The constantly evolving world of marketing has uncovered a new trend in real estate promotion. Video networking is growing in popularity amongst tech savvy realtors, and it appears to be paying dividends. Video has been used for years to highlight properties and provide house hunters with virtual home tours but now realtors are taking it to another level.
Rather than using video and social networking as a means of advertising specific properties, realtors are now exploiting the viral nature of the online realm to establish relationships and gain credibility.
Clive McLean, a downtown Toronto realtor, is experiencing great success from his series of video blogs, or vlogs as he calls them. His concept is quite simple. He has a camera mounted on the dashboard of his vehicle and films himself as he drives around town. His vlogs are short, usually less than 2 minutes, and cover a range of real estate related topics: renovation tips, changes in mortgage policies, gardening tips... essentially whatever pops into his head. Once completed, the videos are uploaded on to his Twitter and FaceBook accounts and also onto You Tube. Of course the videos all link back to his website, which has seen a 60% increase in traffic since his video campaign began.
Toronto real estate team, The Condo Chicks, have adopted a similar strategy into their marketing mix. The attractive duo has been producing video blogs that blend business with pleasure in an effort to appeal to their 30 something crowd of condo buying clients. They believe their videos and high profile FaceBook and Twitter presence is responsible for 80% of their business. Joy Patterson, one of the Condo Chicks, explains "The real estate business is all about personality and the videos are a great way to show ours". She goes on to say "We used to do print ads and flyers, but we dropped traditional advertising", a smart move considering how many more people can be reached for a fraction of the cost.
Research has shown that consumers are far more inclined to watch a video and conversion rates are proving to be much higher than from more conventional forms of advertising. By building relationships with potential clients through informative topics versus bombarding them with advertisements, a higher level of trust is fostered. Combining sound and vision generates a higher recall in the minds of the viewers and since 90% of people only glance over pictures and text, the video experience is more apt to engage the consumer and place the realtor in a top-of-mind position.
The tools for marketing real estate are evolving quickly; however, the basic premise remains the same. Networking and referrals are the lifeblood of the industry and social media has replaced the customary methods of reaching a target audience. Far more people can be targeted at a fraction of the cost and the relationship building process can begin before the two parties even meet.
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