YouTube

YouTube is an effective real estate video marketing platform. A strategic YouTube presence can help you generate new leads while otherwise boosting your business. But if you’re only going to post a home tour video once in a while, you won’t be optimizing YouTube’s value. To get the most out of the platform, you need a strategy.

• Customize your channel

Your YouTube channel should have a sophisticated appearance that: 1. Mirrors your brand 2. Complements the look and feel of your other social media platforms

• Link your channel

Link your YouTube channel to your other social media accounts (and vice versa). This way, someone who loves your video will have no trouble contacting you for an appointment.

• Don’t forget the details

List details about yourself and your business in your channel’s About section. These should include the geographic areas and real estate categories (residential, commercial, foreclosures, etc.) that you focus on. Be sure to include your contact information and website.

CONTENT COUNTS

Think about what types of videos you want to post. A good place to start is with virtual home tours of all your active listings. Then you can move on to sprinkling in additional valuable content, such as instructional videos on how to win a multiple offer situation or how to navigate contingency clauses.

Some common video categories include:

• How-to • Market updates • Interviews • Property videos • Community overviews • Bio videos

DON’T FORGET SEO

In order for people to engage with your video, they have to see it first. Videos are indexed based on the metadata that you provide, so take the time to fill out the title, description, and tags fields when uploading your video to YouTube. Here are some tips to help you master the metadata.

For your video titles: • Keep your title concise • Include keywords in the title • Take advantage of subtitles

For your video descriptions: • Make every word count. Only the first 125 characters of your description appear in search results • Include clearly marked links back to Elliman.com • Create “boilerplate” content

For your tags: • Focus on tags that are relevant to your video and/or industry • Update your tags based on new and developing trends • Include common misspellings

WHAT IS METADATA?

Data that provides information about other data. Such as the text of a message or the image itself. It is mainly used for discovery and identification for search engines.