Video Marketing Strategies, Vol. 1

Online video isn’t just about news and entertainment. It can also be an integral part of a business’ marketing strategy. Future of Real Estate Marketing, a blog for realtors run by Joel Burslem, a marketing and public relations veteran, has a great post about whether video can help realtors drive business.

Burslem focuses on the fact that video search is still a “fringe activity,” and that text-based searches will deliver more potential customers. But he’s aware of how much video is growing and that it can help a realtor’s marketing efforts.

Of all the vertical markets, real estate is one of the most conducive for video marketing for the obvious reason that people like to see the property they’re interested in. If they can get an idea of what the property looks like before seeing it in person, so much the better. And it can help weed out customers who wouldn’t be interested in a particular space (talk about targeted search). According to this follow-up post, video is working quite well for some realtors.

Burslem offers examples of what he thinks works and what doesn’t, and his advice is sound. But while it’s important to know how to make an effective video, marketers also need to know about the types of tools available to them. Your audience wants to know more about you, not the fact that you used YouTube or Yahoo to post your video. It’s all about branding, and your brand is the one that should be front and center.