It’s no secret that real estate content has gotten more attention-grabby lately. Some of it’s clever. Some of it’s cringe.
And every so often, a post comes along that draws a clear line in the sand.
This week’s Marketer of the Week is Shannon Gillette, who used her Instagram platform to call out a growing trend: listing videos that aren’t just bold, but flat-out inappropriate. In a reel that now lives as a PSA for real estate agents everywhere, Shannon doesn’t mince words. And she backs it up with firsthand experience.
“Somebody has to say it. And because nobody else will, I will. If your listing video can’t be watched in front of young children, it’s not a listing video. It’s a liability.”
Sellers Are Watching (and So Are Their Kids)
Shannon’s reel points to a bigger problem: agents pushing boundaries for views, without thinking through the consequences for their clients. Or even bothering to ask permission.
Before we ever get to results, she reminds us, there’s a conversation that needs to happen.
“Did the agent run that concept past the homeowner—you know, the seller who’s trusting them to market their million-dollar property?”
In her experience, most of the time, the answer is no. Agents post videos the seller never approved, hoping to stand out online, only to end up with an upset client, and a lost listing.
In the “play stupid games” category, this one ranks pretty high.
Not Just a Bold Move, But a Bad One
According to Shannon, her phone has been ringing with calls from sellers who felt blindsided by how their home was presented online.
Shannon’s team gets to hear it all, too, when these clients call for help.
“It’s actually upsetting the homeowner. And now I’m getting calls asking if I will market their home the professional way.”
Real pros (like Shannon) know their marketing is not about getting clicks. It’s part of a larger strategy for delivering an experience their clients have a right to expect.
And that experience does not include a sinking feeling.
Agents React to Shannon’s PSA
This week’s Walk Thru highlighted Shannon’s reel in their Marketer of the Week segment (starting at 42:45). And guest Emily McAllister’s insights on the post put a different spin on the conversation:
“For me personally, Shannon’s aesthetic is a little too safe for me. That’s just my personal opinion. I know that works very well for her. But (other things) I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s a little too out there for me.’
“I feel like there’s a good kind of middle ground that you can find, like @UtahRealEstatePaige. Her ‘Big Decks’ video was great because it was insinuating but not flat-out vulgar….
“I think there is a line, but I will also say some agents think the line is way over here, and some agents think the line is way over there. People get really jammed up about the fact that I open my videos, “What-up, Fools!” And they’re like, ‘That’s so unprofessional. That’s so inappropriate.’ And I’m like, “Yo, you need to lighten up. It is not that serious.’ But I do think we need to be smarter. If you’re going to write that kind of humor into your listing video, you need to be smart about it and not so brazen about it.”
The Broke Agent added his take:
“I just love it because it creates industry conversation. I mean, this has hundreds of comments of people talking about it, most of them agreeing with her.”
Asked whether he agreed with Shannon, Jason Cassity did not hesitate:
“Yes. Okay. Yeah. So, I am probably as liberal as they come in a sense, not politically. I’m just saying, I push the envelope. I’m all for it. I love content that’s edgy and gets you to think and laugh and be smart. I think what she’s referring to, if I had to guess, we’ve talked about these on the show, but like the one where the girl is taking off all her clothes while she’s running through the house… You know what I mean? And they’re like they’re saying these things that are obviously just like catchy and edgy, but I’m like, ‘It’s shock jock stuff.’
“I like what Emily said. It’s not smart humor to me… it’s just doing it for the reaction. At which point, it’s why I agree with Shannon. I’m just like, ‘Be better.’”
He referenced some of Shane Burgman’s videos that “push the envelope’ but are funny and not the kind of the videos that leave him thinking, “Really? You had to go there?”
“You don’t have to be suit-and-tie professional all the time. You can push the envelope, and you can get better views and all that type of stuff. But you don’t have to be unprofessional. And by unprofessional…that is what I think she’s referring to. And so, I wholeheartedly agree, even though I love great, edgy, pushing-the-envelope content. I don’t like vulgar content, and I really don’t like content that puts down the house…It never hits.”
Judging by the comment section on Shannon’s post, her words struck a nerve with agents all over, from those who agreed with Shannon’s take to those with a different perspective.
Here are a few:
This Simple Instagram Post Generated 97 Comments (and a Month of Content Ideas)