Every week brings new platform features, new apps, and new advertising products that promise to get you in front of the right people. And each week, it’s tempting to spend your precious time figuring out which ones are worth your attention.
But once you look past the product announcements and shiny new features, there’s a more useful question at the root of it all. Is it manifested where the intention is actually formed, or only manifested where the transaction occurs?
Home Depot removes shopper data from its website
Orange Apron Media, Home Depot’s retail media network, is integrated with Reddit and Pinterest, allowing advertisers to reach DIY consumers and professionals not only at the time of purchase, but also during the research and inspiration stages. Reddit integration allows advertisers to activate campaigns directly through Home Depot’s self-service portal and target users who are actively asking questions and comparing options in a project-focused community.
Our partnership with Pinterest goes a step further, allowing non-endemic brands that Home Depot doesn’t sell at all to use our shopper data to reach users who are still in the planning stages. Geo-targeted display advertising and a new advertiser certification program round out what will form a more complete offsite advertising ecosystem.
What this means for real estate professionals
The intent is formed before the search bar. People research in community threads and save ideas to mood boards long before they’re ready to act. Participating in these conversations, not just on your listing platform, is a way to reach people early in the process.
Instagram is giving users more say in what they see on Explore
Instagram is expanding its “Your Algorithm” feature from Reels to Explore, allowing users to actively adjust the topics they want to see more or less of, rather than relying entirely on passive signals like watch time and engagement.
The move reinforces Instagram’s ability to operate with one unified recommendation system across multiple surfaces and reflects increasing pressure on the platform to demonstrate user agency, even as AI-driven recommendations become more powerful.
However, in reality, most users do not continue making manual adjustments for long periods of time. Introducing too much manual control tends to reduce engagement, but the algorithm still does most of the work.
What this means for real estate professionals
With Discovery, it’s less about who’s following you and more about how the platform reads your content. Saving, sharing, and a consistent topic focus are more important than follower counts. Build around clear themes so your systems know where to place them.
LinkedIn is testing an AI comparison tool for premium users
LinkedIn is piloting a feature called Crosscheck that allows premium users to submit prompts and receive anonymized responses from multiple AI models side-by-side, including tools from OpenAI and Google, to assess which performs better.
While this feature is useful in itself, its larger role is to position LinkedIn as a central layer in how professionals evaluate AI, rather than having direct access to individual platforms.
It also reflects the reality of AI adoption. In other words, although widespread, productivity gains have been uneven. Crosscheck approaches that gap by seeing AI as something worth evaluating, not just using.
What this means for real estate professionals
The use of AI is no longer a differentiator. By knowing which tools actually improve your workflow and actively testing and comparing them instead of using them by default, you’ll start to see the real benefits.
Powerade bets on storytelling to stand out at World Cup
Sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company, Powerade’s “Power Your Legacy” campaign spans television, social media, in-stadium activations and limited edition products, all centered around one consistent line. In other words, performance is built long before the spotlight shines on you.
Rather than relying solely on high-profile athletes, the campaign pairs up-and-coming stars with everyday players, leaning into a cinematic aesthetic, turning athletes into murals and sculptures, visualizing legacies as something accumulated over time rather than something captured in a moment.
This strategy prioritizes ongoing presence over event-specific spikes and focuses across digital channels, creator partnerships, and live experiences to maintain brand awareness before, during, and after the tournament.
What this means for real estate professionals
Big moments can no longer be marketed by themselves. The brands that stand out are the ones that build a coherent narrative before the spotlight shines on them. For agents, that means documenting the process, preparation, research, and behind-the-scenes, not just the closing. The work is often more relatable and memorable than the result.
Meta is testing a Snapchat-style standalone app
Meta is piloting a new app called Instant. It’s a bare-bones, camera-first experience built around photos that disappear: open, snap, send, complete. It builds off previous Instagram features and closely mirrors what Snapchat has offered over the years, which is no coincidence.
Meta has a long track record of absorbing features that work elsewhere, from Stories to short-form videos, and Instants appears to be aimed at younger users less interested in polished, curated feeds.
The timing is notable as Snapchat’s growth has slowed in some markets, creating vacancies. But Meta’s standalone app efforts have a checkered history, and it’s unclear whether separating the action from Instagram will help it build an audience or whether it will eventually fold back onto the main platform.
What this means for real estate professionals
Not every new feature or app is worth chasing. Platforms are always experimenting, especially when trying to reach younger audiences, but most experiments don’t stick. Focus on where your audience is already active and how they want to engage. Action is more important than form.
TL;DR (too long to read)
Home Depot pushes retail media data to Reddit and Pinterest to reach consumers earlier in the decision-making process. Although Instagram offers more algorithmic control, most users will still rely on passive discovery. LinkedIn is turning AI into something you can test and compare, not just adopt. Powerade focuses on consistent storytelling to stand out in a crowded World Cup. Meta’s Instants app shows that the platform is still chasing younger users, but not all new features are here to stay.
Just because you’re the first to adopt something new doesn’t mean you’ll always be ahead of the curve. What’s often more important is to be clear about where your audience is and what they actually want from you in that moment. Whether it’s a thoughtful presence in community conversations, content that reflects a consistent theme, or the discipline to ignore a shiny new app that hasn’t been built for an audience yet.
None of these require a major overhaul of strategy. It’s usually enough to pay close attention to what’s already working and build on it.
Every week on Trending, digital marketer Jesse Healy takes a deep dive into what’s trending on social media and why it matters to real estate professionals. From viral trends to platform shifts, she analyzes everything to help you understand what’s worth your time and what’s not.
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