The Future of Marketing - Streaming Television

This week-end many South Africans, myself included, will be glued to their DSTV powered TVs to watch the Boks do battle against England in Japan. Delighted to have a DSTV subscription it is at times like this that you do not begrudge the R1,000 p.m. fee, which has started to look far too high for the value provided. Most subscribers under-utilize the use of TV watching opportunities and certainly, the younger Millennial's are hardly watching TV at all. They are online consuming entertainment and news through TV streaming services. The world is changing fast and subscription TV services around the world are under pressure with business models that are starting to look archaic.

In a recent article published on Inman, Bernice Ross explores why streaming television is the future of marketing. Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Roku are examples of streaming services, which are currently benefitting from consumers cutting the cord with traditional cable and satellite TV channels. AppleTV is expected to launch their streaming service in November and the Walt Disney Company is planning on launching Disney+ soon afterwards. Switch Media Group in Australia is a property content provider through streaming TV and has a range of brands including Property TV, which is a property-focused TV channel providing the latest updates concerning all things property. Broadcasting content to any internet-connected device this provides amazing global reach unencumbered by local regulators with the audience tuning in on their website or via social media platforms such as Facebook Live and Twitter Live. Never before has it been easier for Realtors around the world to create their own House Hunters television show or their version of Million Dollar Listing. PropertyTV launched in the US in January this year and is now broadcasting to Australasia, North America, Europe and Dubai offering consumer and industry-based content to its 149,000 plus subscribers.

There is a range of innovative agents and agencies around the world that are already using video effectively to showcase their listings as well as provide useful and interesting local information to people moving into the area. Seeff Zimbali is leading the way locally with its Seeff Zimbali YouTube Channel, which showcases beautiful local homes, apartments, townhouses and vacant land in a way the buyers want to explore them. For many of us that have been in the industry for a while, we could see the move away from print media with the explosive growth of digital media across the various platforms. Armed with your smartphone you can create video content. The low barriers to entry ensure a proliferation of poor quality content, but the consumers are also becoming increasingly discerning in demanding high-quality professional productions. Time is still highly valued in a very cluttered world and as an agent or agency, the content you put out there is going to have to be excellent and offer real value to the audience to get any traction.
With social media playing such a large role in people's daily lives, realtors are able to reach audiences easily and directly like never before.

Andreas Wassenaar

Principal - Seeff Zimbali

Cell: 082 837 9094

andreasw@seeff.com

Words: 508

Published in The Bugle - Sales Talk Editorial

28^thOct - 1^stNov 2019