Video in all forms has slowly been taking over – even prior to COVID-19. Facebook and social media over time transitioned from text-based content to photos and now to almost exclusively video on everyone’s newsfeeds. It’s how people communicate because it’s real, it’s authentic, and there’s nothing more powerful than that human-to-human interaction.

Evidenced by growth of Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, and every other virtual meeting platform and our own day-to-day experiences, COVID-19 has further fundamentally changed how we communicate and intake information. With social distancing measures, people and organizations leverage video in order to attempt to maintain the personal, human-to-human interaction.

So why a video platform specifically built for multifamily? We think the evidence is pretty clear. But first, why does video work?

Why Video?

Video is powerful. In fact:

By 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017.

Videos are shared on social media 1200% more than images and text combined.

Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text. (Insivia)

Video works. And it’s all the more effective in the real estate industry when it involves people’s homes, a high involvement and emotional decision.

But how does the multifamily industry implement video into their everyday communications, leasing, and prospecting? In conversations with industry professionals, we often hear answers such as “we use Zoom for that”, “we Facetime our prospects”, “we’ll get on a video chat”, etc. While Zoom and Facetime are admittedly a step better than relying on static content and phone conversations, there is a better streamlined option to incorporate a video solution into the resident lifecycle for both the end user and the resident.

Enter Realync.

 

The Similarities 

Realync and video conferencing solutions offer many similar functions and benefits based on its foundation on video.

Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other conferencing solutions have grown prior to the onset of the pandemic – for good reason. These platforms are typically affordable and built on the user experience. Built on the latest tech, these platforms are (relatively) reliable.

Prior to COVID, the amount of remote workers telecommuting has increased by 115% in the last ten years and continues to rise.

And compared with just 2 years ago, 87% more people are choosing to use video conferencing prior to COVID.

In a global and transient world, live video maintains the human element even across states and continents. Video is the next-best option to being in person and builds relationships more effectively.

Video conferencing increases business productivity:

94% of businesses claim that video conferencing has increased their business’s productivity.

Realync video conferencing also accelerates productivity. Using Realync, Jess at The Franklin Johnston Group converted a cold lead into a signed lease in just 22 minutes. That’s productive.

Oh and importantly – both types of solutions offer live video with real-time feedback and conversations. Video is powerful, but realtime, two-way video communication goes above and beyond in establishing relationships.

 

The Differences:

Built on the same foundation of video and “keeping it real”, the Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other solutions take an industry agnostic approach while Realync focuses on the multifamily industry.  And the multifamily industry, due to its unique resources and regulations, needs an industry-specific tool.

Fair Housing Compliant

At Realync, we help our clients ensure that every piece of content they produce is fair housing compliant. We automatically add the necessary logos and disclaimers to each video and tour. We believe that property and corporate teams need to be able to trust the tools they are using to be compliant instead of spending the extra time, money, and research to ensure that all marketing actions and materials are compliant.

Furthermore, everything is automatically saved to the cloud – even live video tours. Having a built-in audit trail to be able to prove what was said or not said is a big consideration for Fair Housing compliance and can prove an invaluable training tool internally for teams as well.

The multifamily industry is unique and highly regulated, thus needing a specific tool to take care of these regulations.

Integrated Solution

Other technologies are built specifically for the multifamily industry, especially when it comes to property management and marketing. Companies such as Entrata, Yardi, PERQ, Envida, Engrain, and others take this industry specific approach. While often beneficial, this creates issues when implementing industry agnostic solutions. The needed integrations often aren’t available — creating more work, loss of information, and a disjointed experience.

At Realync, our integration philosophy and strategy prioritizes industry specific tools and needs. We focus on industry specific integrations in order to streamline all processes. Create a streamlined experience for the user by leveraging a fully integrated, industry-specific solution such as Realync.

Pre-recorded Video

Live video is powerful! But let’s be real. There are times when meeting times don’t line up. People cancel. Only having a real-time video conference solution often creates extra delay, losing valuable time for the individual looking for a home. Leveraging a solution that also allows pre-recorded video with similar impact to live video provides greater flexibility without compromising personalization.

Usability

We also think that Realync is more convenient and easy to use – for the prospect, resident, and the end user.

But don’t just take it from us:

“I couldn’t believe how user friendly it really is. Realync is something you can just jump in and do.”

Usability for the Prospect

For the prospect, the biggest difference between video conferencing and Realync’s video solution involves the “one-click join functionality.” One click join enables prospective residents to join without downloading any software – in fact, there is not even an option to download software. Most video conferencing requires a download option in order to have the complete and full experience.

Usability for You, the End User.

For the user, including the property manager, the leasing agent, the marketing manager, the community managers, the corporate stakeholders, we have prioritized making the day to day tasks simpler.

Custom setup and branding allow each company (at a property and corporate level) to publish content quickly without compromising professionalism. Marketing teams can ensure and streamline all branding to create a cohesive experience for the end user.

How often do you start a video meeting and forget to hit record? And then are either A) left without a recording or B) left with a video missing the first few minutes – often the crucial introduction. Realync’s simple but effective automatic recording functionality is built into the product – so you, or the viewer, never have to think about it but rather focus solely on the tour.

The Icing on Top

Finally – it’s time to not only implement video, but make it effective and efficient. In depth data, analytics, and reporting allow you to see how often videos are viewed, what the engagements are, when someone clicks and views the video in real-time. After all, it’s better to work smarter, not harder.

Video has proven time and time again to be effective. It’s no longer a question of “if video” but “what video.” Make the most of your video strategy by implementing a multifamily industry specific video leasing solution.

Be human. Be real. Work smarter, not harder.

 

Still thinking about video conferencing vs Realync? We summarized the previous content in one page.

To learn more about Realync, contact sales@realync.com or Request a Demo today.