media platforms previously mentioned, or if you want to include YouTube, it’s completely up to you. Either way, you should be using video across all of your chosen platforms. Let’s dive into how you can get started and prove to you that video isn’t all that scary, expensive or time consuming. MAKE YOUR CONTENT APPROACHABLE As a real estate professional, you must always be professional in speech and in writing. This also goes for sitting in front of a camera. This, however, does not mean you have to be stiff as a board and boring. It’s important to be approachable in your videos. Smile, show emotion, use hand gestures, and try to not be monotone. Think of the audience on the other side of your camera as people you want as friends. How do you become friends with someone? By being kind and finding common interests in an amiable and sociable way. SWITCH UP YOUR CONTENT Just like with any other medium of posting on social media, you don’t want to post the same thing over and over again. You have to expand beyond videos about
Using Video to Your Advantage as a REALTOR® G
etting into the social media game? Great. Got your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts up and running? Even better. How about your video camera or phone? Are they all charged and ready to shoot when someone yells, “Action”? Wait, what? You didn’t plan on making videos for your social media accounts? Let’s take a minute and re-think that decision. Video is one of the greatest ways to market yourself in today’s social media/digital age. Think about it: When you scroll through your social media feeds, a good amount of posts are in what format? Video. Video attracts people’s attention because it’s easy to absorb, even more so with today’s marketers combining text and video. This combination allows you to watch the imagery on silent when on a crowded bus and still know what the heck is going on. Whether you just want to post video to the four main social
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{38} GLVR Magazine | Winter 2019
By Mallory Siegfried E-Communications Specialist & Jennifer Khawam Editorial & Marketing Associate
your current listings and your open house tours. Do a day-in-the-life video where you show what it’s like to be a REALTOR® in the Lehigh Valley, sit down with your broker for an interview and talk to them about their career path, do a Q&A where your audience asks you questions about real estate, home buying and selling, etc. For more video content ideas, check out YouTube Could Be Your Biggest Leader Generator in REALTOR® Magazine. ACCOMMODATE YOUR VIDEO TO ALL OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS This tip specifically applies to those who decide to use YouTube as their main video-uploading platform. If you want to promote your video across all of your other platforms, that’s great. In fact, it’s ideal since it will give your YouTube channel more exposure. However, some platforms, like Instagram, only allow you to post a video of a certain length.