Consumers today are overwhelmed by the amount of information available to them. And so, when agents go to market their business, they need to be thoughtful about what they put out. Too much content with too little value will get them nowhere. But there's one emerging trend that's helping to elevate content, differentiating agents from their competition—and that's video.
By 2020, 82 percent of all consumer web traffic will be to video, according to Kristi Kennely, realtor.com® national speaker. She discussed video marketing trends and more at the "Anticipating Marketing Trends: Tools to Cut Through Today's Noise" session, held during the 2019 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Francisco, Calif.
Video is effective because it's more easily remembered, said Kennely.
"Because of its visual nature, 80 percent of users can recall a video ad they've seen in the past 30 days," she said.
So it's not so much of "should you" when it comes to video marketing, said Kennely, but "how do you" effectively market with video? Especially as 55 percent of people already watch online videos every day.
Here are a few of the strategies and tools Kennely recommends:
Short, Bullet-Point Videos
"Take any thought and get it into bullet points," said Kennely.
She recommends apps like Lumen5.com, which will automatically place background images and music with bulleted text to create a video.
"Eighty percent of the work is done for you in seconds," she said. "And it creates a square video that's perfect for social media."
Instagram Stories and IGTV
"Another easy entry point for video is Instagram Stories," said Kennely. "They'll disappear in 24 hours, but it helps people to get to know you a little bit better."
Kennely said agents can also quickly answer a question in one minute and turn it into an IGTV episode, which will help them highlight their business.
"With IGTV, you can add 30 hashtags, you can promote through Instagram Stories and you can promote in your feed," she said. "It's less problematic than trying to use YouTube."
Stress-Free Videos
"How can you shoot and edit video without actually shooting and editing video?" asked Kennely. With Quik, she said.
With the app, users can create video—even from images—by selecting clips from their phones.
"In seconds, you have transitions, effects and everything synced to music," said Kennely.
What Stands Out?
It's not as easy as simply posting content, however. Kennely reminded agents that everything has to be authentic in order to resonate with their audience. In addition, content should be widely distributed to social channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
"If you make a video, you want it to look good on any platform," she said.
Agents can also distribute videos via email, and the secret to a high click-through rate is personalization, she said.
Here's how that works:
- Put the word "video" in the subject line.
- Don't use the word "newsletter" in the subject line.
- Place the person's first name in the subject line (this can increase open rates by 26 percent).
- Don't be afraid of emojis or symbols (they can increase open rates by 56 percent).
- Create a video where you mention the person's name.
- Make the screenshot an image of you holding a sign with the recipient's name.
Apps likes Viewedit.com allow users to place the video within their platform to save on space so they can embed it directly within their email.
However, Kennely said the biggest opportunity can be found through Instagram.
"Instagram is the fastest-growing social media network, so my social media strategy is still going strong on Facebook, with very regular posts, but I'm experimenting with Instagram because the data shows that's where people are going," said Kennely.
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