Co-Branded Video

Sergio Gonzalez of 3Sixty Strategies wrote a great article for Inman about co-branded video marketing.  He said this:

Realtors have only one question of lenders: “How can you help grow my business by way of listings or prospective buyers?” Savvy Realtor/lender teams are providing the answer to that question with co-branded video marketing.

Here's a listing-video example (the one Sergio used in his article):

It makes sense.  Ultimately a buyer isn't looking for a listing, they're looking for a home. They're not going to get it without the help of both agent and lender.  Each business spends less (on video production) and gains more.

I'd suggest a few things if you're considering co-branded video.  Video is kind of "fun and sexy" - c'mon, you know it's more fun than PDFs!  That makes it easy to get caught up in "the video."  Don't.  You won't have one video. That's not where marketing & communication are going. You'll probably have dozens within the year, and hundreds before you know it.

The more you can handle all of the pieces that make up that video as assets, the better off you'll be in the long run.  Was there a script?  Get it.  Was there unused footage and B-roll?  Get it.  That nice co-brand visual? Don't just leave it on "the video" - get it and save it for the next dozen.  

Rights are also assets.  I admit, I'm not nuts about the "corporate" soundtrack here, but unless someone really didn't do their job, this music was rights-cleared.  If it's your business, make SURE the rights were cleared, keep a copy of that license and see if it gives you options for future use.

The video itself is an asset, too.  That sounds obvious but isn't.  Do both the banker and the realtor here have the master video files?  Do you?  Don't just assume that because it's on YouTube, it's a done deal. 

We advise thinking of YouTube as a channel, not a master.  Yes, putting video on YouTube (particularly short-lived stuff like listings) can be useful.  Don't use YouTube to solve your own website video, though. That's basically an open invitation to people to leave your site, go browse your competitors listings and then end up watching cat footage.  Use a business video hosting solution.  (We think Wistia is head-and-shoulders the best of the bunch.)

The data coming from the video is also an asset, and co-brand should mean co-data. Do both agent and banker have access to the view data for this example?  They should - it can be invaluable. 

Ask all of those "asset" questions in advance. Like it or not, you're in the media business!

Kudo to Sergio for pointing out this effective strategy. You'll see more & more it it going forward.