Digital Horizons

Use Short Form Content to Generate Massive Reach on Social - The Real Estate Edition

• James Walker

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Discover the transformative power of social media in real estate with our latest Digital Horizons podcast, as trailblazer Andrew Cumming lays out his blueprint for success. Journey with us through Andrew's evolution from a junior agent experimenting with green screens to a digital sensation, captivating audiences with over 50 million views on his luxurious property tours. As he shares the pivotal role of innovation and adaptation in his rise to social media fame, you'll gain invaluable insights into how to build a brand that resonates with a wide audience and stands out in a competitive market.

Prepare to be captivated by the art of creating engaging real estate content that hooks viewers from the get-go. Andrew and I dissect the strategy behind his most viral video tours, discussing the importance of those crucial first seconds and how to craft a narrative that not only maintains engagement but also tackles the tricky aspects of real estate, like pricing discussions. You'll come away with an understanding of the delicate balance between maintaining authenticity and pushing the envelope to keep content fresh and shareable across platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Finally, we address the complexities of personal branding within the real estate industry, particularly when one's professional identity diverges from their real name. As the Brisbane agent, Andrew offers a candid look at the challenges and benefits he's encountered by managing a brand separate from his legal identity. You'll find this discussion particularly insightful for anyone looking to forge a strong online presence without losing their personal touch. Connect with Andrew, the Brisbane agent, as he continues to set the bar for digital innovation in real estate.

The Digital Horizons Podcast is hosted by:

James Walker - Managing Director Walker Hill Digital
Brian Hastings - Managing Director Nous

Speaker 1:

So the original style that I was rolling with was really good, because that in itself was very new as well. No one was doing that either, and you have to work with what you've got. At that point in time, I didn't have the opportunities that I have now. Create your own opportunities. I mean, all the content is out there, it's on realstatecomau and I think it's applicable to any industry. You just take the information that's engaging Media platforms, put it out there for you. You summarize it, put it into your own words, talk over it In 10X.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Digital Horizons podcast. I'm your host, james Walker, and today I'm joined with my guest, andrew Cumming. Andrew has been working in real estate for the last three years and has grown a huge following on social media from his short form videos. Over the period since he started, he's generated over 53,000 TikTok followers, racked up over 1.9 million likes on his videos 3 million plus on an individual video and over the course of this content creation journey he's been on, he's generated over 50 million views. Andrew, thanks for joining us on the show.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for having me, james. When you spit all those numbers, it's pretty crazy. It does make my head spin a little bit.

Speaker 2:

It is, and so I guess, to start with, what was it that got you on this path, what brought you into this journey of creating short form videos in real estate?

Speaker 1:

The question to start with, because it is kind of the premise of real estate and why I got into it in the first place. Social media has always been an interest of mine and I saw an opportunity before actually getting into the industry to become that person in Brisbane who leverages it and uses it in a way that I think would work really well. So I came into it three years ago as a junior no real estate experience but a vision around social media and combining the two. It wasn't until I went out on my own 18 months after getting my apprenticeship in the business that I actually nailed in on that strategy around social media and it's been 15 months of really aggressively creating, producing and collaborating with people now in the content world and the result has been crazy.

Speaker 2:

So how long has it been since you've actually been generating the content on the short form side of things on TikTok and Instagram?

Speaker 1:

I'd say 15 months of generating what I do now, which is the tours, and prior to that it was more green screen content, where I didn't have the exposure that I have now to these high-end listings. I was just taking screenshots of listings on realstatecom or articles in the news and talking over them, sharing my two cents on the matter but also giving people the eye candy of the photos. I found that was a really good formula at the beginning, just to kind of get my name out there, build a bit of an audience specifically on TikTok. And then, when I had the opportunity 15 months ago to start touring my colleagues' properties in the high end, I realized this is the new winning formula. I'm going to go all in on this and haven't looked back since then. So 15 months of really focusing on the space.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and so what kind of transition do you see in terms of engagement and what kind of usual getting when you switch from that original style into this new style which I think that, especially in the Brisbane market, you're getting known for?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so the original style that I was rolling with was really good, because that in itself was very new as well. No one was doing that either, and you have to work with what you've got. At that point in time I didn't have the opportunities that I have now. Create your own opportunities. The content is out there, it's on realstatecomau and I think it's applicable to any industry. You just take the information that's engaging Media platforms, put it out there for you. You summarize it, put it into your own words, talk over it.

Speaker 1:

How did the engagement change? 10x'd, to quote Grant Cardone. It really did blow up. I was satisfied with the numbers I was getting then and I built an audience up to 14,000 before I started doing the tours. And then from the tours it was just parabolic the growth, the impact it had on the market, the virality, the way it got shared around. Everyone wants to share this luxury property tour, especially the beginning. It's the first of its kind. Now the market's becoming a little bit saturated with that sort of content, so we need to evolve again. But yeah, those first eight months were just so what was the video that you realized?

Speaker 2:

well, I've got something here that is different or that is really gaining traction.

Speaker 1:

The first one we did. It was a penthouse in the city four bedroom, four bathroom, Just the ultimate sky home in a lovely building called Abion, right on Botanic Gardens. So New York style would appeal to anyone contemporary lovers, architecture lovers, people who love being Parkside, Riverside, everything. It would appeal to all tastes. And we hit it with the formula of doing the walkthrough. The voiceover kept it under one minute 30. Collaborated with a property page in Brisbane called Prestige Property and it just went off and I knew that that was the evidence that I needed. I only needed one and it happened to be the first one. I knew it would go off like instinctively. I knew this is going to do really well and never looked back from there. So, yeah, the first video, that was it and that's what got you started. But I wouldn't say that it didn't come without trial and error prior to that, Like I was creating content well, well in advance of that opportunity.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and so from that, then, I guess you've learned a bit of a formula. So what is if you don't mind talking about this is what is your creative process around? All right, cool, we've got a property coming up. How do you, how do you go about planning that out to get to the result that you are when you're releasing your finished product of the video?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, whether it's for my property listing or another. Agents, and you'll see now, if you look at my profile, that I'm collaborating with Matt Lancashire, sarah Hackett, simon Corfield, phillip Rand all of these massive names and Mia Prestige down on the Gold Coast. They'll say, andrew, we want you to come and we want you to showcase this property. We have coming up. I'll have a look online. What have we got here? We've got a waterfront property. It's the canal in Southport. We've got 50 meters of river frontage. There's a mooring for your boat. There's a lap pool. It's contemporary. Who's it designed by?

Speaker 1:

So already in my mind, I'm starting to think about what am I going to be talking about in the voiceover? And then, when it comes to the visual aspect of it, it's not until you get in the property, you walk through it and you think where is the best, most polarizing position in this home to start the video? Because those first three seconds are critical right, where can we capture the most attention and where is it most grand? So we'll find the best position on the property to start that video, to ensure that we're hitting them with the best at the beginning of the video, because people's attention spans minute. Hit him with the big money shot at the beginning, rub them in with a punchy hook. This is what five million will buy you. Come check out this six bedroom home, something that will resonate with your buyers on a universal basis, and then from there it's just touring the property in a way that flows well.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I think I imagine with your videos over time, because I see a lot of the hooks that are being used on these kinds of, on these types of platforms, like the what will X buy you in X suburb and stuff like that, like that, those kind of hooks I guess come out and they work really well by imagine people get tired of them, so you constantly having to try and update and think of new ways you can hook people in to it, otherwise it's going to be the same generic sort of video that's going to happen.

Speaker 1:

It's funny that the hook is actually the hardest part, I find, because I get to the property I'm just thinking what can I, what can I say here? What haven't I said before? I don't want to overuse something. Sometimes you can't even talk about price, because that's pretty sensitive. In many campaigns 80% of the campaigns that I represent we can't talk about price, so I can't use the whole. You know, here's what 10 million will get you, or so we got to think about something else, like have you thought about living the ultimate holiday home on the Gold Coast, or whatever it is? We'll come up with something, but it does take a lot of thinking and a lot of spitballing ideas until we get it. That's actually a fairly time consuming process.

Speaker 2:

Well, let's make a break, isn't it? Like, as you said, it's that first few seconds that people are going to pay attention to. So if you get that wrong and you've got the whole video looking perfect, potentially going to miss a lot of views.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's 100% correct and there's definitely been videos that haven't performed as well. And I put it back down to that initial hook. Those first three seconds, Did I get them with the best line? Did I hit them with with the best view of the property? You look back in hindsight and think maybe not. So it's so important.

