“I wanted people to know the heart of our company.”
Stephanie Lanier, broker-owner of Wilmington, North Carolina-based brokerage Lanier Property Group, cited the above for recently dropping thousands of dollars on a cinema-quality branding video.
Lanier Property Group's branding video.
In the few months since the 14-agent firm rolled the custom video out in email signatures and other locations, it has already paid dividends, primarily through warming leads by giving them a crystal clear picture of the firm’s "Why."
When a firm communicates its "why" effectively, clearly and emotionally, connections with leads become stickier, ingredients that marketers the world round know drive closed deals.
“It leads to people saying ‘I already feel like I know you’ when they meet us in person for the first time,” Lanier said. “Other than a video I can't think of another way you can communicate that much depth, emotion and content in a few minutes.”
Curaytor’s sleek, mobile-optimized website design helps clients present their branding videos front and center. Learn more here.
Cinematic brand videos like Lanier’s are a heavy investment and require a skilled videographer and storyteller.
There are times to pull out your 6s Plus or Galaxy S7, and moments to put them away, far away. A branding video is one of those times.
“People aren't moved by ordinary,” said Josh Hasty, independent filmmaker and founder of Relavox, a new video production firm specializing in real estate branding and listing videos that made Lanier’s video.
Hasty and his team collaborate with their clients to isolate the heart of their businesses and develop a story to best expose it in a one to two-minute video. The videos often include shots of the community, clients talking about the team or agent and up to two dozen scenes. Each one is unique.
Video has been touted as real estate’s next big thing for over a decade, and will likely be hyped similarly a decade from now. The reason is simple: despite the plethora of automated listing videos now hitting the market, quality video is difficult but immensely effective.
4 more standout real estate branding videos
Relavox produced the following videos, which, you’ll notice, pulse with emotion.
Hasty’s significant film experience helps him pull out this feeling. Heavy metal rocker Rob Zombie recently hired Hasty to co-produce and film a documentary on his horror flick “31.” In addition, Hasty has produced and directed his own films, including “Judith” and “HONEYSPIDER.”
Exploring his work below shows how a skilled storyteller and professional videographer can spin your firm or team into brand gold.
My Tampa Agent's branding video.
Anthony Malafronte, leader of the seven-person My Tampa Agent team in Tampa, Florida, hired Relavox earlier this year to help take his brand to the next level.
In addition to the instant brand shine, the video, which Malafronte’s team promotes in their email signatures among other places, has warmed leads, Malafronte said. He attributes winning a $725,000 ski lake property listing, in part, on the video.
Jane & Kim's branding video.
Creating stronger connections with leads also drew the Nashville, Tennessee, sister team Jane & Kim to invest in a branding video from Relavox. It has given the duo’s brand a notable professional polish, said Kim Brogli, one of the team’s leads.
“People comment how professional it is and I think it represents how professionally we will handle all aspects of their transaction,” Brogli said.
“We feel strongly that video is the future of agent brand marketing,” said John Mangas, broker-owner of the three-office, 100-agent Toledo, Ohio-based brokerage Re/Max Preferred Associates.
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, video is worth a million,” Mangas said.
His firm will distribute his brand film everywhere, he said. It will live on landing pages, various websites the firm controls, email signature lines, auto response message to online leads, open house contact follow-up notes, Facebook and Facebook Ads and Instagram.
Johnson Real Estate Group's branding video.
The Cincinnati-based father-daughter team Johnson Real Estate Group decided to do a branding video in recognition of digital's increasing prevalence and importance in winning business.
"I wanted to have a marketing tool that represents the high standard Don (Johnson) and I hold ourselves to," said Olivia Johnson.
The team presents the video in their email signatures and at every listing appointment. It has won the listing at all four appointments it has had since having the video. Invariably, the client response to the video has been "Wow!," Johnson said.
Herndon Real Estate Group's branding video.
"I've had so many people comment to me on how awesome the video is, and how it depicts what our team is about AND what our sleepy little town looks and feels like," said Michele Herndon of her three-agent Tampa Bay, Florida team's branding video.
"The impact," Herndon added, "while not measured in ROI, can be measured in views and 'talk about town.'"
Indie film process = real estate cinema
Relavox’s process illustrates the value, and cost, of an effective branding video. First of all, each one is custom: the scenes, the layout, the music is all one-of-a-kind.
“We built Relavox to operate like a movie studio on a small budget,” Hasty said.
With lots of pre-planning and organization, Relavox shoots all the footage for a clients’ brand video in one 10-12-hour day. The firm shoots with multiple cameras and has several pros on set including a producer, camera operator, sound recordist and production assistant.
“My goal is to keep our team (at Relavox) operating the same way small indie films do,” Hasty said.
The Relavox 7 Step Process:
- Step 1: Collaborate with clients to ascertain brand to begin storyboarding a video outline that illustrates that. “When working with people as passionate as our clients are, you're often faced with a million different facets that make their brand unique,” Hasty said. A precise schedule is made before we ever get on the plane, alleviating any day-of stress on the client.
- Step 2: Help clients determine story, audience and distribution.
- Step 3: Hasty and client create the concept and storyboard.
- Step 4: Relavox creative team meets to plan out scenes, equipment, and shoot logistics.
- Step 5: Hasty and team fly out to film for one or two days.
- Step 6: Editing, which involves cutting the footage to match the timeline, color correct, motion graphics, and other elements to give the video a cinematic feel. “This is where the real magic happens,” Hasty said. The editing process takes between 60 and100 hours.
- Step 7: The video gets handed over to the audio department where the sound is mixed, voice overs are recorded, and original handcrafted music is written and recorded to fit the essence of the story.
Hasty has also launched a training course to give real estate agents and other entrepreneurs the skills and knowledge to produce and distribute their own videos, when a full-out production is not necessary or feasible.
Josh Hasty’s tips for effective video:
1. Have a clear purpose and direction for the video. Don't shoot just to shoot, make sure you're giving your audience something of value.
2. Take time to prepare and plan out the video ahead of time. Know the “who, what, when, where, and how.”
3. Make sure the video is well-lit, using daylight as often as possible.
4. Use audio wisely. Don't shoot in places that are loud and disruptive during interviews, etc. Make sure your music is legal and fits the tone of the video.
5. Be concise and to the point. Today's social world is noisy and moves fast. You need to tell your story quickly if you want to win.
If you would like to learn more about how Curaytor can help take your video marketing to the next level click here.
