Real estate listings have become more than pretty house photos and staged interiors. Today, agents are stepping in front of the camera, using humor, music and storytelling to make others pause, watch and engage. From choreographed dances to mini-movie storylines, these agents are rewriting the rules and adding creativity when it comes to selling homes.
- Lisa DuBois, associate broker with RLAH @properties in Falls Church, Va., plays “hide-and-seek” in her videos, revealing a home’s features in playful ways.
- Trenton Miller, with eXp Realty in San Antonio, Texas, races through listings in high-energy “speed tours,” often running, jumping and sliding through homes in one continuous take.
- Daniel Heider, founder and CEO of The Heider Company with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty in Washington, D.C., produces cinematic features the luxury properties and comedic spoofs, like a “Bachelor”-style final rose moment.
- Scottie Henderson, a real estate pro with eXp Realty in Waterloo Region, Ontario, creates catchy jingles and rock songs that have buyers humming all the way to closing.
- Sue “Pinky” Benson, leader of The Benson Boutique Real Estate Team with RE/MAX Alliance in Naples, Fla., is known as the “Pink Lady of Real Estate,” building a nationally recognized brand around one signature color: Pink.
These agents aren’t just marketing homes—they’re building identities and carving out niches. In a crowded, scroll-heavy digital landscape, sometimes that can require costumes, choreography or movie-level production—and these agents are all in.
Start With a Hook
You don’t always need flashy stunts—but you do need to stop people in their tracks online, says Brendan Kane, digital marketing strategist and bestselling author of “HookPoint” and “The Guide to Going Viral.” In mere seconds, a strong “hook point” signals value—like through a clever phrase, surprising insight or unexpected presentation—that can turn fleeting attention into engagement.
Miller, who started in real estate at just 18 years old, understood this early on.
“Everyone’s attention span is so short, and they scroll through videos so quickly,” he says. “I needed something that’s fast and gives them all the information they need in one take.”
At first, Miller’s videos were direct-to-camera homebuying and selling tips that barely gained traction. So, he decided to speed things up. He posted a “speed tour” of him literally running through a property and sharing about the home’s best features as he whizzed by.
His first “speed tour” garnered 3 million views, generated $1.6 million in listings in a single month, and eventually led to celebrity collaborations, including requests from professional boxer and influencer Jake Paul, to do a “speed tour” of his home.
DuBois found her hook filming “hide-and-seek” video tours, whispering from unexpected places around the home—under beds, tucked away in cabinets and even inside a Murphy bed—as a camera scanned across the room trying to find where she’d pop out. Her first “hide-and-seek” video hit 14 million views—and she knew she found her niche.
Related: You Have Just 3 Seconds to ‘Hook’ Clients With Your Real Estate Message
Build a Signature Brand
A strong hook can evolve into a recognizable brand.
For Benson, that meant pink—lots of it.
“There were a lot of Sues in my office and clients rarely remembered names,” she says. “I wanted something to differentiate myself.”
Pink became her identity—from her wardrobe and marketing to sometimes her hair color and then a pink car. It earned her the nickname “Pinky” and “The Pink Lady of Real Estate,” which 20 years later stands today.
For Henderson, his brand evolved after, like so many other agents, some failed attempts at first try. Early in his career, he wore a suit to all listing appointments, trying for a super polished presentation. His business was “just average,” he says, as he tried to blend in. Then, he ditched the suit for a pink suit and unicorn. His signpost pictured him riding a unicorn, which became a visual hallmark to his listings, along with catchy music videos and custom jingles he’d craft about a home’s address. His business instantly started growing, he says, and he knew the extra attention to his listings was working because buyers started requesting their home’s “theme song,” and some even added the tune to their smart doorbell.
Stay Consistent
Once you land on a hook, consistency turns it into recognition.
Benson’s pink branding is so ingrained that clients notice when it’s missing. “If I don’t show up in pink, people go, ‘Oh my gosh, where’s the pink?’” she says. They’ll also send her pictures of anything pink, from clothes to even dolphins, that make them think of her.
Miller’s consistent posting of his “speed tours” has become so identifiable that others seek him out specifically for them, which has led to brand endorsements and partnerships with online influencers. It also eased his transition over the last year when he moved real estate markets from south central Pennsylvania to San Antonio, Texas. He also has other agents from across the country requesting a “speed tour” of their listings. Now, he’s built leverage: “It’s really nice to say ‘Hey, I can come in and get you a couple million views on your home,” he says.
For Heider, showing up online consistently isn’t optional—he views it as foundational to his real estate business. His team includes full-time, in-house staff devoted to marketing and advertising listings, as well as frequently teaming with vendors. Showing up through videos and across social media platforms consistently with professionally produced videos—from the sentimental to the funny—have become a backbone to growing his business. He has nearly 4 million followers on TikTok alone.
Create an Emotional Connection
Beyond grabbing attention online, the most effective marketing usually makes people feel something—whether it’s a laugh, relatability or an emotional tie.
Heider’s cinematic approach to presenting his luxury listings is designed to do just that—moving beyond a laundry list of the home’s features to creating an experience and showing the lifestyle the home offers.
“The emotion is what moves the needle,” he says. “The creativity … is what harnesses the attention.”
Each property, he says, requires its own strategy. “We like to think that every property emits its own sort of frequency … it’s our job to figure out what that is and create a tailored marketing strategy that feels authentic and exciting.”
Find Your Own Voice
As agents hunt for their niche, Benson warns against chasing trends, whether it’s the latest lip-sync or dance craze. Agents “like to copy each other,” she says. “They can’t find their own voice.”
In a world now filled with templated and AI-generated content, individuality matters more than ever, she says. “The only way to show up authentically is with value and your own voice,” Benson says.
Not every strategy looks the same. Some agents focus on video or podcasting; others lean into events or community involvement. “There are lots of ways to stand out,” Henderson says. “I leaned into video because it’s in my wheelhouse. It’s focusing on what you’re good at” and making it “engaging, educational, informative and exciting—or people are just going to scroll past it.”
Henderson acknowledges his flashier musical approach isn’t for everyone. “That’s OK,” he says. “But for the people who do like what I’m doing, they’re not calling anybody else except me.”
“Authenticity sells,” DuBois says. She found her “hide-and-seek” niche after some failed video attempts. Once she tossed a scripted approach, added a hook and embraced her goofiness and deadpan humor, her following quickly grew.
Heider emphasizes differentiation in real estate. “You don’t have to produce Hollywood-level films but figure out what your swim lane is and do that,” he says. “If you don’t have a social footprint … or just have one toe in the water … you’re out of the game. To not fully embrace where attention lives and where every single human being is consuming their content, is missing out on a humongous opportunity.”
Experimentation—and some failed attempts—are part of the process. Kane advises pairing creativity with measurable goals: “Is it driving leads, business and growth?”
Then, own it.
By leaning into entertainment, engagement and authenticity, agents are creating brands that get clicks, calls and visits—bringing more people to the front door of their listings and business. And sometimes, that’s something worth singing about.
