Tips for Marketing MFH with Virtual Tours

Posted by Jim Leonard

I recently read a blog post from Adam Mintz, Director of eMarketing for NMS Properties in Los Angeles. I thought Adam did a nice job of succinctly explaining the importance of virtual tours along with some how to’s for making your own video.

Online advertising in the MFH industry is truly competitive. There are many ways to advertise a vacant unit — Craigslist, Rent.com, Rentwiki.com, etc. Take a look at the apartment section on Craigslist, and you’ll realize how many people are posting ads. Whether it’s a mom and pop building or a large property management company building, your ad needs to be truthful, compelling, and effective.

As technology advances at its rapid pace, there are more ways to attract users to your property to tour units. Photo galleries are so 2008! With the explosion of YouTube, most people (especially in the 18-30 age group) would rather see video than photos. These video/virtual tours truly make the viewer or user see the property in real-time as opposed to staged photos. Here are some tips for making a great virtual tour video:

1.  Have two types of virtual tours: building and unit specific.
2.  Length of video: No more than 5 minutes for building and no more than 2 minutes for unit specific–remember, videos should be short, sweet, and to the point.
3. Start from outside to inside: Neighborhood/surroundings–>building amenities–>unit features.
4. Inexpensive, but effective: You don’t need to spend a lot of money for a professional crew. In this economy, there are plenty of talented graduates who could use some money and experience on their resumes.
5. Background music and voice-over: Music should reflect the tone of the property and be instrumental. We bought rights to an mp3 song off of Shockwave-Sound. We made our own script and bought a USB powered microphone to record the voice-over.
6. It’s best to film model units with actual furniture. Empty rooms are second choice, but a model unit makes the video look like an actual home.
7. Remember to upload your video to your community’s YouTube channel and other video sharing sites (even industry specific ones, like www.rents.com).

I’d love to see some of your videos, so be sure to post the links along with your comments below.