Hey All – One question we get a lot of questions about is how to add a video to Instagram that is longer than one minute and we found this super simple video that explains how:
2019 was a great year – we finished up strong with video projects for Quest Diagnostics, Osmotica, and Green Mountain Bluegrass and Roots Festival, amongst others. And some cool super secret projects are in production now which we will share about when we can. Thanks to all our clients and see you in the year 2020!
We have exciting news – we are now able to upload your property videos directly to Zillow and the video will appear with property in search results and property details, with all the ranking benefits of video. Here’s a recent example.
Our Creative Director, Paul Morgan, was interviewed on The New Jersey Real Estate Show Podcast hosted by Tim Waller. It was a great opportunity for Paul to share his philosophies on the importance of video in real estate and his take on video tours, agent profiles, and where video is headed.
Uploading your video directly to Facebook (called “Native” video) results in much better engagement including views, likes, and shares, than any other type of post, including posts with YouTube videos embedded. Even factoring out the autoplay function of Facebook it outperforms other posts by at least 2-to-1. Read full article here.
Need help with a video for Facebook? Contact us to discuss the different types of videos that work well on Facebook to increase engagement and sales.
Aerial video is a hot topic recently with the booming aerial drone industry. It’s important to chose a licensed, experienced pilot, who has a good eye for the shots that will best highlight the property and it’s features. We use top of the line drones flown by our experienced, FAA licensed drone pilots/cinematographers. You can see examples of our work and if you have any questions, or would like more info, please contact us. Thanks!
This article is Part 2 of a two-part series on what the numbers say about why and where you should use video marketing. In the first part I covered three main points on why it is a marketing mistake to skip video marketing:
85 percent of buyers and sellers want to work with an agent who uses video.
Homes listed with video get four times the inquiries of homes listed without video.
Including video in emails doubles the click-through rate and reduces opt-outs by 75 percent.
Granted, video marketing is an added expense: often affordable, but still more costly than photos. So what do you do if you’re on a limited budget? Here’s what the statistics say about how to focus your video marketing for the biggest return on investment. (Unless otherwise noted, all statistics come from the 2013 Google/NAR study, “The Digital House Hunt.”)
Focus on community videos and listing videos
Of homebuyers who use video in their search, 86 percent use it to research a particular community, and 70 percent use it to tour the inside of homes. These two uses are far and away the most popular. And as Stephen Schweickart points out in this post, community videos offer high return on investment because they’re “evergreen” content you can use again and again.
So if your video budget is limited, focus on producing community videos and video house tours. Can’t afford both? Find a videographer who can produce videos that combine listings and community information. You’ll still nab the lion’s share of the video audience, but you’ll probably spend less than you would to produce both types of video separately.
Syndicate to YouTube
With a 51 percent audience share, YouTube is now the top video research destination for house hunters (yes, even more popular than listing websites), so make it your default upload location for listing videos. Set up your own channel; organize videos by playlist; and use search-friendly keywords or the property address in your title, description and tags to make it easy for buyers to find what they need.
YouTube is also a popular destination for agent videos: “Find an agent” searches on YouTube are increasing 46 percent year over year. Of course, you can’t post a written bio on YouTube – you’ll need a video bio to capture that audience. Video bios can run from the very simple to the elaborate, with prices to match. Something simple will get your name on YouTube, which is the most important step, but a more polished video will probably garner more views and shares. Not sure what makes a good agent bio? Read this helpful post from Debb Janes.
Share, share, share
There’s not a specific statistic about this, but search engine optimization experts generally agree that you’re more likely to get found online if you post quality content in a variety of locations. So if you really want to get noticed, post your videos on YouTube as well as on your own website, your local MLS and your social media pages.
This may sound intimidating, but it’s actually pretty simple. If your video is already on YouTube, you can just paste the link into a Facebook or Twitter post, and the video will embed automatically. Most social sites also offer FAQs or tutorials that walk you through video uploading step by step. And, of course, you can always look for a videographer who offers syndication options, listing Web pages or MRIS integration.
