Two property managers have found that professionally filmed video content has helped boost their profiles and even generate new business.
Elizabeth Hood, who won BDM of the Year Real Estate Business Awards, films monthly videos to demonstrate her local market knowledge of Rockhampton, with her most recent video bringing in three new managements.
“I think people prefer video over written newsletters because they’re short, easy to watch and very accessible,” she told RPM.
“Within a minute or two of watching it, people can get a general overview of the market, especially if they’re not local investors.”
The video content is posted on Ms Hood’s personal and professional Facebook pages, as well as YouTube and her agency’s database, which contains several thousand people.
Ms Hood said filming video updates is a good strategy for property managers because they can generate plenty of shares and interest for an affordable cost.
“The initial set-up was a little bit more, but with an ongoing basis it’s only about $250-$300 a month to do it, so it’s a worthwhile investment,” she said.
Wagga Property Management director Dave Skow told RPM he films a brief video towards the end of each month to be released in the first week of the following month.
“We have followed the same format for each video – an overview of the rental market, a couple of success stories and a good news item about our office such as new staff members or award won,” he said.
To distribute the content, Mr Skow set up a YouTube channel for his agency, although he hasn’t spent a great deal of time promoting it.
“The main source of views is by us posting it to our already well-liked and viewed Facebook page. As with our other Facebook marketing, we pay a small amount to have the video promoted,” he said.
According to Mr Skow, creating videos regularly means his filming system now runs like clockwork with him spending about 20 minutes writing the script and about 45 minutes of filming.
“I would spend no more than an hour a month on preparation and filming; obviously the guys we pay to film and produce the videos do all the hard work,” he said.
Mr Skow has found the regular videos have increased brand awareness, attracted potential clients and helped position his agency as a market leader within the local area.