The YouTube StartUp Guide For Real Estate Agents

If you’ve been looking for ways to create and optimize YouTube videos to expand your real estate business, you’ve come to the right place. According to Google, “YouTube reached more adults ages 18 to 49 in the US than all linear TV networks combined in March 2020.” The study also found that viewership of YouTube jumped by 80% in the same month. Another study found that 70% of YouTube viewers ended up buying from a brand they saw on YouTube. 

Without a doubt, those statistics mean YouTube is essential to marketing for any business. So as you’re getting started with real estate, you should take the opportunity to start right off with a strong presence on YouTube. In this article, I’ll show you how to optimize every YouTube video you upload to ensure success right from the start. 

Two Elephants In The Room

1. Content

Even if you have stellar video editing skills, you are still going to have to produce good content or your hard work will fail. NOTHING can overcome bad content. When people come to YouTube, they are usually looking for a solution to a problem. You have to offer them what they want or you will get nowhere. 

As you get started, don’t focus too much on video skills–those will come with practice. Instead, start by producing high-quality, substantive content that engages your audience and you’ll be well on your way!

2. Consistency

One of the big problems that many YouTubers run into is burnout. They start producing huge amounts of content, then end up falling behind or completely exhausting themselves and falling apart. In order to avoid this kind of burnout, you need to pace yourself.

You should set a schedule for creating content and stick to it. Whether that’s a video a day, a video a week, or even a video a month, make sure that you can keep up with it without becoming overwhelmed. One of the best ways to keep your audience engaged is to give them a consistent schedule to rely on. 

How To Get Started on YouTube

Upload Your Video to YouTube

You can create your video with whatever program you want–YouTube accepts nearly all kinds of video formats. Then just sign in to your YouTube Studio, click the Create > Upload Video button, and select your file. 

Optimize Your YouTube Video

Once you’ve uploaded the video, you’ll need to optimize it so that it catches the most eyes. There are a few steps to making this happen. 

• Create your title
  • First, be clear about EXACTLY what viewers will get from your video
  • Second, include buzz phrases such as “Do this__,” “Avoid this__,” “Updated,” “Top Tips,” “What You’re Not Being Told,” “2021…,” etc. 
• Write your description. 
  • Optimize Your Video:
    • Restate your title near the beginning of the description
    • In a few short sentences, explain what is in the video and why it is beneficial to your viewers
    • Finally, thank your audience for watching
  • Optimize Your Plug
    • Start with a Call To Action (CTA) after your summary
    • Share your contact information 
  • Link to Internal and External Sources
    • In the comment section, provide links to blogs, articles, or other resources relevant to your topic
    • Put in some links to high-ranking YouTube videos related to your topic
    • Add links to other videos on your YouTube channel
• Add tags
  • Create as many relevant tags as possible (maximum 500 characters). These will attract customers looking for a specific topic. 
  • To do tag research and understand what your audience is looking for, you can add VidIQ or TubeBuddy to your browser. 
• Schedule the video
  • You can make the video public immediately or schedule it to publish at a further date so you don’t forget. 
  • You can also leave the video “unpublished” or “private” if you only want certain people to see it. 
• Make an end screen
  • On an end screen, you can add other videos or CTA buttons to invite viewers to keep watching your content.
  • For best results, you should add two other videos to your end screen along with a subscribe option. 
• Add cards
  • The cards are options hyperlinks to videos or websites you want to share throughout your video. The cards appear on the top right hand side of the screen for a few seconds to allow the viewer to click on them.
• Place video in your playlist
  • You should have playlists of related videos to keep them together and promote viewers’ binge-watching through a whole list. 
• Upload a custom thumbnail
  • One of the easiest ways to create a personal thumbnail to showcase your video is to use Canva.com. 
• Pin a comment
  • Once you’ve published your video, you can comment in the comment section of your very own video. Your comment should emphasize the CTA and thank your audience for watching. 
  • Be sure to pin your comment to the top of the comment section so your viewers see it first above all other comments. 

Distribute Your Video Off YouTube

To begin with, share your video with as many people as possible. Be proactive about getting people to view; don’t just sit around waiting for them. 

• Share your video on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Quora, Reddit, etc.
• Embed the video on your website.

BONUS TIP: Optimize Your Content As You Record

If you want your video to really stand out as high quality, there are, in short, only a few things you need to do to optimize it as you make it. 

• Pick two or three keywords to mention regularly during the recording.
• Encourage comments from your viewers. Say something like “share in comments if this has happened to you.”
• Ask your viewers to like, comment, share, and subscribe! Above all, it can’t hurt to ask. 
• Ask your viewers to hit the notification bell for regular updates when you release content.
• Encourage your viewers to stay to the end. One of the best ways to do this is to promise a bonus tip or something super valuable towards the end of the video. 
• Include regular animations throughout the video asking viewers to subscribe (but without being too pushy).

So, there you have it! All in all, these are the best ways to optimize your YouTube videos to get the most out of their video marketing potential. In conclusion, if you want to learn more about how YouTube works and what you can do as a real estate agent to really succeed at marketing, go ahead to MY YouTube channel and subscribe!