However you go about video marketing, justget started. As the numbers show, you can’t afford not to!
Kathryn Royster is the communications coordinator for HouseLens, the nation’s largest provider of walk-through video house tours. Her personal real estate passions are old houses and getting in over her head on restoration projects.
While YouTube can be a messy user experience there’s no denying it’s global impact and search engine tastiness (Blog: Search Engines Love Video). So, we recommend that videos be posted to YouTube as well as other venues. But when you post a video to YouTube please remember to configure the video for maximum relevancy by doing the following simple but oh-so-important steps:
Give it a title related to the topic. For example, for a real estate video in the given town such as “Video tour of 123 Main Street in Madison NJ – Real Estate Homes for Sale”.
Fill in the description with the description you would on a product details page or in a property details page. Include a link back to your website or to the property details page with a call to action like “More information on this property: www.123mainst.com”.
Tag it.
Use the advanced settings to set the location and film date.
And once it is posted go into the “Subtitles and CC” and correct errors in the transcript.
Search engines (and people!) love video and by executing the simple steps above both will be able to find, and enjoy your video. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us. Thanks!
At the advent of the internet it was assumed that video would become a significant component in short order. Millions was invested in “web television” start-ups such as Digital Entertainment Network and Dreamworks’ Pop.com. However due to multiple factors (remember dial-up?) they died a quick and ugly death. Perhaps the sting of those failures is the reason that video has not been given it’s due. Well, it’s time to give props to video. And not just because we all know and use YouTube but as it turns out, search engines love video, too.
In fact, SearchEngineWatch.com recently noted that “One of the most influential search movements of the last few years has been the integration of different types of content directly into the SERPs. If Google sees it as relevant to a particular query, you’ll now see images and videos outranking the organic page listings and visually dominating the page.”
What that means is that if Google sees a page with video and considers it relevant, you will often see that video ranked above standard HTML content. In fact a Forrester study found that a webpage with a video on it was 53 times more likely to gain a page-one position in the search engine results. Note the word “relevant” so making sure to correctly distribute, tag, host, and populate the host page with reinforcing copy will make all the difference in that ranking.
By the numbers: why you can’t afford to skip video marketing
There’s a huge untapped audience out there just waiting to watch your content
Kathryn Royster Contributor
Jun 30, 2014
Real estate agents are playing second fiddle to the Internet.
According to the 2013 Google/NAR study, “The Digital House Hunt,” 92 percent of homebuyers use the Internet to help them find their next home (by comparison, 87 percent use an agent). What’s more, the average homebuyer spends three weeks researching real estate online before even calling an agent.
The takeaway? Homebuyers are turning to the Internet before they turn to real estate agents, so you need to have an online presence if you want them to find you and your listings. But just putting up a website and feeding your listings to the local MLS isn’t enough. Homebuyers are increasingly turning to video for house hunting, and video is proving to be one of the most effective ways to corner the online market.
Still not sold on the idea? Maybe some statistics will convince you. By the numbers, here’s why you can’t afford to skip out on the video marketing revolution. (Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are from the Google/NAR study.)
Buyers and sellers want video
In 2012, the National Association of Realtors found that 85 percent of buyers and sellers prefer to work with an agent who uses video marketing, but only 15 percent of agents are actually using video. In other words, there’s a huge untapped audience out there, just waiting to watch your videos. And since video-savvy agents are still very much in the minority, joining the video revolution gives you a major edge over your competitors.
Video increases leads
A study by international listing website Domain.com found that video increased listing inquiries by 403 percent. That’s inquiries, not just views. In other words, properties listed with video generated four times the number of quality leads.
That’s not surprising, given the information density and memorability of video. You’ve heard that a picture is worth 1,000 words? Well, Forrester Research found that just one minute of video is worth 1.8 million words — that’s the same as roughly 3,600 Web pages of text. And according to the Online Publishers Association, 80 percent of viewers remember what they’ve seen in online videos.
If you want buyers and sellers to not only remember you and your listings but do something about it, video is the way to go.
