If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is priceless.
Thanks to the booming digital age, potential buyers no longer rely on newspaper ads or word of mouth to scout for properties. According to the National Association of REALTORS® on real estate marketing, 93 percent of home buyers use online websites in their search.
However, the Internet also presents buyers searching online with hundreds of options at their fingertips. How can you make sure your online listings draw the most attention?
Statistics show that real estate listings that include video receive an incredible 403% more inquiries than listings without video—over four times as many. Surprisingly, though, not all realtors are taking advantage of this marketing tool.
In fact, while 73% of sellers say they’re more likely to list their home with a realtor who uses video, only 4% of agents actually put their listings on sites like YouTube.In other words, turning your listings into highlight videos will help you stand out from the competition.
Why highlight videos?
The power of video marketing is based on one key point: that online shoppers worry that what they see may not be what they get, and property buyers share this concern.
Think about how frustrating it is to order clothing online that doesn’t fit when it arrives. It’s even worse to show up to an in-person property tour only to find broken appliances, water damage, and other misrepresentations from the web listing.
Turning listings into videos catches buyers’ attention because video seems to present a more genuine view of the property—it’s considered harder to “fake” or “hide” outdated or undesirable elements. Land realtors in particular can appreciate that video makes it easier to show how spacious a property is.
Highlighting key features also turns the tour into an engaging story rather than an overt sales pitch. In fact, listings with virtual home tours get 87% more views than those without, and they keep people looking at a website for five to ten times longer, leading to more customer retention and more sales.
Video is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, when buyers are more wary of committing to in-person tours. Even when social distancing relaxes, highlight videos will make a good impression on out-of-state clients who may want a sense of the property and neighborhood, but cannot easily travel there themselves.
Using social media to expand reach
The best part about videos? They’re a fantastic way of drumming up interest on social media. In a short thirty-second clip, viewers not only fall in love with beautiful images, but also get all the necessary facts about a property’s size and amenities.
It’s not surprising that, according to the NAR, social media is the best tool for generating high-quality leads among realtors. With sites like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter touting millions of users, social media allows real estate agents to promote their listings as well as maintain a strong online presence.
And in the world of social media marketing, video is king.
Consumers report that video is their #1 favorite type of content to see from brands across social media, and video on landing pages for businesses can increase conversion rates by over 80%. It makes sense that on sites like Facebook and Instagram, which are already packed full of static images, a compelling video is a great way to catch the eye.
Plus, social media for real estate helps agents expand their reach to new clients. Rather than being limited to local listings and advertisements, every click and share will bring your video in front of multiple potential buyers across the region, perhaps even across the country.
For sellers of luxury ranches and other land real estate, whose properties routinely catch the attention of buyers from all over the United States looking for a change of pace, this wider reach can be invaluable.
Using a professional service
Turning listings into highlight videos and then converting those videos into social media campaigns is important, but it isn’t always easy, and it can be time-consuming. Many real estate professionals have enough on their plate without creating videos and marketing them across numerous platforms.
At Land.US, we offer a “Listing-to-Video” service that takes care of the work for you. We’ll convert your listing pictures into highlight videos as well as social media posts, providing options between 5, 15, and 30-second long videos. Then, we’ll post your videos to our established social media platforms and share them to our email newsletter for an even wider reach.
Our work is backed up by insights from behavioral marketing and high-precision ad targeting on social media, helping us make sure your listings get in front of the most promising buyers. Reach out today to learn more about what we can offer our partners.