sharing advice for fellow real estate agents. Maybe you've experienced situations other agents are experiencing (or will eventually) and can advise them on how you handled those circumstances.
#6 Collaborations
Collaborating with other industry professionals can help you grow professionally. By partnering with other professionals, creating the content doesn't fall to just one person - both parties will bring ideas and value to the table. You'll get a different perspective out to your clients while bringing them valuable information.
For example, is there an inspector you can team up to discuss their role in the closing process? How about a title agent who can explain the importance of a title search? These are just some of the ways you can create content, bring value to your audience, and grow within the real estate community.
#7 Testimonials
Sharing reviews from previous clients can prove to future clients you're as good as you say. Reuse the reviews you have on your website already and create videos from those. Why not ask past and present clients to share a quick video of their experience?
When it comes to creating videos for your brand, you must start somewhere - then grow from there. Although having a production company is nice when creating videos, you don't necessarily need one. Look at all the different video examples other real estate professionals or brands are creating.
