Forget scripts. Authenticity drives real estate marketing results
A polished real estate brand doesn’t start with trendy scripts, over-produced reels, or bloated newsletters. It starts with something easier and harder to fake: authenticity.
That is the core message of Meriam Mellala Montreal-based real estate marketing strategist with more than 12 years of experience who has been leading marketing programs and training for agencies, brokers and real estate networks since 2019, including Christie’s International Real Estate.
Based on years of campaign work with agents and brokers, Mellal argues that the marketing tactics that really make the difference today are the tactics that feel the most human. It’s a particularly relevant argument in an age where more and more AI-generated nonsense is flooding social media feeds.
Trust is based on personality, not paint
For video, Mellal recommends moving away from the generic formulas that have flooded social media feeds for years.
“What I see performing best in branding videos for my clients are videos that align with the agent’s personality,” Mellal told Inman, noting that generic content like “5 reasons why you should work with me” or “3 reasons why I love this area” tends to generate little engagement.
Instead, she recommends content that reflects how an agent actually shows up in the marketplace. She pointed to a luxury real estate agent in Westmount, a city on the island of Montreal known for his deep market knowledge and accurate pricing, whose content works because it reflects his attitude: calm, direct and rooted in the places and conversations that define his business.
Instead of enforcing a social strategy based on imitation, she says agents should lean on short, natural clips about their local market, neighborhood developments, notable sales or behind-the-scenes moments of the day’s work.
That kind of content matters because trust increasingly depends on perceived authenticity, not just references. Mellal quoted the Edelman Trust Barometer by stating that consumers are more likely to respond to people whose values, communication style and personality feel authentic. Video gives agents a way to convey these qualities in a format never possible with a headshot or biography.
The algorithm still needs a push
Authenticity alone does not guarantee reach. Mellal said effective video distribution still requires strategy, including SEO-focused captioning and, in many cases, paid promotion.
While organic reach may be easier for creators and influencers, consumers typically view agents as businesses and not personalities, making ad support an important part of any serious social media plan.
Her advice on video length is also platform-specific. TikTok, she said, rewards quick, direct videos of 15 seconds or less. Instagram may take a little longer, but she’ll see the sweet spot at 30 seconds or less.
“For informational content, you should keep it under 1 minute, especially since you can’t boost a roll for more than 90 seconds and the goal is always to minimize the drop rate,” Mellal said.
The production style should also match the message: a natural phone shot can outperform polished footage when responding to market news or sharing a quick insight. A more refined format can increase credibility when presenting a market report, introducing a team, or sharing performance results.
The larger principle, she said, is that the audience decides almost immediately whether someone feels genuine.
“Speak naturally, stand comfortably and be yourself,” Mellal said. “Inauthenticity triggers the same instinct in the brain as distrust, and in a business built entirely on personal relationships, that association is important to avoid and very difficult to undo.”
Email still works, if it’s based on permission and value
That same logic extends to email, which Mellal still sees as a valuable channel for agents, provided it’s based on permission and relevance. She warned against the outdated practice of stuffing mailing lists with contacts who never signed up for them, arguing that a better approach is to structure newsletter signups around useful content and real value.
When that happens, she says, subscribers come away feeling warmer and more engaged, because they already feel like they’re getting something valuable in return.
“Remember that in 2026, despite all the TV shows and PR, real estate still carries a lot of stigma around unsolicited and promotional communications,” Mellal said. “Don’t be one of those who add people who never asked to be on a list.”
While US law under the CAN-SPAM Act does not require prior opt-in for marketing emails; Sending newsletters to people who have not requested them remains a risky strategy. Agents can comply with legal requirements if they provide appropriate disclosures and opt-out options, but unsolicited outreach often undermines trust, leads to spam complaints, and ultimately undermines long-term customer relationships. This makes permission-based marketing the much more effective approach.
As for cadence, Mellal recommends restraint: no more than once a week for real estate-focused newsletters and no more than twice a month for more educational or informational posts. Just as important, she says, agents need to eliminate the corporate tone that still dominates much of the industry’s email marketing.
Newsletters should be short, scannable, and personal, and shouldn’t be weighed down by oversized logos, repetitive contact blocks, or adjective-heavy property descriptions.
Readers, she said, respond better when the writing sounds like a real person and contains something memorable beyond the lists, whether that’s a local recommendation, a personal observation or an employee worth knowing.
“My golden rule is to completely drop the corporate tone,” she said. “People work with a real estate agent because they like the person. Every moment of contact strengthens or weakens that relationship.”
The agents who stand out don’t follow trends
When it comes to measuring what works, Mellal once again comes back to authenticity. The submissions that generate the most responses, she said, tend to be those that seem most true to the agent behind them.
Still, she urges officers to combine that instinct with better measurement. That means using UTM parameters to track what generates clicks and paying close attention to more than just open rates.
While open rates can provide a signal about subject line performance, she noted that privacy changes have made it less reliable as a standalone metric.
Click-through rates, unsubscribe patterns, scroll depth and reading time can all provide a clearer picture of whether a newsletter is actually resonating with a sphere of influence or just slipping into the inbox unnoticed.
For agents trying to decide where to invest their marketing energy in 2026, Mellal’s argument is simple: stop chasing formulas. Show up consistently, sound like yourself, and give people something worth paying attention to.
“Copying what others do leads nowhere,” Mellal said. “You won’t have any real differentiator, you’ll be asking yourself every time someone else runs, and people will pick up on that uncertainty, even through a screen.”
Email Nick Pipitone
