What Happens When You Get 100,000 Views On Your Listing Videos

Jessica Johnson:  I see the value in Platform and what it's done for my business. Just random people recognizing me, from the Mexican restaurant manager to the lady at the alteration shop to the guy in the produce section at Ingles where I was asking where the basil was. He looked at me kind of weird and he said, “You're a realtor, right?” I was like, “Yeah.” And then the random guy in the gas station that tapped me on the back of my shoulder and was like, “Hey, you sell real estate?” “Yeah, that's me.”

Tim Chermak: This is The Platform Marketing Show where we interview the most creative and ambitious real estate agents in the country, dissect their local marketing strategy, and get the behind-the-scenes scoop on how they're generating listing leads and warm referrals. We'll dive into the specifics of what marketing campaigns are working for them, how much they're spending on those campaigns, and figure out how they have perfected what we call the Platform marketing strategy. This is your host, Tim Chermak. I'm the founder and CEO of Platform. I love marketing and I talk too much, so let's dive in.

Tim Chermak: Hey guys, it's Tim Chermak, and welcome back to another episode of The Platform Marketing Show. I'm joined today by Jessica Johnson in the western suburbs of Atlanta, Dallas, Georgia area. Jessica, welcome to the show. 

Jessica Johnson:  Hi, glad to be here. 

Tim Chermak: So Jessica has a really cool story. She already was an extremely ambitious, top producing real estate agent, and yet she's on pace to have scaled her business this year by another 40%. So last year, we were talking before we hit record on this podcast episode, last year, you finished with a little bit more than $13 million in sales volume, which that's a point of production at which most agents would love to at some point get to $13 million in their career. That's like the finish line for a lot of agents where it's like, ”Man, if only I could get to $10 million, $11 million, $12 million, $13 million, then all my dreams would come true.” You were already there, and yet your business is on pace to scale another 40% this year. So I think that's really, really impressive when we hear stories like that of someone who already had a really, really great business and yet there was still more business that you could be doing. 

Tim Chermak: You've been with Platform for a couple years now, and I wanna dive into the really subtle shifts you made in what ads you were running over the last year that I think sparked a lot of this growth. Because in talking to Jordan, who's your Platform account manager behind the scenes, Jordan's the one managing a lot of Jessica's ads. And I know that you talk to Jordan on the phone, what, every week or every other week? Jordan mentioned to me that the shift that we made in the last year that I think made a big difference for you is we really focused on the local ads and the personal moment ads, the stuff that's really hyper customized to you. So we didn't really do any of the more templated ads. We really focused on listing videos and small business spotlights and any ad that was you out and about in the community. Jordan even sent me the stats of how many listing videos you did, and I'm gonna pull that up right now here, just read this. 

Tim Chermak: She said from May 1st, 2023 to May 1st, 2024, you did 29 listing video tours. So in that year period from 2023 to Spring 2024, you did 29 listing video tour ads on Facebook. However, in the year from Spring 2024 through Spring 2025 where we're at today, you did 58 listing video tours. You effectively doubled the amount of listing video tours that you did in the last year. So it's not a coincidence at all to me seeing that, like seeing those numbers. I go, okay, your business has grown a bunch. 'Cause we've always said that the Swiss Army knife of the Platform strategy is listing video tours. The more listing video tours you do, the better. 

Tim Chermak: And another thing that you've done this year that I think has added fuel to that fire is that you started investing. Every time you run a listing video tour, you're putting $500 of ad spend behind that. So you're not just uploading a video to social media, crossing your fingers, and hoping that people see it. You're investing $500 in an ad for every single listing video that you put out there. How many views are your listing videos getting this year, Jessica?

Jessica Johnson: Oh my gosh. I absolutely love this part of Platform. So when I actually go to a listing appointment, I'm like, “Here, watch this. Let me show you how many views we're getting on these videos.” I think I have one running right now that has over a hundred thousand views. And my one that I listed on, I believe we listed that one on Tuesday, already have 50,000 views of that video from Tuesday. 

