By Tamiracle Williams
70 percent of marketing professionals report that videos convert better than any other medium, according to Social Media Today. As videos become the new norm for digital marketing, real estate professionals should begin to incorporate this strategy into their content marketing plan. Creating a high-quality video that can be crosslisted on social media, Stellar MLS and your website takes planning. Answering the following questions can help you develp a video creation plan:
Who will be producing the video?
Video production can be a time consuming and stressful task on top of the day to day responsibilities of a real estate professional. If this is a project you wish to take on, it’s important to block schedule time to plan and execute the video. If you don’t have flexibility in your schedule, consider visiting the GTR Affiliate Directory to find a videographer for the project. An alternative would be to utilize live-streaming video features found on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
What is the purpose of the video to inform, persuade or entertain?
Determining this can help you decide what type of video you want to produce. REALTORS® can use videos to:
- establish a brokerage or personal brand
- showcase a new listing
- highlight your local community’s features
- provide first-time homebuyers with tips and tricks to navigating the homebuying process
What action would you like your audience to complete after watching the video? This action can vary depending on the type of video you create. Not sure what call of action you should use? Here are two examples:
- Listing Video: The idea action would be for a prospective buyer to schedule a showing or ask for additional information on the property.
- Personal Brand Video: The goal would be for the viewer to visit your website or reach out for a consultation.
What branding will you include in the video?
Branding is your personal or brokerage identity. It can be as simple as including a logo in the corner of the video or as detailed as creating an intro and outro with your contact information. It’s important to make sure that the branding featured in the video corresponds with other marketing material to create consistency.
When will you shoot?
This is extremely important for REALTORS® that have buyers currently living in a listing. Find a date and time that works for all parties involved and try to be flexible for your client. If you are not working with a professional company, consider shooting during golden hour. Golden hour refers to the time frame right after sunrise and right before sunset. This
provide soft natural lighting in video.
Where will the video be posted?
Most websites and social media platforms are capable of hosting videos, however, they each have their own restrictions and guidelines. Here is a list of current social media video requirements for in-feed organic post:
Dimensions: 1280 x 720 Landscape and Portrait
File Size: 4GB
Video Format: MP4 and MOV
Maximum Length: 120 minutes
Dimensions: 600 x 600 (square video) 600 x 750 (vertical) and 600 x 315 (landscape video)
File Size: 4 GB
Video Format: MP4 and MOV
Maximum Length: 60 seconds
Instagram TV
Dimensions: 1080 x 1920 (vertical)
File Size: 650MB for videos less than 10 minutes.
Video Format: MP4
Maximum Length: 10 minutes
Dimensions: 1280 x 720 (landscape) or 640 x 640 (vertical)
File Size: 512MB
Video Format: MP4 (web) or MOV (mobile)
Maximum Length: 140 seconds
YouTube
Dimensions: 960 x 720, 1280 x 720, 1440 x 1080 or 1920 x 1080
File Size: 200 MB
Video Format: MP4
Maximum Length: 30 minutes
Dimensions: 1920 x 1080, 2560 x 1440 or 3840 x 2160
File Size: 128GB
Video Format: MOV, MPEG, MP4, AVI, WMV,
MPEGPS, FLV, 3GPP and WebM
Maximum Length: 12 hours
