Edutainment

Oh, the endless parade of marketing buzzwords. You know what I'm talking about – "synergy," "thought leader," "edutizing," "advertainment." They are obnoxious when you hear them all day long. Unfortunately, they're usually based on a principle that has actual value. That's what I'm going to talk about today, a word I use to describe a vital concept that can make or break your online marketing strategy: Edutainment.

Let's begin with a rough definition.

Edutainment: marketing materials that offer the dual benefit of educating and entertaining consumers, resulting in improved engagement and increased leads

Let's talk about what isn't edutainment. Sending a "Just Listed" eFlyer to a recent buyer client isn't either educational or entertaining for them. Neither are customized sports team fridge schedules, agent calendars, recipe post cards, or QR codes on digital eCards. "What's wrong with those examples?" you may ask. Well, the biggest problem is quite simple: they aren't taking the recipient into consideration. If your marketing materials don't provide value to consumers – in the form of entertainment, education, or both – they are not going to pay attention.

Now that we've talked about what isn't edutainment, let's talk about what is.

We created our Market Videos as a response to the lack of true "edutainment" options available to real estate agents and brokers. We saw so many companies doing content marketing (especially video) all wrong; we had to step in. Here are two examples of our "edutaining" videos:

• For agents
• For brokers

Our edutainment strategy is based on solid research, not just personal opinion. Countless experts back it up; for instance, check out this WAV Group whitepaper about "edutizing," a marketing strategy that is similar to edutainment. In it, author Marilyn Wilson states that consumers in a study by the California Association of REALTORS® "...are particularly dissatisfied with the quality of local market statistics and housing conditions. 42% of Internet buyers were dissatisfied with the information provided to them about market conditions. This provides REALTORS® with a huge opportunity to provide better insights to help a consumer be more comfortable about their real estate purchase."

Wilson continues, "No matter what type of market or niche an agent specializes in, local market statistics are a very valuable Edutizing tool. Just about every consumer is interested in recent trends in their local neighborhood or town. Every Edutizing campaign should be grounded with local market statistics."

The concept discussed in the WAV Group whitepaper, "edutizing," is like a cousin to edutainment. The difference between the two is that edutainment also requires an element of entertainment. That's where the medium of the market statistics comes into play. Video is, by its nature, entertaining. That's why Market Videos have been so successful. The content in the video educates consumers, providing information that's of interest to them, even if they don't plan on buying or selling a house in the near future. The content is presented through video in a very engaging and entertaining way.

If you are looking to add value to your marketing strategy, research ways to add edutainment to the mix, especially to your social media platforms. You are sure to find your engagement – and entertainment – increase along with your business.