Tim Chermak: Okay. And just so people are aware, we're recording this on a, is it a Thursday today? Thursday evening. So basically you've already got 50,000 views on a listing video that's been up basically 48 hours. So yeah, I would imagine when you go onto a listing appointment that it's pretty easy to win those listing appointments. It's probably almost a formality that they're gonna work with you. Because when you show them the amount of views and the amount of traction that your listings are getting on social media, I mean, it's like, honestly, why would they work with any other realtor but you?

Jessica Johnson: Right. Yeah, it definitely gives added confidence where I don't necessarily have to put that full listing presentation together. I mean, that is my superpower when I go to that listing appointment and I'll say, “This is what I do differently than other realtors in this market.” You know, other realtors may be able to do a listing video, but they're not getting the same exposure that I'm getting.

Tim Chermak: Right. I mean, it's truly something that you do that other realtors don't do. And that's kind of the perennial problem with most agents when they get on a listing appointment is whether or not the seller actually verbalizes this, whether or not they actually say this out loud, what they're thinking is, okay, why should I hire you? What are you gonna do to market my home or represent me that every other agent isn't also going to do, right? 

Tim Chermak: Because everyone has their fancy listing presentations and some people print it out or bring a binder or a magazine, or some people have a presentation on an iPad, like a PowerPoint, basically a slide deck, but they more or less all say the same thing. It lists all the websites or all the ways that you syndicate the listing out or whatever, but every agent does that. Every agent, by the year 2025, at least I hope, is taking professional photography. Lots of people are now using video as you mentioned. It's not even really novel anymore to use video. Maybe in 2016 it was, but by this year, most agents are filming some sort of video of the listings, especially for the higher end listings. 

Tim Chermak: But the difference is that you're not just filming a video, you're filming a video and investing into an advertising budget behind every listing video. So you're not just haphazardly uploading it to YouTube or uploading it to Facebook and then crossing your fingers and hoping that people see it. Because if that's the strategy, which is what most agents do, they're gonna get like 200 views. No one's gonna see it. So you ended up doing all that work, filming, editing a video, and then just a couple hundred random people see it. You're getting 50,000 views in your videos, or in some cases you said even a hundred thousand views in your videos. 

Tim Chermak: That also, even after you get the listing, one thing that I think is interesting about how that becomes an asset for you as a realtor is even after you get the listing, let's say that you took the listing but you kind of knew in the back of your mind, “Alright, the listing price that this seller is demanding that I listed at, is it a little bit overpriced? It's not egregious, but it's a little bit higher than I think we should list it for. But I'll take the listing because I think what'll happen is I'll eventually be able to convince the seller to maybe drop the price a little bit 'cause they'll see it's not gonna sell at this price.” Every agent does that. I think most agents won't take a listing that's $100,000 or $200,000 over price, but I don't know. If you think that the seller thinks their house is worth $20,000 more than it actually is, most agents will take that listing 'cause they know that at some point they'll have that awkward conversation with the seller of like, “Hey, we haven't had enough showings. We haven't had enough offers. We just need to drop the price at this point.” 

Tim Chermak: If you have a listing video that's getting a hundred thousand video views, that gives you complete moral authority in that conversation to say, “Hey, I've invested my money promoting this property. It has a hundred thousand video views, and yet we haven't had any offers,” or, “We haven't had any serious offers,” or, “We haven't had enough showings,” or whatever the metric is that you're looking at. If you can say that I have a hundred thousand video views on this listing but clearly it's not working, it's just a very obvious, logical conclusion at that point that the marketing is working. What's not working is the price. And you kind of force the seller in that situation to confront reality that, hey, Jessica is doing her job. You have truly marketed and promoted the property. 

