Why should real estate agents use video?

If you're a real estate agent then video might seem like one of those optional extra things that you do only if you have to. Real estate coach Tom Ferry says it's much more than that, as you can see in this video:

At one point in there Tom says that if you're not doing video, then "you might be in the wrong career."

That might seem a little extreme to a lot of you, but I think he makes a good point.

Video is now so pervasive that agents who want to excel must be creating videos, not just for their property listings, but for themselves!

Why video?

Because it works.

Short of knocking on the front door of every home in your market, video is the best way to build trust and likeability with buyers and sellers. It gives you a chance to educate them on the market, it shows your personal side, you can share news from your local area, and build a connection with people even if you have never met them face to face!

As Tom says at another point in that video:

"Video has become the cultural norm. It's become the new standard. Like, you have an email account, and you do video.

... And if you're not doing video the thing I would challenge you on is, if not video, how are you scaling trust? How are you taking your best gifts, your DNA, your super power - whatever it may be - and make it available for everybody so they can choose you or not choose you, and either one is fine?"

So where does Tom see video going over the next few years?

"The next evolution is the better quality, better editing, better post-production, more thoughtfulness around really thinking about the client ..."

Create more video content and win:

We're starting to see the switch to high-quality, consistent video content more and more, and in Tom's video up above you can see that he has a videographer following him around creating content, and then another real estate agent approaches him before a conference and she also has a videographer shooting footage.

This is the kind of thing we've been seeing from people like Gary Vaynerchuk for a while, and it's great if you can do it:

However, that may not be something you are wanting just yet, especially if you haven't even started creating videos, but it shows you the extent to which some agents are going in order to develop a big advantage over their competition.

In terms of how that works, I think there are three stages to creating video content:

Stage 1. Shoot your own videos, and manage it all in-house. It's cheap, but you'll need to learn a few skills to get it right, and if you don't do it right then it will make you look cheap.

Here's a quick video from real estate agent Karin Carr who is shooting her own videos and is doing a really good job, so this just shows you that it can be done quite well, and Karin includes a few helpful tips for agents who want to do their own videos:

Stage 2. Hire a videographer for an hour or two each week to create weekly content for  you to share. This requires a bigger financial investment, but the benefits for you and your business will be huge.

Stage 3. Hire a videographer full-time (or almost full-time) to shoot everything. This is next-level stuff in terms of cost, but you would be unbeatable in your market with this approach.

What kind of real estate videos can you create?

Here are 10 ideas from Sean Cannell that agents can use to promote themselves and their real estate listings: