Real Estate Video Marketing Tips In Depth

As you already know, video is a huge part of digital and social media marketing in this day, and there are SOOOO many resources available that it would be overwhelming to include them all in just 1 blog post, so I have decided to “break out” the subject into its own separate blog post with just resources and training clips that are relevant to Real Estate professionals who want to go hard with video.

Note 1: Most of the below videos are short (under 5-6 mins) so don’t feel overwhelmed by the number of them.

Note 2: Most of these videos come from a company we partnered with by the name of Busivid. Sadly they are no longer operating (long story) but their excellent training videos are still up on YouTube, so I’ll keep sharing their videos until such time as they are removed. Any and all references to Busivid’s app and service are no longer applicable, but the educational content they produced is still excellent!

Facebook Video Ads Tip

Since a lot of you reading this page are likely to be running Facebook video ads at some stage, I wanted to just quickly share a little tip with you that will help you get better results with video ads on Facebook.

So, long story short, you should be testing VERTICAL vs HORIZONTAL video ads. Click the link to read more about these.

This second link is to Facebook’s Video requirements page, which helps ensure that your video looks best on any surface

Elite Agent Super Six Competition Transform Week 4: Helen Mitchell – Creating Videos with Ease

Great Video Examples for Real Estate

Property Market Report – LJ Hooker Lane Cove

Get together with your office colleagues (or just do this yourself) and record a monthly market report to share with vendors and landlords. As you can see from this LJ Hooker example, it’s simple, not going to win any awards for sophistication BUT it gets the message across and keeps your name and face in front of current and future clients.

Property Market Report – Brad Bell Real Estate

Here’s another Market Report example from Brad Bell Real Estate in Mount Gravatt, QLD. This one is done by Matt Walton, their General Manager. Personally, I think this would benefit from having more people speaking in it, but they obviously have their reasons for doing it and Matt still does an excellent job.

Amy Sanderson, Network Performance Manager at LJ Hooker, gives insight into how property managers can streamline communication, increase rent roll and grow their business with the use of video.

Before we get into instructions on how to film AND edit video, I wanted to share a video I recorded back in 2018, which is essentially an introduction to the CONCEPTS that explain how video editing actually works.

Now, you don’t need to learn to do everything I teach in this video, but understanding the CONCEPTS will make it a LOT easier for you to make sense of the process, which will make learning from the below videos much easier.

IMPORTANT: I recommend you watch this specific video in full screen mode, otherwise it will be very difficult to see some of the elements I am talking about. You’ll also need to click the speaker icon to turn the sound on. Facebook videos default to the volume being muted and you won’t be able to hear me speak if you don’t do this.

Suggested Equipment

To shoot GOOD video requires a few more items than just a warm body and a smartphone.

At a bare minimum, you should consider purchasing a few items to include in your video kit to help make the process easier AND produce a better quality end results.

To help you get started, I recorded a new video with my recommendations, which you can watch here:

Here’s a few extra tips to back up the video.

1) Tripod

I recorded a video on tripods back in 2016 which you will find useful. You can click through to it here. Make sure you read the transcription because I include some updated info on what I said in the video and also a few links to find tripods and accessories.

2) Microphones

There are LOTS of choices when it comes to microphones that work with a smartphone, AND often what works with Android phones doesn’t work with iPhones & vice versa.

In particular, Apple decided it would be a smart idea (NOT!) to remove the normal 3.5mm audio jack from their more current model iphones, so your only choices now are phones that connect via the lightning port.

A good budget lavalier (lapel) microphone for phones with a 3.5mm audio jack is the BOYA BY-M1 Lavalier Microphone. You can buy these on Ebay cheaply (a quick search showed me multiple auctions selling them for under $30).

There is also a Boya lavalier microphone now available for Apple iPhone users with a lightning port plug, which you can buy on Ebay or Amazon.

It is the Boya DM1 Lavalier Microphone with Lightning Connector. It’s closer to $100 in price, but looks like it will be well worth the money for you Apple folks!

Learning Series: How to Video Blog

VB 1. How to Video Blog: Equipment & Techniques

This is the first in a series of 9 videos teaching you how to get a quick result with your SmartPhone. For very little time, effort or expense learn how to create video blogs for content marketing, social media engagement, training, simply improved communication and SEO.

