Sellsius real estate marketing blog

Thats a great point! We use videos as well on listings and they are great for sellers and buyers. Virtual Tours are the old school way of doing it.

Of course, when you're impromptu on camera, you can't make every major point in showing the joys of video. There is another entire level of marketing an agent opens himself or herself up to by having REAL video. Anyone can place a link to a website or blog (which I'm a huge believer in, too..so no offense) in promotion sites; however, a video truly separates you from the pack. Look at the success of TMZ.com and their use of video and blog (vlog). While they are entertainment based, I would argue that we, as REALTORS, have the opportunity to majorly influence the "neighborhood agendas" just as TMZ influences the entertainment agenda.

As for my listing and sales success, video has a huge impact; but, it's imperative to keep it in context. An agent must have a fully inclusive package that encompasses traditional relationship sales, smart representation and how to APPLY and USE technology. I had to learn the balance where sellers didn't find themselves saying, "I want Agent X because they understand traditional sales, but I like Brian because he has so many bells and whistles...I just don't understand how they sell my house." It takes time to develop the skill, but with folks like you starting the dialog with the cyber community, we'll be able to help others understand and embrace video's pros and cons.

Thanks!

Brian raises some good points. At this point, it has become a clearly predominant theme that real estate pros using video win more listings, and properties under management (in the case of property managers etc). However, it also seems pretty clear that people using video well are also the types that work a lot harder on getting their overall marketing strategy right.

Brian,

Visual tours are the most widely used form of web RE marketing; this is what the consumer wants because this is where the consumer money is being spent.

Video tours do not work for most listings because:

-Video tours are not aggregated or distributed effectively on the web.

-Video tours lack visual quality: most RE video is poor to average.

-Video tours are not cost effective for most listings.

Obeoman

steven.stearns@obeo.com

@Obeoman
Every single point you make is on the tail end of being worked out by the marketplace. As for the following, I believe there is a disconnect large enough to say that this statement cannot be made in good faith.

"[Virtual tours are] what the consumer wants because this is where the consumer money is being spent."

The "consumers" are buyers, and-even if "consumers" meant homeowners that are putting their places on the market-they are not the ones making the marketing choice(s), unless doing so by choosing which listing agent to do business with (covered above).

Steven: Your point is well taken and part of what I hit on in my response. Unless you know what to do with your video, it simply is something that impresses a seller and sits on a CD-ROM their house. Videos can be aggregated, syndicated and distributed as effectively as any visual tour.

Yes, many tours lack visual quality, just as many 360 panoramic photo tours lack quality (not yours however). Cost efficency is all relative. If you are going up on a $600K listing and the separation point is a panoramic slide show vs. a video, it's certainly worth the money. It's all relative to the competitiveness of your marketplace.

Just as many felt the web would kill the newspaper, it did not. Video will not kill the "still" visual tour. It's simply another option that some may see as superior to visual tours and others may see as cost prohibitive.

Ultimately, there's room in the marketplace for many diverse tours to sell a home. Consumer (agent) money is being spent on visual "still" tours because of a marketing curve that still needs to catch up or be open to diverse marketing thoughts. I certainly want to clear up the incorrect statements made in your response to me.

I love the dialogue opportunity...thanks!

There are quality issues surrounding EVERYTHING in marketing - there are good quality 360 degree tours, and horrible 'funhouse' tours; there are magnificent still photos and pathetic, crooked out of focus photos with a shot of the rearview mirror in the corner; there are incredible, helpful, easy to navigate real estate websites and there are sad, cookie cutter, ugly and practically worthless real estate websites.

Video isn't the panacea of real estate, nor are 360 degree tours, slideshows, photography..... But a combination of quality, kick ass marketing tools will get you the listing - no question. And video appeals to the ego of customers in ways that 360 degree tours or photographs never will.

But in the end, it's all about correct pricing and a good, experienced realtor on the end of the transaction that will make it happen. And an incredible website, amazing photos and compelling video will never change that.

Christian and Brian,

The market works in good faith, as we all debate in good faith.

Wellcomemat is offering great solutions in a niche market. Brians' statements about a diverse marketplace ring true: Newspaper
RE advertising is not dead, but has been cut back heavily by Realology and other leading franchises.

This trend will effect all forms of on line and off line marketing- just as print RE advertising is becoming a niche market, other forms of RE marketing will adapt or die to demands of the consumer.

Virtual tours are the leading form of marketing properties on the web.

Sellers list with Realtors who sell,and Realtors who sell are using millions-perhaps billions, worldwide - virtual tours to market listings.

As for the long tail, again - ineffective aggregation, high cost and poor visual quality make for a very bad consumer experience.
Brian,your tours have average to above average visual quality-but without effective aggeregation and distribution, how do you measure the success of your marketing activitity?

By the way, keep an eye on the blog here and my blog below - in the coming weeks, Obeo will be showing you why virtual tours are and will remain the best way to market any property on line-or anywhere. How buyers love virtual tours, and sellers love them, too.

Buyers want to own their home when they see it on line.

Obeo will help them do that, and more.


Steven Stearns

http://obeoman.blogspot.com/

Fred: Awesome statements. It does ALL go back to quality business practices. Any agent who is willing to go the extra mile with any tour partnered with an arsenal of representation and diverse marketing will rise to the top.

Steven: Nice response. Thanks for the input. Regarding your question, "without effective aggeregation and distribution, how do you measure the success of your marketing activitity?" I'm not going to sit here and b.s. that it's easy. It is not. I'm finding that my showings numbers are higher with those homes that have video vs. those do not. I find that my hits on REALTOR.com are higher for properties with videos. As far as lots of distribution, my staff does it themselves. It can be time intensive with uploads, but with multitasking windows as you work, I see no drop in productivity. Ultimately, I measure it by web statistics coupled with listing and sales success. Congrats on all the things that are coming in the next weeks.

Fred and Brian,

Realtors are the Ultimate Concierge: the gateway to information about and the knowledge to put you into your new home. No argument there, at all.

Realtors have become - and need to to keep becoming - more responsive to all housing consumers.

Brian, you know this is labor intensive-I did not have to remind you!

Scale comes to mind when we talk about aggregation - there is already a thumbs down on the hogpile at YouTube. So where do all these tours go? Who is looking at them? For how long?

(And Realtor.com ain't really free, we all know that.)

All this makes you appreciate the simplicity of a yard sign!

Obeoman

http://obeoman.blogspot.com