Posted: August 6, 2021
We spend a lot of time writing blogs about video content, particularly property marketing videos for commercial real estate. Since it’s our bread and butter offering, we like to think that we are subject matter experts in it. But while we spend most of our working days thinking and creating property marketing videos, sometimes we have to ask ourselves...what comes next?
The Before Times
It has been quite the journey getting to this point where you’re starting to see a lot more property listings including marketing videos. Even ten years ago, you wouldn’t have seen video content for a CRE property listing, unless it was one of the biggest, most valuable developments or buildings available. In comparison, even a small industrial building can benefit from having a marketing video these days.
Commercial real estate can be a slow-to-adapt industry. But while not as fast as other sectors to adapt the latest trends and technology, CRE endures. Now that drone videos are becoming a prominent marketing asset, we don’t see them going anywhere anytime soon. Adoption is likely to continue to gain momentum until the next big thing comes along and disrupts the model.
What’s Next?
For now, most brokers are still new to the process of welcoming property marketing videos with drone footage. We haven’t yet reached a tipping point where the majority of listings available include a property marketing video with drone footage. However, over the next few years, that vision could quite possibly become a reality. For those intrepid futurists eyeing the next big thing, what comes next?
Virtual reality experiences
While virtual reality technology didn’t explode into public use like planned, it certainly has still provided countless industries with best-use cases. For example, virtual reality experiences for commercial real estate. When many places were shut down due to COVID-19, virtual reality tours of spaces/listings made it possible for business to still be conducted even though travel was severely limited.
Another example of this technology being used in the future is for future development scenarios. While videos, renderings, and site plans can give the idea of what a potential development would look like, a virtual reality simulation would provide a much more realistic way of experiencing a development site.
While the cost and technical skill required to make this happen is too high right now to be widely adopted, as both go down in the future, expect to see more virtual reality opportunities in use in commercial real estate.
Example of a company that provides this service.
3D animated renderings
While VR samples of future developments probably has many years until it hits the mainstream, there is another, more economically viable option already available. Though, because of the higher cost than most property video options, it too has yet to be more widely used. 3D animated renderings are visual renderings of site plans, redevelopment options, or development plans, turned into immersive 3D video footage. The animated component can show the flow of traffic, public places for people to congregate, or simply add dynamic motion to a rendering to be used in another medium.
We’ve had excellent success incorporating 3d animated renderings into property marketing videos. The animated renderings have the most impact for listings that are currently undeveloped land, and that show the size of the future development and incorporate the flow of traffic. It makes it much easier to visualize the impact of the development in real world space!
Interactive presentations
No, adding a hyperlink to a PDF does not make it “interactive.” We’re talking about a presentation or digital document that can provide the same information as a property marketing video or brochure but be more interactive than a video. Instead of basing the content on video length, an interactive presentation provides the user with the opportunity to go at their own pace, and review the information that is most pertinent to them in depth.
Have no idea what we’re talking about? Here are several examples of interactive presentations and documents that are currently available but don’t get as much use as standard PDFs:
While these examples showcase how the technology works, we imagine in the future, these “website” and “demo” platforms replacing PDFs and PowerPoint presentations entirely, and included additional forms of content, such as videos, photo slideshows, renderings, and more.
360-degree aerial panorama
Static imagery may not sound like the most exciting option on this list but it can provide a more interactive experience than a video alone.
Some platforms have even figured out how to add hotspot points to these panoramas so that you can see what retail, office, industrial, transportation, housing, and other points of interest are in the immediate vicinity.
These interactive panoramas have the most potentially to be adopted soonest out of the other available options because their low cost prevents a high barrier to entry. Because it is somewhat of a niche offering that would have difficulty being embedded in a property marketing video, for example, it often acts as an additional tool instead of a replacement for video content.
However, because of the ease of use for the user, it is entirely possible that new developments in this technology will make it even more applicable for CRE. This is also another possible marketing option for properties with a lower margin of profitability.
What Now?
As every property listing and marketing budget is different, not all of these options make sense for every listing. In fact, we are only just starting to see some brokerages initiate an “every listing gets a property video” approach to remain competitive and move listings faster than through brochures and photos alone.
What we hope to see in the near future though, is a more robust adoption of a variety of digital marketing options while moving away from the standard methods of marketing from decades past, such as postcards, paper flyers, and printed PDFs.
Looking to update your marketing? Reach out to the digital experts at Four Tens Digital today!