Video makes email marketing effective
If you’re like most agents, e-newsletters and email blasts are a big part of your marketing tool kit. We all know, though, that email marketing has its weak points. Plenty of people just delete marketing emails without reading them — and those who read the email won’t necessarily click through to your website or listing. You’re also struggling constantly against opt-outs.
Video can help on both fronts. Forrester Research found that including video in marketing emails doubles click-through rates. And according to marketing automation firm Eloqua, video reduces email subscriber opt-outs by 75 percent. Add video to your marketing emails, and you’ll not only hold onto your audience, you’ll get more engagement.
Are you sold yet? Come back next week to find out how to focus your video marketing efforts to get the biggest return on investment!
A good movie trailer is a magical thing, showing us just enough to tease and excite us, putting us in a tizzy to see it. And just like a good movie trailer a real estate video should show just enough of the best parts (but not too much) to generate excitement so that the buyer doesn’t feel that they’ve seen the listing, but that they WANT to see the listing. A real estate videos job is not to satisfy the buyer, but to tease and excite, motivating them contact you to arrange a showing.
Often times we will see a video of a real estate listing that is exclusively aerial footage. And while some properties do look compelling from that perspective for a handful of shots, no property does well with footage that is exclusively birds-eye view. Here’s why, the viewer just can’t make a connection with the listing. Unless they are a superhero a person needs to be able to see the house from human eye-level to make an emotional “I see myself there” connection. That’s why we love aerial footage when it is incorporated into a ground level film and used to enhance the drama of the space.
Here are two examples of restrained, yet effective use of aerial video for real estate:
We work with the most experienced and professional aerial drone operators in the area to create compelling real estate videos. Contact us to learn more.
When we arrive at a listing of yours for a film shoot we start with a walk through and in-depth conversation about the listing. How does the space flow? What are the highlights? What is the ideal buyer demographic? We get a feel for the home and what sort of pacing, music, and style will connect with the ideal buyer. Then we shoot and edit with that buyer in mind.
Another compelling feature of our videos is the editing to specifically chosen music to convey the proper feel. When we edit the video we don’t just lay the music over the video like most companies, we painstakingly edit the video TO the music, which makes a much stronger emotional connection.
Some Examples of Different Styles:
A cozy home with neat little details perfectly suited for a first time home buyer:
A hip, stylish home targeted towards a cosmopolitan buyer:
Targeted towards a traditional, upscale, family oriented buyer:
A bold, dramatic home for someone who wants to be impressed every time they enter:
A condo to attract a couple seeking a care free, European lifestyle:
When considering the style for your company or real estate film it is important to keep in mind the perceived context of the piece. For example when someone watches a company overview video they expect and appreciate a polished piece. When they watch a product review they expect to see something a little more lo-fi. So keep this in mind when shooting a testimonial or anything that requires some “street cred”. Don’t let “from the heart” pieces start to look contrived. And for that matter when you looking to impress someone go ahead and impress them, use high end cinematography, sound, production value – the viewer knows the source and wants to see your best. When talking with your production company make sure to cover the basic style of the piece to be sure it will set the right tone for maximum credibility and impact.
5 Reasons Why Online Video is so Persuasive
by Susan Weinschenk, PhD
#1 — Movement in peripheral vision grabs attention – video online is movement, and so will automatically grab attention more than anything else on the screen. (More on this in Susan’s blog article, “…Peripheral Vision – Keeping You Alive or Channel Surfing?”)
#2 — Speakers and listener’s brains sync up – published research shows that the brain patterns of listeners synch up with the brain patterns of the speaker they are listening to. This means that a video of someone talking is going to be more powerful than just reading words on a page. (More on this in Susan’s blog article, “…Speaker and Listener Brains Sync.”)
#3 — Video compensates (somewhat) for the asynchronous problem – other published research explains how synchronous behavior bonds people together. “A lot of online communication is asynchronous — the communication is not occurring simultaneously in real time,” said Susan. “Emails, Facebook posts, twitter posts, are asynchronous. Chat is synchronous. Synchronous communication is, in general, more persuasive. Video can be synchronous (think Skype) or asynchronous (think TED talk or YouTube). But video does have the advantage of allowing you to hear and see an actual person, rather than the more removed reading of text. In this regard it is the most powerful of the asynchronous media.
