Do Lifestyle Videos Sell Homes?
The article goes on to list specific brokers in high end areas like SoCal and NY that are making lifestyle videos to hopefully give their multi million dollar listings an edge, even pointing to a sale in Nashville of a $1.7 mansion the buyer, who was in the UK, flew in to see and subsequently purchased.
Do lifestyle videos sell homes?
When I say lifestyle video, I am not talking about the typical, owner pulls in driveway with his Porsche Panamera, walks in, starts his built in cappuccino machine and clicks a TV remote to reveal a built in 57 inch flat screen embedded into a secret wall. No, the lifestyle videos the WSJ is talking about can cost upwards of $50,000 and include up to 8 actors. I’m not joking – take a look at the video below.
So do lifestyle videos sell homes? Well, if you ask the broker of that Nashville mansion the answer will without a doubt be yes. Personally – I think they are a waste.
Here’s why.
The last lifestyle video I saw was called “The Spider & The Fly“. It featured a robbery theme (now set to private on YouTube). I understand a Hollywood producer made it. It was GORGEOUS. Amazing. One of the national real estate outlets declared it “fantastic”. Personally, I thought they were lost. After watching the 5 minute video all I could tell you was the kitchen was HUGE, it had a theater, HUGE walk-in closet, and wine cellar – oh and it’s gated. That’s it.
Closer to home, one of my clients had a company make a lifestyle video of his North Scottsdale listing, complete with actors and rented cars. House didn’t sell. Part of the reason is, as with all of these types of lifestyle videos, they focus so much on lifestyle, that the very information consumers really care about: bedrooms, bathrooms, square feet, amenities, location, etc are cloudy in the eyes of the viewer at best. If you look at any of the lifestyle videos you probably could not tell me the info above.
Productions
Because lifestyle videos are essentially “productions” these types of videos are seen as advertising and as you may know, 80% of consumers don’t trust advertising anymore. Regarding my clients listing, the lifestyle video did not increase the traffic to the house, so I reshot it focusing instead on the features and benefits of the home from the consumers perspective and it sold. Was it because of my video? Who knows. Could have been any number of things but I do know the video I created told the buyer everything they wanted to know about the home – in less than 2 minutes. That’s another thing about these lifestyle videos, some of these lifestyle videos can be upwards of 7 minutes! Why is this a problem? When watching a video
70% of viewers remain for 30 seconds
50% of viewers remain for 60 seconds
25% of viewers remain for 2 minutes
Biased Perspective
Personally, I think these types of videos are an example of the real estate agent trying to guess what the consumer wants without asking them them first. It’s easy to see why an agent would think they are impressive, especially when other agents and national media outlets are telling them how great they are, but if you have read my blog or watched my real estate videos for any period of time you know that when it comes to marketing, I suggest real estate agents NOT hang out with other real estate agents, because the way they see the world is biased – they will look at something from the agents perspective which is worthless as it wont tell you how consumers feel about something. Don’t believe me? Where do you think branded grocery carts, branded pens and pads, sports schedules and sponsored bus stops came from? Yeah.
No Brand
As if the above wasn’t enough, there is ANOTHER reason I don’t recommend lifestyle videos to my real estate clients. No brand. Lifestyle videos and for that matter, your typical virtual tour, does an OK job of introducing the brand of the home but it does very little (if anything for the agent) because the agent isn’t in the video. Real estate agents are giving away PRICELESS face time with the consumer at a time when the consumer is most interested in what they have to say, by not being in the video. I shoot real estate videos in Phoenix for my clients. I HIGHLY suggest (and have been known to twist an arm or two) my clients get over there fear of video and step up. I even created a real estate video course to help agents around the country learn real estate video.
When the video is complete (sample below). The seller, shares the completed video with their friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, email, Pinterest – whatever – which is PRICLESS advertising for the agent because (say it with me now) the agent is in the video! You probably won’t see that in a lifestyle video and even if the agent was in the video, he she would probably get lost in the long drawn out story.
Sales will always be about features and benefits, and in my opinion, these types of videos leave much of this out or wrap it in a 5 minute video where it gets lost. In my opinion, they are a waste.
But what do I know. What do you think? Do lifestyle videos sell homes?
