photo courtesy of William Campos
Friend and colleague, Darcey Morgan Howard, and her husband, Kent, needed to sell their house quickly. Instead of going the usual route: hosting open houses, listing in the MLS and hoping for the best in a down market; they did something smarter…Watch this video to see their innovative marketing efforts.
The Howards made a video about their home and it’s features, and they told their own story of how they renovated it, memories in the home, what they’ve loved about it. In the video, they walk the line between marketing that is personal and authentic while keeping it accessible and not alienating anyone by being too much about themselves. What an effective use of video for marketing a house online–so effective that in 2 weeks they received over 500 interested callers (more than 4 times the typical amount) and sold the house in record time for the current market.
Making the video is one thing, but getting it out there for people to see it is another. Darcey posted this video to her network on Facebook as one way to market the video. This allowed it to be seen by hundreds and allowed those contacts to easily share the video. Too often I see people not realizing the amazing reach of social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter and not using these tools strategically; This is a refreshing exception.
Honestly, I look at this and I think “Why isn’t every realtor utilizing this technology?!” In fact, anything you have to sell–product or service–can be marketed this way. But this is still considered cutting edge for some reason. This story even made the local news in Seattle because it’s still considered such a new concept. Crazy, right? Why wouldn’t everyone go to town on this video/social media combo?
I think a lot of people get stopped by “I don’t understand how to use the technology” or “How do I upload video online?” or “What’s Twitter?” That’s why there are people out there to help you, silly! And I know a lot of them. It can be easy and it can be fast, but you might need to get some other people involved to help you out, like the Howards did. Darcey had the brilliant idea, but then she hired a videographer to execute it and post it to Vimeo (like YouTube) from where she could then post it to her Facebook page. Viola!
I hope the Howards inspire you to think of new ways you can utilize video and social media to promote what you are offering to the world. I know many excellent videographers and can hook you up with social media experts as well. So let me know if this piqued your interest so we can brainstorm some ways you can leverage current technologies for big results.
How could you show what you offer on camera instead of just writing and talking about it? Start thinking about using tools like Facebook and Twitter and Youtube to get the word out to a large audience at the click of a button. You might be surprised how easy this can be, with a little input and a little nudge.
© 2009, Karrie Kohlhaas. All rights reserved.
