Yesterday, I was scrolling on Instagram, trying to give myself intentional brain rot, when I came across a video that really hit me. It was from Jared James, a real estate coach we’ve collaborated with a bunch. The video was titled “The Number One Tip to Grow on Social.”
Watch it below, then come back and read the rest of this blog because this might be the most important thing you read all year:
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6 Strategies to Retain Engagement for an Entire Video
Before we even get into what he said, notice how perfectly packaged the video is.
First, he opens with an attention-grabbing text hook:
“This is my number one tip to grow on social media.”
Text-based hooks are just as important, if not more, than verbal ones because most people scroll without sound.
Second, he immediately establishes credibility. He starts by saying,
“For someone who has done over 50 million organic views…”
That line tells you right away that you’re not listening to some random hack pontificating out his ass, but to someone who actually walks the walk.
Third, the entire video is done in one take. That’s hard to pull off, but it makes the content feel more natural. It’s not a highly edited talking head video. It looks like he just hit record and started talking on a walk.
Fourth, he keeps your attention with visuals and on-screen text. He pops up extra words and images throughout to add context and keep you engaged.
Fifth, he sneaks in a subtle but strong call to action with more text asking people to like and follow.
And sixth, the message itself is incredible. Let’s get into that.Here are a few lines worth emphasizing:
“Learn to post consistently with no expectation of result.”
“Divorce yourself from result.”
“We are a distribution channel.”
He frames up social media publishing with a great analogy. He compares content creation to NBC, which had Friends but also had a bunch of flops like Joey.
He brings it back to himself, saying he’s done 50 million views overall, but just posted a video that totally flopped. Great storytelling and super relatable. It drives home the point that people only remember the hits.
“Too many of you on social media aren’t winning because you’re getting in your feelings.”
Some videos hit, some don’t. That’s the game.
Now that I’ve basically glazed this entire video, here are my thoughts.
Consistency is #1
He’s 100% right. Consistency is the recipe for success on social media. Take it from me. I’ll go with the Jared approach and tell you I’ve posted over 8,000 times between The Broke Agent and BAM accounts. I flop at least once a day on BAM and probably every other post on BA.
I used to care a lot. I’d delete posts that didn’t perform well and start questioning if I’d lost it. Am I not funny anymore? Has the industry turned on me? Should I just stop and try to become shortstop for the Yankees?
In reality, nobody cares. No one is thinking, “Hey Suzy from Indiana only got seven likes on that listing video, what a joke!” They either didn’t see it or don’t remember it. As Jared says in the video, people remember the ones that hit, the ones that stand out from a sea of flops.
That said, you should care a little if your content flops all the time. That’s your signal to adjust.
Check your insights and look at metrics like average watch time to see where you’re losing people:
- If your video is 50 seconds long but everyone tunes out after the first second, your hook needs work.
- If they’re dropping off at 10 seconds, maybe you need more visuals or text hooks like Jared used to keep them watching.
He’s 100% right. Consistency is the recipe for success on social media. Take it from me. I’ll go with the Jared approach and tell you I’ve posted over 8,000 times between The Broke Agent and BAM accounts. I flop at least once a day on BAM and probably every other post on BA.
I used to care a lot. I’d delete posts that didn’t perform well and start questioning if I’d lost it. Am I not funny anymore? Has the industry turned on me? Should I just stop and try to become shortstop for the Yankees?
In reality, nobody cares. No one is thinking, “Hey Suzy from Indiana only got seven likes on that listing video, what a joke!” They either didn’t see it or don’t remember it. As Jared says in the video, people remember the ones that hit, the ones that stand out from a sea of flops.
What to Do When Your Content Flops
That said, you should care a little if your content flops all the time. That’s your signal to adjust.
Check your insights and look at metrics like average watch time to see where you’re losing people:
- If your video is 50 seconds long but everyone tunes out after the first second, your hook needs work.
- If they’re dropping off at 10 seconds, maybe you need more visuals or text hooks like Jared used to keep them watching.
Lowering your expectations lets you post more freely without getting frustrated. When you stop chasing perfection, you’ll actually post more, learn faster, and ultimately grow.
BTW: In order to help you post consistently, we created a community of agents looking to grow on social media called BAMx. In this community, we give social media templates, video scripts, blogs, and emails EVERY SINGLE WEEK to our members so they can get up fresh, timely content every day.
We opened up a free trial, so test it out here and get access to this week’s content drop.