Tim Chermak: If and when you ever have to have those conversations, I think doing this type of marketing where you're really going out and getting the home exposure on social media allows you to have moral authority in those conversations. Also means the sellers are probably more inclined to just believe you 'cause they know that you're credible. A lot of agents don't have that so those conversations can be really awkward when they have to come back to the homeowner and tell them like, “Hey, we need to drop the price by $15,000 or by $30,000,” or whatever. 

Tim Chermak: I'm not sure what your market is like locally right now, Jessica, but I know across the country a lot of agents are saying as we hit into midsummer here of 2025 that the market feels like it's kind of shifting where we're in this awkward in-between phase where prices seem to be moderating or even coming down a little bit, but what's happening is that many, not all, but many sellers are in denial. So we're kind of in that awkward phase where, let's say you have a $400,000 listing. It's like the seller saw what their neighbor's house sold for in 2021 and they're like, “Oh, I think I can get $450,000.” And you're kind of like, yeah, maybe you would've in 2021 when buyers were getting a 3% mortgage interest rate to finance that $450,000, but you're not gonna get that this year. That house is probably worth closer to $400,000. But we just had some– 

Jessica Johnson: It's funny that you brought that up. I actually, just earlier, posted a video talking about the white elephant in the room that everybody's skirting around not really wanting to talk about it, but definitely the market has shifted. It's definitely more a buyer's market now. And I even mentioned this, it's not the same market as 2019 and 2020 and in those COVID years where you could just put a for sale sign in the yard and sell it. You actually have to put forth some effort to sell your home by doing some needed decluttering and painting. May need to paint, may need to do some home improvement, some landscaping. And you're more than likely gonna be contributing something towards that buyer in the form of concessions, either towards closing cost or rate buydown in this specific market in my area what I'm seeing right now. 

Tim Chermak: And what you just said is, I think, representative for much of the country right now that, again, it's not 2021 anymore, but a lot of sellers are still in denial. So we're in this in-between, awkward period where buyers realize, hey, the market kind of shifted, so buyers– I don't know if I'd say it's a buyer's market. Again, every market's different so maybe some markets are straight up in a buyer's market, but overall, I don't know if it's a firm buyer's market as much as buyers are realizing, hey, I have a little bit more leverage than I had a year or two ago. 

Tim Chermak: It's not completely a seller's market anymore. “I'm actually gonna get a home inspection. And I'm actually gonna ask them to fix some stuff based on that home inspection.” That's happening, and yet some sellers are still in denial where they're not dropping the prices quick enough, or they're still listing it unrealistic list prices based off of what their buddy's house down the street sold for in 2021 or 2022. 

Tim Chermak: So having this style of marketing, I think, is so important because A, obviously it brings you business. People see that your listings are getting 50,000 views, 75,000 views, 100,000 views, it just obviously positions you as being the local marketing expert. Not a marketing expert, but the local marketing expert. Because I guarantee there's no other agents even in your county that are getting anywhere near those numbers on their listing videos. So it brings in leads, but it also, again, gives you that moral authority to where if someone calls you up, and let's say they're not yet a client but they're thinking of selling their house. Even when you tell them, “Hey, here's what I think your house is gonna sell for,” they're a lot more inclined to believe you because you're positioned entirely differently when you're social media is getting that level of engagement than some random other agent might get. Because, I mean, you're an experienced realtor, Jessica. How many years have you been selling real estate?

Jessica Johnson: Since 2014. 

Tim Chermak: Okay, so over 10 years at this point. Yeah, you've seen growing markets, stable markets. You were there throughout all the COVID craziness, and yet “randomly,” I'm saying that with air quotes. Obviously, it wasn't random. Your business is all of a sudden up 40% this year. I think that's not a coincidence– 

Jessica Johnson: It's not random. 

