Using Video to Support Your Real Estate Marketing Efforts

Over the last few years, countless real estate firms and developers—as well as individual realtors—have learned the hard way that  static images no longer pique consumer interest the way they once did: prospective renters and buyers today want video. Already obligatory in other e-commerce fields, well-produced video is rapidly becoming a baseline expectation for real estate firms and developers—especially in New York, where businesses will (sensibly) do anything to gain an advantage.

Quality real estate video marketing now matters just as much as—if not more than—all the other standard components of marketing a building or a portfolio. In the daily fight for eyeballs, a well-made video can widen the reach of your company’s offerings and get more people interested faster.

Unlocking emotion with real estate video marketing

Roughly a million factors go into any decision to rent or purchase a property. The big ones are obvious—budget, location—but there is one crucial factor that is often neglected: emotion.

Obviously, this is true for customers looking for places to live, who are inevitably asking themselves: can I see my life unfolding here? Is this where I want to fall in love, or raise children, or—if you're buying for life—potentially grow old? 

But it also happens to apply to anyone debating whether to pull the trigger on a purchase or a lease. Start-up founders looking for office space; aspiring or active entrepreneurs looking for potential properties, major companies looking to open a regional office—these people are as susceptible to an emotional appeal as any other consumer.

No matter how deep your—or your company’s—pockets are, leasing a property is never a casual decision. Some degree of emotion is always involved. And the right kind of real estate video marketing can draw that emotion out of a prospective customer.

Obviously, a shaky iPhone walkthrough video is not going to get the needle going, emotionally. But a video shot and edited with care—the kind of video a production company can produce—can create a genuine attachment to a property. Think: an office as seen by a drone hovering outside a 30th-floor window. . Think: a camera pushing through a bed of flowers to a rustic, leaf-spattered front porch. Think: inspiring music, calming narration, the kind of propulsive, immersive experience that only high-quality video can offer. 

Videos like these can sweep the viewer up in a story—either the actual story of the property, if it happens to be historically significant, or the story of a company's brand, or the potential story of the customer's own future life. Photographs will always matter in real estate, but they're not going to give anyone chills like the right video can.

Again: this kind of emotion is just as important for business clients as it is for regular consumers.  We've talked on this blog before about how B2B marketing is becoming much like B2C, and this is just as true for real estate video marketing—you'll find that business clients are responsive to many of the same things as clients looking for private residences.

Back up the Emotions with Information

Capturing someone's attention is only the first step in a multi-layered process. Once you've ignited a spark of interest and emotionally engaged your audience, it's crucial to sustain that momentum. People who find themselves intrigued by your brand, your business, or your property listings are not going to passively wait for information to become relevant to them. They are in a state of heightened curiosity, and it's your responsibility to guide them further down the decision-making funnel.

To do this effectively, you must present them with compelling, factual information that complements the emotional resonance you've already established. This is where the power of video continues to shine. A well-crafted video can seamlessly integrate essential facts—such as property features, neighborhood amenities, or investment potential—into the emotional narrative you're weaving.

Imagine a video that not only showcases a building's  modern amenities but also provides quick, digestible statistics on the cost and availability. Or consider a video that highlights the innovative design of an office space while also detailing its energy-efficient features and proximity to public transport. These are the kinds of details that can tip the scales from mere interest to serious consideration or even a commitment.

The key is to strike a balance between emotional engagement and factual persuasion. Too much of one without the other can either leave your audience overwhelmed with data or floating in a sea of vague feelings. A blend of both, delivered through the medium of high-quality video, can create a compelling, comprehensive experience that not only captures but also retains attention. This dual approach ensures that you're not just attracting eyes, but engaging minds and hearts as well.

Real estate video marketing also widens your reach

Beyond these individual emotional reactions, there's another, big-picture reason that real estate video marketing can be  so important for your company: namely, a quality video significantly increases brand awareness. 

Video more reliably draws in gawkers than pictures do. By gawkers, I mean people who likely have no intention of renting or purchasing your property—essentially, people who treat real estate listings as a form of entertainment. (Much of the time, these people might not even live in the same state.)

These people might not matter to you as potential customers—but they do serve a crucial role in the online real estate ecosystem. When many people click on your website  and linger there—whether or not they have any intention of actually seeing a given property in person—certain signals are sent to search engines. Your website rises in the rankings—increasing name recognition while increasing the chances of attracting serious customers. 

Examples of real estate video marketing

So we've established that the right video can make a serious emotional impact with a viewer while significantly widening the reach of your listing. But "real estate video marketing" isn't a single thing—many different kinds of videos exist under this heading, and figuring out the right one for your property is an important part of the video marketing process.

Some common forms of video real estate marketing include:

1) "Day in the life" videos

"Day in the life" videos are usually fast-paced and funny; in a series of quick cuts, they show the viewer what 24 hours are like in the life of, say, a fireman, or an investment banker. (If you spend more time than you probably should on TikTok or Instagram Reels, you're likely familiar with the genre.) This format might seem a little out-there for the real estate industry, but it's worth remembering that, in marketing right now, a lot of the traditional categories are collapsing. As mentioned, B2B marketers are starting to operate more like their B2C counterparts, and there's no reason the same shouldn't apply to realtors. 

2) Local area spotlight

It happens all the time: you're trying to rent or sell a great property in a neighborhood that is a) fantastic but also b) off the beaten path. You want to be able to demonstrate that while the neighborhood might lack universal name recognition, it's actually a hidden gem. A local area spotlight can go a long way here—highlighting local businesses or local parks, touting low crime rates or good schools, etc.

3) How-to videos

How-to videos—say, hacks on how to clean a grimy window, or fix a wobbly door knob—help with that function mentioned earlier: bringing in clients who might not necessarily have been looking to buy or rent. Google calls this hygiene content—content designed to pull people in through search engines. Obviously, it shouldn't be your main focus—but it can attract more content to your pages and increase the odds of connecting with a serious client.

You can see, here, that the options are endless: there's a reason we've consistently called this a golden age for creative. By partnering with professionals who know this landscape in and out, real estate firms and developers  can harness this creative energy to their advantage, producing high-quality videos that help close deals while boosting their company’s brand. Every property has a story—and the right piece of real estate video marketing can bring that story to life.