Using video as part of your real estate content marketing strategy becomes more interesting when you consider the overall internet user behavior and the benefits of video.

So, it sounds pretty enticing when you look at the stats. 

But as a real estate professional, you might wonder, ‘what on earth could I talk about in videos?’

And another question that comes up often is the one about the video length. 

How long should a video be?

This article will hopefully give you some clarity on these questions. 

You will learn about…

  • 14 advantages of using video in real estate
  • Eight common video types you find on YouTube and ideas for real estate
  • Three commonly used video types for real estate
  • And how long a video should be and why it’s less important than you think. 

 

14 Advantages of Using Video in Real Estate Marketing

In this article, I already discussed and concluded that using video helps sell real estate.

I will give you below a short overview of 14 general advantages of using video:

1) It is used by 85% of businesses as a marketing channel (source).

2) Video consumption on mobile phones is continually rising by 100% each year (source).

3) Using video in social media channels has a greater effect since it generates 1200% more shares (source).

4) Videos will be shared by 92% of users watching them on mobile phones (source).

5) By 2022, more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic is projected to come from online videos (source).

6) Watching videos is preferred by 59% of executives compared to reading text (source).

7) Users can retain 95% more information than reading text (source).

8) When wanting to learn about a product or service, in 72% of the cases, customers prefer watching videos (source).

9) 51% of marketing professionals state that video is the content format with the best return on investment (source).

10) Using video on a landing page can increase your conversion rate by 80% (source).

11) Using video increases by 53 times your chances of your website being positioned on the front page of Google (source).

12) Should you use video in your email follow-ups (check out my article on following up with potential buyers here), your click-through rate can increase by 96% (source).

13) You will reduce your website bounce rate and thus increase the duration of your web sessions when you use video on your website (visitors will spend 88% more time there, source). 

14) You can easily explain specific topics by video and build trust faster.

How does real estate marketing benefit from video?

Let’s summarize these advantages a bit for real estate marketing. 

Using video will increase your chances of converting internet users and website visitors into leads and customers.

 

The 8 Types of Videos You Find on YouTube and Ideas for Real Estate

Before we get to the ideal video length in the next section, I wanted to show you which types of videos are published on YouTube and which ones you could use for your real estate business or at least get inspired by the format.

As you will see, not every format will directly apply to real estate for obvious reasons.

 

1) Educational & How To & Questions and Answers Videos

Depending on the topic for this video type, a screencast will be used to explain, for example, how a certain piece of software works.

It’s basically the video where the producer answers a question a viewer may have searched for and explains it visually.

You may also answer several frequent questions you get in a Q&A video.

Almost everything is possible, from beauty and fashion how-tos to more in-depth and complicated topics.

Can this type of video be used for your real estate business?

Absolutely. 

For instance, my soon-to-be-started YouTube channel will use videos to explain real estate marketing topics. 

Some things can be explained easier using video. 

For example, my articles about specific types of real estate marketing software would be pretty helpful also in video format.

As a realtor, you could explain to first-time home buyers how the buying process works in your area. 

Developers could explain how potential buyers could apply for a mortgage, etc.

 

2) Unboxing Videos

Regarding e-commerce buying decisions, unboxing videos can be quite helpful. 

They basically show you how a new product arrives at home and what the first impression is when it gets unboxed.

So, they mitigate the risk of nasty surprises for potential buyers. 

They also help new companies to place their latest products and get the word out to them.

Can this type of video be used for your real estate business?

Unboxing in real estate precisely like it is done with smaller physical products is difficult to imagine. 

So I would say no to doing it exactly as I described above.

But how about taking the concept of this video format and extrapolating it a bit?

It could be done in a completely new home or construction context. 

For example, buyers of a newly built home could document in a video how he first received the new keys.

Then they step into the new house, exploring the different spaces and showing how the developer or construction company left it after finishing the job.

