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Video marketing: You might not want to hear it, but the truth is estate agencies can’t escape it in 2024.
Video content has now become the most popular content format.
89% of consumers want to see more video from brands. Marketers who use video grow 49% quicker than those who don’t.
More importantly for estate agencies, 73% of homeowners say they are more likely to choose an agent that uses video.
So, if you want your agency to have an effective digital presence and reap the rewards of content marketing, you need to start creating video.
We get that video is hard work – it takes time, and getting started with filming and editing can feel overwhelming.
However, the benefit of marketing in a world increasingly obsessed with video content is that helpful tools and resources (like this blog) are more accessible than ever. So, you’ve got no excuses!
In this blog, we’ll cover why your agency should utilise video marketing, the types of video marketing that may be valuable to you, tools to help streamline video content creation and distribution, and how to track the success of your video marketing strategy.
Why Does Video Marketing Matter to Estate Agencies?
It’s no secret that content is an important element of a successful agency.
Bad content (low-quality descriptions, blurry photos, old floorplans, etc.) means your listings are unlikely to get the attention they deserve, resulting in slower sales and potentially a lower selling price. Uh oh. Unhappy vendor, unhappy agent.
In fact, a significant 62% of homebuyers stated they would offer below the asking price of a property they liked if it was presented badly online.
It’s important to note that the impact of poor content or a lack of content extends beyond individual sales. Not investing in content marketing can severely hinder your brand’s growth, significantly reducing your visibility and leaving you far behind competitors who are actively engaging in effective content strategies.
On the flip side, good content offers a multitude of benefits to agents. And good content now means video, so it needs to be part of your content strategy.
The Benefits of Video Marketing for Estate Agencies
The benefits of video marketing can not only help accelerate the sale of your properties and improve the experience for your current vendors, but also play a crucial role in developing your brand and sales pipeline by enhancing brand awareness and reputation.
- Improve Property Showcasing: Videos allow agents to present properties in more visually compelling ways.
- Increase Content Engagement: Video content grabs attention and keeps viewers engaged longer compared to static images or text. 81% of buyers would choose to watch a video when searching for a new property and 80% will watch that video until the end.
- Show Up in Search: Video can boost SEO due to search engines pushing diverse content types. This leads to increased visibility for your listings. Sites with embedded video receive up to 55% more traffic.
- Get More Reach: Video is the most shared content format; incorporating video into your content strategy can increase exposure to a broader audience.
- Become a Thought Leader: Creating informative videos can help agents establish themselves as industry experts, to clients and to their peers.
What Video Content is Right for Your Estate Agency?
Okay, so you’ve recognised the need to incorporate video marketing into your strategy. But where do you begin?
When considering which type(s) of video would be valuable for your agency, take a step back and reflect on your objectives.
What business goals are you aiming to achieve through video marketing?
For many agents, their primary business objective is to secure more instructions from potential clients. However, you may also have other supporting goals, such as establishing yourself as a thought leader to develop your reputation or providing exceptional service to your current clients to increase word-of-mouth referrals.
Work backwards from these goals and consider who you need to target with video in order to achieve them.
Is it your current vendors, home buyers, or potential clients? If it’s thought leadership you’re prioritising, you’ll be looking to connect with other agents and industry professionals.
These two questions will help you focus your video marketing efforts on the most relevant content and audiences for your agency’s success.
Video Marketing Ideas For Estate Agencies
Here are some content ideas to support different agency objectives:
- Property Tour Videos/Property Highlight Videos showcase property features, save time on viewings, potentially lead to faster sales, and provide a positive experience for vendors. You could use this content to target potential buyers, and potential sellers, and delight current vendors.
- Market Update Videos establish expertise and provide value. This content could be used for targeting potential clients and industry peers, as a way of showcasing industry knowledge.
- Client Testimonials build trust and provide social proof. This content could be used for targeting potential clients by showcasing past client’s positive experiences. Testimonials are more valuable for brands focused purely on bottom-of-funnel content, looking for conversions and sales.
- Neighbourhood Guides demonstrate local knowledge and build trust. This content could be used for targeting potential clients and buyers. Good for building brand awareness.
- Home Staging Tips provide value and demonstrate experience. This content could be used for targeting potential clients, the broader audience of homeowners, and industry peers. Good for building brand awareness.
- Q&A Sessions engage your audience and establish expertise. This could be used for targeting potential clients, buyers or industry peers – or really anyone depending on the Q&A subject.
- Behind-the-scenes content humanises your agency and builds rapport, targeting potential clients, and engaging previous clients. Good for community building.
- Property Maintenance Tips provide value and also could keep past clients engaged, targeting homeowners, past clients, and potential clients. Content like this is good for community building, and how-tos can be beneficial to SEO.
- Market Trend Analysis demonstrates expertise and builds trust, targeting buyers, sellers, and industry peers.