VB 2. Video Blogging 101: How to make a good-looking blog

This video teaches you how to prepare your SmartPhone, setup a tripod and improve audio with a lapel microphone.

VB 3. Video Blogging: Improved Techniques – Tips & Tricks

This video teaches you how to structure the video content, perform an audio check and record the blog to get pleasing results.

VB 5. Advanced Video Blog Techniques: Make it Easy on Yourself

This video explains the advantage of working with concepts and “chunking up” the content; rather than trying to film one long piece of footage. Look more professional and reduce the stress of filming with the tips we share in this video.

VB 6. Advanced Video Blog Techniques: Composition

This video teaches you how to compose the shot. You’ll see how choosing a better background, using a bluetooth remote & audio splitter, setting focus and composing yourself will make a big difference.

You can purchase a bluetooth camera remote from Ebay usually for under $10. Here’s a link to one option to check out. If this listing is no longer active, just do a search for “bluetooth camera remote”.

VB 7. Advanced Video Blog Techniques: Tips for Better Results

This video covers tips on better performance on-camera, especially if you’re not a “natural.”

VB 8. Advanced Video Blog Techniques: Editing Tips (using iMovie – for Apple smartphone users only. Android version below)

This video teaches you how to edit by selecting the best “takes” or clips. We show you how to add and edit transitions as well as adding lower thirds.

Smartphone video editing for Android users using Adobe Premiere Clip

Download Adobe Premiere Clip from the Google Play Store

Another excellent smartphone video editing app I recommend is FilmoraGo, a free editor for Android and Apple. You can download the Android app here and the Apple (iPhone) app here.

Here’s a video I shot (on Facebook) explaining how to use FilmoraGo to create Square videos (and why you should be doing this)

VB 9. Advanced Video Blog Techniques: Take it the next level

This video teaches you advanced production techniques – using a video assistant, natural lighting, how to reduce background noise, troubleshoot iPhone issues and film multi-person videos.

VB 10. Advanced Video Blog Techniques: Multilayer Videos

This video teaches you advanced production techniques: multi-layer video using iMovie – working with multi-layer video, how to import a video and still photos and the best way to export the final video produced.

Here’s a good blog post on how to use a Lapel Mic and Your Smartphone to Record Audio for Video http://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/use-a-lapel-mic-and-your-smartphone-to-record-audio-for-video–cms-24328

How to Create Customer Success Stories With Video

Video is the modern day word-of-mouth. When you think about it, there is incredible power in the stories your customers can tell. Have you ever considered the psychological advantage of having someone else do your promotion for you; and not in a sales-driven manner, oh no… much more subtle than that. You see, customer testimonials are significantly more effective than case studies, primarily because when your customer tells their story for you it’s a golden mix of social proof and authentic content.

Why am I recommending you begin making video testimonials? Purely and simply because the research is so compelling. Companies that have a video marketing strategy regularly list customer testimonials as the highest leverage investment as it “humanizes” their brand, and the customer “tells their story” which is a compelling engagement strategy for any business or brand. Add to that the convenience and “real” quality you can achieve by filming the testimonial on a SmartPhone and there will be no looking back. So how do you begin?

Take a moment to look through your customer list. It may bring back fond memories, or not. If your customer base is too large to review this way, have your team review their customers and identify who has been with you for the longest time? Who were the challenging customers that you finally made happy? Are there any people on your list that had a unique problem that you helped solve? You get the idea.

It doesn’t really matter if you wind up with a list of 50 potential customers to interview or only one or two. The best way to approach filming a customer testimonial is to focus on one customer at a time and get comfortable with the equipment and process. Once you’ve done one, the rest will be significantly easier. For this reason, give a lot of consideration to your first project. Try and approach a customer you have a relationship with and is generally easy going and patient. Resist the temptation to choose a big brand name or company thinking it will deliver the most benefit. Nothing could be further from the truth.

You see, the number one criteria for a powerful testimonial is how genuine the customer feels towards your business or product. Once you have two or three ideal customers to approach, think though the best way to ask them. In my experience this is one favor you want to ask in person. Our video series covers this topic and suggests ways you can ask a customer for a testimonial. So watch the video to gain the confidence you need to capture your first video testimonial. It will be time well spent.