 

3) Challenge Videos

In these videos, different creators participate in the same challenge and show how they do it in their way. 

Interestingly, the viewer watching these videos gets further videos with the same challenge suggested. 

So, if you participate in such a challenge, you might get a greater reach with your video to the viewers watching these videos.

But you could also invent your own challenge and see if other creators will participate.

Can this type of video be used for your real estate business?

I wouldn’t say categorically no, but it depends a bit on the challenge. 

Depending on the challenge you take part in, there is also the risk of damaging your reputation.

So, if you don’t find the proper challenge, you might want to invent your own.

The challenge you participate in should have some type of connection to real estate

Here is an example of a Lego House Sneak-in Challenge that might have a connection to real estate:

 

4) Haul Videos

Depending on the topic, in haul videos, creators usually present you with different products they got for a particular purpose. 

In the video below, for example, the creator explains what school supplies she got for her first senior year in college.

Can this type of video be used for your real estate business?

I would say yes, but we would have to extrapolate again. 

One idea is to record what items new home buyers could buy for the interior design on a certain budget.

 

5) Favorite and Best Of Videos

This is another video type where potential buyers get help to make a buying decision. 

The video creators usually give viewers an intimate look at their products.

Can this type of video be used for your real estate business?

Yes. A realtor, for example, could present different software tools to estimate the value of a home. 

Or a real estate investor could show their favorite tools to find deals and get sellers’ contact information.

 

6) Gaming Videos

The creators of gaming videos usually film how they play different games live and comment on them, giving tips and tricks.

Can this type of video be used for your real estate business?

This is the only one I would say no to because even extrapolating this format to real estate will be quite hard.

There are only a few games that would relate to real estate in a way that you might be able to exploit it. 

The options will be limited in this case.

 

7) Comedy and Prank Videos

This kind of video is self-explanatory. 

The creator just films himself doing some comedy piece on a certain topic or carrying out a prank. 

With regards to a prank video, a hidden camera is often involved.

Can this type of video be used for your real estate business?

Like the challenge videos, you will need to find an idea that won’t damage your real estate business, but in my opinion, this is doable. 

However, it will be more challenging to do prank videos. 

Who would you prank? 

The safest bet would be to let someone prank you and film it. 

Your partner may work with a potential home buyer wanting to tour a property and the seller of the property. 

Once the realtor (you) arrives at the property, they will be denied entrance for ridiculous reasons. 

Or the buyer arrives with a suitcase full of cash, and you would need to kiss the ring (mafia style) to be able to proceed. 

I am just brainstorming a bit here. But as you can see, there might be ideas that can be done.

 

8) Product Review Videos

This is the last video type helping viewers to make a purchase decision. 

The creator reviews a certain product or several ones showing the pros and cons, the costs involved, and how the product works.

Can this type of video be used for your real estate business?

This one is also a bit more difficult to do since you don’t deal with small physical products as a real estate professional.

But you can create a variation of it and a format that reviews different properties in a certain way. 

 

You might specialize in smart houses and could do different walk-throughs comparing different smart home systems.

I would focus on reviewing different features of a house, such as alternative energy systems, security systems, property management services, etc.

 

3 Often Used Real Estate Video Types

There are also three often-used real estate video types you find on YouTube, and they are:

 

Slide Shows

In real estate, slideshows, videos, photographs, and descriptions are often shown without the face of the creator. 

I doubt the effectiveness of trust building in these types of videos since the creator often doesn’t show their face. 

It is harder to produce them so that they come across as authentic.

I don’t know about you, but I visit YouTube to watch moving pictures and listen to audio. Usually, I don’t want to pay attention to the text.

From the statistics above, I tend to believe that an authentic walk-through video done by a real estate professional showing some personality will outperform slide shows most of the time.

 

Home Walk-Throughs

As mentioned above, there are also walk-through real estate videos, which better transmit the look and feel of a particular property.

