The holiday season is upon us! And no matter how you celebrate, most people can come up with a memory or two that they can look back and smile on from one holiday or another.

For me, it’s a Christmas memory 20+ years in the making! It isn’t matching PJs, the one present we got to open the night before, or a big family gathering that comes to mind. Each year on Christmas morning, my mom would make my brother and me a can of fluffy Grands cinnamon rolls.

Somewhere in between presents, the sweet smell would waft into the living room and pique our interest. Yes, they were good but they weren’t anything season-specific/super special. Just a few years back, the subject came up and we let it slip that this wasn’t our “dream” Christmas breakfast. All these years, my mom had been making them because she thought they were our favorite. Who knew?! Since then, we’ve upgraded to her homemade biscuits and gravy but the memory has stuck nonetheless!

Here at Realync, we don’t want you to be sending someone a “dream” apartment video only to find out (hopefully less than 20+ years from now) that they were looking for something else. So, we’re here to share several ideas to help you build out your video library with creative real estate videos this season. You’ll have something for all of your prospects and residents!

P.S. Did you know Realync has holiday music out now for Realync users to incorporate in their videos?

Fall Events

  • Neighborhood tour — Promote local pumpkin patches, apple orchards, etc. to share things to do with your residents! Host a hot chocolate/apple cider bar in your clubhouse to hype it up and link your video via a QR code for residents to scan as they enjoy a cup!
  • Halloween happy hour — Invite your residents and their fur babies to come in costume to your resident event! Be sure to have someone capture the festivities and then highlight them on your socials to drive traffic to your community!
  • Veteran testimonials — Invite residents that are Veterans to share a bit about what their freedom means to them! Record their feedback and finish the video by sharing that you know your residents have a lot of “freedom” in where they choose to live and you’re grateful they’ve chosen to call your community home!
    • Share out to your residents on Veteran’s Day (11/11) via your CRM, on social media, and link it to a QR code posted throughout your community!

Leading up to Thanksgiving

  • Host a food drive at your community — Use video to present the food drive to your residents, provide updates throughout, and film a final video of your team dropping it off/thanking your residents. Post your efforts to social media!
  • Organize a volunteer event for your community team and residents — Have someone capture the festivities and then highlight them to your residents following the event and on your socials to drive traffic to your community!
  • “Thankful for your residents” videos — Have each staff member film a short bit about what they’re thankful for regarding your residents and share with the team!
    • Invite them to return the favor by sending a short clip (filmed horizontally/in landscape mode) of them sharing what they are grateful for about your community. Use these as resident testimonials to share on social media and in prospect follow-up!
  • Neighborhood tour — Feature the nearby retailers that will have great deals on Black Friday! Post to social media to drive traffic to your conveniently located community.

Winter Events

  • Host a blanket/sweater/glove drive — Use video to present this resident “event”, provide updates throughout, and film a final video of your team dropping it off/thanking your residents! Post your efforts to social media!
  • Host a toy drive — Use video to present this resident event, provide updates throughout, and film a final video of your team dropping it off/thanking your residents! Post your efforts to social media!
  • “Happy holidays” video — Choose a secular holiday song that your team can create a music video to. Wear “Ugly Holiday Sweaters” and Santa hats and make it fun as you wish your residents a Happy Holiday!
  • Host a holiday door or patio decorating contest — Either set a date/time for your team to go around and get video (filmed horizontally/in landscape mode) of everything or have your residents record video of their holiday decor (on their patio, at their front door, in their apartment, etc.) and send it to your team.
    • Create and share the video with your residents and have them vote on their favorite! You can send these via your CRM or out on social media with a poll — or BOTH!
      • You can mark each “clip”/apartment with a different number using our captions feature!
        Make sure to request (and only accept) videos that are recorded horizontally/in landscape mode to keep your video looking clean and consistent.

        • Add an intro/outro from your team or the office decor you have going!
      • Celebrate the winner with a congratulatory video for them to come and collect their prize!
  • New year/new goals — Inspire resolutions by creating a video highlighting the approved/scheduled capital improvement projects that were budgeted for the year, featuring your fitness center, etc.!
  • Still not doing in-person events? Host a Virtual Happy Hour to celebrate the New Year. Drop a cocktail mixer gift or something similar at each resident’s door in advance — take a video of packing each gift/dropping them at the door to promote the event. Capture engagement on this event by using a Realync Live Session link instead of a Zoom link (learn more about how Realync can help you engage with residents)!
  • Cater to future residents — Engage with your waitlist by creating a “New You/New Resident” video featuring winter-proof amenities, upcoming specials, or any other New Year benefits your community offers!

Use these holiday videos to spread joy to future and current residents all while telling your community’s story and separating yourself from the competition on the prospect front. Whatever you do, remember to keep your videos real. After all, it’s you that puts the REAL in Realync!

We wish you all the best this holiday season and are here to help with any questions on how you can implement these ideas or any others!

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