Photo giant Instagram has been a steadfast favorite for budding and professional photographers from around the world. The real estate community has had a colorful presence among the photos in the Instagram community; many real estate pros create large followings, close deals, generate leads and connect with other local residents. From listing photos, community landmarks and hot spots, the creative filters give agents a social edge, and can even show off their creative branding with their followers, creating a visual brand.
Thursday the announcement came that Instagram integrated video in its latest update, allowing users to create up to 15 seconds of video, with the availability of its filter tools, video stabilization and social sharing. It is a strategic move to keep and capture its large user base, as well as sway current Vine app users away from their six-second GIF-creation platform.
It still remains to be seen, but based on the Twitter chatter, many in the social sphere are excited about the features to Instagram, as many already have quite a following on the platform. Real estate marketers might find this easier to work into their photographic workflow, as well as have some new creative ideas on how to use video to market themselves or their communities. The brilliant connections that photography can inspire now has a 15-second bigger chance in video.
Jay Thompson, director of social media and industry outreach of Zillow, noted, “I’m sure there will be ‘InstaVideos’ of listings flooding the Interwebs soon, but does 15 seconds really do a home justice? Now if one were to get creative, I can see some cool uses for sharing community stuff. Could be a catchy and fun way to show off certain community aspects.”
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and if Vine will be considered a tight competitor or stand on its own. Vine hasn’t quite taken off in the real estate community as a viable real estate marketing platform, but Instagram may force users to decide.
Some handy features for video on Instagram:
- Video stabilizing tool
- Cover image choice for video
- Video clipping
- Filters
