Part of creating an authentic real estate video marketing strategy, is to FIRST determine what your brand is. What kind of content do you want to create? How is your tone and what will your style be?
It’s hard to market a business without knowing what it stands for or who it caters to. The first step of getting authentic with real estate video marketing is to dial it into what your brand really is.
YES, YOU ARE A BRAND. God made each of us unique and that’s pretty cool, embrace it! Using video to build your real estate brand isn’t rocket science, but unless you’re excited about it, it will never work.
1. Realize You’re A Brand
Why Your Brand Determines Your Real Estate Video Marketing Strategy…
How many people, when they think of real estate, automatically associate your name to it? The answer to either of those questions will determine how big your brand is.
Your Brand (in real estate) is nothing more than how people remember what you do and how you do it.
The reason most agents have trouble building their brand is because they don’t think of themselves as one. It’s hard to look at your individual as a brand, but if you were to open up a bakery or a store wouldn’t that be a brand?
Buyers and sellers very rarely choose the brokerage. Statistically, 97% of consumers chose the agent over the brokerage they work for! This is exactly why you should always be marketing your brand over your brokerage’s. People hire you, not the office you work for!
There are many ways you can build a brand, but when doing it with video, but the first step is realizing that you are one.
2. Determine Your Brand Story & Theme
Meet Eric Eby. Eric needed a way to market his real estate business in a way that didn’t always involve him “selling”. He’s great at lead generation and conversion, but poor at staying in touch with past clients and his sphere of influence. He decided he wanted to begin building his brand with video so he didn’t have to 100% rely on prospecting or cold lead generation.
So we created a real estate video marketing strategy by getting to know him personally vs professionally. We want Eric to be excited about what he’s creating video content on, which is why your videos should be on things you personally like doing yourself.
“People don’t remember what you do for a living, they remember why you do it”
There is a major difference between real estate video marketing and advertising. Marketing is your ongoing brand presence that keeps your business on top of mind. It’s your ongoing conversation you have with your database.
The main roadblock that 99% of agents face when thinking using real estate video marketing are…
- What do I say?
- How often?
- I’m too ugly to get on camera
- No idea what to do to start
- No way!! My videos are too boring and embarrassing.
Defining your brand story ELIMINATES these obstacles because it defines your voice, passion, and interests. For example, I’m a dude. I write like it. I talk like it. It’s just who I am deep down inside. I’m a laid back dude who just tells it like it is. That allows me to have a lot of fun with my marketing. It’s also much easier to remember.
Let’s go through how we built Eric Eby’s brand from scratch.
Eric isn’t just a Realtor, he’s a local. When I met Eric, we had to sit down and do a deep dive so we get a clear picture of his personality. He knows all about Northwest Arkansas, and we wanted to “position” him as the local expert.
Your brand needs to be based on your persona. In Eric’s case, he’s a laid back local. He is also a huge Razorbacks fan and bleeds NWA. In other words Eric represents everything Northwest Arkansas and is very “natural” to the area.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Be You, Nobody Else Can” quote=”Be You, Nobody Else Can”]
Eric’s central message or theme is based around the concept of being “natural” or “authentic”. When we talk about crafting a centralized theme, we are crafting a consistent message that fits the personality of your brand. It’s this consistent theme that Eric follows for all of the real estate video marketing content he creates. Everything has to be “natural”. If it’s not, it won’t fit his brand’s message.
It’s crucial that your real estate video marketing be focused on creating content that excites you because, when you do, it’s authentic. Eric can pull this off only because he’s a raving fan of his area. He absolutely loves Northwest Arkansas, and this passion shows on his videos.
Your theme will determine all of the real estate video marketing content you create going forward.
3. Create A Video Series Or Show
After you crack your brand’s theme, it’s time to name the show series. Having a show series gives you an excuse to remind everyone that you’re in real estate. If you were to just get up and film a bunch of random videos, there would be no centralized story that ties everything together. Having a show series is what ties your real estate video marketing strategy together.
People don’t want more boring content focusing on market updates or interest rates. You don’t have to ALWAYS be talking about real estate either! In Eric’s case the name of his show is called “Naturally NWA”. Let’s take a look of the different types of videos he can create with his show.
Business Owner Interviews- Eric focuses on the “mom and pops” of the area vs. the corporations and franchises.
Local Points Of Interest– Eric can create content on some of NWA’s most exciting points of interest that are very natural to the area. He would be giving a history lesson essentially on different aspects of his market.
Neighborhood Tours– Eric can go through the evolution of neighborhoods and the history behind them
The point is that his real estate video strategy is now defined. Every video he creates going forward has to have a natural component to it. The reason this works is because it allows him to consistently REMIND his database he’s in real estate vs. having to tell them.
People don’t remember what you do, they remember how you do it.