Agents – here are the top tips for producing the best property video tours

Digital marketing, once a buzzword, now plays a vital role in the property industry, allowing agents to drive traffic to their listings, generate leads and connect with potential clients.

And among a sea of effective digital marketing strategies – such as social media, email campaigns and website optimisation – video tours are currently ruling the roost.

This is due to the onset of the pandemic, which halted in-person viewings for a long period and saw the inevitable transition to a more virtual lifestyle.

But even as the smoke clears on the pandemic and we slowly adapt back to a more normal life, video tours are here to stay as buyers, sellers and agents alike are recognising the benefits of remote viewings.

Research from 3D data platform Matterport reveals that homebuyers are 300% more engaged with a 360 tour than they are with 2D imagery, with 95% of people stating they would be more likely to call about a property that they can tour online.

Below, we provide four tips for agents to produce the most effective video tours for property listings.

Good lighting is crucial

The space you choose to highlight in your video tour is crucial, and the lighting – even more so. To present a bright and airy room, pull curtains right back from the windows and hike the blinds up as far as possible to flood your rooms with maximum light.

With daytime viewings the standard, make sure you shoot your video during the day rather than at night. This will allow viewers to see the natural light in your home and the way it falls. For any dark rooms, though, it’s wise to turn the light on to brighten the space.

Boost the video quality

With high-quality cameras available on most smartphones, shooting a video tour has never been easier.

But even the finest phones could require some adjustments to ensure the video is of the highest quality. This can be done by checking the camera settings on your phone, setting it to the most ideal resolutions for videos.

Alternatively, using a camera with higher resolution, more stability and a better lens – such as a high-end DSLR – could yield much better results, but will largely depend on budget.

Map a path through your home

Having light, spacious rooms and a high-quality camera device is futile if you don’t have an ideal path to record the home in.

Before shooting, plan a route with a clear start and end point, as well as spots that you wish to pause at to scan or zoom in at certain rooms or spaces. This will allow the video to run smoothly without a sudden change of direction because you’ve missed a key selling point.

It’s also important to shoot with the sound off so the viewer can focus purely on the visual aspect and not narration. Consider using soothing background music afterwards to exhibit a welcoming home.

Position is everything

Arguably one of the most important factors of a video tour is the positioning of your camera. When scanning the room, it’s essential to do so from a least two different positions in the space to show the room in its entirety.

As a general rule, the first view is when walking through the door into the room, and the next point is from the opposite corner scanning from wall to wall and floor-to-ceiling. Not only does this provide a full 360 view of the space, but it also looks professional.

Commenting on the importance of video and 360 tours, Lee Wainwright, chief executive officer of FocalAgent, says: “360 tours are the next big thing in estate agency and we’re now seeing them growing as a marketing tool across the board, including lower value properties.”

“That’s partly down to demand from vendors and the changing expectations of buyers and tenants, who want to see this kind of immersive content, but also because the value they bring is becoming increasingly clear.”

Wainwright says the longer agents can keep a potential customer on that property, the more likely they are to click on the Call to Action.

“Creating high quality visual content helps the agents stand out from their competitors, win valuations and instructions – and ultimately grow their market share,” he concludes.

With the use of video tours growing exponentially over the past few years, there is certainly a case to be made that technology will continue to influence the property market.

Embracing these virtual systems, along with the top-notch solutions that PropTech offer, can allow you to grow your business and generate leads effectively.

Here at The ValPal Network, we can help you to achieve this and more. For more information on the services we provide, please contact us at team@valpal.co.uk or give us a call on 020 8663 4930.