Sew Far, Sew Good For Threads: The Download

Each week on The Download, Inman’s Christy Murdock takes a deeper look at the top-read stories of the week to give you what you’ll need to meet Monday head-on. This week: Have you signed up for Threads yet?

Some people are proudly offline, choosing to ignore social media as much as possible and frequently decrying its effect on the individual and society. And then there are real estate agents.

All kidding aside, for most real estate professionals, social media is a must. Whether it’s a standalone strategy for lead generation or simply a way of distributing other content like a blog, podcast or YouTube video, most agents are on social media specifically for their business, according to NAR:

And now, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, here’s a whole new social media platform to master: Threads. It’s enjoying quick adoption, so it’s poised to provide a viable alternative to the little blue bird. We want to make sure you’re ready to jump on board this sure-to-be-big trend, so Jessi Healey, Inman’s resident social media maven, broke it all down for you this week.

At a time when Twitter has come under controversy, Threads seems to be the new place to tweet, or perhaps thread? It’s a new app from Meta that strategically offers a very similar use case to Twitter.

No matter how anyone might feel about Twitter, or the dangers of big tech, anyone who is marketing services or products should stop and take some time to get to know any new platform — especially when it’s the fastest-growing app in history.

Social media expert Jessi Healey walks you through Threads, guiding you as you familiarize yourself with it and determine whether or not it’s right for you and your business. Even if you ultimately decide not to hang around, she says it’s probably a good idea to go ahead and grab your name and your brand name, just in case.

Not sure whether you’ve got the bandwidth to go all-in on a new social media presence? Never fear. We’ve got plenty of ideas for making your current social media marketing more effective — and we’ll even let you off the hook completely if you just don’t want to learn about Threads.

How to master hashtags, amplify your social media engagement

Social media marketing is constantly changing and advancing — the intelligent use of hashtags and location tags has emerged as an indispensable strategy for enhancing engagement and amplifying online presence. Nevertheless, the art and science of deploying these tools effectively necessitate a certain level of mastery.

If you feel that you’ve never quite gotten the hang of hashtags, Laura Viñalet is here to guide you.

3 rules for prospecting with the power of Instagram

Imagine having three to five bullet points of details about each person you are about to call or visit with. Details such as things they enjoy doing in their time outside work, the sports their kids play, or their favorite little coffee shop in town. How much different would that interaction be?

That is the magic sauce that Instagram allows us to capture, Michelle Berman-Mikel writes. Here’s how to make sure that you are taking advantage of the opportunity to prospect on Instagram.

7 educational posts that belong in your social media rotation

Social media is a valuable tool for real estate agents — it allows you to showcase listings to potential buyers, highlight sales and successes to potential clients, and share your personality with those who might be considering working with you. A well-planned and executed social media content strategy should be a part of every agent’s marketing plan, luxury marketing expert Laura Stace writes.

When creating your content plan, be sure to include posts highlighting your knowledge by educating the audience on your field of expertise. Here Stace shares seven ideas for educational content for social media.

EXTRA: How Brad McCallum created a winning YouTube marketing plan

I’m not using Threads, and you don’t have to either 

“Yes, you can ignore Threads, and you will stay in business,” Inman contributor Teresa Boardman writes of Meta’s latest social media offering. “If you are on the fence, I am writing this for you.” If you simply can’t face the time and energy it takes to master a new platform, you’ll feel better after reading Boardman’s take.

EXTRA: Threads: First impressions of summer’s hottest social network