Wanting to flex your CRE company’s developments or activities at conferences and corporate events? Show it off, without costing your audience their precious time.
By James Maile || October 3, 2022
A key aspect of commercial real estate (CRE) marketing (well, all marketing for that matter) is keeping your target audiences informed on the activities and updates that surround your business.
After all, how do you expect others to care about you if they do not even know what you are up to? However, it is not only what you tell people that is important, but also how you tell it.
Okay we get it, as a player in the constantly buzzing CRE industry, you are up to your neck in conferences, building developments, assorted events, etc. and your audiences need to know about them all. You are busy enough participating, let alone capturing content for your socials.
Thankfully, there is a way to proverbially kill two birds with one stone in this regard, by using a time-lapse video.
Why a Time-Lapse Video?
To put it frankly, the standard still image or lengthy video-styled ‘update’ content can be a bit bland and is not very engaging. Sure, static images and normal videos are good, but why do what everyone else is doing?
A time-lapse is a great medium for showcasing scenes and action, using captivating movement and imagery to compel viewers. Unlike many video formats, time-lapse appeals to viewers by showing them a unique perspective.
Nature photographers often use time-lapses to show the beauty in the sun rising and setting, a blossoming flower, or scenes like a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon. Surely, we can apply these fundamentals to CRE content.
From a logistical point of view, you do not need to do much to film a time-lapse. All you need to do is place a camera within view of what you would like to capture, press record, and carry on with your day. When you have captured what you want, just stop recording. Nothing to it.
There are some drawbacks though. The main one is the cost, as you have to own a camera, and someone has to edit the video. Most smartphones these days have time-lapse recording options built in but who is honestly going to leave their phone laying around recording for hours on end?
So, we get why they are great, but let us see how you can implement them into your CRE activities.
Time-Lapses for CRE
In a recent CREview episode (our utterly awesome CRE content review podcast), Strategy guru Dylan and his side-kick Josh covered a few great examples of time-lapses that CRE companies should think of implementing.
Here are a few that they mention and a few extras:
1. Building Development Time-Lapse:
If your company is in the process of building or renovating a property, a time-lapse can show every step in the process, flexing your skill and expertise.
It also makes you look more efficient by condensing months/years’ worth of work into a few minutes. Supposedly you CAN build Rome in a day.
Here’s a great example from EarthCam, showcasing a building development from start to finish:
You cannot tell me a simple before and after photo would have worked better.
2. Your Foot Traffic at A CRE Conference:
CRE conferences are highly effective in gaining interest in your business. So, show how much interest you are getting! Foot traffic time-lapse will show your audiences how interested and engaged people are with your offering.
The video below may not be CRE, but you get the picture (it is a video in this case;)…)
3. Going from A to B with Regular Video:
Whether traveling to and/or navigating around a CRE conference, your offices, or a property listing, time-lapse videos are cut to let you flow through the scenes easily. This form works especially well when the destination or main attraction is added in between the time-lapse.
Travel videographers use this style a lot and so can CRE, videos like the one below perfectly show what you can do.
4. A Hyper-lapse If You Want to Be Cool:
A hyper-lapse is the new styled time-lapse. This method makes one object the focal point while everything surrounding the object changes.
Let us say, for example, you have a shopping center and are looking to attract a new tenant. You could use a hyper-lapse to show how much foot traffic the shopping center gets without distorting the shopping center as the main focal point.
Again, hats off to the travel videographers for the inspiration.
5. Your Company History:
If you have a new batch of piping hot leads, fresh out of your pipeline, you have to show them why you are different from your competitors.
As we have mentioned above, time-lapses are incredibly engaging, you can condense the lengthy tale of your company and display the highlights. Share the major challenges that the company has overcome, the personal story of your founders, or anything else that will entice new conversions.
Fluor should pat themselves on the back with their time-lapse.
But in case a timelapse isn’t for you, there are other mediums you can use to tell your story, perhaps take a look at our previous blog on animated explainer videos.
Some Wise Words from Dylan and That Other Guy…
Your time-lapse is not just for your organic social pages, they are great posts to boost as well. Additionally, they feel right at home on your website and landing pages. Having a video on your website is also a double thumbs up for search engine optimization (SEO).
Because of their versatility, Josh rather cleverly describes a time-lapse video as a “Content Chameleon.” They effortlessly blend in wherever they are placed.
Dylan, who is a huge fan of time-lapses, views them as a fantastic way to stand out since hardly anyone is doing them in CRE. To set yourself apart from your competitors, you must cut through the clutter and differentiate yourselves.
And you cannot differentiate without being a bit different.
All it takes is a bit of creativity.
Until next week,
Stay ATYPICAL😉