Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on effective video creation for real estate agents by Videolicious CEO Matt Singer. In this guest column, Singer discusses effective on-camera speaking techniques for agents. Part 1 covered techniques for creating effective visuals.
By MATT SINGER
Now that we’ve discussed ways to create effective visuals for real estates videos, we can talk about effective speaking. The true power of effective video is the verbal narrative, which can be harnessed by putting the agent on camera, speaking directly to the buying audience in a down-to-earth, credible, peer-to-peer fashion.
At QVC, this style of video is often nicknamed the backyard fence sale, and it is incredibly effective. The backyard fence sale should come naturally for real estate agents.
The backyard fence sale is really an analogy. Imagine being in your backyard, grilling some dinner, and your neighbor sees you using a new grill gadget. The neighbor asks you about it.
Generally, one would not respond with a hard, scripted sell: "Well, are you tired of the same spatula? Let me tell you about this incredible double-wide kitchen utensil, available now!"
Instead, one would respond with a relaxed, friendly, down-to-earth explanation.
 Matt Singer |
You’re not really trying to sell your neighbor — you’re simply trying to give him useful information, answer his questions and give your honest judgment about the product.
The backyard fence sales style features three core elements: approachability, credibility and personalization.
Be approachable
Approachability can be summarized in the overall style of the presentation — being welcoming, friendly and answering questions.
The same elements that work well at a showing carry very well in backyard fence-style videos. When appearing on camera, this literally means starting and ending a speaking video clip with a smile.
In addition, it means starting an on-camera presentation with a welcoming phrase ("Hi, I’m Jennifer from Local Realty") and ending with a farewell phrase ("Thanks for watching, and I’d love to schedule a showing with you.").
Since the camera is just a piece of glass and not a human being, it’s also easy to drop energy when speaking into the camera, so making a conscious effort to turn up the friendly energy when speaking on camera will produce a natural-looking result.
Be credible
Credibility, the second core element of the backyard fence sale, is about sharing expertise.
Maybe this home has a feature that is unusual for houses in this price range or there are features in the neighborhood of which the buyer might not be aware. Credibility leads to trust, which rightfully increases the ability to influence a sale through video.
Credibility is also a way to advance an agent’s brand. This type of expertise shared through video can make a strong impression on buyers and potentially open up opportunities for buyers to seek the agent out in the future for other transactions.
Be personal
Personalization, the final core element of the backyard fence sale, is about making emotional connections through real life examples.
For instance, if a home features a great kitchen island and the agent likes to cook, sharing how much one enjoys cooking and why one finds islands incredibly useful is a form of personalizing the sell. It humanizes the seller and opens a door to who the seller is, which can help to form an emotional connection with the buyer.
In addition, personalization can be tied to the surroundings of the house. For example, the agent could share that many families in the neighborhood love the local school, which personalizes the experience of owning the home through others.
Once you’re done shooting, you will need to integrate the video you capture of the home’s interior with your on-camera footage. Applications for editing vary in capabilities, ease of use and cost, from Web-based, iPhone or iPad services to professional editing suites costing thousands of dollars. Real estate agents may find high-end video editing software challenging and expensive to use, and should find an offering that makes creating professional-quality video easy and cost-effective.
Great video provides a greater degree of information than photos — video is 30 photos every second, after all. But to be truly effective, sales video needs to go beyond the informational value add and emotionally connect with the audience.
Thus, agents that combine quality video segments of a home’s features with approachable, credible and personal on-camera delivery can have the same success of multibillion-dollar retailers.
These proven practices are the true building blocks to effectively drive sales for your overall real estate business. Are there other techniques that you find effective when creating sales videos? If so, let us know!
Videolicious CEO Matt Singer will present "How to create effective video" Sept. 19 at Inman News’ Agent Reboot conference in Washington, D.C.
