We’re always being asked what the best content strategy is for a listing, and most agents base that question what the house looks like, how big it is, where it’s located, etc. But in our opinion, the answer actually has nothing to do with the house. It’s all in your specific marketing technique. If you don’t have any specific marketing techniques nailed down, that’s ok! We’re able to make resources to implement any of our services into an easy to post MLS tear sheet. However, if you have a few favorite marketing platforms you prefer, this could heavily influence which of our services you use regularly. No matter which service, we provide post-ready content so all you have to do is load it and press send!
Let us start out by identifying some of our most popular services and then getting into the woods on how to use them and what their best purposes are!
Real Estate Photography
Real estate photography has the most utility of all our services. It’s your bread and butter and can be used pretty much anywhere, and most people already know how to utilize it. Agents need great photos for their MLS and they’re familiar with how to post them there. More marketing-savvy agents are also familiar with using these images on Facebook, Instagram, their website or blog and many other places online. Great photos get great visibility and they’re really the “jack-of-all-trades” in the real estate marketing world. Real Estate Photography is our most popular service, and we almost always start here for building a marketing content package.
Best Places To Share
- MLS
- Website/blog
- Direct mail, post cards
- Business cards
- Open house advertising
- Basically anywhere else photos are allowed
Benefits Of Using Real Estate Photography
The benefits of real estate photography are generally readily apparent. Professional photos help your listings stand out from the others on MLS. This applies for any house in any market or price point. Luxury to less than luxury, you’re going to want the best photos you can get. An additional bonus to using professional real estate photography is that you’ve got evergreen marketing content for things like your agent website, social media call-to-actions, direct mailers and email campaigns, business cards, post cards and basically any other marketing you need great photos for. Using your own listings for these things is better than using stock photos, because they’re images of homes you’ve personally sold. They make great talking points, and chances are the photos have already paid you back for having them made!
Of course, let’s not forget the statistics right on our home page. Listings with professional photos get more views, sell faster and sell for more!
Matterport 3D Showcase Virtual Tours
3D Showcases are a relatively new, but massively popular technique for marketing a listing. They have a unique ability to feature a walk-through video while allowing the viewer to stop and take control at any time. The technology also allows for virtual floor plans, which let users select any location on any floor and instantly be dropped into that region of the house. Matterport has made a huge wave in the real estate market and is being seen far more frequently on listing pages. Their recent announcement of their Cortex platform means more listings than ever will be featuring Matterport 3D Tours. While the quality generated by an untrained user and their Cortex platform may work for some, ProLocal offers high-quality and feature-rich 3D Showcases for increased impact and less involvement from agents.
Best Places To Share
- MLS listings (either on their own as a virtual tour or with one of our custom landing pages)
- Realtor.com (automatically when placed in MLS)
- Your website or blog
- Direct email marketing
- Instagram*
Benefits Of Using Matterport 3D Showcase
Matterport 3D Showcases are really the top-of-the-line marketing tool at the moment. They offer users the unique ability to watch a walkthrough video, but stop it at any point and direct the tour themselves. Viewers can walk through the house at their own pace, visiting only the rooms that matter most to them. Potential buyers can spend as much time as they want in any room of the house any time of the day with or without their agent. We can’t think of a better way to prove value and create a sense of urgency in buyers than allowing complete access to a fantastic listing 24/7!
And, better yet, Matterport tours are fully supported and integrated into Realtor.com listings, meaning everyone can see them represented by an agent or not! Realtor.com displays them across all platforms from desktop computers to smartphones, giving everyone access. Matterport’s primary limitations come in that they are a self-hosted solution meaning you never have access to a source file like you would with photos and videos. In most cases, you’ll have to post the tour link or embed it (which we are here to help with!). However…
*BONUS: Post Matterport Video Shorts
We strive to produce the BEST marketing tools for your listing. If you’re a big social media agent, then let us get you a short video clip of your tour! They catch eyes and get tons of views on social media. They offer yet another way to market your listing and get the attention you need to sell a house. We can produce video shorts for any Matterport tour free of charge! Use the short videos however you like, wherever you like to impress your sellers, potential buyers or even potential new sellers. You can even convert them to GIFs for even more options.
Video Tours
A well-done video tour features aerial drone footage as well as stabilized interior and exterior video footage. When we produce a film, we try to feature all the elements of a house that would entice buyers to make an offer. It’s more of a commercial than it is a full tour of house. Different photographers all take different approaches to their video tours. Since we offer Matterport and believe that is the best way for someone to see every room and every square inch of house, we spend more time focusing on what’s most likely to sell the house.
Best Places To Share
- YouTube
- Facebook (either as it’s own post or, better yet, as a promoted ad!)
- Your website as a feature
- Your blog as a post
- Instagram (We offer social media cuts so you can meet Instagram’s 60 second limitation. They make great paid ads)
- Direct emailers
Benefits Of Using Video Tours
Our video tours are in their best element when they’re being used as part of a paid marketing campaign. If you’re planning on running a Facebook or Instagram ad, consider using a video. Video content has steadily increased in popularity on social media and it’s a great way to get people to stop and notice what you’re selling. A well-produced video will not only market your listing, but market yourself as an agent too. We’ve found that videos get more positive results when used on social media and paid marketing campaigns than they do when used in MLS. If you’re interested in capitalizing on a YouTube channel, our video tours are perfect ready-made content you can publish directly on your YouTube channel. We can even add agent marketing pieces for your own marketing use.
Aerial Drone Videos
Drone photos and videos have become ubiquitous to real estate marketing. Especially in our region, where many houses have large properties or sit on the lake, drone footage offers a unique perspective of a property. Aerial drone video is produced under regulation from the FAA and requires a licensed (and preferably insured) drone pilot and it’s recommended to hire an experienced operator. Because drones are readily available on the consumer market, there’s much confusion amid all the buzz. As trained, licensed and insured experts, we provide quality drone services in a safe and fun manner!
Best Places To Share
- YouTube
- Website/Blog
- Direct email marketing
Benefits Of Aerial Using Drone Videos
No other service will offer the view aerial drone videos can. Drone video is great for showing off large properties, houses on the lake or properties in close proximity to some other geographical location. We’re often able to show Charlotte off in the distance when we fly drone videos here in the area! The final drone footage is perfect for Instagram as it’s often under 60 seconds long. The hashtags associated with drone work get tons of views, and people are generally really interested to watch videos from drones. Because they’re so popular, they have a huge interested audience. Facebook paid marketing campaigns are also a perfect fit for drone videos. A quick ad with some clever copy using a drone video could net your next sale. At the very least, it will market you as an agent who is up to date with current trends!
Conclusion
While videos can absolutely be used for MLS, Matterport and photos are better served for these platforms. Photos are a basic requirement to garner initial attention online, while Matterport provides an in-depth examination for those who are really interested. Video tours provide neither of these benefits. However, the benefits video tours or drone videos do provide in their correct element far outweigh the benefits Matterport would offer. Picking the right marketing tool is all about knowing where you’re going to market your listing and preparing early!
If you’re unsure how you’d like to market a listing, give us a call. We’re always ready and willing to talk about your next listing, your goals and how to achieve them. ProLocal offers marketing materials meant to bring you success, and we truly believe we all benefit from better content!