BEST OF FOREM 2007: Real Estate Video
Real Estate Video is Here to Stay, Video Podcasting Maybe originally posted on February 28, 2007.
RealLiving hooked up with MLPodcast today to provide video podcasting services to all of its agents. (You can read the full release at Mike’s Corner).
Coincidentally, Realtor Magazine also named video or video podcasts as one of their hot marketing trends in their 2007 List Issue which came out today.
Finally, the idea must be gaining steam if you even have mainstream tech columnists weighing in on the matter too.
I think it’s important to separate the two ideas however, as I’ve seen the two terms used interchangeably. And I think we should differentiate whether we are talking about simply posting a video on the Internet (for more on how, see Video Hosting Alternatives to Youtube) or true video podcasts; that is, video content that can be subscribed to or delivered automatically through syndication.
It seems to me that the two, while similar, have very different applications.
There’s no doubt, video by itself has many uses in real estate marketing.
- It could be used to describe your company or product. I love the way BlueRoof.com does this, for example.
- It could be used to profile a neighborhood or add context to a community site. Turnhere does this well.
- It can be used to highlight the selling features of a particular property. (see WellcomeMat - The Killer App for Real Estate Video)
- It can be used to create compelling content that can drive traffic to your site. (see Sitcom Used to Sell Condos)
Video podcasting, on the other hand, is a slightly different animal. The biggest difference, for me anyway, is that it is content that should be delivered and/or received regularly.
It seems to me that uses for video podcasting in real estate marketing are a little more limited right now. Off the top of my head…
- You could subscribe to an individual agent’s new listings. This would be far more relevant if it could deliver video results of a customized property search - a virtual ‘video river’ of all an agent’s or broker’s listings would quickly become annoying.
- Receive monthly/quarterly video market trend reports from an agent. I get real nervous about this one. Honestly, if there’s anything worse than a badly written blog, it’s a poorly produced podcast. I can imagine a lot of boring “talking heads”. I think anyone trying to go down this road is going to have a hard time; unless they adopt a more creative production style like other successful video podcasts like Rocketboom, the show with zefrank or Look Shiny. (Now there’s an idea!)
- I love Greg’s idea to use video podcasts to market a property on a mobile phone (make sure to read through the comments on his post on how this could be accomplished). But I think we’re definitely a few years away from that. I’ve tried Podcast Ready on my BlackJack and it’s like pulling teeth trying to get it download anything.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that 2007 will be the year of video. Video podcasting, I think, may have to wait.
Am I missing something here?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
2 Comment(s)
1 Trackback(s)
- From Online real estate marketing expert speaks | Business2 Real Estate Agent News and Information Technology | Feb 12, 2008
Tom Lyons | Dec 27, 2007 | Reply
I don’t know, we’re just starting to play with video and our clients love it, the buying consumer seems to like it if views are any indication. Certainly, we’ve seen an increase in inquiries since starting video.
It will be a main focus of our new technologies this year, along with a site redesign to integrate the video better.
We’ve had no real interest in actual video podcasting mainly because we’re not sure how to make it work for us.
Christian | Dec 30, 2007 | Reply
It’s definitely a good thing to point out the differences between online video and podcasts. Just as important, if not more important, is the differentiation of video vs. slide shows. The difference between the two mediums is not trivial, and many real estate professionals are being misguided/misdirected by slide show vendors pawning their offerings off as video. They are not the same and, just because slide shows can be saved or exported as a video format, does not mean that they should be uploaded to video sites; doing so is likely looked down upon by the community members of these sites and viewed as a cheap shortcut. SEO or not, this practice is a bad move.