Would you like to generate thousands of extra views for your new listing video? What if it cost you nothing and only took a few minutes? Tik Tok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts (or short-form) videos are the buzziest new tools that can help supercharge your marketing and increase your market share.
Alisa Glutz, who was recently featured on Money.com, is a Scottsdale mortgage broker and the author of Color My Credit. Glutz joined us this week to explain what she did to generate millions of page views, over 427,000 followers and 3.9 million “likes” on TikTok. Her lessons learned apply not only to TikTok, but to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts as well.
Which platform is right for you?
Most experts agree that it’s smart to focus exclusively on one video platform rather than splitting your efforts across different platforms. In terms of deciding which platform is right for your business, here are important points to consider:
1. TikTok
TikTok features 15-second videos (you can now post up to 1 minute) with trendy music. In terms of users, 26 percent are between 25 and 44, the sweet spot for today’s millennial buyers and sellers. The average user spends 52 minutes a day on the platform and opens the app eight times per day.
Unless you’re willing to spend the time it takes to develop a whole new following on TikTok and you’re not already posting on Instagram Stories or YouTube, TikTok is probably not the best choice for most Realtors. It’s an excellent source, however, to see what users are doing that works and doesn’t work.
2. Instagram Reels
Unlike Instagram Stories that disappear after 24 hours, Instagram Reels is permanent. Reels allows you to record and edit 15- to 30-second videos, add sound effects and then share your video with your Instagram followers.
You can also reach the larger Instagram community by sharing your video to the Explore page. For help creating your first Instagram Reels video, check out Later’s “The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Reels.”
3. YouTube Shorts
YouTube Shorts is still in beta, but if you want to get a real edge on competitors, Shorts is the biggest opportunity going forward. While Instagram has about 130 million users in the U.S. and TikTok has about 80 million users, YouTube comes as the most popular video platform in the U.S. with 206 million users for 2021.
Moreover, Facebook and TikTok are not search engines. Google has decided to put its full force behind YouTube Shorts, which means potential clients will be able to find your Shorts videos when they search on Google.
To capitalize on this opportunity, create 15-second-or-less videos, post them to your regular YouTube feed, and use “#Shorts” in the title or description. You can add videos up to 60 seconds in length, but Google recommends focusing on making 15-second videos. Learn more about Shorts here.
Best practices
Glutz attributes her success on TikTok to the seven best practices below. These strategies will work for you, regardless of which short-form video platform you decide to use.
1. It’s about the moms
Glutz constantly has parents contacting her because their school-age children watched one of her TikTok videos about improving their credit. The kids tell their parents, “I don’t understand what she’s saying, but I think you should watch this.”
Glutz recently ran a contest giving away five $200 credit plan reviews. Here’s what happened: A 10-year-old girl heard her parents talking about wanting to buy a house. When she saw Glutz’ video about her contest giving away five $200 credit plan reviews, she decided to enter her parents. They won.
In just 45 days, Glutz was able to help the little girl’s parents raise their credit score 100 points. She was so ecstatic she was dancing around saying, “I’m going to get a house!”
2. Entertain and educate
Glutz advised that one of the best ways to gain viewers on TikTok is to entertain and educate. The following video educates viewers on why they don’t have to be a first-time buyer to obtain an FHA loan while also sharing other features about FHA loans.
@colormycreditAlso look at your state down payment assistance programs that in exchange for a higher rate, you could get help with the #downpayment #fha♬ Rapper’s Delight – The Hit Crew
3. Use text boxes and ‘bubbles’ to share your key content
As you can see in the video above, Glutz uses text boxes and bubbles to share her content rather than using words in the audio feed. A huge proportion of short-form videos are viewed without the sound.
Consequently, it’s smart to place your key messaging in a text box or bubble. The following video garnered over 845,000 views in 2020, and in 2021, it has already had over 99,000 views.
@colormycreditLearn the rules. Master the game. #verymuchadequate #foryoupage #2020colormycredit #creditcards #creditempowerment♬ original sound – Smokinhottballz
4. Provide additional content or resources in your description
In her descriptions, Glutz often provides additional resources for the viewer as illustrated below:
5. Use hashtags
As you can see in the example above, Glutz uses two hashtags (#downpayment and #fha). Hashtags serve multiple functions. First and foremost, hashtags allow you to make the topic of your video searchable on the platform. Second, they allow you to link to additional videos on the site on the same topic as your video.
6. Trending music
Although Shorts is still in beta, both TikTok and Reels allow you to select music from the platform for your video. You can do a quick audio commentary, but to really amp up your page views, pair your video with music that is currently trending on the platform.
Glutz searches for videos that can tie in with the topic she is covering. She finds songs that have “yes” or “no” in the lyrics are particularly useful. She posts a question in the text box and the video answers it with “yes,” “no” or sometimes “maybe.”
@colormycreditReply to @toomuchfun22 show you know how to borrow and pay back! (ignore me trying to hurry up the process and help my hair grow!) #colormycredit♬ оригинальный звук – Ayza Mua
Aaron Grushow has probably more page views than any other real estate professional on TikTok. His posts typically receive at least 50,000 to 100,000 views. To illustrate the power of using trending songs, Grushow did a video of a “shark aquarium.” He used the theme from the movie Jaws.
Although younger users didn’t recognize the music, it generated 4.2 million views. Grushow then paired the same video with a TikTok trending song, and it jumped to a whopping 48.5 million page views and 6.9 million likes.
@aarongrushowhomesEver see a shark aquarium in a house?! #shark #fish #fishtank #aquarium #house #mansion #luxury #amazing #beautiful #fyp♬ Can We Kiss Forever? – Kina
7. Consistency is the name of the game
As with any social media platform, posting consistently is the name of the game. The people who are succeeding using short-form video also recommend posting multiple times per day.
The bottom line is to consistently post videos that entertain and educate. At 15 seconds, you can easily record two to three videos in 30 minutes, tag them, add the pop-up boxes and select your music. That’s a lot easier than door-knocking, cold-calling or almost any other lead generation approach you can use, especially because it costs you nothing.
Bernice Ross, President and CEO of BrokerageUP and RealEstateCoach.com, is a national speaker, author and trainer with over 1,000 published articles. Learn about her broker/manager training programs designed for women, by women, at BrokerageUp.com and her new agent sales training at RealEstateCoach.com/newagent.
