Using YouTube to Boost Sales

Picture this.

You’re walking through a new listing. Your smart phone video camera is rolling, and you’re narrating a virtual tour. You upload direct from your phone to your YouTube channel, with simultaneous posts to your Facebook page and any other social media platforms you use. A quick tweet or email blast to your potential buyers list and you’ve created instant interest in your property.

YouTube is an important tool for Realtors because it’s a visual medium. More than any other social media platform, it provides you with an opportunity to connect with potential buyers and sellers in a way that provides them with instant insight into what you have to offer. Here’s the 411 on using YouTube for maximum effectiveness.

• Fast facts about YouTube
• How to set up your channel
• Maximizing your impact

Fast facts about YouTube
It’s the biggest video-sharing web site in the world. More than 2 billion people a day are viewing something on YouTube. The average viewer spends 15 minutes per day on the site. Twenty-four hours of video are uploaded every minute of every day. It’s the most used search engine behind only Google (and in case you didn’t know already–Google owns YouTube).

Videos can be searched by title or keyword and shared across multiple platforms. YouTube supports a variety of formats including high-definition. You can upload from your smartphone or tablet, as well as from your laptop or desktop computer.

How to set up your channel
Here’s your seven-step guide to going live on YouTube.

1. If you already have a Google or Gmail account, that will make the YouTube setup easier. Or you can go direct to the YouTube home page, click on “Create an Account,” and it will set up a Google account for you.
2. Choose a user name, which should be the same as your user name on other social media platforms.
3. Once you’ve created an account, sign in and you’re ready to customize your channel by filling out your profile. Later you can create and upload an “About Me” video, but for now, just fill out the basic data and save your changes.
4. Click on the Settings tab to enter the URL for your channel. Make your URL descriptive of what you do so people will find you when they search for that topic. For example, janechicagorealestate would be a descriptive URL.
5. The Channel Tags section gives you an opportunity to enter specific keywords that will direct people to you. Again, be descriptive with tags such as “lakefront condo sales” or “distressed property specialist.”
6. Be sure to check yes when you see the “make channel visible” option, and save your changes.
7. Use different themes and colors to customize your channel. This should match your overall branding theme as closely as possible.

Maximizing your impact
All your social media platforms should be linked for maximum impact, so start with Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. You’ll also want to add a link to your homepage, your company’s web page and also to your blog, if you have one. Be sure the YouTube link appears on your home page and blog as well.

Every time you post a new video, you’ll want to blog about it as well as posting it on Facebook and Twitter.

Unless you have a cat that plays the piano, you’ll have to figure out other ways to be interesting. Create videos that are both interesting and helpful to your clients and prospects. Idea: if you can blog about it, you can make a video about it. What about a home-staging how-to, or an interview with a mortgage broker?

You can use the Bulletin function to send an alert or an update from your Channel page to your subscribers. You can tell them about a video you’re working on, or include a link to a favorite video with a comment about it. When you post a bulletin, it will appear on your subscribers’ recent activity feed (on their homepage) and on your Channel page in your recent activity feed.

YouTube is one of the most trafficked websites in the world, so it presents huge possibilities for the creative Realtor. You can reach out to your market through this platform and take advantage of YouTube’s traffic to dramatically increase your business and enhance your brand.

Already using YouTube? Post your link below and tell us how you are making it work.