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Last updated on 10th August 2023
If you’re in the real estate business, then you know that marketing is essential to success. And one of the most effective real estate marketing tools out there is video.
Creative real estate videos can be used in a variety of different ways and can give your real estate agency a significant head start over the competition.
Just consider the numbers:
There are many different ways to use video in the real estate market – in this article we’ll share 23 of our favourite examples to inspire you.
Let’s start at the very top of the funnel by talking about video ads. These are videos that introduce a product, service, idea or brand – and they’re designed to reach people wherever they are. They can be used online or indeed offline, but the key thing is that you’re reaching people at the top of the funnel.
This is a bright, upbeat, character driven video that leads with a simple message: ‘A different way to sell your home.’
Showing the characters dancing is a fairly simple, but effective way, to highlight a particular feeling: the feeling of satisfaction that comes with selling your property for free!
Rounded off with a compelling call-to-action, this is a great example of a video that inspires and sells at the same time.
This is a simple but beautiful live-action video, augmented with animated text and elements throughout.
Our eyes were particularly drawn to the animated ‘line’ element which playfully interacts with the typography and takes us from scene to scene.
It’s a laid back, chilled video – sending a pretty powerful, if subliminal, message, about how the real estate process feels when you use Yopa.
This is an animated ad, and it’s a little longer than the other examples we’ve looked at so far.
Its appeal is that it calls out to a variety of different audience types, each represented as different characters in the video.
The use of animation brings a professional, slick feel to the message. There’s no doubt that quality animation, because it’s not a skill everybody has and does represent an investment, can help reassure an audience and communicate the idea of trustworthiness and credibility. That’s certainly the case in this example!
This is a lot more abstract than some other ads we’ve seen but the story element really works. It focuses on our main character – a scarecrow – who dreams of breaking free and moving. (Much like many people thinking of buying property!)
This powerful message of breaking free of your shackles and changing your life is an inspiring one and strikes to a deeper sense of truth about the brand’s mission. This is underscored by the core message: One day could be today. A beautiful story.
There’s no doubt that testimonial videos are a powerful marketing tool for real estate agents. After all, what could be more persuasive than hearing directly from a satisfied customer?
But a testimonial video is also an excellent way to build trustworthiness and communicate your personality. In an industry where first impressions are everything, these videos can help you stand out from the competition and win more business.
Our research suggests that 79% of people have watched a video testimonial to find out more about a company, product or service – and that 9 out of 10 people say they trust what a customer says about a business more than what that business says about itself.
It’s simple: everyone tells potential customers and clients they’re awesome. But it carries more weight when it comes from other people who’ve worked with you.
Just take these videos for example…
A beautiful testimonial video which features a variety of different camera angles, different voices, authenticity and passion.
The real strength here is that the video features great past clients who are clearly comfortable on camera and have something valuable to say.
It’s also clear that the right set up was used. The scenes are well lit, well shot, and it seems like the right questions are being asked by an interviewer off-camera to get the right information out of the testimonials and onto camera.
Now this one is a testimonial video with a difference. Featuring a client talking on the phone – the audio quality isn’t great – but this almost adds to authenticity. We know this is a real customer speaking on the phone. the
If you don’t have the means to physically visit with your clients or send a videographer, this is a great way to actually get their thoughts. And using animation as a visual accompaniment is a real masterstroke.
Instead of being led by the agent as we see in other examples, this one is led by a customer: in fact we don’t see the agent at all.
But focusing on the journey of one family, keeping it simple, helps us keep a laser focus on how the process worked for this one couple and, through that, we get a flavour for how it would be for us, the viewer, to work with Mandy.
This is another really well produced testimonial, featuring a variety of different video clips. We see talking heads, shot from different angles, and it’s all interspersed with compelling, beautiful B-roll of Shabina doing her work.
We also noticed there’s quite a deep volume of different voices crammed into just 71 seconds, featuring a good mix of different ages and demos. This can help ensure that, when viewed by a wide audience, every different segment of that audience can see someone they relate to.
Something a little different here – almost a hybrid between a video ad and a testimonial.
It’s just 17 seconds long, but it serves those two purposes wonderfully: shows off a real customer talking about their experience, and is short/punchy enough to reach audiences and inspire them almost immediately into wanting to find out more.
The old saying ‘People buy from people’ is often very true. If you’re a real estate agent, an agent intro video is a great way to let your personality and passion shine through and give your audience a flavour of what it might be like to work with you.
This can play a key role in helping you stand out from the crowd! Here are a few agents who’ve done an amazing job of this…
This first example features a big local focus. Danny leads with the message that he was born ‘right here’ in Cincinnati, while the video features some beautiful B-roll shots of landmarks around the city.
The video is essentially a personal pitch which communicates Danny’s personality but also his values – while explicitly asking, and answering, what separates himself from the crowd. It’s on the long side at over 2.5 mins but covers a LOT of ground.
This one kicks off with a logo animation and a beautiful drone shot. Beyond that, it features some beautiful B-roll footage of Jody selling and showing people round properties.
And, at around the 1:30 mark, it’s right in the sweet spot of how long you want a video like this to be.