Speaker 2:

So when you're, when you are analyzing your videos, how are you Judging performance, what? What are the metrics that you're looking at? So if you're just released to X video like yep, that was a success, that won't flop to whatever Other than metrics that you're paying attention to and learning from to improve for future ones or, like I guess, for Listeners. What is it that people should be paying attention to when they are creating content on these short form?

Speaker 1:

platforms, engagements a massive thing. And it's not just Great video, cool property, it's, it's people having a point of view. So stimulating a conversation, stimulating a point of view and actually inviting and nurturing that conversation in your comment section, I think you would agree, is the key to parabolic virality is to have a comment section that turns into a thread of Opinions back and forth. It's no longer between you and the person watching, it's between two completely different people on the other end having a conversation or an argument in your comment section. That is gold when people are going at it in the comments. Whether it's positive, negative, I don't care. It's pushing the video further and further and further.

Speaker 1:

So the metrics speak for themselves. It's great video if we hit a million people. A million people usually translates to about ten thousand shares, which is just insane because a real estate listing You'll be lucky to get a thousand shares on a real estate listing specific for people to go and look at. And here you are on social Media getting ten thousand shares on a property. It's just stupid. So the metrics are great at determining what your reach is and how that translates from the video to the success of the property.

Speaker 1:

But the biggest thing that I would try and aim for and encourage in anyone creating content is to get people commenting, whether it's you Giving really insightful comments back to someone who asks a question, which then maybe you give them an answer and a question that follows. Keep that conversation going or invite people in the Caption of your video or in the voiceover of your video to share their opinion. What do you think it's worth? What would you pay for it? Do you think it's overkill having three media rooms, all of that stuff? Like people love to share their two cents on the internet, especially tick tock.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and so how do you find in terms of platform performance? So you've seen that some stuff just works better on tick tock first Instagram or what's your favorite in terms of where you know You're gonna get some really good traction with, or, and are you creating the content based on the platform You're gonna release it on, or is it more just same video? Place it across three and you see it will work differently across the different.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly the latter. It's creating a universal piece of content that can go on everything and it's now really hard to pick which one is going to win, as in which platform is going to push this piece of content. The Fotherest tick tock can happen within minutes. One minute, it's 300 views. 30 seconds later you refresh it, it's five thousand. Thirty seconds later, it's eleven thousand. Thirty seconds later, it's fifty thousand. Thirty seconds later, it's a hundred and twenty thousand. You come back two hours later after dinner, it's at six hundred thousand. That doesn't happen on Instagram. I haven't experienced that.

Speaker 1:

Instagram is much more of a slow burn. Not sure if that's just because of the usability of it, but things get shared a lot more on tick tock because it's just the user behavior. People share everything on tick tock. If I open my tick tock inbox, I've got, you know, 16 videos from when I was last on there that have been shared with me. Instagram maybe one or two. So it's the consumer behavior that makes tick tock so viral, but it's hard to pick which video is gonna do best. I can't pick it anymore. I get surprised sometimes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and are you posting on shorts YouTube shorts at the moment?

Speaker 1:

I have tried shorts. The problem with shorts is the video needs to be under one minute. Yeah, that makes it harder. It makes it really, really challenging because these, these properties are huge and I'm I'm flat out trying to get it under 130, which is the benchmark that we always need to go for. So YouTube shorts has just been like. I wish they would change that. I don't know why they don't. If it's good content, why not just, like, pump it up to 90 seconds? I think it's an opportunity that they're missing out on yeah, and you're not releasing.

Speaker 2:

Obviously because of the the style of content, you can't release it as a normal YouTube video either, so it sort of limits the platform is yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it is really disappointing because I can't capitalize on that platform. Well, I've got my hands full with Instagram, tick tock, and Facebook and LinkedIn and threads like, but what's the difference putting another platform in there? If I can, I'll do it. I do really want to focus on YouTube a little bit in the next 12 months with longer form tours. There's some examples of creators who have built, you know, audience empires, just touring luxury homes or touring luxury yachts. There's a format that works really well there. You hooked them in and they watch 30 minutes of.

