Your presence online is more important than ever, more and more CRE brokers are seeking out opportunities to establish their online presence. With that in mind many seem to stray far away from the world of video, particularly YouTube and it’s influence on online users. Before you decide to opt out on creating YouTube videos for your commercial real estate listings, check out our 4 reasons why CRE brokers must have a YouTube presence.
1. People engage with short 20-30 second videos way mor4 Reae than with written content.
Let’s face it, we don’t always have time to read up on the latest news and market information, that’s why YouTube videos are amazing for those of us running short on time. Believe it or not, the longer your videos are, the lower your retention rate is. According to Single Grain, on average videos that are 1 minute or less in length garner a retention rate of 80%, 2-3 minute videos retain a bit less at 60%, and videos that are 5-10 minutes in length, retain 50% of viewers.
Just image what the retention rate of your lengthy and wordy, but informative blog posts may be. Creating a YouTube video that is short, informative, and engaging allows you to retain more of your viewers.
2. Investors, buyers, and sellers all want to learn and be educated.
There are 3 types of learners; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, and sometimes combination of all 3. Creating a presence on YouTube and creating content that is both visual and auditory allows a large amount of your audience the ability to digest your content in a way that whitepapers or wordy reports cannot. This allows you to give your audience a visual representation of the topic being discussed rather than just posting a long and wordy blog or article.
There are a number of different formats of YouTube videos you can create, there are:
- Interviews: Use this format to interview others within your field, bring in experts from different realms. Tackle a subject each video, ask and answer one question, something that is impactful but not lengthy in time (remember the longer the video, the lower the retention rate).
- Tips & Tricks: Keep your viewers up-to-date with the latest tips and tools for commercial real estate. Display these tips and tools and demonstrate your use of them, be visual and verbal in your explanation.
- Market Updates: Keep your viewers in the know, update them with the latest market news, not only does this keep your viewers informed, but it’ll keep you informed as well.
- Client Reviews/Engagement: Get your clients involved, create short video reviews from your clients and their experience working with you.
3. YouTube videos help build your credibility.
Creating an impactful form of informative and engaging content establishes your credibility and knowledge as a commercial real estate broker. We all need something that separates us from the rest of the CRE Brokers. Prospective clients are much more likely to seek out your services and expertise if you appear to be an established, experienced, and knowledgeable in your industry. Simple videos that vary in topic and format will build your credibility and eventually establish it.
Demonstrate your knowledge, illustrate, create diagrams and models in your YouTube videos. Showing your viewers that you know what you’re talking about.
4. Youtube is the 2nd most used search engine in the world (2nd only to Google.com). 
According to Placester, “more than 50% of prospective home buyers use Youtube as their primary video research.” And the same applies to commercial investors, buyers, and sellers. This means that your audience is actively using YouTube and they want more than just a slideshow of images, they want a format of content that is much more rich, interactive, and engaging. This can come in the form of property video tours, both inside and outside of the property and even videos that consist of tips and tricks for others within the industry.