Brittany Picolo-Ramos, Michael Styles, and Philip Ewbank — three KW New Orleans agents at very different stages of their social media journey — on what it actually takes to build an audience, why authenticity beats production value, and what the shift from “social” to “interest” media means for every agent in this city right now.
The platforms have changed the rules again — and this time, the window for getting ahead is narrow. ChatGPT now indexes MLS data fed directly by Redfin, Realtor.com, and Zillow. The content agents post today is being scraped, indexed, and used to answer buyer and seller questions tomorrow. What you put out there is no longer just marketing. It is becoming your professional record inside the AI gatekeepers your clients are already starting to trust.
At a recent KW New Orleans office session, Principal Lauren Doussan gathered three agents who have been experimenting in the open — posting, failing, pivoting, and finding what actually works — for a candid conversation about content strategy in the era of interest media. The result was one of the most practically useful discussions this office has had about the subject.
The platform landscape has shifted so fundamentally that the word “social” no longer describes what these apps actually do. Understanding the new mechanics is the prerequisite for everything else.
The content I post is I try to just put like little feelers out there. A lot of the questions that I get from people, prospective buyers, prospective sellers, sellers and buyers, what they’re asking me about — so basic first time homebuyer questions that I get from a transaction that I have — and I might already know the answer. So, for example, just off the top of my head, is it too late to keep shopping interest rates once I’m already under contract? Like, that’s a good question, and that’s something that somebody would probably enter into Google, and when they do, that’s something that’s going to be presented to them when they’re scrolling.
— Michael Styles, Agent, KW New Orleans
The single most common excuse for not posting — “I don’t know what to talk about” — dissolves when you realize the content is already happening around you. Every transaction, every neighborhood walk, every event on the calendar is raw material.
Michael described his process plainly: he has two listings in the Bywater, a videographer booked for two to three hours on a Friday, and a short list of what is actually happening in the neighborhood. The Old Navy building under construction nearby became a story. The Crescent City Classic at the end of the month became another. His friend Caleb running a team at the race became an interview opportunity. None of it required a content strategist or a production budget — just the discipline to look at what was already on the schedule.
Brittany’s version of the same principle extends to agents who do not yet have listings in their target area. Her advice: go stand in front of a home that is for sale, say what you love about it, then walk to your favorite café and show people what it actually feels like to live there. Out-of-town buyers are making decisions about neighborhoods they have never walked. That kind of local, personal content fills a real gap.
Gary Vaynerchuk’s instruction to post on at least seven platforms sounds paralyzing until you see how Philip has approached it: build one piece of core content, then let it multiply.
Philip starts with a blog post on Reddit, where he has found the most traction. That blog becomes the script for a video. The video becomes a Substack email. One idea, three formats, one workload. He keeps a monthly content schedule so the blog topics are planned in advance and the rest flows from there. The Edits app on Instagram — which Brittany also endorses as the most approachable tool for anyone who considers themselves technologically challenged — handles the video production side without requiring professional editing skills.
Philip’s second account, History with Phil, is a deliberate experiment in starting fresh. A new account carries no algorithmic baggage, and a first video on a brand-new profile can reach an audience as large as any established creator’s. His format — opening on ancient Roman or Byzantine history and pivoting mid-video to a local listing — is built around his actual personality: dry humor, a genuine love of history, and the belief that good real estate content can also be a little bit strange.
I proudly have never bought a lead listing or a buyer because — and I’m always determinedly myself, whether for good or for bad — and in a relationship market like New Orleans, your authenticity is generally rewarded.
— Michael Styles, Agent, KW New Orleans
Every agent on the panel landed on the same word independently: authenticity. But they mean something more specific than the word usually implies. They mean posts that include your dog. They mean stories that admit when a transaction was difficult. They mean not doing the trending walk-into-the-house video for the fourth time this month.
Brittany pointed to the example that shifted her own thinking: a woman with 300,000 followers whose entire presence is cooking mediocre food in a moo-moo with her hair in a bun, completely unbothered. No professional lighting, no script, no strategy — just an honest version of herself that hundreds of thousands of people find irresistible because she makes them feel less alone. The takeaway Brittany drew from it was direct: get over yourself and get on the internet.
Michael makes the same point through the lens of New Orleans specifically. This is a city that runs on relationships, and people following a real estate agent want to know whether that agent is someone they can get along with outside of a transaction. His story feed includes his dog, a kickball game, the time his car got broken into — presented with enough self-awareness to make it funny. The goal is not relatability as a tactic. It is just being a real person, which turns out to be the tactic.
As AI gets bigger and all of that — like you were saying — authenticity is going to be huge. People are going to want to know who you are. And I think … people want to connect. They want to feel like they are seen. They want to feel like somebody else actually cares about what they’re going through. And they want to actually know you.
— Brittany Picolo-Ramos, Agent, KW New Orleans
The session ended where most content conversations begin: the paralysis of getting started. All three agents pushed back on perfectionism in identical terms. Good is better than great. Make it, get it out there. Nobody is rewatching your video to critique your lighting.
Philip’s practical framework for the overwhelmed agent: sit in your car, film three videos back to back, save them, and drip them out one per day. Instagram’s Edits app makes the editing fast enough that production quality is no longer an excuse. When you do hit on something — a post that goes unexpectedly wide — the algorithm is telling you something about your audience. Lean into it, unless you actively do not want to be known for that thing.
Lauren Doussan framed the urgency in terms that reached back to the office’s larger argument about technology adoption: the agents who figured out websites in 1999 built durable advantages. The agents building their content presence now, while AI is still in its infrastructure phase and organic reach is still largely free, are in the same position. The window is open. It will not stay open at the same cost.
Brittany, Michael, and Philip each arrived at the same conclusion from three different directions: the agents who will win in the AI-mediated, interest-algorithm era are the ones who have built a documented public presence — not polished, not expensive, but consistent and real. ChatGPT is already indexing MLS data from the major portals, and it will answer your clients’ questions by surfacing the agents whose content has established topical authority. The Bywater walkthrough, the first-time buyer FAQ video, the cross-collaboration with your lender — all of it is feeding a professional record that AI will use to recommend you, or not. Post more. Post everywhere. Post as yourself. The cost of starting today is one video filmed in a parked car.
About this series. KW New Orleans hosts regular conversations with the people shaping how real estate gets done in this city — agents, operators, and leaders working at the edge of what’s changing. These are the conversations that happen in the rooms most people don’t get invited into.
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