Why use video to market real estate?
1) video is engaging. It will hold a viewer’s attention longer than a static photo.
2) by telling a story appropriate to a target demographic, video can create an emotional hook between the content and the viewer.
3) video can deliver not only the spatial flow of the home, but also include the sounds of the home, further evoking emotional response. Great for the long-distance buyer.
4) video distribution via Youtube and social media sites increases the visibility of any given property from a search engine standpoint.
5) video boosts the agent’s own brand power, in part by showing that the agent is willing to utilise new marketing technologies. By introducing the property on-camera the agent can begin a relationship with prospective buyers.
Well I’m convinced! So much so that I’ve tooled up to offer real estate video on the Sunshine Coast. Here’s my example…
A chat I had recently with a client indicated that fiscal reality was biting and potential listers were increasingly looking for opportunities to trim costs. The most popular item to excise? Professional photography. Hopefully the reasons outlined below will help you persuade vendors that good photography underpins all visual marketing efforts.
Are property photos needed at all?
I’m going to go out on a limb and say, “Yes!” Real estate marketing media reflect the fact that our primary sense is visual. Hands up anyone considering advertising on the radio! (edit: I did recently hear a radio ad for a new subdivision!).
Professional photography is expensive.
No. No it’s not. Real estate photography must be the bargain basement of all commercial photography, costing around 1/1000th the price of even a $200K home. If your property is worth more than this, then the leverage is even greater.
Can I get away with ‘OK’ photos?
There are two reasons why I feel it is false economy to not use pro photography.
The photos will end up appearing across all marketing efforts – internet, in-store TV, window card, signboard and property press, so do it once and do it right.
A listing is in competition with every other listing that meets the buyer’s requirements. It needs to stand out. Whether a potential buyer is flicking through homes in the newspaper or on the internet, it is the lead photo that will give them cause to pause and read further.
I made both the photographs below; the first with a ‘point-and-shoot’ using its built-in flash, and the second with my DSLR and four (4!) off-camera flashes. Which one would you rather have advertise your home?
Typical image from a 'point & shoot' camera.Professional interior photo.
While trimming photography costs from the marketing budget might help land a listing, is it in the vendor’s best interests?
Good photography moves product and is the lynchpin of visual marketing media. Poor photography blights every marketing effort.
