Should estate agents embrace video marketing?

Over 10 years ago, property videos and video content were seen as the next big step in property marketing.

Video marketing seemed to be a convenient and immersive way to advertise and view homes.

But, for one reason or another, video marketing never really took off to become mainstream practice in estate agencies.

Enter 2020…

When COVID-19 hit, it dramatically impacted every professional landscape. Some sectors have fared better than others, but there hasn’t been an industry that has escaped totally unaffected.

In the world of property we suddenly found ourselves unable to rely on traditional methods of buying and selling.

When face-to-face physical contact suddenly became impossible, many agencies had to think on their feet and utilise new marketing tech – some for the first time ever. 

With many people still confined to their homes and unable or unwilling to physically view properties, video content has emerged in 2020 as a valuable tool that has sustained and generated interest in the property market throughout an unprecedented time.

What results have we seen from video marketing?

Considered a gimmick by some, video marketing has produced astounding results for us here at Hills. 

• Our Youtube channel achieved over 11,000 views, with over 350 hours worth of video content watched within a 28 day period.
• Some of our Instagram property videos have individually been viewed over 2,000 times, bringing in an influx of new potential buyers. 

There are those who would argue video content isn’t viewed by serious prospective buyers; it just allows people who enjoy looking at properties to snoop around homes without serious intent to buy. 

Whilst we can always expect to attract a small percentage of aspirational home viewers, we have seen excellent results coming through that demonstrate our video marketing is reaching the serious prospective buyers too. 

The most significant result we’ve seen has been the dramatic improvement in our viewings-to-offers ratio (the average number of physical viewings we need to carry out for a property before an offer is made). Historically, this sits at a ratio of around 9 viewings to 1 offer. 

The use of video content has dropped this figure to around 3 viewings to 1 offer. By providing prospective clients with a video prior to physically viewing the property, clients can decide if they are serious about the house before stepping through the front door. 

We are finding that by the time our clients are physically viewing homes, they are regarding it as a 2nd viewing, or a reconfirmation of what they have seen in the video. Often this means only the more serious buyers will be walking through the doors for an in-person viewing!

The best results we achieved as a direct consequence of video content were in the first national lockdown, within which we managed to sell 25 houses purely off the back of virtual viewings! Now, all these months later, we are continuing to get offers daily from video viewings. 

What are the pros and cons of having a property video of your home?

Let’s start with the pros…

• Property video marketing advertises your property to a wider audience. You’ll gain exposure that reaches beyond the property portals as your virtual viewing can be shared on social media and Youtube
• It gives people a far better understanding of the property and its layout than just looking at still photography
• Video content significantly lowers your viewings to offers ratios, meaning it takes less physical viewings to sell your home
• The option to view virtually lowers the risk of contracting COVID-19, as you and your home are less exposed due to lower viewing numbers
• Here at Hills we offer video marketing free and included in our ‘property boost’ package

And now let’s consider the cons…

• Video marketing has a habit of showing up everything that is wrong with the house and may not portray it in its best light. With photography, you can stage a room – with video, there is nowhere to hide
• Not everyone is comfortable just viewing virtually. There is a general feeling that it is still very important to physically view before buying what is likely to be many people’s biggest financial asset of their lives
• Average viewing time on our videos stands at 2 minutes 36 seconds, so some features that would be shown on a longer physical viewing could be missed.

If it wasn’t for coronavirus we suspect that video content would have continued to be around, but never at the forefront of property advertising. Like many things in 2020, it shows how quickly things can change!

If you have questions about video marketing, video viewings or would like to know more about getting your property advertised the right way, contact our experienced team here at Hills. We’d love to help. Call us on 0161 7074900. 

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