Episode 694: 5 Brutal Truths: The Algorithm Doesn’t Hate You - Your Daily Real Estate Podcast with Tristan Ahumada

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Episode Overview

Episode 694: 5 Brutal Truths: The Algorithm Doesn’t Hate You
Host: Tristan Ahumada
Date: October 24, 2025

In this concise, insightful episode, Tristan Ahumada tackles a common frustration among real estate professionals and content creators: the belief that social media algorithms are holding them back. Tristan unpacks what’s really going on when engagement lags, delivering five "brutal truths" about algorithmic growth, consistency, connection, and the real reasons your content may not be thriving. The episode is especially focused on actionable takeaways for real estate agents seeking to grow their presence and trust online.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Algorithm Doesn’t Hate You—It Doesn’t Know You Yet

(00:18)

Tristan sets the tone by reframing algorithm woes: lack of recognition is often due to lack of consistency and rhythm, not bias or dislike by the algorithm.
Key Insight: Building recognition is about showing up the same way, consistently and reliably—think of your personal brand as something your audience needs to “recognize.”
- “People need to know how you show up, and when you show up, they need to be like, oh, that’s Joe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He’s always the guy that’s talking about dogs and pets, and I love Joe.” (01:03)
The real challenge is not consistency for the algorithm’s sake, but to prove to yourself and your audience that you’re reliable.

2. Engagement is Earned, Not Owed

(02:29)

A crucial myth addressed: engagement is not a birthright on platforms, and there’s often no “shadow ban” at play.
Key Insight: Take accountability—subpar content or inconsistent posting leads to low engagement; everyone must experiment and iterate, but must do so with intention.
- “You’re just not owed the views. When your stuff sucks...” (02:38)
Focus on thoughtful replies in comments to build real relationships, as automated responses don’t create true communities.
- “When you leave thoughtful comments, people remember you. That’s how I built Lab Coat Agents from the beginning.” (03:19)
Connection trumps algorithmic boosts: lasting communities are built through genuine interaction.

3. Use Hooks That Sound Human

(04:22)

Tristan advises careful attention to how you open your videos or posts—avoid formulaic or long-winded intros in favor of cut-to-the-chase hooks.
- “Sometimes you’re just introducing yourself too long... None of that’s a hook. They already left.” (04:44)
Key Insight: Experiment to find the "hook" that immediately interests people—sometimes it’s buried 30 seconds or two minutes into your footage.

4. Clarity Beats Complexity

(05:32)

Simplicity is king in all communications; elaborate breakdowns or too many ideas at once only turn audiences away.
- “Nobody wants to go through and understand that whole 20 minute video. That really could have been 90 seconds...” (05:55)
Key Insight: Deliver one clear message at a time. Make complex ideas simple—especially critical for social media posts and captions.
- Example given: News posts are most shared when they make one sharp point, e.g., “Miami is the epicenter of the bubble.” (06:50)
- “One thought at a time, please. One thought at a time. Got it.” (07:14)

5. Build Trust Before Reach

(07:25)

Lamenting the numbers chase, Tristan advocates for nurturing genuine relationships in the comments and behind the scenes before worrying about big reach metrics.
- “The key is also in the comments. Listen, that one person who keeps on commenting, that’s where it all starts, right?” (07:30)
Key Insight: Consistently responding, being transparent about what works and what doesn’t, and sharing honestly is what forms authentic connection and trust.
The social media landscape is now primarily about connections, not just content output or attention-grabbing.
- “We are in a connection world... it’s all about connection. And it’s going to be more about connection because AI is just bombarding us with information, Information overload.” (08:25)
- “The algorithm may reward activity, but humans reward connection. They reward that trust.” (08:50)

Notable Quotes

On Consistency:
“Trust grows when you show up long enough for people to notice, because it takes time.” — Tristan Ahumada (01:55)
On Engagement:
“When you leave thoughtful comments, people remember you... That’s how you build a real community, not just a following.” — Tristan Ahumada (03:17)
On Hooks:
“You’ve got to play around with the hook. What’s more important to the people that are listening to this? What do they want?” — Tristan Ahumada (04:56)
On Clarity:
“Make one point clearly. Don’t try to cram in five lessons into one caption, you’re going to lose people.” — Tristan Ahumada (06:10)
On Connection:
“The algorithm may reward activity, but humans reward connection. They reward that trust. They reward what they feel honesty is, and that needs to come from you.” — Tristan Ahumada (08:50)

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:18 – “The algorithm doesn’t hate you; it doesn’t know you yet”: Consistency and building recognition
02:29 – “Engagement is earned, not owed”: Taking accountability and crafting thoughtful comments
04:22 – “Use hooks that sound human”: Avoiding generic intros, focusing on strong hooks
05:32 – “Clarity beats complexity”: Making messages simple, clear, and impactful
07:25 – “Build trust before reach”: Focusing on real human connection over chasing numbers
08:50 – Conclusion emphasizing relationship-building and trust

Tone and Final Takeaways

Tristan Ahumada’s tone is direct yet encouraging, infused with personal anecdotes and real-world examples. He calls for real estate professionals to drop excuses about algorithms and instead focus on the fundamentals: consistency, authentic engagement, clear messaging, and most of all, genuine human connection.

The ultimate message: In today’s environment—flooded with content and AI—you win not by gaming the algorithm, but by being real, caring, responsive, and clear. The algorithm might reward activity, but people reward trust and humanity.

