Add Value and Let Your Franchisees Become the Star with Custom Branded Videos

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How do you balance professionalism and brand consistency with personalization and creativity?

By James Schwartz, RE/MAX, LLC

According to a recent article on SproutSocial, Facebook video viewership alone is up to 8 billion views a day. If properly utilized, videos can act as a commercial for your brand. Sixty-second-or-less videos are an extremely powerful way for entrepreneurs to convey their value (and personality!) to consumers in a simple, straightforward and engaging way.

RE/MAX received the ‘Best Business to Consumer Marketing’ Award at IFA’s MITcon Awards 2019 for the “Creating Custom Videos Through RE/MAX Hustle” campaign, which was the franchisor’s answer to the need for an easy-to-use video marketing tool which could be customized and would resonate with target audiences. Paramount to the campaign’s success, the tools released to the network of more than 127,000 real estate professionals remained true to brand guidelines while giving autonomy — to RE/MAX franchise owners and affiliates. The campaign sought to meet consumers where they are — online and consuming visual media content — all while providing RE/MAX agents with a strategic way to communicate with clients through their own personal 15-second video for promotion.

The tool permitted agents to create a custom video in four simple steps. First, users fill out an online form, typing in their name and contact information. Next, they are asked to upload a headshot. Third, users may select three out of 15 video clips to reflect an agent’s skills or tools (more video and customization options are being made available to the RE/MAX network in 2020 on remaxhustle.com) and lastly, the user chooses music for the video. Since launch in early 2019, the online portal that houses these customizable video assets has received over 210K visitors. This number is a good measurement of how brokers and agents are visiting and engaging with the content, whether that be on-the-go on mobile or on desktops while they are at home or in the office.

Too often, quality video content is assumed as only possible with time and money — two things entrepreneurs aren’t keen on hearing. It’s crucial to start simple. Taking each step into thoughtful consideration and carefully considering the tools we invest in that can provide the most value to our network is vital for success. In the franchising space, brand storytelling can become overemphasized and generalized especially if your brand spans globally. Creating a path for your franchisees to express their unique micro-narrative and being able to align that narrative with your brand identity is how everybody can win. Looking to add more video to your marketing mix in 2020? Here are three takeaways:

  • Video marketing is king – as is your network.
  • Evolve your marketing process to allow for personalization and customization from the franchisees further building trust with consumers.
  • Start simply and grow when the process is perfect.

James Schwartz leads the digital marketing, media, brand marketing and creative services departments for RE/MAX, LLC, in a role that perfectly melds his original thinking with his strategic perspective. Over the course of his 20-year career, he’s perfected the science of connecting with specific audiences to build brand loyalty and consumer awareness. Find out more about RE/MAX here. 

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