4 tactics to increase your site engagement with video

Before all the effects of a video view occur — the social shares, the traffic, the leads — people actually have to watch the video.

At WellcomeMat, we look at a ton of real estate videos all over the web. When we’re researching a potential partner’s video program to learn if we’re in a position to help them, we’ll head to YouTube to check out quality of the video they’re creating and frequency at which they’re uploading new videos.

It always amazes me when we come across stunning, professionally-produced video on a company’s YouTube channel and each of its videos only have a handful of views. Beautifully shot, impeccably edited videos barely getting watched.

And when I go to the brokerages’ site to see how they have video implemented throughout their sites, it’s nowhere to be found. Sometimes, there’s not even a YouTube logo among the company’s social media icons.

Professionally produced video content is not cheap but the returns for those committing to video are eye-opening:

• 73 percent of homeowners would rather list with a Realtor who offers video
• Listings that include video get 403 percent more inquiries than those without
• The average consumer spends 88 percent more time on a website with video
• Realtors have collectively seen profits boost over 40 percent from video marketing
• 86 percent of homeshoppers watch videos to learn more about a community

You probably get significantly more daily traffic to your website than your YouTube channel. So I ask — if you’re going to put forth the investment into high-quality video, why would you not integrate that amazing content throughout your site, where it’s a proven conversion rate driver?

Time spent on site is one of the most critical metrics a marketer should monitor. The longer you keep consumers on your site, the greater chance you have to convert them into a lead.

So let’s take a look a few ways to get more value out of those cinematic masterpieces, integrate them into your website and keep those site visitors you’ve done such an awesome job of acquiring on your site and consuming your content.

1. Neighborhood pages

As stated above, 86 percent of homeshoppers will search for and watch videos to learn more about a community. Homebuyers are not just buying a new home. They’re also buying into the neighborhood, the amenities of the surrounding area and the life that comes with it: schools, restaurants, recreation, cultural attractions, shopping, housing trends — you name it.

Two great examples of this use of video is Realty Austin and Residential Properties. Both have featured communities sections on their sites prominently (though I can’t in good conscious recommend the use of YouTube to embed videos).

Due to the evergreen nature of these videos, the long-term SEO benefit of embedding neighborhood tours and agent bios onto your site has the potential to drive free traffic to your website for years to come.

Just make sure your landing pages are optimized for keywords homebuyers would be searching for to find information and insert them naturally within the content of your page.

The Keyword Planner within Google AdWords is an excellent resource for your research. If you’re not sure where to start, type a term into Google you think would be relevant to your content. At the bottom of the page, you’ll see a list of related searches.

For example, if I do a search for “best neighborhoods Boulder,” the following suggestions are displayed:

2. Agent bios

Let’s face it, in the internet world we live in today, users simply won’t spend the time to read a lengthy bio. And quite honestly, it’s pretty impersonal.

Consumers don’t get a real sense of your personality. You could have a beautifully written bio, but that bio video sitting on YouTube shows off your glowing personality way more than text ever could.

William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty and Beverly Hanks do a fantastic job of incorporating video into the agent’s page. It’s easy to access, and it brings more life to your bio.

3. Listing pages

This one should be the easiest of the bunch, and one that is most often overlooked. Grab the embed code of your property videos, and throw them onto that listing page.

A real estate group found that listings with a video get 403 percent more inquiries than those without.

One great example of listing page execution is Houlihan Lawrence. The property video is featured front and center as soon as the consumer lands on the page — prioritized over the still images. It’s nearly impossible not to watch the video.

Halstead is another example of solid listing page integration with a video tour tab that launches a lightbox with the video embed.

4. Implement a video channel

At this point, you have your great video content dispersed throughout your site. Consumers are spending more time on your site, and your engagement rates are up. But is there a location you can point where you can direct all of your video marketing efforts?

A page where your potential customers can watch all your property videos, get to know your amazing agents, learn about the neighborhoods and educate themselves on the local real estate market trends all in one spot? Why yes, Virginia, there is — a video channel.

Organize all of your videos into custom playlists for each video type. Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty has done a great job of incorporating several different playlists onto its channel.

From this single landing page, consumers can get information about local offices and featured listings and learn about their local communities as well as get a sense of the Sotheby’s International Realty brand. Sotheby’s channel is also mobile-responsive, so its consumers are getting a video experience optimized for any device.

You’ve made the investment in great video content. Now put it to work for you!

Brian Andzejewicz is a marketing manager at WellcomeMat.

Email Brian Andzejewicz