Selling Real estate is a highly competitive industry and most successful Real Estate salespeople are constantly seeking a way to stand out from the crowd. Using video to promote services and market property is on the rise.
It is my view that it’s the next BIG thing not only for Realtors but for voice over too!
About 8 years ago, a trend to create and show short (90-second) videos that feature a product or service started really taking off. Nowadays, we call them ‘Explainer Videos’ and it’s a multi-billion-dollar business worldwide. Understanding why this is such an effective marketing tool will move us towards why using video can help Realtors effectively market themselves and their properties.
In his book 60 Seconds: How to tell your company’s story & the brain science that makes it stick , Andrew Angus explains that Explainer videos are so effective because they combine audio and visual stimulus, which is proven to increase message retention. It’s due to something called dual-coding that reveals when auditory senses alone are stimulated, people retain about 10% of what they’re told, but when both visual and auditory senses are stimulated, that number goes up to 68%! That’s a 580% increase in retention!
And if you like stats, here are a few more from his book to consider:
People who view a web video are 64% more likely to make a purchase.
52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in their online purchase decisions.
59% of senior executives prefer to watch video instead of reading text, if both are available on the same page.
And according to Nsivia, 33 % of ALL internet activity is people simply watching videos
Here's where the video relationship with the Real Estate Market comes in:
According to the National Association for Realtors, 52% of homebuyers found the home they purchased online.
The US Census Bureau confirmed over 6M home sales in 2020 (So that’s over 3M homes found on the internet!)
And if you are fighting to win listings, according to Virtuets, 73% of homeowners say they are more likely to list with an agent who offers to create a video for them.
BUT only 4% of Realtors are using You Tube to showcase property they are selling.
Using a showcase video clearly can help win listings and sell homes. The voice over script tells a story and by adding a voice to the video, as in any story, will add even more value, making it more engaging and personable. Most real estate voice over artists will also help create the script, which is generally about 150 words per minute of video.
It’s also worth considering that video might not be just about listing and selling a residential home. There are many other sectors for which real estate video content is produced like Commercial Property, Land, and Senior Living communities. Perhaps consider a compilation of ‘just sold’ and/or “client testimonials” to strengthen branding. I recently had the opportunity to narrate a Branding video for a Realtor and many homebuilders want to create ‘community/neighbourhood/school’ video brandings like this.
So is this the next BIG THING?
I guess time will tell but if you are Voice over artist or a Realtor looking for ways to stand out then it seems to me that this is one way to do it. Reach out to local videographers, Real Estate professionals and/or voice over artists like myself and others, to see what we can do for you.