Maybe you’ve thought about working with video, but thought “It’s more expensive than photos. Having a video walkthrough of your listings SOUNDS great, but how effective is it going to be?” You may have decided against it, and thought “Well, video marketing just sounds like too much work/money/time.” 

The thing is- over half of your clients are now turning to Youtube– the world’s largest video hosting service- to look for their next house and REALTOR! And Facebook is still the largest social media site for real estate (and everything else).

The Time For Video Is Now!

If you’ve been sitting on the fence, debating whether or not to start doing video, then grab your smartphone and get ready to press RECORD because the game has changed and FACEBOOK is now making the rules!

In a recent press release Facebook announced that:

“Facebook was built to bring people closer together and build relationships. One of the ways we do this is by connecting people to meaningful posts from friends and family in News Feed. Over the next few months, we’ll be making updates to ranking so people have more opportunities to interact with the people they care about.”

Mark Zuckerberg then followed up by saying: “One of our big focus areas for 2018 is making sure the time we all spend on Facebook is well spent.”

So what does all this have to do with you and video you ask?

Meaningful Posts and Video

Well, 8 billion and growing videos are viewed each day on Facebook and Facebook LOVES video. In fact, they are in a battle for viewership with Youtube. So they will do whatever it takes to keep eyeballs on their site, which brings us right back to “meaningful posts” and video.

People love to watch video and if I were to ask you if you have watched a video on your phone in the past 24 hours, I’ll wager your hand would go up.

Your clients, prospects, the real estate consumers at large are ALSO watching video.

So the question is … are they watching your videos?

Facebook is rewarding video posts in the Newsfeed by ranking them higher than regular posts, and if you add in the “meaningful” aspect to that equation you will have eyeballs watching your videos.

Meaningful is NOT you trying to sell your services or necessarily promoting your listings, it’s about content that is relevant to your audience. That’s things like “How To” tips, market stats, local restaurant reviews, community happenings and events, etc.

Facebook LIVE videos

Facebook has also invested heavily in LIVE video, which is as easy as pressing LIVE and you are now broadcasting to the world in live time … and people are eating this up.

Facebook Live Videos Are Watched 3x Longer Than Videos That Aren’t Live Anymore. No surprise there, considering Facebook is all about being in the moment and what could be more real than a LIVE broadcast happening in real time?

The other interesting find is that viewer comments and engagement is 10x higher than that of a regular post with no video.  The very nature of a LIVE broadcast allows the viewer to feel like they are involved. They can make a comment and see it appear instantly, and in many cases, even be acknowledged by the broadcaster with a shout-out in real time.

Building Relationships with Video

The other powerful aspect of video is that it gives the audience an opportunity to experience you, who you are, how you make them feel even before they actually you meet you in person.

You are in essence giving them control over whether they choose you or someone else but the upside is this, when they do decide they want to work with you, they have already in their minds created a relationship, even a friendship with you.

This is called parasocial behavior – they have made an unconscious decision that your are someone they now Know, Like and Trust. So when you do meet, you no longer have to try to “sell” them on why they should work with you. They have already decided.

So speaking of decision … now that you’ve decided to do video marketing here are a few tips that will help you get started producing the kind of video people will actually want to watch and share.

Top Video Marketing Tips for Video People Will Share

1. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Before you press the record button, have an idea of who your audience is, what you want to share with them and ultimately what you want them to do as a result of watching your video. Remember in the world of Facebook it’s about “meaningful” content, so the more relevant your video is the more people will be engaged and the higher in the Newsfeed your video will appear.
2. Invest in a lavalier mic. 70% of a great video is good audio. So if people can’t hear you or the sound quality is poor, they will disengage within the first 5 seconds. You can find decent wired mics (meaning they plug into your phone) for around $50 on Amazon BUT make sure they are meant for mobile devices vs. camcorders. Personally I use the iRig lav mic and think it’s great!
3. Take the shake out of your videos – get a selfie-stick. These can be found in almost any store and are a must-have for shooting a relatively shake-free video. Selfies come in all sorts of sizes and price ranges, some with bluetooth, some that plug into your phone with an auto record button but I find every time Apple does a software upgrade that the button will no longer trigger your smartphone to record. I prefer a simple selfie that has the removable head that I can also use on a tripod.
4. Apps for Better Video. There are inexpensive apps that will give you more control over your smartphone’s camera functions, like adjusting the white balance, focus, frame rate, aspect ratio etc. For Apple look at an app called MoviePro. Android folk I would look at Filmic Pro (which also works on IOS).
5. Video Editing Apps. For basic trimming of clips, adding text, music and other effects you will need some sort of video editing app if you plan to do this on your smartphone vs. computer. Apple users take a look at iMovie (which is probably already installed on your phone) and Android folk, take a look at Power Director which is approx $10. There is a free version that you can download and use but it will brand your videos with their watermark.

Good Enough Is Good Enough

One of the biggest hurdles to doing video is getting over how you look and taking yourself way too seriously. Hit record and know that the more videos you do the better you will get … AND … just have FUN.

I teach my students this basic philosophy and it is … Good Enough Is Good Enough! Which is way better than NOT doing video at all.

Have a comment about how you’re using video marketing in your practice, or some tips to share with our agent community? Go ahead, leave them below!