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[00:00]
A
Let's talk about the five reasons that the algorithm doesn't hate you. And it's just you. I'm Tristan. This is your daily real estate. It's a podcast. It's a show, five minutes, sometimes 10, all about the things you need to be doing for your business and for you to grow into a better real estate agent and probably a better human at the same time. If you're watching this, this is episode 694. If you need these five things, message me on Instagram and I'll send it over to you. Number one, on five reasons the algorithm doesn't hate you. It just doesn't know you yet. I think that's. That's the problem. You're all over the place. And sometimes it's okay to be all over the place, you know, because you're testing things out and you're like, I wonder if this will work. I wonder if this will work. And then you. Number one, you lack consistency. And consistency is the thing that's going to help you build recognition. People need to know how you show up, and when you show up, they need to be like, oh, that's. That's Joe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's always the guy that's talking about dogs and pets, and I love Joe. He's so good. Right? Let me read to you what I wrote here in my notes. It's more about you getting into a rhythm than anything else, right? And that sometimes is the hardest part. The rhythm. Post at the same time every day, even when it feels like no one's watching. And by the way, most of the time, nobody's going to be watching at the beginning. You're not just teaching the algorithm who you are. Here's the key. You're showing your audience that you're reliable. And more importantly, you're getting into a rhythm for yourself. Like, hey, I don't care what time you post at the beginning, because it's not going to matter for you. It's more about, are you showing up at 9am every day? Because now you're creating a habit that you can stick to. That's what it's about. And then you showing up also creates that trust, right? Trust grows when you show up long enough for people to notice, because it takes time. Number two, engagement is earned, not owed. And you see the verbiage on this with people when they're like, tristan, I've been shadow banned. I'm like, no, no, you have not been shadow banned. You're just not owed the views. When your stuff sucks and Sometimes my stuff is terrible and I have to own up to it, right? And sometimes, sometimes you've got to be testing out because it was great content, but maybe you put it at the wrong time. And in some cases, when you have proof that you've been consistent, if you post that at different times, you'll see it grow. And if you had a stronger hook, man, that's what'll do it. So remember the piece at the beginning, though. Engagement is earned. It's not owed. And here, let me read to you what I wrote. Take time to reply with care, not speed. When you leave thoughtful comments, people remember you, Right? And I think that's important because that's how I built Lab Coat agents from the beginning. Now we're at just. The Facebook group alone is 170,000 real estate agents that are engaged. It's all about the comments that you leave because people are watching. How do you treat others? What type of comments do you have? Do you have just automated comments or do you actually go into leaving thoughtful comments? To me, that's important. That's how you build a real community, not just a following. And the algorithm may boost reach, but connection is the thing that keeps it growing. All right, number three, use hooks that sound human, man. This has probably been my biggest struggle, but I may be testing a lot to determine which videos have better hooks. Because in the process of doing whatever, you're doing the hook somewhere in there. And sometimes you're just introducing yourself too long. Hey, I'm Tristan. It's Monday. Happy Monday. Hey, everybody. Just waiting for people to jump on until I start talking. None of that's a hook. They already left. You've got to play around with the hook. What's more important to the people that are that that are listening to this? What do they want? So I would take a look at that video. Chop off the beginning, and maybe the hook is two minutes in, maybe it's 30 seconds in. Now change that and put it at the beginning. All right, number four. Clarity beats complexity, man. I have to, in different conversations that I have with different companies and agents and my organizations, this is something I always have to remind everybody. Like, hey, let's. Let's break it down into something simpler, Please, please. Simple, More simple. It's too complicated. Nobody wants to go through and understand that whole 20 minute video. That really could have been 90 seconds and we all could have gotten as much information from it as possible, right? So clarity beats complexity. Make one point clearly. Don't try to cram in five lessons into one Caption, you're going to lose people. When people understand your message fast, they can engage and then they share it and then they save it. The best example of this, if you want to go to my Instagram, go look at the news posts that I do. I get a few a month that blow up thousands of shares because I do this. I make one point, I make it clearly. I don't try to cram five news articles into one thing. I'm like, hey, this is it right here. Miami is the epicenter of the bubble. That was the last one that blew up. That's what I'm telling you. Anyway. Think about that. Think about, think about it like a text to a client. You don't want to write a book to that client because they're not going to read all of it and then they're going to have problems. One thought at a time, please. One thought at a time. Got it. Let me check the next one. Number five, build trust before reach. This is a hard part for some people to understand because they want to instantly grow. They're like, no, I want to. I'm just going to go out every day and just going to put out a whole bunch of stuff there. But the key is also in the comments. Listen, that one person who keeps on commenting, that's where it all starts, right? I've watched it happen with, with me. I watched it happen with other people, man. When you take care of those people that are commenting and showing up and making them feel special, guess what happens? They show up more. And then that helps the algorithm I put here. Stop chasing numbers. Talk about what you've learned, what's worked and what hasn't. When you're transparent, people connect, connect back with them in the comments, in an email, in, in messages. Social media is all about connection now, right? That's all it is. People are looking for connection. And the more you connect with people individually, whether it's inside of social or on the side, through texting, through messages, that's where social is going. That's where social is. That's what community is. It's all about connection. It used to be about content creation and attention. Listen, that's changed. We are in a connection world that is right now where it's at. It's all about connection. And it's going to be more about connection because AI is just bombarding us with information, Information overload. And I need to connect with people and I need to slow down. The algorithm may reward activity, but humans reward connection. They reward that trust. They reward what they feel honesty is, and that needs to come from you.