Instagram Influence Map: Geo-Optimize Your Content to Attract Local Customers

Problem: most of your Instagram followers live in random, faraway places, which undermines the effectiveness of your social media marketing in attracting and procuring LOCAL customers📍

To find out exactly where the people you're influencing are geographically located, follow these steps:

• Open your Instagram app and navigate to your Professional Dashboard, the gray-shaded box underneath the bio section of your profile. Please note that the Professional Dashboard is available only for Professional profiles, not Personal profiles.

• Next, tap on "See All" to access your account's insights, where you'll find vital information about your audience.

• Look for the sections labeled "Accounts reached" and "Total followers.” Specifically, take a close look at the "Top cities" data, which will reveal the top locations of your followers as well as the accounts you reached.

Those top cities aren’t just random locations; they represent where the people you're influencing reside.

If you're running a local business, that’s crucial intel because social media is becoming less social and less local. That said, you can turn the tide by implementing the following techniques:

1. Specify your physical whereabouts via the Location tag when you post: e.g. your city or locations in/around it. This’ll help to train the algorithm to recognize that your content is relevant to a specific geographic area.

2. Research and use local hashtags in your posts. By incorporating popular hashtags related to your city or region, you can increase your visibility among local Instagram users.

3. Post hyperlocal content that appeals specifically to locals. Share information, events, or stories that only people from your area would find interesting and relatable; effectively force the algorithm to distribute your content to the right audience!

4. Consider boosting your content to target your town or city. By utilizing Instagram's advertising tools, you can reach a wider local audience and increase your brand's visibility.

If you're leveraging social media for your business, it's essential to ensure that your efforts are finely tuned to attract the right audience in the right locations.

Why Are You Creating Video? Cut through the noise, reset your purposes, and build your brand.

Every video you post either enhances or erodes your brand. No exceptions.

No doubt, you've been bombarded with the importance of leveraging video, and rightfully so. But ask yourself: Are you creating videos aimlessly, or are they a strategic means to achieve specific goals?

For example:

1. Video cultivates an unparalleled sense of know, like, and trust, unmatched by any other communication channel.

2. Video fosters an instant connection, forging affinity and building trust effortlessly with strangers who find you online or look you up on social.

3. Video enjoys preferential treatment in algorithms and social media platforms due to its widespread popularity, granting it broader reach and increasing the likelihood of your content being seen by a larger audience.

In the face of overwhelming demands from platforms to produce more content and create a seemingly endless stream of videos, it's crucial to remember the purpose behind your efforts.

Avoid getting caught in the trap of mindlessly producing content without considering how each video contributes to your goals and objectives.

How to Flatten the “Watch-Time Curve” and Level Up Your Video Performance on Social Media

The success of your next video on social media (or lack thereof) is hinged on a crucial factor: the video's "watch-time curve."

This curve, which is represented by a line chart 📉, reveals the duration viewers spend watching a video and highlights the points where viewership declines. The flatter the curve, the better, as it indicates that the video successfully retains viewers' attention.

Platforms like YouTube and Instagram offer metrics such as average duration watched and average percentage watched, thereby helping creators understand what does (or doesn’t) resonate with viewers. If the viewership rate surpasses 100% in these metrics, it signifies that viewers are re-watching the video – a positive sign.

The more of your video viewers watch, the higher the chances that platforms will distribute and recommend your content to a broader audience. The underlying reason is pretty simple: as viewers spend more time watching your video, it becomes more valuable to the platforms due to its contribution in retaining users for longer durations.

To elevate your video game, focus on:

• Opening hook: Grab attention, set the tone, and establish clear expectations to entice viewers to watch through till the end.

• Optimize runtime: Analyze average watch time and create videos that match in length to encourage "watch completions."

• Enhance audio/Visual: Enhance the viewer experience with relevant graphics, sounds, and subtitles; ensure an audio quality and video resolution of reasonable quality.

• Prevent “scroll holes”: Minimize pauses, gaps, tangents, and irrelevant points that may cause viewers to lose interest and click away.

The saying, "Success isn’t a straight line; it's a journey filled with twists and curves" may hold true for life's endeavors, but when it comes to videos, the opposite applies: hold the line!

Build an SEO Fortress Around Your Local Business: rank higher when customers search for what your business does in the areas it does it

In real estate, the mantra is all about location: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! But when it comes to SEO, keywords reign supreme. So… make sure to optimize your website with the right SEO juice.

With that in mind, publish web pages chalked full of keywords that highlight your ability to assist individuals in, at minimum, buying and selling real estate, for instance. Beyond that though, create web pages that talk about relocation, moving, downsizing, new construction sales, custom builds, commercial real estate, residential development, and so on. Why not publish a page for every service you offer!?—especially now, with tools like Chat GPT to do the heavy lifting writing-wise.

What’s more, create community pages on your website that showcase the areas where you operate. Depending on where you do business, maybe consider zip-code specific pages, or neighborhoods, towns, counties, or perhaps designated market area terms, like “tri state” or other comparable titles. The point is, if it’s an area where you work, make it count by creating an optimized page on your website.

Here’s why all this carries weight. The better optimized your website is, the higher Google’s gonna rank your Google Business Profile when customers search for a business that does what yours does in the areas it does it.

Cutting Through the Noise: Conquering Content Overwhelm in a Crowded Digital Space

We’re in a state of "content overwhelm.” Now… I’m all for content! As I often say, marketing without content is like a bow without arrows—meaning that modern marketing IS content marketing. Unfortunately, many businesses and creators find themselves in a situation where instead of content working for them, they feel like they are being overwhelmed and controlled by it.

Content overwhelm can be attributed to three main factors:

• Profusion of platforms: The constant influx of new apps and social media networks adds to the noise and the sense of starting from starch with each new edition.

• Division of media: With so many different video formats and content types available, it becomes harder to keep up with trends.

• Surplus of content: The amount of content being published exceeds the rate at which new users join platforms, leading to crowded feeds and reduced visibility.

Ultimately, the choice is yours: should you produce more content or take a strategic approach? My advice is to work smarter, not harder.

Keyword Magic: Optimize Your Website SEO to Boost Your Google Business Profile Ranking Position

Google is always "Googling" you, gathering information from various online and offline sources. Your website, which is linked to your Google Business Profile, holds valuable data for them.

When you enter words and phrases, known as keywords, into Google's search bar, it's their mission and purpose to understand your query and present you with relevant results. That's why optimizing your website with the right keywords is a crucial step in boosting your Google Business Profile's ranking position.

And at the end of the day, “keywords” are merely words that can be categorized into distinct parts of speech, as follows:

• Nouns: The name of your business, its locations (e.g. counties, cities, neighborhoods, et al.), and what it offers or does. For instance, a ”real estate agent" or a “title company.”

• Verbs: Action terms like "buy," "sell," "list," "invest," "refer," "move," "relocate," and more—words that convey the dynamic actions associated with your business.

• Modifiers: Descriptive words like "best," "top," "#1," "luxury," and so on. For example, a consumer might Google: “Best REALTOR near me.”

By strategically incorporating these diverse parts of speech throughout your website, you can significantly enhance the ranking position of your Google Business Profile in crucial, high-intent customer searches.

Ranking Higher in Google’s Local Search Results: How Local Justifications Can Help Your Google Business

Local justifications are clues that explain why Google displays one Google Business Profile over another in local search results. These clues appear as short text snippets located below the top-ranking Google Business Profiles in the map pack. Sidebar:  a map pack is a collection of the top three ranking Google Business Profiles that are displayed together on the first page of local search results, often accompanied by a square- or rectangular-shaped bit of map.

Local justifications include verbatim (or related) keyword matches from the search query, and are often taken from reviews, the business profile's website (i.e., your domain), or the "Services" section of the business profile. Reviews are the most common source for local justifications. Bearing that in mind, businesses should focus on getting customers to use target words and phrases when they post reviews.

The Real Reason You're Not Using Video (and How to Fix It)

Still on the fence about using video – even though it's widely recognized as one of the most effective marketing mediums on the planet? If yes, then this is for you.

I remember when I was early in my speaking career, backstage at a major event with nerves spiking. The room was packed, and I turned to a more experienced speaker next to me and asked if he was feeling the same way. He calmly replied, “nope.” I was like, “How on earth isn’t this guy nervous!?” He went on and explained being nervous signals that you're focusing inwardly on yourself, worrying about how you'll look and be judged. But if you shift your focus outwardly to your message and your audience, the nerves will melt away.

The same principle applies to video. It's not about you – it's about your message and its impact on your audience. Whether you are or aren’t leveraging video, it begs the question, why?—is it for an ego-boost, to check a box, or to have an impact?

5 Subtle Indicators of Marketing Success You May Be Overlooking

As a business owner, it's easy to get caught up in the quantitative metrics of marketing such as follower counts, views, and likes. However, these data points don't always accurately reflect the tangible effectiveness of your marketing and brand-building efforts.

Loads of local-based, people-to-people types of businesses—like real estate, for instance—don't always work out like a math equation. It's often a know, like and trust combination of factors.

In order to truly measure the success of your marketing, you need to consider qualitative markers as well. Here are some key qualitative markers to consider when evaluating your marketing efforts:

1. You're frequently asked about the market or business by personal contacts.

2. People recognize you and comment on seeing you everywhere.

3. Customers reference your content, including videos, blogs, and emails.

4. Your peers show increased curiosity about your business and marketing approach.

5. Long-lost contacts suddenly begin engaging with your social media posts.

It's important to remember that while quantitative metrics are important, they don't tell the whole story. To truly evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, you’ve got to consider both quantitative and qualitative metrics. So keep an eye out for the subtle indicators that signal what you’re doing is working!

Generating High-Quality (Real Estate) Leads on Facebook: The Art of Lead Forms and Niche-PDF Offers

It’s time to circle back to Facebook ads (i.e, Meta ads). Here lately, “niche” Facebook ads have been paying-out in terms of generating high-quality leads, attracting both buyers and sellers.

Before I delve into the details, though, it's important to note that the introduction of Apple's "App Tracking Transparency Framework" has somewhat changed the game. Now, users are required to opt-in to allow apps to track their data across apps and websites.

Following the implementation of said new framework, in-app campaign objectives and conversion events have emerged as top performers. This is because they don't rely on tracking data outside of the platform. In other words, these objectives and events are not impacted by the changes in data tracking policies, making them a more reliable choice for businesses looking to generate leads and conversions across Meta platforms.

So, for instance, “lead forms” are a go-to method for capturing users’ contact info without sending them off platform… and offering PDFs, such as guides or lists, is an effective incentive to entice prospective leads to submit their information.

Navigating PDF Creation: In-House or Outsourced?

If you're looking to generate leads and capture contact information, offering PDFs such as guides, checklists, and whitepapers can be an effective strategy. Here are some options available for creating high-quality PDFs to help you entice potential leads.

• Create it yourself: If you have the necessary skills and software, you can create a PDF on your own. There are loads of free and paid tools available online that can help you create professional-looking PDFs, such as Canva, Google Docs, and Adobe Acrobat.

• Hire a freelancer: There are lots of freelancer market sites whereby you can hire a pro to produce a PDF, such as Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer. Look for freelancers who have experience in designing and creating PDFs, and make sure to check their portfolio and reviews before hiring them.

• Use a design agency: If you have a larger budget, you can hire a design agency to create your PDF. They will work with you to understand your business goals and create a customized PDF that meets your needs. Look for agencies that specialize in designing marketing materials, like brochures, flyers, and PDFs.

PDFs That Will Help You Capture More Leads

PDFs are a solid marketing offer to generate leads. Here are 11 different PDF concepts to consider building-out.

1. Coordinating your move: Tips for buying and selling simultaneously

2. Renting out your home and buying a new one: How to buy without selling

3. Understanding new construction: From subdivisions to custom builds

4. Affordability in real estate: How to buy on a budget

5. Selling your home: A comprehensive guide to do it yourself

6. Home improvement ideas that increase your property value

7. Preparing your home for sale: A complete guide

8. Downsizing: Tips and considerations for a stress-free move

9. Homebuyer's checklist: What to look for when buying a home

10. Home-selling made easy: Preparing your home for a successful sale

11. First-time owner: How to transition from renting to buying your first home

Steps to Run “Lead-Form” Meta Ads

If you’re ready to create a Meta lead-form ad that uses a PDF download to generate leads, simply follow these steps and start attracting potential customers straightaway.

1. Log in to your Meta Ads Manager account and click on the "Create" button to start a new campaign.

2. Choose the ad objective that aligns with your campaign goals. In this case, you’ll wanna choose "Lead Generation" since you'll be giving away a PDF in exchange for contact information.

3. Specify your target audience, set your budget and schedule, and your Placements (i.e., the places your ad will/won’t show)

4. Scroll down to the "Ad Setup" section and choose "Lead Form" as your ad format.

5. Click on "Create New Form" to start building your lead form. Choose a form type and customize the form fields based on the information you want to collect from your leads.

6. Add a custom disclaimer and privacy policy if necessary, and include an enticing headline and description that highlights the benefits of the PDF you're giving away.

7. In the "Thank You Screen" section, choose "Download" as your CTA and upload the PDF you want to give away. You can also customize the thank-you message and include a link to your website or other resources.

8. Review your ad preview and make any necessary changes before submitting your ad for review.

9. Once your ad is approved, it will start running on Meta and you'll start receiving leads from users who fill out your lead form and download your PDF.

The Science Behind Instagram's Algorithm: How to Beat the Feed and Get Noticed

As Instagram continues to explode in popularity, the sheer volume of content being shared on the platform is making it more and more difficult for creators and businesses to reach their desired audience. That said, there are ways to cut through the noise… 

On average, an Instagram user spends around 6-7 minutes per session on the app. Since Instagram's algorithm is continuously updating, the posts that appear in a user's feed can change frequently — very frequently! In fact, even a minor delay in opening the app can significantly impact the content displayed in your feed.  For instance, if you planned to open your app at 10:00 AM but got distracted and opened it a minute later, the content in your feed would likely differ from what it would've been had you opened it at the intended time.

What’s more, according to a recent study by Sport Social, around 64% of marketers pre-schedule their social media posts, with most opting to post at the hour, quarter-hour, or half-hour marks. This means that there’s often a higher volume of content competing for feed position during these times.

So… To stand out from the crowd, consider posting at less conventional times, like 10:07, for example. Additionally, many post-scheduling apps limit posting times to 5-minute intervals, making the "in-between" times somewhat of an open road for your content to get noticed.

Posting during peak times on Instagram is like trying to drive through a city during rush hour traffic - you're stuck in a gridlock with everyone else.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, while it's important to post during non-peak times to avoid competing with other posts, it's equally crucial to post when the bulk of your followers are active. Instagram's algorithm tests new posts by showing them to a small sample audience, and the initial performance of your posts determines whether they'll be distributed to a larger audience. Since your followers are the most likely to interact with your content, posting during their active hours will give your posts the best chance to perform well and reach a wider audience.

If you're not sure when your followers are most active, check out this blog post on how to find those insights:  https://www.jasonpantana.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-instagram-posting-when-and-how-to-reach-your-followers

My advice:  experiment with different times to see what works best for your content and audience. Happy posting!

The Power of Video in Real Estate Marketing: 3 Types of Videos to Build Your Brand

Video is the undisputed champion of content for social media marketing. The reason is simple: business is all about relationships. Video can help you build trust, convey your personality, and showcase “who you are” to your audience.

I like to call it "Murphy's Law for Social Media Marketing" – if something can be in video format, it will be. Social media users crave more video content, but not everyone takes advantage of this opportunity to create what's been demanded. Social platforms, for instance, frequently ask users what they'd like to see more of, and time-and-again, they say:  “VIDEO!”

So there’s a strategic advantage to be gained… By prioritizing video content, you can simultaneously set yourself apart from the competition as well as foster stronger relationships with your audience.

Here are three types of videos that can help you build your brand and connect with your audience:

1. TALKING🗣HEADS:  Share your expertise and insights with videos that report market news, give timely tips, or offer professional advice. These videos will help establish you as a thought leader and build trust with potential clients.

2. LOCAL📍SPOTLIGHTS:  Show-off your town with business-owner interviews, visits to notable landmarks, and/or footage of local events. By highlighting what makes your community special, you can connect with locals and position yourself as a trusted advisor to those considering the area.

3. PROPERTY🏡TOURS:  When it comes to property tours, it's not just about showcasing the homes themselves. It's also important for consumers to see you in action, doing what you do best - showing/selling real estate!

There’s simply no better marketing medium than video!—it’s an incredibly powerful marketing tool that allows you to connect with your audience on a deeper level. Use it to showcase your expertise, personality, and to establish yourself as the agent-of-choice!

The Comeback of Home Valuation Ads: a Step-by-Step Guide to Generating High-Quality Seller Leads

If you're a real estate professional who’s been in the industry for a few years, you probably remember the trend of using your own home valuation landing page to generate seller leads. Basically, your own version of a “Zestimate.” While the method was effective in the beginning, it became a tad worn out over time.

But everything comes full circle — what goes around comes around, so to speak. Once again. Home valuation ad campaigns are crushing as a means to generate listing leads.

With the current (and fluctuating) state of the housing market, many homeowners are questioning the value of their homes, so they're turning to Google and searching for answers. Herein lies a unique opportunity to capture seller leads by creating home valuation landing pages and running ads to drive traffic to those pages.

FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO GENERATE HOME VALUATION SELLER LEADS:

1. Set-up or Selerct a Home Valuation Lead Generation Service: You can either set up your own landing page using whatever your website provider offers (e.g. Ylopo, BoomTown, Chime, Real Geeks, Real Estate Web Masters, et al.) or choose a specialized service to host and publish a customized home valuation landing page, such as Home Value Leads, Prime Seller Leads, or other similar services.

2. Customize Your Landing Page: Once you’ve chosen a service provider, customize your landing page to ensure it reflects your branding and messaging. For instance, make sure the landing page is mobile-responsive and visually appealing, with a clear and concise headline that aligns with the offer—i.e. prospective sellers looking for a home valuation.
   
   What’s more, make sure the page is “beefy” in that you’ve added-in relevant and informative content:  e.g. text, videos, images, keywords, and more. Finally, make sure to include a compelling call-to-action (CTA) that encourages visitors to fully submit their information.

3. Drive Traffic to Your Landing Page: Use a mix of online and offline marketing channels to reach potential leads. For example, you can run targeted ads on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, create Google Ads campaigns with relevant keywords and ad copy, or even use QR-coded direct mail campaigns to targeted neighborhoods. Once again, ensure that your ad campaigns have a clear and compelling message that resonates with your target audience and drives them to your landing page.

4. Follow-Up with the Seller Leads: Once a lead has submitted their information on your landing page, it's essential to follow up with them in a timely manner. Ideally, you should call, text, video-message, and/or email as quickly as possible to capitalize on the recency of their form completion, and thus, work to build a relationship by answering whatever questions they may have. Use a CRM system (e.g. Follow Up Boss, et al.) to organize and track your leads, and set reminders to follow up with them at regular intervals.

5. Book Listing Appointments: The ultimate goal of generating home valuation leads is to book pre-listing or listing appointments. Be both persistent and patient with your leads, and try to build a relationship based on trust and value. Perhaps consider offering some additional resources, such as free home seller guides, market reports, or personalized consultations to further nurture your leads and increase your chances of conversion.

And by the way… The best part about these campaigns right now is that the leads generated through these ads have an unusually high rate of conversion. What I’m saying is that agents and teams have been very effective at getting appointments and actually taking listings because of them. So not only are you generating leads at a low cost per lead, but you're also getting high-quality leads that are more likely to convert.

Home valuation ads may be an "oldie," but they are certainly a "goodie" in today's market. If you want to grow your business and stay ahead of the curve, it's important to adapt to changing market conditions and utilize new (and/or “renewed”) methods of lead generation.

Why Your Meta Ads Campaigns Aren't Showing Up on Instagram (And How to Fix It)

Meta ads, previously known as Facebook ads, have been and still are a marketing no-brainer. However, Zuckerberg's recent disclosure that AI-suggested content will make up 30% of Facebook and Instagram feeds by year-end has, IMO, escalated their importance. Because… Essentially, access to your followers' feeds will be reduced by a third, making it more necessary to pay to promote your content.

On platforms like YouTube, by comparison, users customarily search for content. But on Facebook and Instagram, content discovery happens predominately in users' feeds. It’s “scroll” vs. “search,” so to speak. So… Consequently, if 30% of what users see is AI-suggested, your ability to reach followers—who are likely past clients and SOI contacts, for instance—will be greatly diminished. This, in turn, could make your content far less effective at keeping you top-of-mind with these important individuals.

So, what can you do? The simple answer is “pay-to-play.” For example, you could start boosting your content on Facebook and Instagram, but there’s no guarantee your followers—arguably your most critical audience to reach—will see those ads.

Alternatively, you could run Meta ad campaigns whereby you retarget your followers directly. However, the trouble is that even if you retarget your Instagram followers, for instance, the ads you pay for are still unlikely to be distributed on Instagram—which is, I’m guessing, the platform you’re most excited about in terms of building your brand.

And here’s why… It's because Meta ads are programmed to get advertisers the lowest cost per result—which is usually NOT on Instagram. And that’ll be the case no matter what campaign objective you may specify:  e.g. engagement, traffic/clicks, reach, or something else.

Generally speaking, it’ll be significantly “cheaper” for Meta to place your ads on platforms like Facebook and Audience Network, which is a collection of random websites/apps where Meta is allowed to distribute ads, similar to the Google Display Network.

Fortunately, there’s a workaround for this issue. By changing the placement settings in your ad campaign, you can force your ad to run on Instagram. Here are the essential steps on how to do it:

1. Log in to your Meta Ads Manager and select the option to create a new ad campaign.

2. Choose your campaign objective, such as engagement, traffic, or messages.

3. Set up your Ad Set level by defining your conversion location, audience targeting, budget, and schedule.

4. When you get to the Placements section, select the "Edit Placements" option.

5. Choose "Manual Placements" and then select ONLY "Instagram" to include it as a placement for your ad campaign.

6. Review your ad campaign settings and then click "Publish" to launch your campaign.

It's important to note that running your ads on Instagram may cost you more than other placements, but if it's the platform you’re looking to build, it’s worth it. Follow the steps above to ensure that your ads are reaching your Instagram followers (and beyond) and getting the required exposure to build your brand.

Rank Higher on Google: Tips for Selecting and Optimizing Categories on Your Business Profile

When it comes to optimizing your Google Business Profile, choosing the right Category is crucial. In fact, it’s effectively “pass-or-fail” from Google’s POV – regardless of how many other profile optimizations you may integrate. If you choose the wrong Category, the chances are remarkably high that Google will overlook (or demote) your profile in relevant customer searches.

To select the right Category for your business, first conduct a variety of Google searches that prospective clients may use, such as "Best Realtor in Richmond.” When you examine the search results, pay close attention to the businesses listed in the Map Pack, which appears at the top of Google's search results page and displays a map and a list of businesses relevant to the search query. To determine the primary Category of each business in the Map Pack, simply look for the Category listed directly below the business name. Some examples of categories you may see include "Real Estate Agency," "Real Estate Agent," and "Real Estate Consultant."

For example, if all the top-ranking profiles in the Map Pack list "Real Estate Agency" as their Category, choosing any other Category as your “Primary Category” is unlikely to result in Google ranking your profile in the Map Pack. So, as you search for the phrases you wanna rank on, just include the two or three categories that appear most frequently in your profile.

After that—once you have specified your Category (or Categories)—you’ll need to optimize for them. Here’s how:

• Integrate keywords on your website's home page, bio page, services pages (e.g. buying, selling, etc.), and neighborhood/community pages to reinforce your chosen categories.

• Add "Services" to your Google Business Profile and ensure that the description text effectively describes your categories without going overboard.

• Avoid overloading your Google Business Profile with too many Services, as Google may consider it "keyword-stuffing."

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Are you looking to attract more business through your Google Business Profile? If so, I have an exciting solution for you! Check out my course, "GOOGLE BUSINESS BOSS" 😎, and learn how to fully-optimize your profile for more "come-list-me" calls.

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Your potential local customers are actively searching for businesses like yours. Your mission is to ensure that they can find you!

How to Use Video Marketing to Influence Prospective Real Estate Clients

You know I’m a major proponent of video marketing. However, it's crucial not to let it distract you from your core business objectives:  i.e., listing and selling homes. That’s the work!

Nevertheless, as social media and other digital platforms continue to evolve rapidly, you may feel overwhelmed and pressured to keep up—and, as a result of that—possibly lose sight of the big picture and get stuck in the details.

At the end of the day, video is a tool in your marketing toolbox, not the whole shed — and, when used properly, it’s a real game-changer. Video is a powerful way to begin influencing prospective clients (before they’re even clients!), so that when you make a call or conduct an appointment, the hard work of "earning the business" is already done.

Real estate is a know, like, and trust type of business. And, IMO, video marketing is the ultimate medium to help elicit those types of feelings. It's like a Trojan horse that sneaks into the social feeds of your prospective customers and begins to build your brand and influence them so that when you’re face-to-face or over-the-phone, they’re already a “YES.” Simply put:  your video marketing is about getting you more yeses!

Real Estate Marketing on YouTube: How Skippable In-Stream Ads Can Help You Stand Out and Generate Leads

In the real estate space, you know that building relationships is flat-out essential to your business. What’s more, you wanna be top-of-mind for potential clients and have them view you as the definitive trusted local expert. That's where YouTube’s Skippable In-Stream ads—i.e., the commercials that play before, during, or after YouTube videos—come in as an insanely powerful tool to scale-up your brand. Lemme explain…

Create Top-of-Mind Awareness:

Skippable In-Stream ads allow you to showcase your brand (i.e., Y-O-U!) to your target audience. In terms of targeting an audience, Google Ads has powerful audience segmentation functionality whereby you can target, for instance, homeowners in your town, in-market buyers, folks planning a move, etc. It’s mind-boggling!

By using these ads, you can get “stage time” in front of potential buyers and sellers on repeat! When they're ready to make a move, they'll be more likely to think of you because they've seen your ads repeatedly and feel like they know you. That’s the power of video!

Drive Frequency of Views:

Frequency of views is another significant benefit of Skippable In-Stream ads. As potential clients keep seeing your ads repeatedly, they'll begin to feel more familiar with your brand, and your name will start to stick. In human psychology, that’s known as the Mere-Exposure Effect, a phenomenon whereby customers begin to favor the familiar, so to speak.

Real estate is a know/like/trust, relationship business. The more they see you, the more they'll like you and trust you as an expert in the field. It's an effective way to keep your name in front of potential clients and position yourself as a knowledgeable professional.

Showcase Your Knowledge/Competence:

End of day, customers are ultimately hiring you for your knowledge and skills. Skippable In-Stream ads provide an opportunity to showcase your expertise and build trust with potential clients. So, for instance, create insightful market update videos and then run them as In-Stream ads targeting local homeowners. It’s a way to generate listing appointments over time. Video content like that helps to position you as a knowledgeable professional and thus, creates consideration for your agent-brand.

Monthly market updates, neighborhood tours, and/or advice on buying and selling a home are just a few ideas to get started. When clients see that you know what you're talking about, they'll be more likely to trust you with their real estate needs. Showcase your expertise, stay top-of-mind, and grow your business.

How YouTube's Algorithm Works: Understanding Click-Through Rate, Watch Time, and Retention

As a content creator on YouTube, it's essential to understand how the platform's algorithm works. YouTube's algorithm takes into account several factors to determine which videos to recommend to users or rank in its search results. The three big factors that the algorithm evaluates: click-through rate, watch time, and retention.

Click-Through Rate

The first factor that YouTube's algorithm evaluates is click-through rate (CTR), which is the percentage of viewers who click on your video after seeing somewhere on the platform:  recommendations, a feed, the search results, or elsewhere. A higher CTR simply means that more people are interested in your video and are willing to watch it—thus, YouTube is more inclined to rank and recommend it.

To improve your CTR, you should focus on creating compelling titles, “clickable” thumbnails, and video descriptions that accurately represent your video's content. It's essential to grab the viewer's attention quickly and give ‘em a good reason to watch.

Watch-Time

Watch-time is the second factor that YouTube's algorithm considers. It is what it sounds like:  watch-time simply refers to how long viewers watch your video. The longer a viewer watches your video, the better your video is gonna perform.

If a viewer clicks to watch your video and “bounces” within mere seconds, for instance, YouTube’s able to figure that the content must not have lived up to the expectation. However, if the viewer watches for an extended duration, then it’s evidently what they wanted.