They also build better trust since real estate professionals usually show their faces.

Prospects can get an impression of the size of the house and see extra details, the rooms, and other corners of the home.

 

Personalized Introductory Videos

Personalized introductory videos are a type of video done on a case-by-case basis. 

They can rather be considered as personal video messages to potential clients that are highly individual and in which you address the respective prospect by name.

As far as the content of these videos goes, you usually include a showcase of your work, how you can help, how you are different from your competition, and introduce yourself and your team.

One software featuring video messaging is, for example, BomBomb.

This type of video should be pretty short.

 

How Long Should a Real Estate Video Be and Why It Is Less Important Than You Think?

Now that we covered real estate marketing video ideas, you might still ask yourself a second question: 

What’s the ideal video length?

I have a little surprise: the ideal video duration is less important than you think.

I will explain why in this section, but I will not neglect to give you facts about the ideal length of a YouTube Video. 

But I think you might even need this information after what I will discuss next.

When you browse through YouTube, on average, you will find that the shortest of the top 10 most popular videos had a length of 42 seconds. 

The longest video had 9 minutes and 15 seconds, and the average was 4 minutes and 20 seconds. (source)

In other statistics, you will read that the ideal YouTube video length is 3 minutes.

This number comes about because 90% of the top 50 videos on YouTube are music videos, which are about 3 minutes long. 

So, the 3 minutes would be a good length if you create real estate music videos.

But does an optimal video length even exist, and is the question about the length the best question to ask in the first place? 

Unfortunately, there is no optimal video length you can rely on that would always increase your chances of an optimal video reach.

That would be nice, however. Imagine you would always reach 3000 people in one day by just making the video precisely 3 minutes long, no matter the content.

So, why is there no optimal video length?

Here are some reasons:

  • As video creators are different, so are their styles. Videos could be short or relaxing, and whimsical.
  • No topic is equal. For some topics, you will need 3 minutes, while for others will need 15 or more minutes.
  • Each video type needs a different length of time. A home walk-through may be done in 5 minutes, while a how-to or Q&A video might take 15 or 20 minutes.
  • Different target audiences: Some people take out popcorn to relax while watching a 30-minute video. Others need to take Ritalin and/or have no time to watch and pay attention to a 3-minute video.
  • Your potential audience may not want to watch longer videos depending on the device. They may prefer to watch longer videos on desktops and shorter ones on smartphones.

Would you rather watch a video with crappy content but a high production quality and a supposedly ideal video length?

Or would you rather watch a video without the perfect length but one that is authentic and has unique, great, and helpful content?

I would tend to suggest that you would prefer the second one.

So, as suggested above, the question about video length may not be the best.

I think that behind the question about length is how you can get your video ranked high enough and thus a good amount of traffic or – in YouTube terms – views for it.

And by getting a good number of views, you increase your chances of converting a viewer into a lead or a potential customer.

YouTube’s algorithm is all about watch time… 

On the one hand, YouTube is the second largest search engine.

Still, on the other hand, in recent years, it turned increasingly into an explorative video platform with an interest in keeping people there for as long as possible.

Suppose your video has a great watch time, and people watch several of your videos and stay on your channel. 

This signals to YouTube that your video or videos are good candidates to place advertisements on them. 

This, in turn, means that you can make them some money. 

And if you can potentially make them money, you make YouTube happy, which will be rewarded.

What’s the reward?

By having a great watch time, your video will also rank better for its relevant search terms and be displayed in the “recommended” section or recommended after a video with a similar topic has been watched.

You might have experienced this yourself. 

When you watch a video, you can see on the right side further suggested videos that are relevant to you or address the same topic you just watched.

The same happens on your YouTube start page, where you find the “Recommended” section.

If you manage to get your video in there by having good watch times, it will increase the number of views of your video.


This article has been reviewed by our editorial team. It has been approved for publication in accordance with our editorial policy.


Tobias Schnellbacher