The short answer
Say it before the shoot: this footage is going into an ad, not the feed
Tell the videographer up front, before anyone picks up a camera, that this footage is going to run as an ad. Say it plainly, because an ad interrupts someone who never chose to watch it, so the first seconds have to earn attention before any message lands. Ask for the arresting shot first, the drone pass, the light changing, the tight detail on something on the table, then the words. Left alone, a shooter will make something polished for you and for other videographers, which is not the same job as holding a stranger's thumb.
How to brief a videographer for a real estate ad
Tell the shooter before the shoot, not after you see the footage. Say the sentence out loud: this is going into an ad. That single sentence changes what a good videographer reaches for, because it means the footage has to work against a viewer who is actively trying to skip it, not a follower who already opted in. Without that instruction, most videographers default to what they know, which is footage that flatters you and looks accomplished to other people in the industry. That's a fine goal for a highlight reel. It is the wrong goal for an ad, because nobody consented to watch an ad, and consent is the whole difference.
Say it early enough that it shapes the shot list, not late enough that it only shapes the edit. If the videographer knows going in that the first seconds have to be genuinely arresting before any message shows up, they'll plan for it: they'll get you the drone pass, the light changing, the tight detail shot, the thing that would stop a stranger's thumb with no context at all. If they find out after the shoot that the footage is becoming an ad, you're stuck editing around whatever they happened to capture, and it usually reads as a highlight reel with a slogan bolted on the front.
What shots do you need for a real estate ad
Get the arresting image before you get the explanation. That means shots that work with zero context: a drone pass over the property or the event, the light shifting at golden hour, a tight, specific detail on something in the room. None of that has to explain who you are or what's for sale. Its only job is to hold a stranger's attention for a moment before you say anything at all. You spend that attention afterward, on the part that actually says your name, the listing, or the invitation.
Order matters here. Ask the shooter to front-load the footage that would stop someone scrolling with sound off and zero context, and to treat the informational part, your name, the address, the event details, as the payoff that comes after, not the opener. An ad that leads with the message instead of the image usually gets skipped before the message ever registers.
Why organic content and ad footage are different jobs
Organic content and ad footage solve different problems, so they need different instructions, even from the same shooter. Your organic social content has to be interesting enough to earn its keep in a feed on its own, unpaid, competing with everything else someone chose to follow. An ad never gets that benefit. It shows up in front of someone who didn't ask for it, so it has to work in spite of that, not because of any goodwill already built up.
That's why the brief has to say the quiet part: this is an ad. A videographer who doesn't hear that will default to shooting something that looks impressive to you and to other people in the business, which is a legitimate goal for a reel but not the same job as holding a stranger who's already moving their thumb toward the next thing. Keep your organic person doing organic work. When footage is going into a brand ad, brief for that specifically, and say so before the camera comes out.
Why do you need to tell a videographer the footage is for an ad?
Because an ad and organic content solve different problems. Organic content earns its own attention in a feed where someone already chose to follow you. An ad interrupts someone who did not choose to see it, so the first seconds have to work before any message lands at all. A videographer left alone shoots to impress the client and other videographers, not a stranger scrolling past. That's a different brief.
What should you ask for on the day of the shoot?
Ask for the arresting shot before the message. Think the drone pass, the light going down, a tight detail shot of something on the table, whatever would actually stop a thumb mid-scroll. Get that footage before you ask for anything that explains who you are or what's for sale. You buy the attention with the image, then you spend it on the words.
Should your organic social person also shoot the ad footage?
Keep the jobs separate. Your organic person is doing work that has to be interesting enough to earn its keep in a feed unpaid, on its own. Ad footage needs a shooter briefed specifically on holding a stranger who is already trying to skip past it. One person can do both well, but only if you tell them which job they're doing that day.