To evaluate whether there are any problematic exit-points where viewers tend to click off your video, head over to your YouTube Studio. Simply go to studio.youtube.com, and you can review your video's analytics.

Retention

Retention is the third variable that YouTube's algorithm evaluates. In a nutshell, Retention measures the total amount of time viewers spend on ALL of your videos cumulatively. So the more videos on your channel, the better—so long as they aren’t all-over-the-place topic-wise. It’s important to publish content that’s intended for your designated target audience.

Retention on YouTube is like a seniority clause, whereby established YouTubers tend to outperform new channels due to the collective viewership earned over time. Unlike other video channels like Reels or TikTok, YouTube doesn't let new channels outrank established ones easily.

Retention provides a quasi-permanent benefit to your channel since it measures the total amount of time viewers spend on all your videos combined. So… By consistently producing high-quality content and retaining viewers, your channel becomes more valuable to YouTube, helping reinforce your ranking across the board. Heck yeah! This means that the more you invest in building up your channel's Retention, the more it'll pay off over time, as you'll continue to earn more viewers and grow your channel's reputation on the platform.

Understanding how YouTube's algorithm works is critical for any content creator looking to grow their channel. By focusing on improving your click-through rate, watch-time, and retention, you’ll improve your videos' ranking and reach more viewers. Keep creating high-quality and engaging videos consistently, and you'll be on your way to success on YouTube.

P.S. If you wanna watch Jason’s FULL YouTube training video, head over to Tom Ferry’s site:  https://www.tomferry.com/marketing/ep-54-6-tips-for-youtube-views/

From Expertise to Exposure: How Video Amplifies Your Real Estate Brand

Have you ever wondered why buyers and sellers choose to hire you? Ultimately, it boils down to the trust they have in you -- but WHY do they trust you? It’s a simple answer, really—It’s because your COMPETENCE cultivates CONFIDENCE.

End of day, your expertise is the reason people elect to hire you. So, from a marketing standpoint, where and how do you go about demonstrating your expertise?—i.e., your “worthiness” for hire. Ummm… VIDEO—it’s the microphone of your message, so to speak.

In the relationship-based business of real estate, the know, like, and trust trifecta is paramount. So when it comes to establishing and promoting your agent-brand, video stands head and shoulders above all other marketing mediums in its ability to convey the essential elements of know, like, and trust.

What’s more, your content is your contribution—it’s what sets you apart from your competitors!

You know better than anyone how competitive the industry can be. With so many agents vying for the attention and business of buyers and sellers, it can be challenging to stand out from the crowd. That's where video comes in. By showcasing your expertise and personality in video over-and-again, you’ll work to distinguish yourself as the “agent-of-choice.”

The Consistency Coefficient: The Key to Your Marketing Success

When it comes to marketing, consistency is key. So, with that in mind, what’s the ONE activity that you're truly committed to, come hell or high-water? In other words, what’s the marketing you’ll become “known for”?

Answers will vary from person-to-person but it's mission-critical to identify what works for you, and then, to do the hardest part of all:  stick with it. I’ve said it over-and-again:  THE RESULTS ARE IN THE REPETITION!

Marketing Consistency: The Key to Long-Term Success

Ask the question like this:  What’s the marketing activity that’s the most responsible for producing opportunities in your business? What “cranks the flywheel,” so to speak? Is it, for example:

• Publishing content on social media

• Mailing postcards

• Blogging and SEO

• Getting customer reviews

• Cold-calling (or warm-calling)

• Door-knocking (or door-dropping)

• Big-time ads:  TV, radio, billboards, etc.

• Email marketing

• Events and loving-on your SOI

The important point is to get selective and super consistent with whatever marketing activity you pick. Think of it like the penny that doubles in value daily for 30 days straight. On any given day, the activity may not seem overly important—like just a penny—but over time, the value will accumulate and multiply to the point where you’d be downright foolish to stop. Call it the “consistency coefficient.”

So… what's the marketing activity you're committed to, come hell or high-water? Whether it's content creation or another strategy, be consistent and watch as your efforts pay off in the long run. Remember, a little effort every day goes a long way.