Three Proven YouTube Strategies for Homebuilders

Can YouTube be used as a marketing and lead generation tool instead of just a sales tool for builders?

If you are suffering from insomnia one possible antidote is to type in “homebuilder” on YouTube and scroll through the mundane collection of videos that appear.  The clips posted by builders are a montage of uninspiring model tours, walk-throughs, and poorly produced TV ads.  One of the top-ranked videos is an attractive sales person giving a tour of a laundry room of all things.

I applaud the builders who have uploaded their content to YouTube.  You are way ahead of your competitors in understanding social media and web 2.0, but could YouTube be doing more for you?  Companies in other industries have successfully used YouTube to generate increased brand loyalty and increased sales.  I believe if you replicate some of their strategies you can also use it as a new source for leads.

Developing content for YouTube is different than developing traditional media.  It is imperative to post short videos as the attention span of Internet viewers is limited.  Do not spoil the video by making it entirely an advertisement.  Just posting your latest TV ad will not work.  Promote subtly for better results.  Remember to embed your URL into the video because it is an ad for your website.  Your initial goal should be to generate leads for your database through prompting some type of action.

If you want your video to go viral then there is no room to be a nervous Nellie.  It needs to either have shock and awe, sex appeal, or use an outrageous headline that encourages people to check into it further (i.e. “Alien Buying New Homes in Development”).  Furthermore, a video usually just doesn’t go viral on its own.  There are a handful of somewhat controversial “tricks,” and social media tactics to get the ball rolling.

Here are three strategies to ignite your YouTube marketing efforts:

1) Create a contest – one very popular tactic is to get users to create videos that will be judged.  This is a great way to generate a ton of content about your brand in a short period of time.  The more good content the better.  Just do a search for any of the national builders and some of the top videos are negative hits.  Having a large library of content would help insulate the presence of negative content.

2) Do Something Outrageous With Your Product – If you have product feature/benefit that really stands apart demonstrate it in an unconventional way.  Blendtec is probably the most successful case study for this strategy with their “Will It Blend?” campaign.

3) Be A Thought Leader – If you have a process, technique, or program that makes you unique then don’t be afraid to demonstrate it or talk about it.  If it really isn’t a differentiator you’ll end up as one of those yawn generating videos that I talked about earlier.  Zappos uses YouTube to answer customer question and as way to demonstrate their renowned customer service oriented culture.

For more specific YouTube Tactics check out the following post by Zeke Camusio:

http://www.theoutsourcingcompany.com/blog/tag/youtube-marketing-strategy/