- Trending Content builds brand awareness, if you engage with the right trends this can be a great way to increase brand exposure and get in front of any desired target audience. Google Trends is a good way to keep an eye on what people are searching for, whereas TikTok will give you an insight into what could get you visibility on social.
Tools and Equipment for Content Creation
Now you’ve hopefully figured out which type(s) of video content you want to focus on to support your business goals, it’s time to stop planning and start recording.
Filming Equipment
When getting started with video content, it’s best to begin with the basics. For most of your content, your phone will do the job. The quality of recent phone cameras is more than sufficient for most content creation unless you need professional-quality footage for high-value property listings, in which case you’re likely hiring a professional photographer anyway.
Tripod
While not essential, a tripod can be useful. It’s especially useful for talking head-style content or if you want to film yourself in front of a property. This tripod is a great and affordable option, particularly for agents, as it is portable and lightweight.
External Mic
If you plan to record a lot of voiceovers or venture into audio content, consider investing in a good external microphone. This will save you time by reducing background noise, and provide a crisper finish to your video content. We use this mic for our voiceovers—it’s simple to use and delivers excellent sound quality.
Screen Recording
The previously mentioned equipment is nfor if you’re shooting live people or properties. However, there may be times when your content doesn’t include ‘live’ footage, and you may want to use screen recordings or incorporate photos as the main content of your video.
For screen recording, I recommend using Loom, this tool will also allow you to record yourself simultaneously if you want to talk through a property tour you’ve filmed.
How to Film Content for Estate Agencies
When recording video content you really don’t want to wrap up filming and get to editing, only to realise you haven’t got the right footage for what you need.
These simple points will help you capture the best footage possible, streamline the editing process and ensure you avoid the frustration of having to refilm.
- Plan your content: Know what you’re shooting to ensure you get the content you need. Consider using a storyboard to draft the scenes or stages for your content piece.
- Maximise natural lighting: Make the most of natural light. For example, when shooting a selfie video, try to face a window.
- Clean your lens! No explanation needed.
- Keep your camera straight and still: This one is easy to overlook and can make editing much more challenging. A tripod will help with this.
- Check audio quality: Whether you’re using an external microphone or not, try to minimise background noise. If you’re unsure, test the audio before recording your full content.
Video Editing Software for Beginners
Now you have your well-shot clips you’ll want to piece your content video together. Like with your equipment, the simpler you keep your editing tools in the beginning, the better.
If you’re looking for a simple and cost-effective way to splice clips together some good examples are Inshot, or Clipchamp if your agency uses Microsoft.
If you want something that gives you more graphic and special effects options, Capcut Pro is a really good option. It also has a decent mobile app if you’re looking to edit content on the move.
If your agency already has a business Canva account this can also be a super-efficient option. Although the editing options are fairly limited, Canva is clearly investing in video, and it is more than sufficient for basic editing. Plus, it makes the inclusion of animated graphics quick and easy.
Creating Engaging Video Content for Marketing Channels
There are so many different formats of video content you can create for different channels. This makes it impossible to give a cookie-cutter set of guidelines on how to create video that performs.
However, there are some transferable guidelines for video marketing. This rules will help make your content more engaging and effective, regardless of where it’s uploaded:
- Keep your videos as concise as possible
- Use the highest quality visuals and audio you can
- Incorporate your agency’s branding elements
- Add captions for accessibility, and for people watching your content on the move
- Consider your hook or video title
For specific video marketing channels, consider optimising video for these video lengths and channel features:
Measuring Video Marketing Success: What Metrics Should you Use?
The metrics you’ll want to focus on largely depend on the goals you set for your video marketing. For example, if you’re only focused on winning new business for your agency through video marketing, CTR and conversions will likely be your key metrics.
However, if you’re looking at building your brand awareness and reputation, metrics such as shares and engagement rates will also be important to you.
For almost all video, you should be looking at your demographics to ensure your target audience is viewing your content, and you should also be looking at watch time/retention rate to see whether your content is engaging viewers.
Conclusion and Video Creation Alternatives
So there you go, embracing video marketing is no longer optional for estate agents in 2024; it’s a necessity.
The majority of your customer base prefers video content, so integrating it into your marketing strategy is key to increasing your agency’s visibility and engagement.
By focusing on the right types of videos for your agency’s goals you can effectively reach your target audience, and convey your message in a more engaging way.
If filming and editing all video content seems too time-consuming for you, PropertyBox has a Social Media Campaigns feature! This allows agents to create property highlight reels in a matter of minutes and post them directly to marketing channels. You can even track your analytics and send your vendor the content directly via SMS. Check out our free trial offer, and best of luck with your video marketing!
Jessica Peckett
Head of Marketing
Jessica is a New Zealand-born digital marketing expert with a global perspective and a track record of driving results across aviation, energy, and real estate. Currently focused on helping UK estate agents succeed through PropertyBox, she blends strategy, creativity, and tech to turn ideas into business impact. Passionate about team growth and meaningful leadership, Jessica brings energy, empathy, and a sharp commercial mindset to everything she does.