Real Estate Video Marketing in NYC

The real estate business is one of the most crucial aspects of trade in New York City (NYC). It is part of the city’s identity, making it an essential source of income for building owners, real estate agents, and government agencies. The level of capital in this industry has also allowed creative agencies in NYC to thrive, especially those involved in high-end quality productions. Furthermore, video marketing leverages digital media platforms, which capture clients’ attention like never before. Considering my experience as a professional marketer, this guide will present the importance, types, and methods of real estate video marketing in NYC whilst highlighting possible considerations and challenges within the industry. Keep reading to learn more!

What Is The Importance of Video Marketing for Real Estate in NYC ?

Video marketing is one of the funnels for real estate business in NYC. It appeals to a wide range of audiences within this city. Below are some reasons why this approach is critical in real estate marketing within this city.

Edges Out the Competition

Every day, hundreds of property listings appear on various digital platforms across New York City. Unique and high-quality videos help listings – especially for high-end, luxury properties – stand out among others, and help to generate leads and sales. Using this tool is particularly essential in this part of the world as property buyers and investors mostly make decisions on their feet.

Increases Listing Engagement

Engagement is very important in the modern world of digital marketing. Only when your audience engages with your content does the journey to conversion and sales begin. As such, using video marketing makes people want to engage your listings. The more people interact with this content, the more likely it will be viewed by others. Based on my experience, I have concluded that real estate listings with high engagement rates translate to more leads and conversions.

Appeals to a Wider Audience

According to Statista, video marketing is a growing option for reaching clients, considering digital video ad spending exceeded $170 billion in 2023. Furthermore, audiences are always looking forward to seeing video content in all advertisements, including real estate listings. In addition, people in a fast-moving city like New York prefer short and direct messaging that aids decision-making.

Types of Videos Used in Real Estate Video Marketing in NYC

Marketers have a wide variety of real estate video types at their disposal. Each has unique properties, making it ideal for specific use and audience types. Below are some prominent types to consider.

Community and Neighborhood Features

Although imagery is a powerful tool, nothing highlights the features of communities and neighborhoods like video. I am sure you have been on Instagram and when you want to understand the product even better, you go to the ‘Reels’ tab, for nothing quenches curiosity better than a well produced video.

As such, using video for real estate marketing gives potential buyers not only a glimpse of the building they want to buy. It goes a step further by presenting cultural attractions, parks, schools, local amenities, and the predominant lifestyle of residents. Through these contents, clients are better convinced to buy properties quickly. When my partner and I were looking to buy in Brooklyn, we only considered properties that had videos so we could get a true feel of the property. Photos are nice, but as buyers we were wary, as they can be easily digitally staged; videos gave us a truer, richer experience and helped us shortlist the apartments we were interested in touring in person.

Virtual Walk-Throughs and Property Tours

Virtual walkthroughs and property tours are increasingly becoming popular in NYC as tools for advertising real estate. These videos present a unique experience for potential buyers as it lets them view a building’s outdoor spaces, bedrooms, living areas, and kitchen without being physically present.

Drone Views

Drone videos have completely revolutionized real estate marketing. This aerial filming technique offers clients spectacular aerial footage of NYC by presenting a building in its proximity to parks, landmarks, and other exciting attractions like the Statue of Liberty. Particularly, drone footage is useful to show the highlights of luxury apartments and condos. Nikki R. Thomas (Instagram: nikkitnyc) is an example of one NYC real estate agent whose excellent use of drone footage presents awesome views of landmarks and other exciting locations.

Best Methods for Video Marketing

The next big step after creating a marketing video is knowing the best way to use it. Highlighted below are some methods to consider :

• Social media platforms like YouTube, X, Facebook, and Instagram should be first on your agenda when using video for real estate marketing. However, you must optimize the video for each platform to get the best results. Learn how to optimize your videos for YouTube organic reach.
• Consider including a personalized video in email campaigns to enhance click-through and engagement rates. Many marketers use video thumbnails in emails, which encourages recipients to engage.
• Creating a partnership with local experts and influencers within NYC can quickly enhance the engagement of any real estate listing. Leveraging the reach of these individuals can give your marketing video the kick it needs to attract better and bigger leads.

Working with a team  of professionals in recruiting and creating content with influencers in NYC will certainly help your real estate brokerage firm reach a wider audience.

Possible Considerations and Challenges

Using video marketing for real estate business in NYC requires some level of consideration. Also, many challenges will likely come up before and after filming. So, you will want to consider the following.

Cost and Budgeting

Creating a video that captures the essence of a real estate property is not always cheap. Also, developing high-quality footage in a city like New York may need planning ahead to reserve some resources. Therefore, you must budget for the expenses of videographers, equipment renting, editing, and hiring an actor/influencer, especially if you are advertising a more expensive, higher end property.

New York City Real Estate Rules

Advertising real estate properties in NYC comes with some regulations. The content of marketing videos must adhere to data privacy, fair housing, and other advertising regulations and laws. In addition, misrepresentation of the details of real estate properties is unacceptable.

Campaign Effectiveness

After you create a video for any real estate property, you must have a way of measuring the effectiveness of your campaigns, especially when you are sharing through social media or email. I personally always consider metrics like shares and views throughout any campaign. Furthermore, evaluate conversion and click-through rates to understand how effective your ads are. The more channels used for real estate video marketing, the more challenging it becomes to measure direct impact. This means you must actively be looking for robust methods of tracking leads, and using UTM tags for links will help you tag each channel you are using to distribute your video and see which website / email newsletter / publisher is generating the most traffic to your real estate listing.

Conclusion

In my opinion, real estate video marketing is essential for buying and selling properties in New York City. It edges out the competition by increasing listing engagement while appealing to a wider audience. When using this marketing tool, there are various filming methods you can use, including community and neighborhood features, virtual walkthroughs, property tours, and drone footage. Similarly, there are possible considerations and challenges you must contend with. Your ability to manage cost and budgeting, learn about NYC real estate regulations, and measure campaign effectiveness should determine the success of your real estate video marketing.