If you’ve ever tried searching for an electrician or pressure washer online, you already know that homeowners can find all the information they need right at their fingertips. And you probably already know what that means for your home-building business: You need to work harder than ever before to sell your services and convert more leads.
Of course, setting yourself apart from the local competition isn’t easy, especially when every single website features a lot of the same information. If you offer the same services and serve the same areas as your biggest competitor, how are you going to convince local homebuyers to choose you over them? You know that your skills and expertise will speak for themselves once you get that call, but your success boils down to your ability to market those skills before you even meet a client.
Enter video marketing. Video marketing is rapidly gaining traction among contractors and home builders—and for good reason. Our clients use video to effectively showcase their projects and build credibility among potential leads. If you’re searching for an effective way to step out in front of the competition, here’s how to use marketing videos for home builders looking to get the job done.
Let’s assume that you have a beautifully designed, professional website that highlights your services. Your landing pages are packed with relevant keywords and compelling calls to action. And your portfolio shows off your best work. Combined with positive reviews and client testimonials, this should be enough to reel in new leads, right?
In most cases, the answer is yes. But for some homebuyers, all of this isn’t enough. They need more information before making a major investment, and they need it delivered in an easy-to-understand way that won’t require too much effort to research.
Here’s where video can help your business shine. With video marketing, you can provide high-quality views of your work, your building process, and the materials you use. You can also answer frequently asked questions, and put a friendly, relatable face to your brand.
When homebuyers watch your videos, they’ll feel like they know you. And at the end of the day, that just might be the tipping point that makes them hire you instead of the competition.
“More and more companies are realizing that their clients are people who highly value their time, and video is one of the most efficient ways to deliver information to people in a concise way,” says Jon Klein, Director of Video at Company 119.
In today’s competitive digital landscape, you need to do everything you possibly can to showcase your skills and set yourself apart from the competition. Videos help add dimension, substance, and personality to your brand—which can have a dramatic impact on your conversions.
Videos give your leads a better look and understanding of your skills and expertise, which helps them make informed decisions about their home renovation projects. Even if you feel like your website already provides a surplus of information to help homebuyers make the right decision, video can take your marketing strategy to the next level.
Video turns you into a trusted expert, addresses common questions, and explains the benefits of hiring your business over the competition. On top of that, it helps you form a stronger connection with homebuyers than a run-of-the-mill blog post or landing page, so they already feel like they know you before they make that first phone call.
If that’s not enough to convince you, here’s why video should be a non-negotiable component of your digital marketing plan:
To top it all off, simply including a video on your landing page can boost your conversions by an incredible 86 percent. If you’re not taking advantage of video marketing, you’re missing out.
We get it: The thought of creating videos can feel overwhelming, especially if you don’t have a fancy camera or you don’t know what types of videos to make for your audience. Don’t worry, we’re here to help you learn the ins and outs of video marketing—from figuring out which types of video you need to distribute it for the maximum results.
Here are some tips to help you get the camera rolling so you can make the most of your video marketing efforts:
Local homebuyers don’t want to waste their precious time watching a low-quality video. To capture their attention and impress them right off the bat, make sure your videos are high quality. If your marketing budget allows, hire a professional videographer, or purchase a decent camera to record video footage.
If you’re recording a walk-through of a property, behind-the-scenes footage of an ongoing project, or even just an FAQ video, make sure you’re using natural lighting. You want to give local homebuyers the best view of your work, and fluorescent lighting just isn’t going to cut it. Along with your lighting and video quality, you should also be delivering high-quality audio.
Of course, with more and more home builders and contractors utilizing video, oversaturation is going to be a challenge. Don’t worry; it’s an easy obstacle to overcome. Oversaturation just raises the bar in terms of content quality. In other words, you need to create well-planned, well-executed, and professionally shot videos to win at video marketing.
Ideally, if you’re setting aside your precious time to make a video, you’ll want to cover as many topics and approaches as possible. Our clients have had the most success with the following types of video:
For the best results, condense your videos into shorter segments. Maybe that means creating a series that breaks down different aspects of your business into small, short videos that are less than five minutes each. Short, simple, easy-to-understand videos will translate to more views, and it’ll help home buyers quickly find the answers they’re looking for.
“Just be careful about assuming that the viewer knows a great deal about what you do,” says Klein. “It is your job to inform them and to get them excited about what you do.”
When it comes to content marketing, consistency is key. In other words, you can’t isolate video from the rest of your content. Your clients can see right through you and your business, so every single message you send out to your website visitors and social media followers is a key piece of your marketing puzzle. Think of it as a conversation. It has to progress; otherwise, your leads are going to lose interest.
