YouTube is the second most-used search engine on the Internet, after Google and before Yahoo — and there is a significant population that searches exclusively for video.

Videos also appear frequently as attention-getting clickable thumbnails in search results – on ALL the search engines.

According to Comscore.com, in August 2010, over 85% of the total U.S. internet audience viewed online video (177 million).

Video is, like all marketing, part of a larger package of marketing tools that come together to get exposure for an agent, a company or a property.

Video is a highly effective form of exposure as it gives more information in an ‘easy to consume’ format and the video itself stands out as an attention getter on a property that may not have gotten someone’s attention.

In the case of an agent, a video not only showcases a property, but showcases the agent’s knowledge and expertise as well as his/her ability to show and market property. Video is also an effective listing tool for future listings.

A YoChicago staff member shoots the video. The style will depends on the type and location of the video, but they are typically conversational. Our staff member helps prompt the video subject or agent to keep the conversation moving and interest high.

A client may elect to narrate the video without interaction from our videographer.

Our videos have the most impact and draw the most response when they seem the least scripted and prepared. We don’t provide a list of questions in advance, and request that you don’t rehearse. The more informal and conversational the videos turn out to be, the better.

Viewers prefer, and put more credence in, a real conversation than in a rehearsed marketing presentation.

If you falter or need to backtrack during the shoot, we can edit out any misstatements.

Moving photography and music are not a viewer’s expectation when they opt to view a property video. What’s more they have no more information than they would be just looking at photos. It is not a good user experience. They are perhaps easier and cheaper to create, but there’s a reason for that. YoChicago does not post slideshow videos on our YouTube channel.

A good video matches images with conversation that gives the viewer a sense of what photos and copy on their own cannot convey – usually a sense of what makes a property livable.

Our videos are hosted on our YouTube channel. Our channel is a member of YouTube’s partner program, recognized for original content with high viewership. YoChicago has close to 2,000 videos and over 1.3 million views – stats that contribute to authority and search results. Our videos are prolific in YouTube and Google real estate video searches.
Any of your videos can be embedded in your own sites as well and on your personal YouTube channel – or any site you give permission to.

All view counts resolve to a single counter on our YouTube channel so you can track activity in a central location.

Technically, YoChicago owns the video, but once the video is on our YouTube channel, clients are free to embed the video anywhere they wish – on their website, their own YouTube channel, or other sites that allow embedding or links. The beauty of this is that all of a video’s ‘views’ are recorded in one place.

If you need or want a copy of the video, we’ll gladly provide it on DVD for you to publish as you wish.