Be a TV star! Call for agents to ‘own their areas’ on social media

A leading estate agent has urged others in the industry to follow his example and make local TV programmes to build their brand and engage prospective clients.

Back in October we reported that London agency Benjamin Stevens has made a lifestyle-focused viral ‘TV show’ for YouTube and other social media viewers. 

It’s called North London TV and has been devised and hosted by agency director Steve Wayne and marketing director Rosanne Oppenheimer.

The idea has been a big success with four videos made so far. The first programme secured 13,000 views on social media and the company says customers have said they have recognised the agents from their appearances.

Now Steve Wayne has discussed the idea - appropriately enough, on video - with industry consultant Christopher Watkin: Estate Agent Today has exclusive access to the interview, which you can see below.

In it Wayne describes how he and his colleague deliberately did not talk on camera about selling homes. “It’s about us selling ourselves, selling the brand … We’re trying to create a brand and an image.”

The Benjamin Stevens agency videos are high quality - there are clips in the video interview below - and are professionally edited, all in a bid for the agency to become what some analysts call ‘The Digital Mayor’ of their area, being the prominent figure in a locality thanks to their presence on social media and other outlets. 

It’s a fascinating concept and the 11 minute interview covers the challenges associated with this kind of self-publicity - whether people would laugh at the agents, how difficult it is to track the immediate effectiveness of the publicity and so on.

However, with video production becoming less expensive and agencies switching increasingly to other advertising media such as Instagram and YouTube, this may be the way forward for some. 

Our thanks go to Christopher Watkin for sharing this video exclusively (below) with EAT readers.