YouTube For Real Estate Agents: 6 Steps To a Profitable Channel
YouTube can be a fun and profitable source of lead generation for real estate agents. But only if you approach it in the RIGHT WAY. Many agents upload videos weekly and do their best to make entertaining and valuable content but still struggle on YouTube. Luckily, a few small tweaks to your channel and content strategy may be all you need to start growing your channel.
If you are launching a brand new real estate YouTube channel, or simply revamping an old one, following these 6 steps will generate you views, subscribers and most importantly leads!
1. Who is your target audience?
This may sound cliche but this is actually really important on YouTube. Right now I have 4 different YouTube channels all with completely different target audiences - an outdoor channel, a political channel, a real estate channel and this YouTube coaching channel. These are all separate audiences with separate interests and very little overlap between them.
Mixing audiences is one of the biggest mistakes YouTubers make and it can cause viewers NOT to subscribe to your channel, lower your thumbnail click through rate, and hurt the performance of your real estate YouTube videos.
It is important to point out that I am saying audience, not topic. For example, a common mistake I see real estate agents make is they will make content for consumers about purchasing a home but then on the same channel also publish content teaching real estate agents how to convert real estate leads. Both of these videos may be about the same topic, real estate, but they are completely separate audiences! Mixing audiences is one of the quickest ways to stunt your channel’s growth.
2. What is your channel's value statement?
Your value statement is one sentence or series of words that summarizes the value your channel provides to your target audience. For example on Pat Flynn’s YouTube channel, his value statement is "Make more money, save more time, help more people” or London Real who's statement is simply "Improve yourself".
An example of a value statement you can use on your real estate channel might be “Your Local Guide To Living In _____” or “Helping You Accomplish Your Real Estate Goals”.
Many YouTubers use their value statement in their branding by displaying it on their channel banners or stating it at the start or end of their videos. Whether you decide to use it in your branding or not, having a clear value statement will help you determine what type of content to create and help your viewers understand WHY they should subscribe to your channel.
3. Convert viewers into subscribers with your channel banner!
Many new creators get their channel banners wrong. Take a moment and think about how often you actually look at a channel’s banner image. If you think about it for a moment, for most channels you are subscribed to, you only ever look at it one time. That is when you first discover a new creator and you are deciding if you want to subscribe to their channel or not.
So with that in mind, your channel banner should be geared towards converting viewers into subscribers. So to do this, I recommend creating a banner displaying the value your viewers will get by subscribing to your channel. You can do this either visually with images or spell it out for them and include your value statement directly on your banner.
4. Choosing the right channel title.
You have a few options with your real estate YouTube channel title. The first option is you can create some sort of brand name. This could be a self brand like your name or even your team name or you could create a new brand like “Discover Annapolis” or “The Real Estate Guy”.
The other option is you can come up with a title that is either a search term or clearly displays your channels value proposition. For example you could name your channel “Moving To Maryland”. This is a popular search term & a viewer will have a pretty good idea what the channel will be about from JUST reading the title.
5. Get more views with playlists!
A playlist allows you to organize your content into custom series you recommend your viewers to watch. If you have a lot of content, I highly recommend you create playlists to help your viewers navigate it.
But let’s say your channel is newer and you don’t have many videos, well I’m going to give you a secret, playlists don’t have to be just your videos.
I recommend you start off by creating playlists about things to do in your area, local attractions, activities, ect. If you don’t have any content of your own you can still provide value by curating the best content you can find about your area from sources such as your local tourism board, parks, or local businesses.
One of the most important metrics that YouTube looks at is a users “session time”. So your goal with your playlist is really to extend the viewer's session time, whether it's your content or not.
If a viewer watches one of your videos and then watches an additional 20 minutes of YouTube video, that is a fantastic sign to YouTube that your video is worth promoting to more people.
An ideal playlist will have 6-8 videos, something manageable that a user could actually sit through in one session. When you create your playlist, it is important to include search terms in your title and description of your playlist because playlists themselves can rank in search just like videos can.
Now at the end of every one of your videos, I want you to include a clickable end screen element and I want your ONLY call to action to be to watch that playlist. This will help create longer viewing sessions and this will lead to your videos performing better on YouTube!
6. Just start creating videos!
If you are new to YouTube and video then I recommend you just start creating! Every video that you make, you will get a little bit better, more comfortable on camera and find your voice. The business concept of “Fail Forward” applies to real estate agents using YouTube. Your 5th video is going to be way better then your 1st and your 20th video is going to be way better then either of them.
YouTube can be a fantastic source of lead generation for real estate agents.
BONUS: Join the 100% FREE YouTube Mastermind Facebook Group to get your questions answered, get inspired and start generating leads!
Now that you know HOW to start your real estate YouTube channel, you may be wondering, what types of videos should I make? For that, check out this other article I wrote outlining the 10 videos all real estate agents should be making!