Technology Strategies for Real Estate

You have 2/10ths of a second to capture a visitor to your website. Can video be the key to engage the consumer? Could be, if your video is professional looking. Creating good video is an art form - it gives a good first impression each and every time. If you ever need to be reminded of how bad real estate video is take a look at Rachel Natalie Klein’s blog who produces Intothebox and look in her archives for the videos titled “Best of the Bad.” She has a humorous look at the evolving real estate video.

What types of videos should you have on your website? Consider:

• Welcome message
• Top cients saying why you are great to work with
• Property Showcase
• Town Profiles

Once your videos are produced they can be packaged and marketed as:

• Banner video ads on relevant websites
• Client videos can be sent to potential new clients
• Video on your blog or enewsletter
• Video clips can be sent to the press for new services or updates on the market. 

Also keep in mind multiple uses for your video so you have a great return on your investment. The consumer comes to your website from many different entry portals. So begin your internal marketing through your website, newsletters and email campaigns. Consider: Video syndication on sites like:Youtube, Wellcomemat, Blip.tv, Googlevideo, Yahoo, and Aolvideo. Adding  your videos to these sites is free and take advantage of the social networking aspect of the web. When you have a chance, go to Youtube put in your city, state and the words “real estate” and see who is marketing this way. A great example of this is done by Coldwell Banker in Massachusetts. On Youtube  put in “Marion, MA real estate” with the quotes and watch their promotional video, an excellent use of this resource. Also consider vendors and industry websites that might welcome your video on their website. As with all social networking sites, never never SELL. A topical video will get more play, increase distribution and visibility. It promotes you to expert and thought leader in your area. Your goal is to “inform and entertain. This will allow you to take advantage of the viral nature of video on the web, people who find it interesting will recommend it and send it to others.  The product of web video packs a punch. It can be highly engaging, keeps people there and consumers can take immediate action on what they see. So, don’t leave them hanging. Consider:

• Navigation and search options
• Chapters or table of contents allowing them to jump to what interests them.
• Check out the chapter on the video on RackSpace.
• The have customer testimonials and a table on contents so you can skip to the topic that interests them.
• Try to include between one to four call to actions

Consider some of the following:

Send more informationSchedule appointmentAsk a questionDownload PDF with more informationShare video with a friendSubscribe to a newsletter or listing search Make sure you track your results so you can gain insight into your prospects and develop better content as yo9u go. Coming soon: What makes a good videoWhat free products are out there to help create videos.