6 Overlooked Tips for Video-Savvy Agents Who Want to Attract More Customers

“Marketing isn’t meant to sign the listing contract or get the buyer’s agreement – it’s meant to start a conversation that will build trust and lead to a relationship,” says Michael Thorne, a member of the TMB Real Estate Group with RE/MAX LifeStyles Realty in Langley, British Columbia.

“You know your marketing is working if it’s eliciting a reaction and sparking a conversation,” he says, crediting his fellow TMB Real Estate Group team members, Jorda Maisey and Trisha Bongers, with giving him opportunities to create video content.

Consider Thorne, who’s been in the real estate industry for nearly three decades, the expert on all things video marketing. He began leveraging video for business around the onset of smartphone usage, and since 2012, has been using video as his most effective form of real estate marketing. His video expertise of nearly a decade has even led him and fellow RE/MAX agent Jesse Peters, with RE/MAX Executives Realty in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to teaching others about the benefits of optimizing video.

“People’s fear of being on camera is the thing keeping them from creating video content. But COVID-19 actually forced a lot of people out of their comfort zone who previously wouldn’t have ever gone in front of the camera,” Thorne explains. “Now is a great time for agents to embrace video, learn more about it and take it to the next level. The internal fear is the only thing holding people back.”

Opportunities and platforms may come and go, says Thorne, but video itself is here to stay – so agents need to adapt.

“The video landscape continues to change, and algorithms are constantly being adjusted, but the overall medium isn’t changing.”

Here are Thorne’s best tips for agents who have dabbled in video for their business and are now looking to take their content and engagement to new heights.

1. Be the guide in your story

“For every hero in a story, there is a guide who has walked the same path a thousand times. We as agents have to position ourselves as the guide in our clients’ stories, instead of being the hero,” Thorne explains.

“When you’re creating video content, make sure it doesn’t just boast your own talents but that it explains how you are going to be a guide to others.”

2. Commitment to the upload button

According to Thorne, commitment is the key to growth.

“Identify one thing you would improve upon in each video. It’s about progress and consistency over perfection,” he says.

3. Don’t aim to go viral

Thorne says agents don’t need to produce internet-breaking content all the time. It’s far more sustainable for growth to produce “evergreen” content – material that is going to remain valuable for the weeks and months to come.

4. Break down niche content

“The more specific you are to the audience, the more value it adds for the consumer,” Thorne says.

For example, offering insight to niche consumers, like first-time homebuyers, is a way of creating content buckets and being able to diversify offerings for every client’s needs.

5. Have your marketing become your advertising

“My business partner Jesse [Peters] strongly believes in having your marketing be your advertising,” Thorne says.

“When you’re able to create video content for your individual listings, you’re creating that video to market just that property. But when done well, like Jesse does by infusing his own personality and passion into the content, the video helps sell the home and draws in more listing prospects, too. Remember that you’re building your own brand.”

6. Shoot for the edit

“Having a creative vision and understanding the editing process for a video means you’ll capture the right shots you need from the beginning,” Thorne explains.

It’s time to reverse-engineer how the video is made, long or short.

“When you storyboard an idea, whether it’s in your mind or physically, you’re able to better visualize the direction of the content. I don’t get into the edit and decide what I’m going to make – I shoot the video already knowing what I want the finished product to look like.”

“Back when I was doing business in the ’90s, buying airtime on television was the only way you could serve up video to a potential consumer in your marketplace. But that meant paying for the cost of airtime, hiring a professional crew and hiring professional editors. It was nearly impossible,” Thorne says. “But these days, it’s as easy as taking your phone out of your pocket and hitting ‘record.'”

For video beginners and experts alike, Thorne and Peters are hosting their annual Video Boot Camp event. This year, it’s accessible to all as its being held virtually.

The sixth annual Video Boot Camp course is taking place online from May 10-14. In lieu of payment, Thorne and Peters are encouraging attendees to make a donation to Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals. They are hoping to raise over $50K from the event to benefit CMN Hospitals across the U.S. and Canada.

When a RE/MAX agent donates to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, their contribution stays local, benefiting patients at the affiliated CMN Hospital nearby.

For over 29 years, RE/MAX has been a proud philanthropic sponsor of CMN Hospitals with contributions from the network and affiliates surpassing $170 million USD to date.

Register here to sign up for the weeklong Video Boot Camp and build your online presence alongside a global network of RE/MAX agents.

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