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And… action!

Digital marketing expert Nelly Berova expounds the virtues of video for selling properties – and selling yourself!

The Negotiator

Link to Marketing featureYouTube is an essential part of every estate agent’s marketing toolkit, helping raise awareness of your business, generate leads and convert them into paying customers. There are many reasons why YouTube videos are effective; they allow you to ‘show, not tell’ – always a more powerful means of communicating. They are also attention grabbing – vital in a world where the average adult’s attention span is thought to be around eight seconds and shrinking. While marketers have known about the importance of video for some time, no one could have predicted the absolute dominance the medium would achieve in 2020, in the age of coronavirus when so much of the business happens online.

The average adult’s attention span is thought to be around eight seconds…

If you haven’t done much video before, setting up a YouTube channel and shooting and editing footage is easier than you might think and needs little more kit than a decent smartphone. With a bit of research, planning and practice you’ll soon be crafting some pretty decent three-minute features for a burgeoning fanbase. Here’s are a few tips if you’re new to YouTube for estate agents:

Brand your channel
Set up a channel, then make it yours by ensuring it features your logo, corporate colours and fonts and a description of what makes you unique.

Have a plan
Just as with blogs or newsletters, you need to have a forward plan. It should be a varied programme too – listings videos are great, but think about different formats to engage your customers. Put it in a spreadsheet.

Vary your content
Produce different types of video and tailor them to the audiences you are trying to attract. Use ‘how to’ videos – demonstrating ways to stage a home to sell, in a quirky or interesting way, to attract more sellers or a tour of a property to demonstrate what new landlords need to know about gas safety. Or use light-hearted meet-the-team films to show the human side of your agency.

Optimise for search
Search engine optimisation (SEO) doesn’t stop with your website. If you want your films to be found on Google, you need to be just as careful in identifying the right keywords for your audience and incorporating them in the meta descriptions and tags.

Focus on your listings
We’ve said that it’s important to look beyond listings videos, however, there is no denying that this type of film is important when it comes to selling houses. Before you start shooting, do your research. Look at how other estate agents do it – think about what works and what you can use for inspiration.

The editing suite
When filming, shoot in the best available resolution for a high-quality result. You can commission a professional to edit your videos, or have a go with iMovie for Mac, Camtasia Studio for PC or other editing software – these are generally quite intuitive to use and give professional results.

Go live
Live streaming is a great way of showing your human side and engaging your audience. Use Facebook or Instagram Live on your phone to create an impromptu video tour of your local area, or a home new to the market that you’re showcasing. The aim of these films is to create something spontaneous, so you don’t need to worry about production values. Once you have made a Facebook Live film, you can edit it and share through your YouTube channel.

 

Experiment with interviews and webinars
Interview your own experts or local influencers, business owners and celebrities about a pressing subject or host an online event – on anything from tips for newcomers to house price predictions. Edit the footage and push the film out through your channels. Remember that external speakers can share your content through their own networks.

Film your fans
Short of recommendations from family and friends, online reviews and testimonials are the best evidence for new customers that you will do a great job. If you know a client rates the service you’ve given, ask them to record a message for your YouTube channel. Seeing a real person talk about their experience with your agency can convince that wavering lead.

Next steps
There are plenty of opportunities for using your content to attract leads. Video remarketing, for example, allows you to turn your YouTube videos into ads, targeted at niche audiences.

Always evaluate
Keep a close eye on how your videos perform using YouTube’s own analytics dashboard alongside your own sales data. Note which videos resonate with your audience and vary your strategy accordingly.

Got a marketing related question? Contact Nelly and her team at www.artdivision.co.uk

January 28, 2021

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