Ideas for Youtube Content Post#1 Topic: Real Estate)

This is a series of posts for some real estate agents I’ve recently worked with who were wondering what kind of video content they should create that would complement their real estate efforts online. Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting a slew of different ideas, so stay tuned!

Neighborhood Video Tours

As part of the process in deciding where they will relocate, home buyers are going to get as much information as they can about prospective neighborhoods and cities. You can provide a valuable service to prospective buyers by taking your camera, and taking some videos of your neighborhoods. You can also highlight the amenities available, so it’s advisable for you to write that information down and do a practice run before you roll film. If you have a real estate website, then you can embed those videos directly into the page to provide extra relevance to that area and subject.

Youtube Content Strategies for Small Business

Opportunity When Adding Youtube Content for your Business

Youtube is now the 2nd largest search engine online, with 15 hours of video uploaded every minute it also is one of the fastest growing mediums online. This represents a vast opportunity when it comes to generating video content for your business. This is becoming even more crucial, as Google’s “Universal Search” is becoming more and more prevalent, and gives even more exposure to businesses than ever before.

Strategy For Creating Video Content

First off you need to get yourself any decent type of video camera, which at this point could be anything from a phone to a professional camera with a tripod setup. I personally recommend a GorillaPod, so you can setup and film on any surface, even uneven surfaces. Next you need to look at your business, what do you offer and how can you interpret that into video. I myself believe this is where many people give up, and walk away because they don’t feel very creative, however I suggest taking a pen and pencil, and writing down every time you find yourself describing something your company does that takes more than 5 minutes to explain. You’ll find all sorts of topics in your industry that need explanation, and chances are that your clients are online looking for that information. If you are the one to present it to them, then you are likely to be remembered when services are required, or be contacted to become the service provider right then and there. Also remember that you don’t have to simply take videos of EXACTLY what it is you do…for example, a Realtor might take videos of vintage homes in different neighborhoods around the city. This would give the viewer an idea of what the community is like, and possibly affect their future home purchases. Here are some more random thoughts on local based video opportunities.

  • Neighborhood tours- short little 1-5 minutes talking about the different neighborhoods, and showing people around to give them a feel for the community
  • Neighborhood info- Video of you on camera talking up the area, providing the highlights and low lights
  • Local Events- Is there a local celebration, parade or problem you could video and describe?
  • Homes/Architecture- Take videos of different style homes, especially of ones you are selling- You can do an overview of what makes this home part of that architectural style ( Bonus for Realtors, you can also let the viewers know that the home is for sale and how to contact you.

Tactics To Get The Most of Your Youtube Video

There are many opportunities to promote your website through the use of your Youtube video. First and foremost, make sure that you use an accurate title, a full description using complete sentences and tag the video with relevant topics. Be sure to add your hyperlink to your full URL first thing in the description of your video, example http://www.yourwebsite.com, because your video might be exported to other platforms, and if you add your full URL, it may be seen on a whole host of various websites. Make sure that you create a “Channel” for yourself, and give your site proper credit through a link where they allow you to add it, as well as again adding the full URL to the description. Also be sure to “Geo-Tag” your video, in the settings when you upload it. This allows you to set a specific geographic location for your video, which might be used as a trigger to appear in specific searches. One advanced tip for you is to make sure that your Business listing in the Google Local Business Center will let you associate up to 6 videos with your online business profile. This cross reference can strengthen the value of your business profile, as well as the value of the videos themselves.

Do you use video with your business? Have some thoughts on creating video content, please share!

Update: Wanted to add this link in to a list of other video sites where you can add your video, and a break down of how they link back. From @seosmarty

Youtube users are not poor teenagers

YouTube Video Audience has deep Pockets

If you thought that video websites were only visited by bored, disillusioned youths in America, then the recent 2008 stats from Youtube should open your eyes!

The virtual audience actually has the highest percentage of users making an annual income of $50,000 – $74,999 annually, with 27 %. Even more surprisingly, nearly half of Youtubes users have an annual income that actually exceeds $75,000 dollars!

Adjusting Marketing to address your Audience

The numbers are there, America is becoming more and more enveloped with video, and websites that ignore this type of content for their site are losing out on a huge piece of the pie. As a site owner here are some quick ways to get into video

  1. Film a product introduction for your site
  2. Produce helpful tips for your industry
  3. Cover an industry event like a convention or meeting

There are a variety of hosting platforms that are free to use, and embed into your website. You could use Youtube, Vimeo, or Viddler. However, if your video is quality and you want to get the biggest splash, then I recommend using http://www.Tubemogul.com where they syndicate out and track your video across a wide number of platforms. You of course can choose which platform you grab your embed code form, but this method will get your site out as far as possible. Natually you are also going to want to follow some good content writing and seo advice!

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