Agents are pouring money into social media and still not winning listings. The Real Estate Voice (TREV) founder Richard Lindley says the problem is chasing the wrong audience with the wrong content, and that a viral video could do more harm than good. Here's how to build an organic local audience that actually turns into leads.

On this episode of REB Discover, Real Estate Business editor Liam Garman sits down with Richard Lindley, founder of TREV and an early proptech pioneer, to unpack why so many agents' social media strategy isn't converting.

Lindley explains why a selling agent's audience is local sellers, not the whole country, and why a video that spreads far beyond their patch can muddy the algorithm's picture of who they serve. He shares what his audits of major agency networks found: most agents rarely post, most of what they do post is listings, and the small share of content with a personal, agent-led angle gets far more interaction.

The pair then look at how to reframe content so it stops the scroll, from "what I would do if I were selling" posts to translating market data into what it means for a home owner, and why promoting auction dates may be wasted effort.

Lindley makes the case for organic over paid, why an active profile builds the trust people check for before they engage an agent, and what really influences how agents appear in AI chatbot answers. Both warn against publishing unchecked AI output, and Lindley explains how to turn followers into leads by getting them off social media and into your CRM.