Understanding that more and more people would rather watch a video about a house vs. opposed to reading a bunch of stuff on line, I've started to make videos that are entertaining (and maybe somewhat funny?) to boost interest in my town and my inventory.

But in terms of making them better from there? I'm completely lost– I have a very limited budget. Do you have a road map of what to do next?

- HH

The good news is that you're on the right track. Funny, entertaining videos will always do better than dull, boring videos. And "entertaining" is brain-dependent, not budget dependent.

Making any kind of great marketing video is always about your audience: What will make them really enjoy and pay attention to your video? The more your entertaining video meets their needs, the better it will perform.

Let's go through a sample process to make your real estate video more audience-focused. You can use these steps to better Audience-Focus any marketing video. (DISCLAIMER: Your ideas will be better than mine– I've bought and sold real estate, but I'm not an expert. The process is the important part.)

We’ll start with Audience Needs.

Audience Needs

What does your audience want in a real estate video? That's going to depend on who they are. The buyers of a $250k home in a small town in Minnesota are different than the buyers of a $4 million house in Los Angeles.

Once you've thought about the buyers, lets make a list of what they might want in a real estate video– from their point of view. Make a long list, and we'll narrow it down in a next step. Here's my example:

  • An easy to follow tour of the house
  • Something (like humor or surprise) to break the monotony of scrolling through real estate videos
  • To see the house reasonably quickly, so they're not bored
  • To see enough detail to intrigue them
  • To get a feel for the place. Is it warm and traditional, or clean, streamlined and minimalist?
  • Some surprising facts that they’ll remember
  • An entertaining and supportive host (you) that they will enjoy working with
  • A bit about the neighborhood
  • Why it's a screaming deal at the price
  • How they're going to live in the house (Pool? Office? Perfect home theater room? Kids spaces?

Go through your list and mark the ideas that seem interesting. We'll hang on to them for now. Then:

Look and Feel

What's the emotional ride you want your audience to take in your video tour? It's hard to sell facts in a video, but video is great at feelings.

How do you want the viewer to feel while they're watching, and what shots might affect those feelings?  So maybe:

  • Keep things bright with open windows, doors and lights
  • A logical room order so they get a sense of the entire space
  • Backyard at sunset?
  • Real fires in the fireplaces
  • People in some shots to show scale (kids playing?)
  • Frame with clear points of interest so people know where to look
  • Not much camera motion, so the video feels authoritative
  • Close-ups of cool details.
  • sense of the neighborhood
  • Any astounding extras? Consider a separate video focusing on the coolest thing about the property. For that seriously gourmet kitchen, why not have a friend who owns a local restaurant tour it with you? For an antique colonial, have a local historian talk about who slept there in 1780.
  • A great voiceover
  • Music

Here again mark the stuff that intrigues you. Finally: 

Shot list

Let’s use both lists above to make one more list. 

Use the items that you marked on your list as thought starters to brainstorm the shots you actually need to make your video conform to your vision. Here are a few that occurred to me:

  • The sunset view of the mountains behind the house
  • Individual shots of the houses next door and across the street
  • Tilt up to the stairs in the two story entryway
  • steam being whisked away by the designer kitchen cooktop vent
  • Avoid the guest bath
  • Shoot detail on living room molding and baseboards.
  • Show how close the kids room is to the parents’ room
  • Shoot an on-camera narration selfie-style
  • Shoot as if you are a person entering the house from the street for the first time
  • Put out deck chairs and drinks in back yard
  • Feature the views from each room
  • GoPro shot of a a roasted chicken going from oven to dining table.
  • A family playing pool in the rec room

Take your finished shot list with you when you shoot.

Putting It All Together

The goal of a real estate video is to intrigue the potential buyer. They're not going to see the video and click "BUY". But a great video can entice them to come see it in person.

Because you want to intrigue, you don't need to show everything. Keep your look and feel guidelines and your audience in mind as you edit. What do they need to see– and what is wasting their time? Thinking about your audience throughout the process will help you generate a real estate video the audience will want to watch. 

Want to ask your own question about video?  Don’t be shy!