Here’s an example that REALLY puts personality first. The all-important beginning of the video doesn’t focus on Angie’s ability as an agent – it kicks off with “Being a mom is the most amazing feeling ever.”
Much of the first minute focuses on her ‘why’ – with details about her background, plus her commitment to creating a great lifestyle for her family and particularly daughter. Once we feel like we know Angie, then we get stuck into the details of her service and what separates her from other agents.
This is another example that features many of the good things we’ve already discussed. We particularly like the addition of archive photos showing Stephanie’s upbringing, which underpin many of the things she says about her childhood and values.
Real estate listing videos are a powerful marketing tool for real estate agents. By creating a video of a property, you can give potential buyers a first-hand look at the property without them ever having to step foot inside. This is a great way to increase interest in a listing and get more people through the door.
These examples show just how slick and professional an affect you can achieve here, using a mixture of softly shot room footage with drone shots to create aspirational, lifestyle-esque effect that gets you truly excited and motivated to view.
The appeal of this one starts with a highly compelling video title – ‘See what $18,000,000 gets you in West Palm Beach, FL’ – which you would fully expect to reach out way beyond potential clientele.
Sure enough – it has 34k views on YouTube alone.
At more than 8 minutes long, this is a pretty lengthy video. But it covers every base, with beautiful footage of not just the property, but the surrounding areas, too.
This one features a variety of impresive drone shots, which show the property from the air . This really helps viewers put the footage in context and build a detailed picture of what the property really looks like.
One thing to note here is the constant motion throughout the whole video. It’s not fast, or dramatic – it’s sedate and relaxed, but the motion never stops, which helps hold your attention and makes for a highly immersive video.
This one is different from the others – but no less good, and actually perhaps even more engaging!
Rather than the other examples which revolved around drone shots and room footage, here we see a video presented by an on-camera agent. She has brilliant on-camera presence, and the video becomes something like a guided tour. It has a higher energy and pace than the others, and the enthusiasm of the presenter really cuts through the screen.
One of video’s key abilities is how it’s able to explain complicated concepts and ideas in a short, bite size way.
Considering that basically all of us go through buying, renting or selling a property at some stage in our lives, it’s a remarkably complex intricate process.
These are great examples of powerful videos that break down the complexity and give the viewer the power of understanding, whether it’s explaining how processes (buying/selling/renting) work, how to deliver more powerful viewings, how to invest in real estate or simply breaking down jargon and delivering the gift of plain English.
YouTube is a briliant resource to explain things, and we’ve included this video as an example of that phenomenon. Early in the video, Bret announces “Just a few weeks ago I bought my first property” which gives him instant credibility.
12 minutes is long by YouTube standards – but the video manages to cover so much detail, in a lively, engaging way, that it doesn’t feel excessively lengthy.
Savills is a market-leading estate agent, and this is a great example of leveraging that expertise to help your audience.
By featuring expert insights from people inside the business, they help explain the Help to Buy scheme in its broadest possible strokes.
This helps demystify a complex concept, remove a potential barrier to sale – but crucially, it also creates a sense of expertise, trustworthiness and credibility around Savills as a brand.
This is really awesome informational content.
‘What are buyers really looking at on viewings?’ as a title almost sounds like something you’d expect as a blog post. It’s very different in its pitch to other videos we’ve included in this list which are, transparently, marketing videos.
The title also suggests an element of secret, insider knowledge.
The content itself is brilliant. It actually uses eye-tracking software to see what people really look at when viewing homes, tracks where the potential buyer’s eyes are drawn.
This kind of information doesn’t just help a viewer present their home better…it demonstrates Strike have a level of analytical thinking and expertise that potentially sets them aside from other agents.
Time for another animated example, albeit pretty simple in style and execution.
What’s notable about this one is that the title tag asks two clear questions ‘How much stamp duty do I pay? What is stamp duty?’ and answers them quickly, concisely and clearly. YouTube is the web’s second largest search engine, and ranking for a term like ‘What is stamp duty?’ – a term you’d only expect to be used by people actively interested in buying a property – is a great position to be in.
The video uses animation, as brands so often do, to visualise key points and make them easier to digest and understand.
Another animated example! This one features a really modern, attractive, flat, monochrome line-drawn style along with captions on-screen for accessibility.
The content itself offers a guide to a complex concept, for beginners, in just under 3 minutes. And the use of animation makes it a really easy watch.
The real estate industry is utterly jam packed with jargon. Step forward, Zoopla! Their series of ‘Jargon Buster’ videos do a great job of unpacking and explaining what these terms actually mean.
Again there’s a wider message here, these don’t just help viewers understand what these tricky terms mean in isolation, they also say something about Zoopla: a brand that exists to demystify and simplify the house buying process.
This is a great example that didn’t really fit into any of the other categories. It’s similar to client testimonial videos but a little more subtle: less about ‘you’ the brand or the agent and more about the ‘story’ of the move – the motivation.
And there you have it! Now that you know all about using video in the real estate industry, what are you waiting for? It’s time to create your own real estate videos! If you’re ready to get started get in touch. We’ll be happy to discuss your needs and create a video that does exactly what you need it to do. Or if you’d like even more information first, head on over to our real estate video production page.
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