10 Best Practices for Promoting Your Recorded Real Estate Webinars on YouTube

Webinars are a great way to promote your real estate business and establish yourself as an expert in your community. Recording your webinar and publishing it to YouTube gives you an opportunity to repurpose the material and easily share it with current and potential clients. However, YouTube videos can also be discovered organically. To raise the probability that your content will appear in someone's search, we recommend these 10 best practices:

1. Strategically Name Your Video

Selecting a title is one of the most important pieces to remember when uploading your video content. Be specific in the name; match the title you used when promoting the webinar, if applicable.

Think about what terms clients might search for within YouTube or Google. Some names are more competitive than others, such as "Buying a New Home." Be sure to add details to the title that match the video content (e.g., Buying a New Home in Denver).

2. Add a Transcript

Adding a transcript to your video in post-production, or once you've uploaded the video file to your account, helps increase accessibility and usability. Transcripts can be viewed by anyone watching the video. Some viewers reference transcripts as an easy way to copy and paste relevant information (note taking, for example). Other viewers use YouTube transcripts to quickly skim through the content and jump to specific points in the video (timestamps are hyperlinked).

YouTube automatically generates a transcript for you, but you do need to create and post the file in the producer tools menu. Be sure to review the text before publishing it. Fix typos, check the timestamps, and make sure your branding is correct.

3. Enable Closed Captioning

When enabled, the Closed Captioning (CC) button displays the transcript copy as text on the bottom of the screen. Similar to subtitles, you can also add key sound effects to closed captioning to indicate tone or other key information for individuals with limited access to audio or who otherwise experience difficulty with hearing. For example, [laughter], [applause], or [cheerful music].

4. Add a Video Description

As important as having an accurate and relevant title, be sure to include a brief description of your webinar in the description field. You can reuse the copy you used to promote the webinar, changing verbs to past tense if necessary. As you add description information, remember to incorporate relevant keywords from the webinar as well as any related hashtags.

5. Add Relevant Timestamps

If your recorded webinar is lengthy, consider adding timestamps and a brief test description of the content at the correct point in the video. For example, "At 3:30, we cover real estate trends for 2023," or "Skip to 4:50 to learn how to add new leads to your CRM." If you have enabled transcripts, be sure the timestamps match.

6. Set a Thumbnail Image

When publishing a video to YouTube, you'll have the option to select and set a thumbnail that best represents your video. This thumbnail is the featured image linked to your video when promoting the link on social media. You can also upload your own thumbnail image to YouTube (we recommend including the video title and a compelling image or graphic if possible).

7. Use Playlists for Organization and Promotion

If you are a regular contributor to your YouTube channel, playlists are an excellent way to organize and promote your video content. Simply having a webinar playlist increases the odds viewers will watch additional videos without any action on your end.

If viewers are watching with autoplay enabled, the next video in the playlist will automatically appear on their screens. Playlists can also be added to your real estate website through a plugin or iframe.

8. Encourage Viewers to Subscribe to Your Channel

"Don't forget to click that like and subscribe button!" It sounds cliché, but encouraging viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel can help automatically deliver curated content to their notification feeds without having to manually send that information their way.

At the end of your webinar presentation, be sure to mention you'll add the recorded webinar to YouTube and remind viewers to subscribe.

9. Brand Your Channel

If you have a company logo, be sure to add that to your YouTube channel as your profile photo/avatar. YouTube recently announced that it will be rolling out handles, similar to what other social media platforms use for tagging with the "@" symbol. Your handle should be your name, brand title or company name and/or match the handle you use across your other channels.

10. Blog About Your Webinar

In addition to promoting your recorded webinar in a playlist, on social media, and on a webinar-specific landing page, you can promote the webinar in your real estate blog.

Repurpose the title and description, adding any additional content and takeaways to fully round out and provide value to your viewers and readers. Be sure to embed the individual video into the blog, using an iframe or plugin, and add a link to your website playlist or channel.