Video content is quickly becoming the next big thing in real estate marketing. These days, almost every agent has their own website, with an IDX platform and social media and blogs and all of that. Monster companies like Zillow are making it harder for anyone to rank well in search engines. It’s getting tough for agents to stand out from their competition. For savvy agents, video is going to play a big role in future marketing. Here are some great reasons why.
1. Social media is dying: At first, an individual agent could get a lot of traction out of having a decent Facebook page. You could write blogs and post listings and people would actually see them and maybe even click on them. But then EVERYBODY started doing that and the whole thing got saturated. And then Facebook changed its rules and made it super hard for anything to get seen unless you paid for it. These problems still exist, of course, which just means that you need to put out the absolute BEST possible content. If you’re lucky enough to get someone to click, you better be sure they’re impressed.
2. Videos are very share-able: Videos are cool and new and different. It’s gotten harder and harder to get people to share blog posts, but videos are new and shiny and exciting.
3. Videos are awesome for SEO: YouTube is the 2nd most popular search engine. Links from your YouTube channel and videos will help boost your search rankings for whatever keywords you add to your descriptions.
4. Videos are ranked separately by Google: Ever notice how you’ll see a video pop up in your search results? Google likes to deliver options for search results. Often, you’ll see a couple of blog post entries, followed by a video, maybe in the #3 slot. That’s because Google ranks video content a bit differently. The really cool thing is that your video (especially if it’s on YouTube) can easily outrank your other text-based content.
Sometimes, you can even end up showing up more than once in the search results. Look at the search for “Portland real estate videos” below. The Real Estate Video Guys, have both a video (via YouTube) AND their homepage appearing as results.
5. Videos separate you from the herd: Imagine you’re a prospective home buyer. You’re looking for information on a particular neighborhood on Google. You get a list of results. All the websites look vaguely similar, and each has a generic-looking glamour shot of a smiling agent. Each agent has a written bio attached that says they’ve been in the business for this many years and that many transactions and blah, blah, blah. And then they see the agent who has the video profile. That’s the one they’ll click on.
6. Videos are 3-dimensional: They say that pictures can tell a thousand words. That may be true, but they have a hard time communicating depth. A video can demonstrate spatial relationships in a way that no picture can. This is especially valuable in terms of real estate, because a well produced video can give viewers a real feel for the flow of a home.
7. Videos cut down on interview time: Prospective clients are looking to hire someone they can trust. They’ve got a million questions, and they are likely stressed out by the prospect of having to interview a bunch of agents they don’t know. A clear, concise profile video on your homepage can go a long way toward establishing your personality and credibility. Think of it as a pre-interview. They get to know you before you even meet, so that when they do meet you, you’ve probably already gotten the job.
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