So, how do you align your messaging across every piece of content? Think about your business goals and evaluate your sales funnel. The messaging across all of your content—from your Facebook posts to your Instagram stories—should align with these goals. At the same time, your content should offer value to your audience and help guide them through the funnel.
“A great video is simple, engaging, efficient, memorable, and drives the viewer to action,” says Klein. “You are not just pressing a ‘record’ button on a camera—you are telling a story.”
If you’re not sure how to execute videos that align with your messaging or you don’t have the time to create consistent content across every digital marketing channel, consider working with an experienced marketing partner. This way, you’ll be able to grow your business with a powerful digital marketing strategy without sacrificing time in the field with your clients.
Every single one of your video marketing campaigns should have a single, specific objective—whether that’s generating brand awareness, retargeting past customers, or gathering new leads.
If you’re not sure where to start, lead generation should be your first target. You don’t just want to create more content—you want to generate qualified, targeted leads with your content. Driving organic traffic to your website is one thing, but getting (and converting) leads is what’s going to grow your business. And if you can get more leads without spending too much on content, you’re that much closer to maximizing your ROI.
Regardless of your goal, you should always aim to consistently produce quality content that positively impacts your bottom line. Figure out what types of video work, and create more pieces around that topic. For example, if your homebuyer interview gets the most leads, reach out to other clients for interview questions. Keep heading in that direction if it’s working.
You’ll want to set goals for the number of leads you get each month, too. Aim for a certain percentage of conversions from those leads. Once you have a baseline idea of those numbers, you can shine and polish your strategy to achieve your monthly goals.
Setting concrete deadlines helps ensure that your video marketing efforts drive results. As you’re planning out the video production, from the ideation stage to the actual video distribution, your timeline is going to be key. To stay organized, you should actually create a few different timelines: an overall timeline, a production timeline, and a distribution timeline.
Your timeline is going to guide you through the process, keeping you aware of how much you’ve done and what’s left to do. If you’re working with a content marketing or video production team, timelines are going to be important for every member of that team. Your marketing team might have their own timeline, production might have their own, and your social media team will have their own. Whether you’re working solo or collaborating with different teams, be a good sport and keep everyone informed of their schedules and deadlines.
Money rules all. Sure, creative planning and marketing strategy is key, but you’re going to need a realistic budget to get exactly what you want. Set aside a realistic portion of your marketing budget so you can have the right resources at your disposal.
Before production starts, figure out exactly what you’ll need to shoot the video and whether you’re interested in outsourcing to a production company. And remember: Some videos will cost more than others, so consider the cost of each type of video before you start planning your content calendar.
Don’t be afraid to shop around, either. Try asking industry experts how much they charge for video services (editing, scripting, etc.) and how much you might expect to pay. Most agencies will be more than happy to help you find the information you’re looking for—and your wallet will thank you.
Filming videos and simply publishing them on your website isn’t going to be enough. If it was that easy, everyone would be doing it. You need to get your videos out there where they can be seen. You want your videos to generate brand awareness, drive clients to your website, and encourage them to contact you.
Along with embedding videos on your website for visitors to watch, make sure to use social media to promote them. Upload your videos to a YouTube channel that you can keep regularly updated. By allowing prospects to subscribe to your feed, you’ll encourage repeat visitors. In turn, this helps raise your rankings while building trust among potential clients.
YouTube is only the first step of the social media video marketing ladder. Promote your videos on Facebook, post them on Instagram, and send them out in your email blasts. Don’t forget to mention what’s covered in each video—whether it’s homebuyer advice, FAQs, or model tours. By giving your leads a taste of what your video has to offer, you’ll spark their interest and draw them straight to your video.
You can’t improve what you can’t measure. If you want to perfect your video marketing strategy, you’re going to need to capture viewer data, including:
These metrics will help you find the right type of video content for your website and social media pages. And if you’ve already figured out which type of video is best suited for your business, these metrics can help you tweak your videos to maximize views, playtimes, and retention. Sometimes, the video you expected to underperform might be the one that gets the most views.
Ultimately, tracking analytics is the major difference that turns video marketing into a powerful asset. Without viewer data, there’s no way to see if videos are actually making any difference in your conversions—and there’s no way to improve your videos to make the most of your marketing efforts. Once you’re tracking analytics, you can start A/B testing to optimize your conversions.
If you’re not already using video, there’s a good chance your competitors are. Videos are a powerful way to showcase your work, explain your value proposition, and build conversion-boosting relationships with your leads—but you’re going to need a strategic, effective marketing strategy to drive the right results.
Whether you’re filming your first walk-through or perfecting your strategy, reach out to our team if you have any questions about growing your business with video marketing.
