Wednesday, May 18, 2011

5 Steps to Real Estate Video Marketing Success by Josh Schoenly

Video marketing is growing like wildfire and if you haven't already begun using it in your real estate practice you need to start now. Below you'll find a simple 5 step process you can use to get started or add to your repertoire in using video marketing for your business.


Step 1: Start With the End in Mind
I know that is a little cliché but it's critical when it comes to using video as part of your real estate marketing plan. There are really only about 4 different outcomes to try and accomplish. They are are as follows:




  • Lead Generation



  • Branding




  • Listing Plans



  • SEO

    Once you have your desired outcome for your video it's time to move onto Step 2.

    Step 2: Keyword Research
    Regardless of your desired outcome, you'll need to do some keyword research to determine what keywords you want to go after with your video. This sounds complex - but really it's pretty simple. Go to Google and type in "google keyword tool" in the search box. It will return a result for Google AdWords: Key Word Tool. There you can simply enter keywords that you would want to target and Google's tool will tell you how much traffic those keywords are getting.

    Here's a keyword example to try: foreclosure listings Harrisburg Pa. Did you notice that Google identified all of the key words assoicated and provided the total number of searchs as well as their respective local and global search strengths?

    Once you have a list of potential keywords, go back to the Google search and enter in your keywords to see how many competing sites there are on Google. The best keywords to target are those that have high search volume and not that many competing pages.

    This information is important- it will be used to sometimes determine the topic of your video, to title and to describe your video when it is time to release it to the public (see Step 5).

    Step 3: What Type of Video Will You Use?
    There are several video types you can use. For example you can create a video slide show, video property tour, neighborhood video tour, screen capture video and the list can go on and on. You just need to pick which type of video you are going to use and then move on to Step 4.

    Step 4: Create or Render
    Once you determine the type of video, you'll need to create it. How you create the video is going to depend on the type you choose in Step 3. You may need to go to an actual property and shoot the video tour or you may be able to simply create it on your computer with a slide show or screen capture. Once you have it created you will need to either upload it to a video sharing site or you may need to first render the video and then upload.

    Step 5: Syndication & Distribute (The Fun Part)
    So you have your video created, now what? It's time to get it up and out on the net. There are tons of video sharing sites out there, but definitely the best and most recognized is Youtube. So that is probably the best place to start. It's super easy to create an account and upload a video there. But if you really want to turbo charge your results you are going to want to syndicate your video on many different video sharing sites. I know this sounds like a big pain, but here's the cool thing, there are sites out there that will do it for you. The best free site to do this is tubemogul.com. The way it works is that you upload your video to tubemogul and then enter your title, description and tags and it will actually syndicate your video to a bunch of different sites all at the same time!

    Source: http://www.reiclub.com/articles/5-steps-video-marketing-success





  • Check Out this Article: Real Estate Industry Capitilizes Online Video!



    Online video has proven to be an effective tool for real estate agents. If pictures can show off an available home better than text alone, then imagine how powerful video can be to the prospective buyer. It gives them the feeling of actually touring the property–outside of them visiting the house in person, there’s no better way for them to truly experience it.
    But for too long, real estate agents have been happy to shoot a virtual tour video and call it a day. And while that can help drive sales, it’s hardly tapping the power of online video’s ability to spread and have lasting impact on viewers.  As someone who recently went through the whole home-buying routine, I can’t tell you how boring those tour videos can be. They may have shown off the home, but they did little to excite me about the property. I’ve been waiting for a real estate company or agent to get way outside the box and create something with the ability to go viral.




    Source: Real Estate Video Marketing: Industry Moves Beyond Virtual Home Tours http://www.reelseo.com/real-estate-industry-virtual-tour-videos/#ixzz1Mi2xiQ70
    ©2008-2011 ReelSEO Video Marketing

    Monday, May 2, 2011

    Mystery Shopping goes hand-in-hand with Market Research

    Mystery Shopping goes hand in hand with market research. Market research as it applies to mystery shopping is defined as the examination of the whims and behavioral preferences of consumers and how these preferences affect business.
    Mystery shopping reports offer comprehensive information on how consumers are reacting to different marketing campaigns, store designs, promotions, etc. Mystery shoppers are essentially the connector between consumers and business. They provide the client the ability to see the interaction through the “Customers Eyes”.  In reporting their experiences they help businesses understand how efficiently they are presenting themselves and their products to customers. Mystery shoppers thus, are an important market research tool and often spark changes from businesses when reports reflect negatively on a specific aspect of the customer-business relationship.