Podcasts and videos are quickly becoming the world’s preferred way of consuming information. Audiences actually welcome consuming this type of content during their personal time! They can listen to a podcast while they jog, or watch a video on the train to work.
Plus, video content can be created much faster than writing a long blog post. There could hardly be a simpler, more appropriate content channel for real estate agents.
I know what you’re going to say. Who, me? Podcast? [insert loud, boisterous laughter]
Yes, you! I’m here to tell you that a podcast has a place in your marketing arsenal. In fact, it may be the easiest way to quickly stand out and influence your prospects, leads, and customers!
Before we go any further, I’d like to dispel a myth. Many people believe starting a podcast will be beneficial only once you’ve reached a national audience and achieved massive followership. Let’s kick this rumor to the curb right now. For some people, yes, podcasting to a large audience is their objective. But as a real estate agent looking to reach more leads and keep your contacts more engaged, stardom should hardly be entertained as a part of your goals. And you should hardly care about followership in the beginning, unless becoming a coach is your motivation.
Instead, think of podcasts as a tool for keeping your leads interested, earning favorable attitudes and opinions, and keeping your clients engaged and educated along their journey. Having a large degree of subscribers is less the point here.
Rather than dreaming about becoming the next Timothy Ferriss, think about podcasting as your opportunity to get the people within your own ecosystem of contacts to consume your content on the fly.
Here at Realvolve, we are about to launch our own podcast. Here are some reasons why you’d be doing yourself a huge favor by starting your own podcast as well.
1) It’s actually very easy!
There really aren’t many steps. Ultimately, it’s a matter of recording your broadcast (I prefer recording it on video, so that you have additional YouTube content), pushing the audio file through a RSS feed, and, well… that’s it! Your equipment can be as basic as your smartphone, or as elaborate as a multi-camera, pro mic setup.
2) Instantly multiply your content and ensure that no consumer—whether reader, watcher, or listener—is left behind.
Before joining the crew here at Realvolve, I worked for a global leader in Fintech (financial technology) as a marketing manager. As a part of a content campaign that I was leading for a particular market segment to justify the costs of building an in-house webcast studio, I decided to put together a short poll.
I asked one simple question: Do you prefer to read your content (blog posts/articles), watch your content (YouTube videos), or listen to your content (podcasts)?
The results were not surprising. It was a perfect split: 33% preferred blog posts, 33% preferred YouTube, and 33% preferred podcasts. At the time, we were really only serving our partners with blog posts. This meant that we were not serving 66% of our audience with the type of content they preferred!
Long story short, we built the webcast studio and started recording video interviews. We posted the video content to YouTube; we extracted the audio and distributed that content via our podcast channel; and on our blog, we created posts that featured each video and its transcribed text.
In an instant, we tripled our content and ensured that no consumer was left behind.
3) Become the trendsetter in your local area.
Becoming a trendsetter is not about vanity. It’s about getting a head start on your competition. You could be a first-year agent with just 6 transactions under your belt, but launch your own podcast channel and suddenly your perceived expertise is hovering above the most seasoned agents. It doesn’t matter that they’re closing 100+ transactions per year—you were first to jump on a content channel that is entirely new to your market, so people are looking to YOU for the expert advice.
On the flip side, if you’re the rockstar agent in your town, all the more reason to get your podcast up before the young, entrepreneurial agent comes along on a mission to disrupt your position in the market! The sooner you get started, the harder it will be for them to catch up.
Whatever you do, don’t find yourself becoming the old lady in the checkout line, slowwwwwwly writing a check while others wait, armed with tap-to-pay setup on their smartphones. Stay ahead of the trends. Always.
4) Expert educational content in your back pocket for any occasion!
While there are a million ways to podcast (interviews or narrative, whiteboarding, professional or personal, formal or casual), the best content you can build as an amateur podcaster in real estate are podcasts that educate your audience. The first podcaster in your area with a complete start-to-finish catalog of episodes explaining everything from How The Real Estate Market Works to The FHA 90-Day Flip Rule—that agent wins.
You can secure the position of area expert, no matter how many seasoned veteran agents surround you!
5) Podcasts can be inserted into your workflows.
Realvolve customers love our workflows because they offer agents a way to fully automate the gazillions of journeys our clients travel throughout the crazy and complicated process of buying or selling a home. The agent with a podcast can very easily conclude every email and text message with targeted, relevant content: Your home inspection is coming up! Listen to my podcast about what questions to ask your home inspector.
6) Gifting various episodes to your leads.
When a real estate agent earns a lead—whether it’s from a referral, in social passing, purchased, or otherwise—the best thing we can do in that first crucial moment of contact is send them a gift. Again, the agent with a complete catalog of podcast content could very easily text over a link to a particular episode (e.g. Everything You Need To Know Before Listing Your Home). You can bet your contact will play it during their next workout.
Again, podcasting goals should not be limited to the pursuit of stardom. Instead, think of it as a highly effective marketing tool at a micro level among your own business contacts ecosystem. Is your goal is to be the most innovative marketer on your block of real estate agents, ahead of the curve in marketing content strategy? Well then; podcasting is your vehicle.
So… want to learn HOW to podcast?
If this blog post gets a lot of love (please comment and share), I’ll be writing a Part 2 with step-by-step instructions on how to start a podcast, including where to find video/audio kits that are available for immediate use, and how to stream your podcast through popular channels like YouTube, iTunes, Stitcher, and more.
And don’t forget, Realvolve is about to launch our own podcast. Season 1 is almost here and it’s going to be jam-packed with valuable interviews. Click here for more information!
