How Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Created 500 Videos in 10 months
ABOUT BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES
$180 billion in real estate sales
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is a global residential real estate brokerage franchise network with more than 50,000 real estate professionals and nearly 1,500 offices across 12 countries including, the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, The Bahamas and India. In 2021, the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices global network represented more than $179.9 billion (USD) in real estate sales volume. The network, among the few organizations entrusted to use the world-renowned Berkshire Hathaway name, brings to the real estate market a definitive mark of trust, integrity, stability and longevity.
"We only had one person creating real estate videos for the entire state of California."
Glen Wellbrock, Senior Director of Marketing, BHHS
THE CHALLENGE
How to create thousands of videos for the state of California
Glen Wellbrock, Senior Director of Marketing, has always been a big fan of video content. After joining Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties in April 2019, he realized that the company only had one person creating real estate videos for the entire state. Glen wanted video to be a focus and a service that agents could request but understood that the volume of video production wouldn’t be able to be handled by one person.
Additionally, one of the most important things for Glen’s team of agents is the ability to have discussions with their sellers about their marketing strategy — essentially, how is the agent going to market the property with a view to close a sale?
"Lumen5 helped us reduce video creation time from days to just six minutes."
Glen Wellbrock, Senior Director of Marketing, BHHS
THE SOLUTION
Video production designed for scale
After assessing their current video creation workflow, which Glen found “laborious”, the team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties onboarded Lumen5, due to the platform’s ability to produce video content quickly and at scale.
The partnership between Lumen5 and BHHS California Properties is simple. When an agent gets a listing for a new home that they’re representing, they submit up to eight photos to the California Properties marketing team, who turn those images into a Lumen5 video. The video is then used in their social media strategy in the coming days.
By empowering the team at BHHS California Properties to use Lumen5 the real estate company has reduced video creation time from days to just six minutes.
Video provides the BHHS California Properties agents with a new way to discuss the value of their property listing. By shying away from metrics such as likes and comments, they can provide video analytics such as view count that actively shows whether a person has viewed the property listing or not. And, with one of the aims of selling homes being to evoke emotion and allow the buyer to form an authentic attachment to the property, video helps form that bond better than a photograph.
“What we found is that people who didn’t like the standard photo of a particular property may have or may be willing to watch a video many times more than they were willing to like or comment on it (a photo). So, this additional analytics just sort of sets the agent up for being able to have a very thoughtful conversation with their seller, about how the property is performing online.”
"Video has a way of conveying an emotion better than a photo does. It should be part of every industry and every strategy."
Glen Wellbrock, Senior Director of Marketing, BHHS
THE RESULTS
Over 1,700 real estate listings with 500 videos
The reason that Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties chose Lumen5 is down to two simple elements: speed and scale. Lumen5 has the ability to create large quantities of video content — and fast. The California Properties team reduced video creation time down to just six minutes. The team has also created 500 videos in the first 10 months of using Lumen5.
Another key KPI for measuring the success of implementing Lumen5 across BHHS California Properties is the frequency of requests from agents to create videos. Since onboarding Lumen5, the company has seen a steady increase in video requests — a huge signal that video helps agents sell properties.
BHHS California Properties believes that “video should be part of every industry and every strategy.” When it comes down to why video works so well in real estate, Glen thinks that video “has a way of conveying an emotion better than a photo does.” We don’t think you’re wrong there, Glen.
“With the traditional agency, the time is usually about one week. But with Lumen5, it’s cut down from weeks to hours.”
Visual content director at Siemens AG
“Lumen5 is especially helpful for business people who don't have the technical experience to make their own videos.”
Media relations and content manager
“Thanks to Lumen5, we have been able to cut down on the time and costs related to video making.”
Global advertising and sponsorships
“We’re able to create a video quickly with a turnaround of five minutes versus trying to coordinate with an agency and see if they have time to fit you in. With Lumen5, you could just get it right then and there.”
Social & digital content manager
“The best part about Lumen5 is that it's not time-consuming. It's really easy and you only need a couple of minutes to create a video because everything is included.”
Senior online marketing manager
“We have scaled Lumen5's use across our marketing organization, realizing benefits across many team layers. As company communicators, this agile tool enhances each customer's experience and engagement.”
Director of global integrated marketing, Emerson
“We saw increasing demand within Communications for an intuitive self-service video production tool and Lumen5 filled the gap.”
Creative & digital assets manager, Corporate Voice, Swiss Re
BHHS needed a scalable way to produce thousands of property listing videos for agents across California. Their existing workflow relied on a single video creator, which made it impossible to meet the volume required by a statewide team. Lumen5 offered a fast, repeatable, and easy to manage solution that fit seamlessly into their real estate marketing process. This allowed BHHS to make video a core service for every agent.
Lumen5 streamlines production by turning photos and listing assets into polished property videos in minutes. Agents submit up to eight photos, and the marketing team converts them into ready to publish videos using Lumen5 templates and automation. This reduces both workload and turnaround time. It also gives real estate professionals consistent, high quality content that supports property promotion.
Video creation time dropped from multiple days to approximately six minutes per listing. The team no longer needs complex editing software or long production cycles. This efficiency allowed BHHS to create 500 videos in 10 months and support more than 1,700 real estate listings. Faster production also enabled the team to respond to agent requests quickly and at scale.
Video gives agents new performance indicators that go beyond likes or comments. View counts offer a clear signal of whether buyers are actually engaging with the property. This helps agents explain their marketing strategy and demonstrate real traction on listings. It also strengthens conversations between agents and sellers by grounding discussions in meaningful data.
Video conveys emotion and context in a way photography cannot. Buyers get a stronger sense of space, flow, and atmosphere, which increases their connection to the property. BHHS found that viewers often watch property videos even when they would not engage with static photos. This emotional impact makes video a more effective tool for driving interest and accelerating the sales process.
The BHHS California Properties team created 500 videos in the first 10 months of using Lumen5. They scaled to support more than 1,700 listings and saw a steady rise in agent requests for video creation. This growth indicates that agents see video as an essential part of selling homes. The organization confirmed that speed, scale, and emotional connection to the buyer were the key reasons Lumen5 became a core part of their strategy.
