Why streaming television is the future of marketing

With more than 1,000 Inman posts, Bernice Ross is a long-time contributor whose weekly column on real estate trends, luxury, marketing and other best practices publishes every Monday.

If you’re ready to get a head start on 2020, October is the best time of year to do your business plan. As you plan for the upcoming year, there’s an entirely new way to market your business, and that’s through streaming media.

My point is, television viewers are cutting the cord with traditional cable and satellite TV channels. They’re moving online to streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, Roku and YouTube.

Soon, there will be even more streaming services, such as AppleTV, which is slated to launch Nov. 1. And the Walt Disney Company is also launching its own online streaming service a couple of weeks after that as it launches Disney+. AT&T will also jumping in with the experimental launch of HBO Max sometime later this year.

It turns out that an Australian media company is jumping on the online streaming bandwagon and making the most of consumers’ huge appetite for property shows. (HGTV had the fourth largest prime time television viewership in 2018 with 1.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Its total day viewership ranked fifth at 736,000, behind Fox News, MSNBC, Nickolodean and ESPN). For its part, PropertyTV offers real estate agents and brokerages the ability to create their own streaming real estate shows online.

This is a great opportunity for agents to increase the likelihood of landing the all-important face-to-face meeting with potential clients, in my opinion. You too, could create your own House Hunters television show or your version of Million Dollar Listing.

No matter which strategy you choose for lead generation, your No. 1 goal must be making a face-to-face appointment as quickly as possible. The reason is that both buyers and sellers generally hire the first agent they see face-to-face when they decide to transact. According to the National Association of Realtors‘ Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, three-quarters of the sellers only interview one agent before they hire them. Another 13 percent only interview two.

The Buyer and Seller Profile also contains this shocking statistic: Open houses (which are face-to-face) generate the same percentage of closed listing transactions as all real estate websites combined — this includes the portals, MLS, broker and individual websites. This number has held steady at 4 percent for the past several years.

The problem with print advertising, CMAs and Zestimate for lead generation

Whether it’s a “just listed” or “just sold” postcard, a marketing letter, an offer of a comparative market analysis or an online automated valuation models, the challenge with these marketing approaches is that they’re all “one-and-done,” especially because they only hold the person’s attention for a few seconds at most. It’s also part of the reason that print only converts at 2 percent, as noted in the chart above.

Consumers want video, whether it’s listing videos, information about their communities, market statistics, mortgage information, stories on the local lifestyle, or even a video email as opposed to a traditional email. In many cases, it’s easier and more entertaining to consume.

Cue the various streaming services that popping up. Earlier last month, Inman wrote about Smart TV Marketing, a new smart TV service offered by a real estate duo working out of Beverly Hills in California.

PropertyTV.io: A streaming solution for real estate

PropertyTV.io (PropTV) has created its own version — think Netflix meets HGTV, Million Dollar Listing, and Flip This House shows on demand.

Founders Kevin Turner and Joel Leslie launched PropertyTV in the U.S. in January at Real Estate Connect in New York. Broadcasting 24/7 to Australasia, North America, Europe and Dubai, PropertyTV offers both consumer and industry-based content and has over 149,000 subscribers.

The system syndicates its content to various online networks, such as YouTube, as well as to AppleTV and Roku.

It’s a potentially powerful means to maximize the results from your lead generation activities and might increase your chances of obtaining the all-important face-to-face appointment with new clients.

PropertyTV offers three different options — having your own show with unlimited videos as well as two different channel models.

Leveraging your other real estate lead generation sources

Whether you decide to use YouTube, Instagram Stories or broadcast across multiple outlets simultaneously with PropertyTV, video can help you become the dominate agent in your area by helping you to:

• Capture more listings because you have a video channel.
• Establish yourself as the community expert by regularly updating your viewers about which way local home prices are trending.
• Make it easier for consumers to view your video testimonials.
• Allow sellers to discover how you would use video to market their listing.
• Get a better return on your print marketing by including a link to your video channel on every print marketing piece. Be sure to create a welcome video thanking them for visiting your site.
• Generate more interest by taking videos at the local pumpkin carving contest, October Fest or of the best decorated houses for the holidays.
• Spreading the word about down payment assistance by interviewing a mortgage broker about which programs are available in your area.
• Keeping residents updated with what’s happening at your local City Council meetings including how their actions impact your local area.
• Showcasing local non-profits and their efforts to improve your community.
• Interviewing the local high school football or basketball coach about their upcoming games and chances for the new season.
• Chatting with a local history buff about the back story of some of the important historical homes in your area.

3 agents who are killing it using these video strategies

Here are three prime examples of how video can work to help your business.

Christophe Choo’s YouTube channel combines professionally produced video as well as personal videos shot while driving around in his market area (Beverly Hills). The success of his approach speaks for itself in terms of the thousands and thousands of page views.

Sue “Pinky” Benson of Naples, Florida, who is using video and photos that she posts to Instagram to reach her target market, with her “PinkyKnowsNaples” page, has over 6,000 followers.

Judy Weiniger, the broker owner of the Weiniger Group from Warren Township, New Jersey, has done an extraordinary job with her YouTube channel producing hyperlocal content, highlighting the lifestyle in her area, doing market updates, and of course, marketing her listings.

Using video as an effective public relations tool

When the school Weiniger’s children attended ranked a 5 out of 10, the school rankings were hurting local sales. Weiniger knew the schools were much better than that, so she decided to produce a series of videos highlighting the different schools in the area.

On Sept. 26, 2019, Weiniger’s work resulted in her winning first place from the New Jersey School Public Relations Association. Weiniger exemplifies what one committed agent or broker can do using the power of video to improve her business and to change perceptions of her entire community.

Will you get the edge on your competitors? 

While the media companies battle it out for top dog in the on demand streaming market, take a hard look at what this new means of video marketing can do not only for your business, but for both your clients and your entire community as well. 

Bernice Ross, President and CEO of BrokerageUP and RealEstateCoach.com, is a national speaker, author and trainer with over 1,000 published articles. Learn about her broker/manager training programs designed for women, by women, at BrokerageUp.com and her new agent sales training at RealEstateCoach.com/newagent.