By now, you may have built quite a video library of apartment videos—units and amenities to resident events and team introductions videos. And that’s exactly what you should be doing!
One important category to consider building up or consider revitalizing is your assortment of evergreen videos. Put simply, evergreen content (video or written) retains relevance over time, it’s not time-sensitive and continues to drive engagement long after it is first published or distributed.
Evergreen apartment video content consist can last a long time. They won’t get stale or out-of-date quickly and can be pulled out to use for years to come if you’re capturing the right videos.
As you’re building your library of apartment videos, make sure you’re filming and adding videos that are going to have a longer shelf life. Here’s what we mean and why it’s important.
What Makes Good Evergreen Content?
When you’re looking at what makes quality and useful evergreen apartment videos, the first place to look is unit-specific content. For many Realync users, the goal is to have an apartment virtual tour of every unit. That way you can share your unit videos now, tomorrow, next week, and years to come–making it evergreen.
Think about it. The unit structure itself won’t change often. So, at a minimum, each floor plan should have an apartment video – from studio apartments to larger units. It’s important for a prospective resident looking for apartments for rent to have a general idea of the space for a virtual tour to be impactful.
However, what’s more impactful for a prospective resident is to see the exact unit they’ll be living in. That’s why here at Realync we emphasize getting a pre-recorded video of each unit. So next time one resident moves out, your team should go in and get a video while the apartment is clean, freshly turned, and address all the questions on a typical apartment tour checklist.
But, maybe the apartment was updated with new carpet, new countertops or appliances. Or you previously did a decorated apartment tour and now you want one with a blank slate. In that case, it may be time for a redo. Taking 10 minutes to do an updated walkthrough can be a make or break point for a prospect. Plus, you’ve already taken the time and expense to upgrade the unit. It’s time to show it off!
Why Do I Need Evergreen Apartment Videos?
You may be curious about why you need evergreen videos when you could just shoot videos all over the property whenever you want. Isn’t that why you have an easy-to-use virtual leasing platform and app on your phone?
Absolutely. That is definitely true. However, if the recent past has taught us anything, it’s to be prepared for, at times, drastic changes in the market. Whether it’s a once-in-a-generation global pandemic that forces shelter-in-place orders or a simple shift in consumer preference, leasing teams should be prepared. These changes may last a season or over a year. One way for leasing teams to be ready for any of those circumstances is to have ready-to-go apartment videos with a shelf life of longer than a few months. Check out our future-proofing guide for multifamily crisis if you’re coordinating what videos to plan for during times of emergencies.
Take, for example, an apartment community that has about two-thirds of its prospects wanting to come in for in-person tours. Then, there’s a shift and that ratio flips. Only one-third are coming in and the others are Googling “apartments near me” and wanting virtual apartment tours. Without an up-to-date library of evergreen apartment videos featuring units, floorplans, and amenities, your team may find themselves struggling. That’s even more true if they have a hard time getting in to shoot new footage.
In the end, evergreen apartment videos, and virtual apartment touring in general, is all about being prepared to offer prospects the experience they want. It’s creating content that makes future scenarios easier to handle. That’s the power of evergreen content.
If your team spends just 10 or 15 minutes in a unit, filming a walkthrough while it’s clean and freshly turned, you’ll have a piece you can use for a long time. Or, if it’s a new build, jumping in and shooting an apartment video as soon as the unit or floor plan is ready for rent.
Creating or revitalizing evergreen apartment videos is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your apartment video content library. Be prepared today and start creating unit-specific videos, or, at a minimum, floor plan-specific content, and amenity videos.
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