Posted: November 30, 2020
We talk about the value in using property marketing videos in your digital marketing strategies a lot here on the blog. But if you haven’t ordered a video before or are curious on how to get a video project started on the right foot, that’s what we’re discussing today.
Preparation is the key to making any project successful, and video projects are no exception. Unless you really don’t have any expectations or criteria for your video to meet, it will help your video editor immensely if you have all the information handy when the project begins.
When you begin talking with your creative agency or video editor, here is what we recommend having prepared in advance:
Property flyer, brochure, site plan
Any documents or marketing materials that you have for the property/listing will help your editor familiarize themselves with the listing. Each asset class has their own areas of focus. A video for an industrial warehouse will be crafted differently from a retail space or an office building. If you only just got the listing and there isn’t anything concrete yet, plan to set up a call to talk through what you know about the property. Or if that isn’t an available option, write down those thoughts in a word document or bullet point list and send those over to the editor.
Samples if there is something that you saw you liked
Chances are that you’ve either seen a really neat property video through an email or online that you liked. Or maybe someone else in your office had one done recently. Whatever samples that you like, or formats that you think would work well for your property, collect those links in a list (1-3 is usually sufficient) and include that in the info for the editor. Especially if this is your first project with a group/editor, it helps to provide some guidance on what you are expecting your video to look like when it’s finished.
A storyboard or document outlining everything you’d like covered
Using the marketing materials and samples, assemble a rough outline for what you’d like the video to include. You’re the expert on your property/listing, not the agency or the editor. It will help them greatly if you highlight the main points of the property that should get the most attention. A few examples of things to include in an outline are:
- Specific angles of the building. Does one side have a shared parking lot you’d like to highlight. Or maybe the adjacent lot is a redevelopment parcel and doesn’t look great, so you’d prefer not showing it as much as possible.
- Nearby amenities, including retail, office space, highways, main streets, hotels, schools, airports, train stations, etc.
- Map points or distances: If your video will not be including a mapping session, you can still call out distances from footage showing the horizon line. If you have requested animated mapping, then provide specifics about any travel time radii or other exact points that you’d like to be included.
Logos, brand guidelines, color codes, etc.
Don’t assume that the agency/editor has the latest brand assets and guidelines for your brokerage house, especially if it’s not one of the biggest names in town. Always provide a high-resolution company logo, a property/listing logo (if there is one), and the most current brand guidelines, including color codes, fonts, etc. It is also good practice to include logos for anywhere else that you’d like included in the video, but not necessarily required.
Permission to fly
Speaking with the building owner or property manager to get permission to have a drone pilot film the property is super important. If a building has security or is in a no-fly zone, then you’ll probably already be aware of getting clearance for the drone pilot to fly. But even if those situations don’t apply, no one wants to pay for a reshoot because the drone pilot was turned away on site
Interior Photography
If you already have interior photography and would like it incorporated into the video, gather those files together. If you aren’t planning on having video footage filmed, interior photography can be mixed in with the drone footage to showcase interior amenities.
This may seem like a nearly excessive amount of information for someone to make a property marketing video. However, as our video department can attest, it’s always better to have too much information than not enough. Having a solid understanding of the property and information available to answer any questions allows the editor to work more effectively in creating the marketing video that you are expecting.
Want to know even more about ordering a video? Our video creation team is here to help! Reach out to your experts today about your project and we'll help walk you through the process.