#4 — Video can convey emotional information, not just factual – In Susan’s book, Neuro Web Design: What makes them click?, she talks about how important it is to speak to the emotional “mid-brain” if you want to get your message across and have your message be remembered. Video has the advantage (over just reading text) of communicating social and emotional information, not just facts.
#5 — Video combine all the powerful elements together – “The technology for video is finally getting easier and easier to create and integrate online,” says Susan. She mentioned that she’s a big fan of Video Genie , who’s new technology platform allows customers to easily make a video testimonial and post it to your site (you get to moderate it, i.e. watch it before it gets posted). “I’ve talked a lot (in books and other posts) about why testimonials and reviews are so powerful (it’s the principle of social validation),” she says. “Video testimonials are social validation on steroids. Social validation, brain syncing, emotional content… you just can’t beat this for persuasion.” Another interesting example to Susan is Vokle.com: “It allows anyone to host their own video talk show, live, with people calling in.”
About Susan Weinshenk, Ph.D.
Susan Weinshenk is the Founder and President of the User Experience Institute. (Previously she was the Chief of User Experience Strategy, Americas at Human Factors International.) She has over 30 years experience in the field of human factors/usability/user experience (UX) – including as author, trainer, researcher, consultant, presenter, and developing user-centered methodologies around web design and e-commerce Her most recent authored books are 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About PeopleandNeuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click? . (She also has a companion blog at whatmakesthemclick.net and a podcast series on user experience.)
You know what users dislike the most? Being misled. Being told something is going to happen if they click on a link but when they do something else happens. For example, say you are looking at real estate – you look at the pictures, read the description and you’re intrigued, then you see an icon with words like “watch the virtual tour” and you think “Oh great, video!”. So you click on it, but when the page launches you see that it’s not video. In fact, it’s just a slide show of the pictures you just looked at. You were expecting to have a richer experience but instead you were shown something you already looked at but with some scanning and elevator music. Would anyone click on a link that said “Click here to see the same pictures you just looked at but with some scanning and elevator music”? No, of course not, so we suggest providing users with an enriched, emotionally connecting experience with beautiful, high-definition video shot on location. And we’d be happy to help you with that, of course. In the meantime, check out the video we just made for a beautiful home in Madison, NJ. No, for real, it’s video!
Inman News Blog – Real estate video: It’s not OK to suck
Commentary: Affordable equipment, tools and apps set the creative bar higher, not lower
Marc Davison
Marc Davison Contributor
Sep 4, 2013
June 2013. 183 million Americans viewed more than 44 billion videos.
20 billion of them were ads created by national brands.
I’d like to inspire your brand to join the movement.
Inspiration
I’m a regular reader of Ad Age. I rabidly consume brand blogs and marketing articles dispensing the best of what the brightest minds in my field offer.
Video, a medium I’m passionate about, is often discussed. Ideas, techniques and advice dispensed in these publications differ greatly from the “it’s OK to suck” advice often presented in real estate.
Article continues below
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You deserve better advice than that.
True professionals seek to operate at their best. They continue to hone and refine their skills, their output and their team. Your video does not have to suck. Ever.
Bad videos kill a brand.
Decent videos aren’t memorable.
But great video is worth its weight in gold.
I’d like to inspire you to greatness.
Story
Forget rules. Focus on goals. Captivating the viewer should rank as your highest.
Storytelling is a construct brand marketers rely on to captivate. And video is now their chosen medium. Dove’s story of natural and inner beauty explodes through this video, positioning Dove as an agent of change that inspires women to feel confident about themselves.
Samsung’s story is simple and effective in this viral video built around a supernatural kid with razor-sharp aim. The product and brand are brilliantly positioned, and the viewer never feels as if he is being sold anything.
Videos don’t need to be epic. Or expensive. This six-second Vine from General Electric reflects the wonder and passion for science and discovery that lies at the heart of the brand.