Tim Chermak: –yeah, that you did all this listing video marketing and boom, your business has just rocketed up. Again, I want to give context here in case someone is listening to this podcast episode years in the future. 2025 is a tough year to be a real estate agent. It's a really challenging year. I mean, if anything, if you were to poll agents across the country and do a huge anonymous survey, I think the vast majority of agents, their business is down in 2025. It's not even holding steady, it's just down in 2025. If they were used to selling 15 homes a year, they're probably selling 10 or 11 or 12, but you're up. So that's even more impressive considering the economic context that we're in, that it's such a tough year right now to be a real estate agent, yet you're up 40%. You're not down 40%. Do you have a team? Do you have buyer's agents? Do you have a transaction coordinator? What does your business model setup look like? 

Jessica Johnson: Yeah, I have two part-time agents, and then I have a full-time transaction coordinator. 

Tim Chermak: Okay, and are those agents, like, are you counting their volume separately? Or when you say that your volume last year was $13 million, was that your personal volume or are you including the agents in there?

Jessica Johnson: That's my personal volume. 

Tim Chermak: Okay, just so everyone listening is understanding that correctly, all the numbers we're talking about here are just Jessica's personal volume. So this is not one of those situations where, hey, my business grew a bunch but it actually is spread out over six people in my team. 'Cause often you hear those stories where someone has really impressive sounding volume, but then you find out they have a big team and it's like, oh, that's a lot less impressive. 

Jessica Johnson: I always love that. Oh, they did all these big numbers, but they have  10 or 12 agents on their team.

Tim Chermak: “We did $40 million last year,” and you find out they exactly have like 12 agents on their team. That's suddenly a lot less impressive if that $40 million is spread out amongst 12 people, but exactly. So that's really impressive. You're running a lean, profitable operation. You have a transaction coordinator to help with all the boring paperwork and stuff just to make sure that transactions get done. You're out in the community. You're out filming videos. You're out creating content. What have been some of the best ads that you've done in the last year or so? Whether they were photos or videos, are there a couple that just pop out of like, hey, this one was really effective, or this one got a lot of engagement?

Jessica Johnson: I think I have one going right now. It's a small business highlight for my alteration company. And 'cause I'm so petite, I'm only like five feet tall, so I did a small business highlight for them and I've had a ton of engagement on that specific ad. People really enjoyed or really utilized their business and really appreciated the post. And then I have a new one–

Tim Chermak: Was that a photo or a video? 

Jessica Johnson: It was a photo. It was just a photo ad. 

Tim Chermak: Okay, so just a photo ad. And you said, there was one more one you were about to mention?

Jessica Johnson: Yeah, so there's another one that I'm gonna be running shortly. And when I approached this business, I seen that it was a small business. It's actually like a fresh market that sells fruits and vegetables and local meats. Anyways, when I approached him with this idea, he said, “You have no idea how much this means to a small business,” so I'm really pumped about doing that one for him. 

Tim Chermak: And I'm just reading over the notes here that Jordan sent me. She actually mentioned this small business where they did alterations. And in Jordan's notes she sent over to me, she said, “She got recognized by the owner,” and the owner maybe is an immigrant. She said she spoke kind of a broken English, but said, “Casa, casa, casa,” when you walked in, because she knew that you were a real estate agent who worked with houses. So I think that's kind of a cool story. 

Jessica Johnson: Yeah, that was pretty neat. So I knew she was saying house, house, house. And I said, what is she saying? And he said, the husband was like, she's saying that she sees your videos about the houses everywhere. And then another funny story to go along with that alteration, a lady actually called me yesterday and I listened to her spiel. She thought I was the alteration company, and I'm like, “No, ma'am. It's a small business spotlight, and here's their phone number.”

Tim Chermak: That's awesome. Yeah, I mean, that is the core and the essence of the Platform strategy right there is that you're using your platform, like your social media page to highlight and champion other local small businesses. And I think that's what makes this marketing strategy kind of stealthy is that it allows you, Jessica, to stay top of mind and people are seeing your face or they're seeing your Facebook page keep popping up in their life, but a lot of your ads aren't about you.  It's you highlighting local small businesses. You just happen to be like the tour guide of a lot of the ads. You're like the narrator of these ads, but the ads aren't about you. 

For more of this episode, listen on Apple or Spotify Podcasts.