While real estate agents used to build their personal presence through door-knocking and letterbox drops, the ability to create engaging video content has become a vital part of their toolkit. Here is how agents can maximise their digital presence.
While agents traditionally establish themselves in their communities, a societal shift in content consumption has led the industry to trade cold calls for videos to gain attention in the market.
Speaking at REA Group’s New Agent Academy in Sydney, national customer training manager Luke Dore said content consumption habits have shifted in recent years, with video emerging as the dominant format.
“Consumer behaviour is changing. Every single day we are seeing new ways that people are behaving and their expectations,” Dore said.
According to Dore, creating video content had become an integral part of how agents portrayed themselves to potential clients online, spurred by REA data showing increased engagement across the platform.
“Consumers are telling us they want to hear from you. People want to hear from real estate agents.
“This is a massive opportunity to capitalise on a market that is not yet embracing the way that consumers want to engage.”
Dore said rising vendor expectations, alongside shifting consumer behaviour, were driving the need for agents to better understand market trends and adapt their processes accordingly.
“If you are not thinking this way, I can guarantee that your competitors are.”
Creating engaging video content
To create video content that generates interest and garners consumer attention, Dore said agents needed to understand what drew viewers in in the first place.
Dore said that property professionals should aim to produce content they have a deep understanding of, such as a listing walkthrough, a market update or their own sales process.
When producing a property walkthrough, Dore said agents should showcase their property in full detail, including storage.
“We’ve got to remember that people want to feel like they are stepping through the home themselves, so follow the floor plan and include all of the tiny, little details,” he said.
He said agents should shoot their video content vertically to make it immediately more digestible for consumers, as something as minor as having to rotate their phone could result in lower engagement.
“If people have to turn their phone sideways, you may have already lost half of them,” he said.
Similarly, he said an agent’s social media videos should include captions, since they were often consumed without sound when consumers were travelling or in public spaces.
How AI search dictates a content strategy
According to Dore, agents need to ensure that both their videos and online listings were designed to leverage the rising usage of AI tools by vendors and buyers.
Dore said that REA’s data showed that a small percentage of agents had successfully leveraged AI tools to maximise their exposure, thereby significantly strengthening their market positioning.
He said buyers were increasingly leaning on generative AI tools as a source of information during their property journey, and agents who understood how to cater to search tools could gain an edge over the competition.
To ensure properties stood out to buyers, Dore said agents should list standout features in a “benefit-led” way.
“Hook buyers in with those standout features; don’t discount them,” he said.
Additionally, Dore said agents who could put it all together could gain an important advantage regardless of their experience level.
“The beauty of digital branding is that you can create the perception that you are the biggest and the best long before you’ve even entered your real estate career.
“The agent who wins won’t necessarily be the cheapest, the loudest or the most experienced, but they will be clearer, more visible and feel more familiar to their market,” Dore said.
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