YouTube... You’ve all heard of it, but do you know really know what it is and what kind of power it holds for you? Well, listen up for the 411 on YouTube for real estate agents.What is YouTube and why is it considered a social network?You’d be right in thinking that YouTube is a video sharing website. But it is more than just that – It is also considered video search engine because people are able to search the millions of videos posted to the site. YouTube is also considered to be a social network because users are able to comment on videos, share them with others, and follow other users and “channels”. This is inherently social behaviour, and therefore gives YouTube the status of a social network!What you can use YouTube for and why you should be using YouTube?As a real estate agent, there are a number of ways you can be using YouTube – for your benefit and for the benefit of your vendors.Most professional photographers can produce “video tours” to showcase properties that you are selling (obviously, you can make your own videos if you have the right equipment and the time to do so!). You can then upload these video tours to YouTube and link them to your listings, either directly through the portals you upload to or through real estate CRMs like Rex. This gives buyers a new way to interact with your listings, and gives you a different way to market properties for your vendors. Obviously, uploading a video tour of a property is good for your vendor, but it can also be good for you – you can ensure keywords specific to you and your agency are in the video description and tags, which will have SEO benefit for your brand.When people perform a search on a search engine, and your agency comes up with a number of video tours of properties your are showcasing, and none of your competitors are offering that service (or marketing that service properly through social media), it gives you an edge over your competitors. Good for you and good for your vendor!Another way real estate agencies are using YouTube is posting video blogs. These video blogs usually include updates on the area the agent or agency services, the market, interest rates etc. The videos don’t need to be long either – under two minutes is perfect. Having these video blogs means you are generating content that you can then upload to YouTube, post on your blog and website and share through your social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. If you select the right keywords for the video description and tags, you can get an SEO benefit from the video too!Imagine being the only agent in your suburb providing this service and when people search “real estate agent ” your videos are showing up in search results. The videos will sell you and your agency to the potential vendor as you are positioning yourself as a real estate expert in the area!So how do I set up a YouTube account?Setting up a YouTube account is easy. Simply go to YouTube and click on either of the links to “Create Account”
Once you have done that, just fill in the fields required and follow the on screen prompts! Easy!So how do I use YouTube?As it turns out, the cool people at YouTube have created some videos about how to use YouTube and then uploaded them on to YouTube for your viewing pleasure.You can go through all those videos here, but the important ones for now are below.Uploading videos to YouTubeThis video will obviously show you how to upload videos to YouTube:Customising your YouTube ChannelJust like Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, you too can have your own channel on YouTube – and you’ll want to customise it to suit your brand:
