Attention: All Associates

Senior Community Manager - Floater, Sheena Boone, is not letting this unique period of social distancing keep prospective renters away from their future residences. She and her team are creating personal, guided tours for available units and posting them on YouTube so that homebound prospects can tour from the comfort of their homes.

Check out her video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKic50Ju7-M&feature=youtu.be

How to Create a YouTube Virtual Tour

Did you know that after Google, YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world? Creating and posting content on this platform is incredibly valuable, especially during this time of people being unable to come tour our communities in person.

Here's how to get it posted to your YouTube account:

1. Shoot your video. 
- For optimal viewing, please shoot in landscape/horizontal mode.
- Keep your script focused on talking about the unit only. 
- Keep Fair Housing in mind by not mentioning the specifics of the people that could live in the unit (e.g., "great for kids," "great for married couples," etc. is NOT acceptable).
- Say "hello" and introduce yourself.
- Don't mention COVID-19 so that the video has longevity after this situation passes.
- Keep your video brief (2 - 5 minutes).
- Maintain an upbeat tone.
- Make sure there is plenty of light in the unit as you tour it (turn on lights before you start filming).
-Avoid including common areas for now; focus only on the unit you are touring.

Here are suggested script components:

Intro: "Hi, there! My name is [first name] and I'm the [role] at [community name]. I'm excited to walk you through one of our available [floor plan name] floor plans today."

Outro: "I hope you enjoyed this walkthrough. If you are interested in making this apartment your new home, our entire application process can be completed online! Contact us today to learn more."

Here's an example tour video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU-xxILXkEY&list=PLbTZZsdN6F_1Teb36Kkoq0oDWhtH55s1F&index=8&t=0s

2. Create your community YouTube channel and post your video. 
You may find instructions for creating a community YouTube channel here: http://buzz.essex.com/department/ops-supportoperations/how-create-community-youtube-page

How to Promote Your Tour

Once you have your YouTube link, you can share it with prospects via one-on-one email. You will able to post the link in your Craigslist ad, but it won't be clickable, so the prospect will have to copy and paste to see it.