Today’s digital marketing can feel like a constantly evolving beast. Keeping up with all the new tools, tactics and trends is a full time job in and of itself! But, through it all, the use of video consistently rises to the top of every list and it is only growing more and more popular each and every day. When true audience engagement and conversion is the goal, nothing touches video. Even as trends change, people constantly find themselves reaching to press the play button.

For multifamily professionals, there is no better way to show off a community and connect with prospective residents than with video. It allows leasing teams to be more real and transparent, showing off the space better than still photos ever could, pulling in target audiences, saving time and money, and garnering real ROI.

Don’t just take our word for it though. By the time you are done reading through the following data points about video’s prevalence and power in the marketplace, we’re confident that you’ll be seeing things in a new light. 

  1. By 2020, online videos will make up more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic world wide. That goes up to 85% in the US. That means that at any point in time, 4 out of every 5 people online will be engaging with some sort of video content. Can you really afford to not partake in something that over 80% of your target audience is consuming every time they hop online? By not jumping in on video, multifamily professionals run the risk of not only missing out on garnering interest from their target audience online, but falling behind on a curve that can be very hard to catch up on. 
  2. 78% of people watch online videos every week, 55% watch videos online every day. When in comes down to what people want and how they want to get their information, the answer is video – particularly in the Millennial and Generation Z markets. As more and more of this key target audience of renters start looking for places to live, you can bet that online is where they’re going to start their search. And better believe that video will be a desired part of that process for them. 
  3. One minute of video is worth 1.8 million words. Ever heard that a picture is worth 1,000 words? Well, clearly video is quite the multiple of that value according to MarketWire. It’s actually rather easy to calculate as well. Think about the conversion that you’ve received from cold prospect to signed lease simply by sending them photos of an apartment. Compare that to the conversion leasing teams are receiving when sending videos and that multiple is far from exaggerated. Not only can videos be quick and simple to produce – they are monumentally more engaging than a still photo. 
  4. Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text. If the goal of your multifamily marketing is to make your space stand out to a prospective resident and the goal of your leasing is to convert that lead, then the mutual goal is to get your message to stick with that individual. Why send long emails or one dimensional PDFs and photos of a property when you can tell a story or communicate a message thoroughly using video – a means of which messages are retained. With prospective residents, you will typically only have a small amount of time to make a big impact. Using video means using that time wisely and being more memorable.
  5. The average user spends 88% more time on a website with video. It’s much easier, and, as stated above, more impactful and memorable, to share key information via video than just text. That couldn’t be more true anywhere than on your website – no matter how well written the content may be. Not only can you showcase your space in all its glory via video, but you can portray a message that will get site visitors to stay and retain the message you are looking to get across. Win, win, win. 
  6. 4 times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. An apartment = a product. And 4X the consumers would rather watch a video about it than read about it. Make your content engaging and convey what it could be like for that person to live at your community. Showcase the space in a real, transparent way and show people exactly what they want to see. They will appreciate it, be happy with the process, see what they want/need to see, and become happy residents living somewhere that was exactly what they thought it would be. 
  7. 500 million people watch over 100 million hours of video on Facebook every day. Want to be effective with your multifamily marketing? 100 million hours of video reaching over 500 million people on Facebook every single day? Not only is it hard to ignore those type of numbers, it is foolish to ignore them. Today’s buyers and renters are on social media, searching for everything on social media, and, clearly, engaging with video on social media. This is particularly true for Millennials and Gen Z – they’d rather interact with a brand via social media than any other methods.
  8. Videos generate 1200% more shares on social media than text and images combined. Social media is just that – social. People want to share the things they are interested in and enjoy with their friends. There’s a reason people watch over 100 million hours of video on Facebook every single day – because video gets shared and, in return, viewed. It’s really a pretty simple algorithm. Make something people are interested in and garner interest. Think about all the audiences that can be reached if even one resident shares a video where they are talking about how much they love where they live.
  9. Over half, 52%, of marketers say video is the type of content with the best ROI. Every marketing dollar is valuable. Leasing teams can drive more conversions, including sight unseen leases, simply by using video more effectively and more prominently. We understand that calculating marketing ROI can be ambiguous at best sometime as well. That’s why having the right video platform can make all the difference by providing key data and analytics through integrations in order to calculate the ROI of your video efforts and inform future decisions.
  10. 73% of marketers say they would create more video content if there were no obstacles like time, resources, and budget. Do you fall into that bucket of 73% of marketers wishing they could do more with video, but think you’re constrained by time, budget, and more? This is completely understandable when you are used to paying $3,000-6,000 or more for a professionally filmed video. These constraints can feel insurmountable when on tight budgets for your community, but as you are probably guessing…they are completely surmountable with the right video partner and platform. 

Realync’s video leasing solution is not only an integrated multifamily solution that can make your video dreams come true and help your teams connect with prospective residents in new ways, but is affordable, unlimited, and has all the data you could ask for in order to make guided, strategic decisions with your video efforts. 

Today’s buyers and renters aren’t looking for expensive, highly produced pieces of cinema when it comes to their property search. They want realness and transparency. They want to see the real thing. Take a quick gander through Facebook and you will see this played out time and time again in the type of videos that are getting shared on social. They’re raw and real and provide a transparent point of view for the viewer. 

Intrigued? Want to learn more? We’re here to help! Message sales@realync.com for your demo today. 

Until next time…keep it real!