Video marketing is a great option for real estate agents, but it doesn’t just have to be for the homes they are selling. Sure, home video tours work really well, but some agents are also using video to market themselves.
One of those agents is Ivan Estrada in Los Angeles. For the past four years he has been releasing a new video every month called “The Real Estate Minute”. He is currently seeing 5000 to 11000 views per video on his Ivan Estrada Properties YouTube Channel, where he will talk about unique homes, home technology systems, and the best beaches near LA.
“I am never selling in my videos; I’m giving people fun content, real-estate related but not: ‘Come and buy this house.’”
I think that’s important – these videos work so well because it’s like a lifestyle television show. It’s not a “I’m selling myself” show, but focused entirely on providing informative, entertaining content that viewers can easily watch in just a few minutes online.
Here are a few examples:
August 2016: “When you own multi-million dollar properties you can afford to splurge on finer things in life. Some luxury amenities that go hand in hand with the gilded life are owning and chartering private Yachts, owning and having the disposal of private Jets, and experiencing unimaginable dinners and events that not everyone has the opportunity to do.”
July 2016: “This months’ topics feature the world’s first robotic kitchen: Moley. Designed to cook with the hands of a professional chef to cater to your every need. Valuable upgrades that will help your older condo stay competitive with modern units. Southern California has access to some of the best beaches in the world! You may not be able to afford to live on or along one, but you have all the summer access to enjoy each and every one of them.”
November 2015: Selena Gomez’s home, a trailer park for sale in Malibu, and the property market in LA.
Small town Australian agent doing a monthly video:
At the other end of the spectrum from Los Angeles is Mark Brennan from the small town of Kalgoorlie in Australia. He chats about the state of the market in their town, what’s happening in terms of sales and rentals, and throws in a few jokes now and then as well:
Again, the focus is on sharing information that is of interest to people watching, and not all about selling what they do.
Hawaii agent reviewing a food truck:
Another great idea is to review restaurants and food trucks, which is what this agent in Maui is doing:
The production quality on these aren’t quite the same as others we’ve seen, but I like the intention and genuineness of it.
So how can a real estate agent create these videos?
They can do it themselves using their iPhone, but the quality will be lower. To get it done well, Ivan Estrada recommends hiring a professional:
“If the agent has the resources, I would invest the time and money in finding a good videographer. They will have the right lighting and microphone equipment, which is crucial.”
I think that’s important. Creating a video is something – creating one that has good sound and good lighting so that people watch all of it instead of stopping it after 10 seconds and going elsewhere is something else. Your viewers are exposed to a lot of video content online these days, and that’s only going to grow further. As such, they no longer accept poor quality video, and will quickly hit the stop button if they don’t like what you’re doing.
So bring in a professional, and you may find that your local real estate photographer is just the right person to team up with on this, because they’ll have the right gear, and they know your industry so they know what’s going to work.