Getting a promotional video in front of a broad audience has never been easier. The rise of YouTube, Vimeo, ILSs and the whole galaxy of social media channels has dramatically democratized video from the days of only national and regional TV buys. Now, every brand has the opportunity to tell its story.

But that’s where the challenge lies. With vast distribution options and opportunities, we are simply awash in content, making it difficult for a community promotional video to stand out to prospects.

This environment forces the modern marketer to blend marketing fundamentals with a more modern approach. Videos need to be unapologetic about committing to three core principles: be short, keep production flexible, and remain authentic.

How We Got Here

Before diving into best practices, it’s interesting to review what a dramatic transformation we've seen in video distribution over the years. This can be illustrated in large part by the explosive growth of YouTube. In 2007 – a mere two years after its launch – YouTube was already consuming as much bandwidth as the entire internet in 2000, the Telegraph notes. The site is currently the second-most visited website of all, behind Google, according to Alexa.

Today, YouTube says, more than "1.9 billion logged-in users visit [the site] each month, and every day people watch over a billion hours of video and generate billions of views." And Cisco projects that video overall will account for more than 80 percent of all internet traffic by 2020.

The impact of these new channels is clear: marketers can use video today to reach audiences they simply didn't have when broadcast and cable TV were the only distribution outlets. However, with this opportunity comes the challenge of competing against late-night comedy clips and all sorts of popular videos for views that will help your community connect with prospects. Marketers also are competing against the attention span of viewers. According to an article on Marketing Insider Group, an audience starts to lose interest in a video after about three seconds.

Keep Your Videos Short

When planning and producing videos, think in terms of "snackable content." Promotional videos shouldn't last longer than movie trailers, which are typically under three minutes long. In this brief time frame, these videos must either educate, entertain or inform an audience so as not to lose viewers. Do all three and you can consider yourself the next Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg (of multifamily video, of course).

Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook Live are great vehicles for shorter, more informal videos in which onsite associates talk about particular features of a community or give a tour of a certain component of a property. These easy-to-digest pieces of video content appeal to the short-attention-span world we're living in.

Don't Stress Over Production Values

High production values do not equal authenticity. Community videos do not need to be shot in 4K, star professional actors and cost tens of thousands of dollars to produce. Rather, they can be filmed with a single camera or even an iPhone and feature passionate associates.

Truthfully, a video with these attributes is more likely to come across as authentic to prospects and will engage them. For example, Warby Parker has a YouTube channel dedicated to very simple – but highly effective – videos of enthusiastic associates answering customers' questions and explaining the company’s products. The channel has more than 2,000 subscribers and more than 800,000 total views.

The Key to Standing Out: Being Authentic

Perhaps the most critical element of an effective community video is authenticity. Marketers simply must make sure that any video they create is a genuine reflection of what their community stands for and what it offers residents.

Don't think of a community video as an opportunity to be all things to all people. Think of it as a chance to be a reflection of the best parts of your community. If it is, it will connect with the intended audience. For example, look at how hotels distinguish themselves through video. Two hotel brands may be in the same asset class, but they do not deliver the same guest experience--and that comes through in their promotional videos. By contrast, one could probably view 30,000 apartment property videos and hardly be able to tell them apart.

If your community has invested considerable time and money in a dog park, you should embrace and emphasize that amenity in your promotional video. Don't be afraid of alienating prospects who aren’t pet owners. By celebrating the pet park, you will attract qualified renters who appreciate either this specific amenity or the upgraded amenities that you offer in general and who are therefore more likely to have a satisfying living experience and feel a real connection with your community.

Similarly, if your community has a high occupancy rate because it's convenient and affordable, then that should be the main theme of the video message. Understandably, operators might shy away from this kind of message because it goes against the idea of showing rent growth. However, when a video message is targeted to the right audience, it will have a greater impact, boosting the overall revenue and satisfying investors.   

It's a crowded video universe out there. But when multifamily marketers make a commitment to the best practices outlined above, they can help their videos stand out.