The mistake real estate pundits make via their just aim, shoot and post advice is an insensitivity to how exiguous the result of that process brands you. The mere act of banging out a video without attending to modern practices, standards and attention to quality does not cast you as savvy, modern and progressive. Today, anyone can do that.
The truth is that the affordable equipment, tools and apps that we all have now set the creative bar higher, not lower, than ever.
View this six-second masterpiece created by an amateur on Vine submitted to Cavendish Hotels for its Valentine’s Day video contest. Compare it to these professional videos by Bacardi Rum or Oreo. It’s on par, if not better.
Juxtapose these brand stories and strategies against the typical video produced in real estate, which often entails agents touting their attributes, narrated home tours, or behind-the-wheel market updates. Given the subject matter the real estate brand marketer is gifted with — homes, neighborhoods, lifestyles — there’s so much more that could be done.
Ideas
Consider the examples above as a jumping-off point. As I’ve stated, to create the type of video I’m suggesting, you can’t follow a template. Be original. Local. Brand-centric.
Consider hiring a creative to oversee this. Someone with professional chops who can conceptualize, write, film, edit, curate and post great content.
Consider building a street team of local interns — skater kids, for example, paid to shoot, edit and submit slice-of-life videos for your website, Facebook, Vine, Instagram or blog.
You won’t regret this.
Idea No. 1: Local stories. Nest Realty, named by Inc. magazine as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in America, launched five years ago. Video was a critical component to building this brand. Take a page from its “Love Where You Live” campaign told through people who reside in its local markets. Every broker in America should have a library of videos like Nest‘s.
Idea No. 2: Contests. Re/Max Results in Minneapolis hosts a film festival every year. Submissions are not relegated to “real estate” content. The story this tells is of a local real estate brand that supports local arts and culture. I love that. Check out the 2012 winners.
Idea No. 3: Home tours. Every home has a story left untold by typical home tours. Not the homes Raj Qsar and his team at Boutique Realty list. Through a simple construct and a few props, their videos tell the story of homes filled with life. They also scream sensitivity and flair about Boutique’s brand. The soundtrack makes it all that much more perfect.
Idea No. 4: Mini movies. You may recall this action drama produced for Neo Property of Australia that went viral in 2011. That same year, Los Angeles agent Eric Lavey took a less sensational and far more clever approach. He hired student filmmakers and produced mini films that would fit any agent’s budget. They’re simple, well done and stand out against all the basic virtual tours, still photos and basic home tours all his competitors make.
Idea No. 5: Local hangouts. Create 60-second videos of local hangouts, places and people. Cafes. Bookstores. Cycling and running trails. Places to view the sunset. An interview with a local golf pro. Yoga instructor. Dog trainer. I’d record local high school teams. Teachers. Principals.
Every one of these subjects serves one of your greatest needs: They give your viewers deep insight into the community. And they also become part of your viral marketing. What better way to disseminate brand vibe to locals than to capture their essence on video and promote them to your world?
Your video strategy doesn’t have to suck
The dumb-it-all-down movement in real estate is pandemic. This strategy aspiring influencers use to build affinity with the real estate agent community is beneath you and your profession.
Reject it.
True professionals seek to operate at their best.
They continue to hone and refine their skills, their output and their team.
Your video does not have to suck.
Ever.
Marc Davison is with 1000watt, a design, marketing and strategy firm focused on real estate. Reprinted with permission from 1000watt blog.
– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/09/04/real-estate-video-its-not-ok-to-suck/#sthash.9tahDH6u.dpuf
video. Here’s a 
videos embedded. Even factoring out the autoplay function of Facebook it outperforms other posts by at least 2-to-1. 
And just like a good movie trailer a real estate video should show just enough of the best parts (but not too much) to generate excitement so that the buyer doesn’t feel that they’ve seen the listing, but that they WANT to see the listing. A real estate videos job is not to satisfy the buyer, but to tease and excite, motivating them contact you to arrange a showing.
Susan Weinshenk