2017 was a full-on revolution for the world of video marketing and while we’re only a few months in, 2018 is shaping up to follow suit.
For multifamily professionals, video is likely already a part of the marketing toolbox in some way, shape, form; however, our guess is that it is being highly underutilized. If you have not started using video and are still holding out wondering if investment in video is really worth the time, money and effort, then you really need to keep reading.
As readers of this blog know, the answer to whether video is worth the time, money and effort is an unequivocal yes. The time, the cost, and the talent needed to create quality marketing and leasing videos for a property is not as high as you likely imagine and is well within grasp. Not to mention it is one of the most profitable and multipurpose marketing available today.
Read on to see our top five reasons why video is already winning the marketing and leasing game this year for multifamily professionals – and why you really need to get onboard.
Video is Watched
Video is able to provide one of the best returns on investment for multifamily marketers and leasing teams because it communicates a message concisely in an interactive manner and people react to it. Today’s consumers, particularly Millennials and Gen Zs, watch more video than ever before. Facebook has over 2 billion active monthly users and nearly half of them watch more than an hour of video on Facebook every week. It’s not just Facebook either — 82% of Twitter users watch video content daily and brands on Instagram have increased their video output 100% since 2016. All you need to do is look at social media to easily see that video is the means of communicating messages online today and is being consumed in very large quantities.
Video is Shared
Getting prospective residents to watch your video is great. What’s even better though is getting them to share it! Posting and sharing videos of your community increases the potential of broadening your audience simply by people sharing that content. The best and easiest way to see that sharing is, again, by looking at videos posted on social media platforms. Videos on Facebook are shared seven times more than links or text. Equally, videos on Twitter are six times more likely to get retweeted than photos, and videos on Instagram receive three times more comments than photos. Your online audience is never just the people that like or follow your page / account or visit your community website. You need to broaden that reach and there currently is no better way than engaging video content getting liked, favorited, retweeted and shared.
Video is Mobile
Video and mobile devices are a perfect match. How perfect? In 2017, 90% of consumers watched videos on their mobile device and mobile video consumption on YouTube has gone up every year…by 100%. Video engagement on mobile devices is literally doubling year over year. Smartphones and other mobile devices are increasingly popular and people like watching videos on the go. Having videos that are mobile-ready (cloud-based, 2 minutes or less, filmed in landscape mode, have subtitles, etc.) is critical for success with video and a key to unlocking increased connectivity with prospective residents. Google claims that smartphone users are twice as likely to feel connected to a brand showing them video content via their devices than brands not using video.
Video is Trustworthy
Speaking of consumers feeling more connected with brands when viewing videos — video is the easiest way to instill trust & transparency into the online real estate search process. Prospective residents not only need to be attracted to your community and online content in order to take a next step, but they need to feel that they can trust what they’re seeing. Video goes a long way in building that immediate trust and facilitating openness with your marketing efforts. It gives your team the ability to let their personalities shine through and is a way to showcase your space as it truly is. Effective videos are REAL.
Video is Real
Or at least it should be. Today’s target audience of buyers and renters want real, so much so that authentic, real videos on Instagram are much more popular and outperform staged, professionals ones eight times over. Millennials hunt for brands that champion transparency and share their values, while Gen Z takes it even further to where they value real over anything else and hate photoshopped or misleading ads, posts, or content. 75% of Millennials and Gen Z will share their personal contact information in exchange for a personalized, real experience and nothing can get more personalized and real in an online experience than video — especially live video. Forgoing artificial, created, staged, photoshopped experiences for authentic, real, transparent ones is winning online and winning for multifamily communities around the world.
Video is clearly winning in 2018. If you’re in the multifamily space and are not winning with video yet, it is time to take a first step. Knowing that video is a critical component to a your multifamily marketing and leasing process is only half the battle. It’s time to truly understand the why and how behind video, and start to apply it .
Already seeing the above play out for you and your team? Kudos to you for leading the charge and congrats on the success that you most likely are seeing because of it!
Want to learn more about the data and statistics behind how video is winning already in 2018, or want to hear some case studies / success stories from multifamily communities across the US that are winning with video? Reach out to us at sales@realync.com — we’re here to help!
Until next time…keep it real!
