Advances in video software make it easy for agents to become top producers

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Cisco shared some compelling stats about Internet video in its Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2014-2019 White Paper.

For example:

• It would take an individual more than 5 million years to watch the amount of video that will cross global IP networks each month in 2019.
• Globally, consumer Internet video traffic will be 80 percent of all consumer Internet traffic in 2019, up from 64 percent in 2014.

Predicting that real estate agents who effectively leverage video will gain more new business than agents who don’t isn’t my personal attempt at sounding prescient.

It’s fact.

Thankfully, industry swells are carrying to shore a proverbial container ship of easy-to-use video marketing tools. I’ve covered several of them.

Busivid. Fast Forward Stories. REClarity. Animoto. Ezflix.

YouTube is the Web’s second largest search engine. It’s proven that video doesn’t require the production value of the Downtown Los Angeles shootout scene in “Heat” to be worthwhile.

It would take an individual over 5 million years to watch the amount of video that will cross global IP networks each month in 2019.

It also doesn’t have be as long as most Mann films.

When it comes to marketing real estate with video, the shorter the better.

Consider two minutes your limit. Aim for shorter.

Video marketing has remained out of reach primarily because of the intrinsic complexities of editing, both conceptually and technically. There’s also an unreasonable expectation of professionalism.

Conceptually, creating a publishable video does require a modicum of storytelling talent. Can you see a coherent marketing message in an assemblage of disjointed visuals?

Software like Animoto “reads” the flow of your parts to create the whole. Busivid encourages quick, single-take segments. It also makes it easy to use video you already have.

From the technical end, pro-level editing interfaces have almost vertical learning curves. Even the “easy” products require a community college course and an “Idiot’s Guide to Video Editing.”

Thankfully, the developer world finally caught wind of marketers’ collective frustration.

Maxim_Blinkov / Shutterstock.com

Video can’t grow unless it’s easy to create. Just ask GoPro’s accountants. (I own stock in GoPro.) The king of handheld video creators is racing to find ways to get customer content online.

This shows that success in video is not about the capture process, it’s about the publishing process. Thus, you don’t need high-end gear to become a Vimeo star.

Real estate agents today have it incredibly easy and should start contemplating ways to invigorate their video channels as soon as possible.

Can you translate what’s on your blog to a series of a video essays? A three-part series on preparing a home for listing? How do we arrive at your home’s value?

Technology is making it easier for everybody, not just the global media production giants.

It’s not at all a stretch to juxtapose the rise of consumer product video with the onset of web-based entertainment channels like Netflix, Crackle and Hulu.

At risk of digressing, Louis C.K. edits his critically acclaimed show on his laptop.

The point is, it’s not hard anymore. It does take time, though.

But shouldn’t every worthwhile marketing effort?

How many MLSs support video in their feature sheets? Why not?

When it comes to making marketing and technology decisions, there’s no better customer to survey than the one in your last selfie.

What you watch is what your customers watch. Put your brand where you are, and it will resonate.

I wonder, how many MLSs support video in their feature sheets? Why isn’t this a member demand?

YouTube’s Statistics page says that YouTube overall, and even YouTube on mobile alone, reaches more 18-to-34- and 18-to-49-year-olds than any cable network in the U.S.

(Also note: More than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices.)

Remember, YouTube is your standard bearer, not Michael Bay.

And we should all be grateful for that.

Do you use video products — and what do you think? Leave a comment and let us know!

Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.