What’s the most important trend or strategy you think will shape the future of social media?

It’s got to be original content and being authentic, even if its not polished. That’s what I was thinking even before Bari, Jayde, and Josh supported it as well. Particularly with the rise of AI, having content that feels genuine and real is so key. The content that is working best for us right now is good old fashioned advice delivered by our staff from their own devices, not polished and scripted in a studio. 

Influencer economy will be something that has a big effect on future social strategies. Whether it’s using influencers to promote a product or leaning into them just to create authentic media for you native channels; brands will need other people to sell/promote their products for them. We can no longer toot our own whistle and expect to see an increase in sales and awareness.

But something that’s worth considering is that with all these brands using influencers for promotion, will there be an influencer burnout? Possibly. That’s when the onus will be on the social media manager to ensure the folks you chose to partner with can speak about the product in a way that it resonates with their audience.

I think vulnerability and not being afraid to be show the ‘other side’ of things. So much social media content is so carefully curated and only showing the very glamorous/positive parts of a brand. While you do not want to promote negative things about your brand, some of my favorite brands and creators address issues head or show the “real” side of things. 

We have plateaued with well-polished, overly corporate messaging and there will be a desire to engage with I think there will be a push back to authentic and “raw” content. That, in addition to more localized “micro” influencers will be a large push in the near future. 

I like the focus on the “social” part of “social media” and the reminder that we’re talking to real people who want to hear from authentic voices.

I also like the reminder that you have to not be burnt out in order to post authentically, even if that means scaling back the number of times you post. 

As the panel said be authentic and be real! Stay away from extremely polished content people want to see something they could relate to. Awesome webinar!  

Being authentic and not always having to jump on every trend. I think there is so much pressure from our clients to go ‘viral’ that was try everything just to show them what will actually work for them. 

I think it really is a shift from thinking about long-form first to social first. A lot of brands/agencies don’t put social and paid media first and instead come up with a longer commercial that never gets as many views as you’d like. The shift will be quick, informative stories shot for social (we’re talking 1 shoot with 10-15 different assets/stories). Even if there’s a celeb involved, we should be shooting for a variety of stories from them so we can break them up in different ways to use on all channels. No video should be over 30 seconds and contracts should reflect that so talent is aligned.

This will also allow for better cutdowns that are more thoughtful vs just straight pulling from the main video (losing the story). Pepperidge Farm did this really well with Hannah Wadingham.

Agree with so many above - polished content is going away vs. the rise of lo-fi content and with AI coming into play, it is all about authenticity and transparency and focusing on real people whether that be your team members, customers/fans, etc. Quality (and by that I mean, being REAL) over everything - quantity, trends, algorithm changes.