Speaker 2:

I've done that. I quite often will put that as sort of like my background TV. Look, because you don't need to pay attention to everything. But it's great sort of that in the sky. I just I'll put it on, let it run, and I'm just you know it's good to work. Look, I'll be working along and just have that run in the background and they really keep you hooked in for the entire video.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, and I've produced a few of those. I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to go through Casar Esprit, a home on the market designed by Greya in Hamilton. I did a tour there and only went for 13 minutes, but I can see that if I had a bigger platform base, that video would have done really well. But because I've only got 50 subscribers on YouTube, I'm kind of hindered. There it's still got 650 views, which, as a percentage versus what your audience base is, that's a good video. Yeah for sure. If I had a bigger audience base there, that video could have done really well. So I am trying to grow that, but it's a slow burn. Youtube is a marathon, I've heard it's really really hard to grow your audience there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So in terms of people who are looking to get started in this space, what would you say would be the best thing? Because, I mean, now it looks like your videos are very well produced and like the end result is quite high production, but a lot of people looking to start doing this. They're not going to have that ability. So where would you say would be good for people to get started and start getting some wins with this kind of content?

Speaker 2:

Would that be in real estate or I think real estate, for I think, people in the real estate side of things like what would you suggest to people that are looking to get into this?

Speaker 1:

Just start, it's not rocket science. You can see what I'm doing. If you want to get into it, get into it. Don't just think about it and don't mull over it Like it's quite obvious how you start. You get your video. You get a gimbal, if you can get one. Otherwise, just get some steady hands behind the camera and talk about your property. Don't just talk about your property. Talk about the hottest listing in your office right now, because someone in your office is sure to have something that's interesting. Yeah, it doesn't need to be a $10 million thing If it's got like an extra big pool or if it's got a really good back deck, just something that's interesting and conversational.

Speaker 1:

Don't go out there expecting to crack the code on video one and hit a million people, but get into the habit and build that muscle for creating content that showcases the property in a way that isn't cinematic with your property video. Property video is awesome. Keep it there. The client pays for that. That goes with the advertising collateral. But this is for your profile. This is for you to put money behind to boost into your cyberblog or your patch and have the next person selling up the road or a few streets over say, oh, this is interesting. I like how that they're articulating this thing in the home and why this is valuable and blah blah blah. Like this is for your profile and take that point of view with it. You're not doing it for your client, you're doing it for you, yes, your client benefits, especially if you get a lot of reach. But at the beginning at least, be self-motivated with it and just get out there and do it. I think people overthink it's not that complicated, perfect.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that sounds like some great advice for anyone. So, out of interest, how did you get the name Brisbane Agent? Because I mean that kind of been easy to. It was available. It's mentioned before, like we've been at a party with yourself and there's some of the people from my team that like hey, it's the Brisbane agent guy and it just works so well and so I guess it was. Yeah, it was not, I guess, not lucky, it was just available. So it was great that you were able to access that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was. It was just pure coincidence and sheer luck. When I first got into the business, my username was Mr Luxury Property, okay, and I was, you know, like that's pretty obnoxious for someone with no real estate experience. But I was joining into a high-end architectural team and I think I may have brought a little bit of embarrassment to him and his team by rolling around with that username. So I ditched that one, went to my personal name and then, when I went out of my own, it was time to, you know, flare up and reignite that personal branding spark that I got to do. When I eventually went out of my own, that's what you threw like and I checked and it was available and I was like, oh hell, yeah, I'm going to take that. That's pretty generic and attractive, it definitely works Like it positioned itself.

Speaker 2:

as you know, it's very memorable and it works within the, especially for the local market, because I guess for where you're trying to build the reputation like you're, having those two wights in the handle just makes it spot on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think Brisbane's hot as well. So I'm betting on the fact that not just Sydney, melbourne, but other countries will actually recognize Brisbane agent, because I think Brisbane is an upcoming city. I mean, the goal is to become a worldwide city prior to the Olympics and there's so much happening in our city infrastructure wise, and it's going to become more relevant as we get closer to those Olympic Games in 2032. So I was kind of betting on that as well. Just something generic. Yeah, it's not my name and I might lose some business because I don't know who Andrew Cumming is. That is no Brisbane agent, and when I call someone saying it's Andrew Cumming, they can't connect it to Brisbane agent. So I am in a little bit of a sticky point where it's almost like hello, this is Andrew Cumming, brisbane agent. Yeah, you may have seen my content Like it is. It's a gray area that I'm dealing with, but overall I think it's worth the trade off.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, okay, Well, andrew, I think might leave it there. Thank you so much for your time today joining me on the podcast. If anyone does want to reach out to Andrew, you can find him at Brisbane agent on all platforms, everything.

Speaker 1:

Yes, he's with the bag.

Speaker 2:

Perfect Thanks for having me, james. No worries, thanks, andrew. Bye.