Which sells more homes- short or long videos?
Australian real estate video company PlatinumHD.tv continues to grace the pages of AG for a number of reasons. The videos they produce are not only superior to most in quality but in creativeness as well.
Currently, they are experimenting with using agents as actors in “dramatic comedy” format, and today we share with you the above video that is one of the shortest real estate videos we’ve ever seen. And we are impressed.
Why choose a short video format besides cost?
PlatinumHDtv said, “Today’s audience has an attention span literally measured in seconds. If BMW can flog you a car in a 30 second ad, surely you can sell a house in the same? The role of video is not to deliver a blow-by-blow, room-by-room virtual tour. The role of film is to leave the buyer wanting to see more. By calling you.”
Genius. Tell us in comments what you think of the short video commercial style approach.
Rainer
April 13, 2011 at 8:12 pm
I'm not terribly impressed with the video. While creative, it seems clunky. A third or more of the video is the little….whatever they are…not the house.
I'm definitely with you on shorter is better. But, when someone is searching for a house, they want to see a house. The voice-over is quite distracting from the house, and you know someone is trying to be funny, but just…not…quite.
There's a point where trying too hard can have diminishing returns. Maybe this would be a good overview of the house and would work in conjunction with other videos/photos of the property if they were all on the same site. But, post it on youtube as a stand-a-lone and watch the yawns.
People that are searching for real estate don't need little tricks like this to get their attention to sell the house. They need quality photos and video.
John Perkins
April 13, 2011 at 9:13 pm
There's nothing wrong with short and creative but there's also nothing wrong with a longer video that showcases what the Buyer will get. First lets note that the 30 second video is $366 U.S. dollars which is a hard price to swallow for any U.S. Realtor for 30 seconds. And the bet is that 30 seconds will drive traffic to your door. Not saying it won't but if it doesn't then that Realtor will not be marketing that way again.
PlatinumTV states "The role of film is to leave the buyer wanting to see more. By calling you.” If this is the case then we should just stick with a virtual tour for $79 because that 30 second video was a couple pans like a vt but costs over $350. I might be wrong about their statement but it appears to be more about the Real Estate Agent than getting the home Sold. I say, the role of video is to sell that home before the Buyer ever shows up.
With a longer video (3-4 minutes) you let the Buyer (that "one" you want) see the flow of the home from room to room. If the viewer doesn't like the flow then they don't waste the Sellers or their own Realtors time (Realtors are spending a ton of money on Gas and therefore are really trying to center in on a home the client really wants to buy and the buyer wants the same thing). By showing more home its "Greener" meaning you may not get as many Buyers but what you do get are serious Buyers who saw the home and are truly interested in it. This also builds confidence in the Buyer that the Seller isn't hiding anything and that's a powerful bond between that Buyer and your home as a Seller. I say to my Sellers, "Leave no doubt in the Buyers mind before they ever show up to your house that they've already told each other, "Look honey, I love it already." rather than, "I think we should check this one out." with a question mark. Again, not to say shorter doesn't work but I think this might be a bit too short.
hermanchan.com
April 14, 2011 at 2:03 am
the site said only 2 ppl see the whole 3 min vid, the seller and guy who is gonna buy the house. well, whether there are 1000 hits or 2 hits it just takes ONE buyer to close a deal….if that is the purpose of the video, to sell the subject property. so maybe longer is ok.
but personally i believe brevity is an art. keep things short and sweet
Steven Beam
April 14, 2011 at 9:48 pm
Two minutes tops works best. Having a nice looking spokeswoman on camera helps too. I've had good success with video. Both types either expensively shot pro videos and cheap ones where I'm walking through the house shooting and talking work well. Depends on your buyer for the house.