Using Your Smartphone to make Business Video

Video marketing can be much easier than you think, especially if you consider the quality of camera inside a smartphone. We researched thousands of business owners across Australia and the USA to find out what would help their business the most. Video testimonials proved that they would yield the benefits and the quick wins they were after.

Getting Started with Video Testimonials

Video testimonials are the modern day word-of-mouth. Learn how to let your customers tell their story.

Video Gear for your iPhone or Android

This video explains why it’s important to stabilize the smartphone, how to record audio with an iPhone microphone or iPad microphone, how to perform an audio check and the professional touch you’ll achieve by using an audio splitter and simple bluetooth remote. It’s easy to follow and do yourself. Professional-looking results from your smartphone are easy when someone shows you how.

Tips to achieve great looking Videos

This video teaches you how to compose the person you are filming and coaches you on how to focus the smartphone camera while achieving the best exposure. Like so many things in life, the more you practice, the better you’ll get! Give it a try.

Capturing the best Customer Testimonial

Harnessing the storytelling potential of your customers is one of the highest leverage activities any business can do. Indeed, most of our clients rank customer testimonials as the most effective video content activity; placing it above demo and tutorial videos. Why? The answer lies in the psychology of having someone else talk about you. If the customer testimonial you capture is genuine and heartfelt, it’s like gold for your business. But how can you capture that type of video testimonial?

There are two sides to the equation: The human dynamic and the technology required to physically film a decent video. Our step-by-step guide has three levels of production; each designed to deliver a quality result. The QuickStart, or most basic approach, works well if your target customer is a little camera shy. The beauty of using a smartphone rather than a big, professional camera is that it’s considerably less intimidating. We are all a lot more comfortable with our iPhones as we film ourselves on week ends and socially all the time. It’s a small step up from that environment to then capture a customer testimonial with your phone and yet the quality can be ideal or “fit to purpose”.

Anatomy of a perfect Video Testimonial

What makes one testimonial stand apart from all others? Is it the personality and how comfortable the customer is in front of the camera? Is it how well you prepare them or the level of rapport you have? Follow this simple 3 part process…

How to Increase Engagement by filming a 2 person Video Testimonial

The magic of engagement can be taken to a whole other level when you manage to capture 2 people in a testimonial, but there are some traps. We show you how a simple device allows you to easily capture two audio inputs.

Step Up Your Production Quality With Cinematic Footage

[added 22 May 2019] All the above information & training videos have mostly focussed on the basics of how to use the phone to shoot video, but at some stage you may find yourself wanting to produce higher quality productions.

Particularly if you get into using your phone to shoot video footage of the properties you are selling, this can be really helpful at attracting attention and appealing to potential buyers.

So I ran across a good video on how to shoot cinematic footage with your iPhone, and also how to shoot B roll (that will be explained below).

Note: This all applies to Android phones as well, so those of you who are not iphone users, don’t stress out!

So, here’s the main video from Jeven Dovey, film maker & adventurer! His YouTube channel has weekly tutorials and reviews about filmmaking, camera gear, lighting and more. Well worth checking out his stuff.

and here’s his second clip, all about B roll. What is it? And why should you shoot and use it?

Editing your Video with KineMaster – Android only

Learn the 4 step process for editing your video in KineMaster. We will discuss how to select the best clips, delete unwanted footage, adding transitions and adjusting transitions.

KineMaster is an optional video editing app for Android only.

Download KineMaster from the Google Play Store here.

Editing your Video with iMovie – Apple only

iMovie is a FREE app only available on the Apple iOS platform. If you don’t already have it installed on your iPhone, visit the App Store to download it.

Learn the 4 step process for editing your video in iMovie. We will discuss how to select the best clips, delete unwanted footage, adding transitions and adjusting transitions.

Need More Help With Video?

If you like what you see above but just don’t have the time, desire or technical expertise, then we can help you implement your own real estate video marketing program.

To discuss your requirements, just click this link to visit the Contact Us page and enter your details, and we’ll get back to you within 1 business day to talk about how we can help you grow your brand, market share & sales with video.

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