Nearly one year ago, realtor.com® asked this question: Does Twitter’s new app Vine have real estate appeal?”It’s a great question, and one many agents and brokers are still asking. Over the past 12 months, Vine has become more visible, and even has a competitor in Instagram Video, saying nothing of Instagram pictures, and all of YouTube.
The bigger question here involves visual media, and how it can help your business.
Earlier this year, Burke Smith, chief communications officer for HSA Home Warranty, presented a webinaron how to convert buyers using YouTube.
Essentially, you need to make sure you’re using video to promote listings, because that’s exactly what your clients want. Seventy-three percent of sellers say they prefer to list with an agent who uses video, yet only 12 percent of agents have a YouTube channel, and only 1 percent actively use it.
But which visual platform is right for your company? Take a look at some of the most popular online video apps:
- YouTube – YouTube has become one of the largest websites in the world, and has even become the second largest search engine. According to the site, 100 hours of video are uploaded every minute. It gets more than 1 billion unique user visits each month, 40 percent of which are on a mobile device. Videos aren’t bound by a small time limit, and can range from a few seconds to more than an hour.
- Vine – This app is essentially the “Twitter of video.” Twitter forced users to distribute content in 140 characters or less—and Vine makes them do the same in six seconds of video. Many people use Vine to send a quick joke, piece together a montage of clips or to create a stop-motion video.
- Instagram – This platform now includes both photo and video applications, and the option to share them via other social networks. Like Vine, the videos are short, but Instagram videos can be as long as 15 seconds.
Here’s the best news: it’s easy and free to get started! You don’t need to hire anyone—many successful videos are filmed on mobile devices, and edited using free software. Be sure to include your branding in each video, and create content you can reuse. Good luck!
For information on HSA Home Warranty, visit www.onlinehsa.com. For more tips and to view the full webinar, click here.
