My Thoughts on State of Social Media 2026: Sprout Social Pulse Recap
Are you prepared to lead your creator marketing and social media strategy as we wrap up the first quarter of 2026, or do you feel like you’re re-visiting outdated tactics that may have worked in 2024? Whatever your answer is, you’re in luck because the latest Sprout Social pulse survey signals a major shift in how brands connect with their audiences on social. As the most popular social media platforms continue to find ways to keep users entertained and engaged, marketing leaders are now favoring hyper-personalized, search-optimized experiences rather than chasing broad reach.
Before diving into the findings, I want to reflect on how today’s shifts align with evolving social strategy. This blog post will distill key highlights from Sprout Social’s “The State of Social Media in 2026,” focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI), social search, and strategies for business impact. Whether you lead a team or are looking to bring new thinking to your organization, these trends can help improve your efforts.
The AI Mandate: Efficiency Over Volume
Artificial Intelligence is not just a trend of the month or year; it has become an essential tool for marketers and is empowering high-performing teams. And I can speak to the capabilities of AI tools like Gemini or Jasper, take a look at the content lessons I uncovered from winning my agency’s AI Hackathon. And yet social media habits are shifting worldwide, with people spending less time on social media than before, disengaging from doom-scrolling and viewing organic content and paid ads with skepticism.
And according to Sprout Social data, 76% of consumers say they’d buy from a brand they feel connected to over a competitor, and 57% say they are more likely to increase how much they spend with a brand when they feel connected. And the best way to do that is to prioritize developing content that is efficient at driving audiences to take an action. So what do brands need to do to prepare for the year ahead? Check out Sprout Social’s three-pronged strategy:
Workflow Integration: Brands use AI for 80% of research and initial drafting, reserving the final 20% for human-driven emotional nuance. (AI is changing UK marketing, but creativity still leads, 2025)
Predictive Analytics: Marketers are leveraging Artificial Intelligence and LLMs to forecast campaign performance before a single piece of content goes live.
Scaling Personalization: Brands use AI tools to generate platform-specific asset variations, ensuring messages reach the right audience efficiently. (SocialMediaToday)
ROI and the Accountability Crisis
In 2026, there is immense pressure to demonstrate the value of social media spend and showcase ROAS. Sprout Social data shows that “vanity metrics” such as likes and follows are being replaced by bottom-line indicators. And there’s been a push to move beyond vanity metrics like followers gained or impressions garnered. If you’re looking to set future benchmarks for your client or organization, consider the following key performance indicators (KPIs):
Conversion Tracking: Integrating social commerce tools, such as TikTok Shop, is now mandatory for retail brands and organizations that rely on D2C
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): Social media teams now see the need to focus on how engagement drives long-term retention rather than on individual sales alone. It takes multiple touchpoints to get a consumer to take an action, and the same applies to social media.
Attribution Modeling: Advanced marketers are finding ways to connect social media touchpoints to final purchases. Using tools like UTMs to directly attribute which social media posts are driving the most web traffic and sales.
The Social Search Revolution
Diving deeper into Sprout Social’s blog, one key trend that I’m excited about is that an emphasis on social search continues to grow. According to Phable data, nearly half of consumers now use social platforms as their main discovery tools, skipping traditional search engines like Google or Bing. And marketers are taking note, with data from CoSchedule indicating that 89% of surveyed marketers are optimizing for AI-Driven search functions.
As social media seeks to cement its role as a primary tool for discovery and decision-making, the implications for brands and marketers are clear: meeting consumers where they are means prioritizing social media not just for content distribution but also for relationship-building and customer care. So how can your organization or team optimize for discoverability? Here are a few considerations:
Keyword-Rich Captions: Make sure that your post copy on platforms like Instagram and TikTok leverages keywords to improve search visibility.
Vertical Video SEO: Beyond accessibility, adding on-screen text and closed captions can help support algorithmic indexing. This was once considered best practice for accessibility, but it’s essential for any organization that wants to ensure its social media content is discoverable.
Answer-Based Content: Brands focusing on creating content that addresses frequently asked questions are seeing increased non-follower reach. This indicates that people are finding content from pages or brands they aren’t normally following because the algorithm suggests it’s providing information or education on a specific topic.
Focus on intent by shifting your content goals from "going viral" to "being useful” through search-first content. Leverage AI to help scale your efforts on social media and empower your team to focus on building community online. Ensure your social media goals align with the organization’s KPIs to demonstrate the effectiveness of social media in achieving those goals.
Thanks again for spending time reading this latest update! If interested, you can check out more of my writing here.
Beyond the Hype: 3 Content Lessons from Winning an AI Hackathon
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2025 is ‘Slop,’ the A.I.-generated content that fills our social media feeds and is nothing but junk. And yet, agencies and brands are evaluating ways to incorporate artificial intelligence into their workstreams. As marketing leaders in the advertising industry, we want to make sure we’re leading those conversations for our clients, not following them. As the Integrated Solutions department, we set out to host an AI Hackathon to identify potential use cases for incorporating our AI systems into our work.
At the outset of our internal AI Hackathon, my team discussed whether tools like Gemini and Jasper could help alleviate a major pain point in influencer marketing: the "identification bottleneck." In highly regulated sectors like Cybersecurity and Financial Services, we aren't looking for "influencers" in the traditional lifestyle sense; we are looking for subject-matter experts (SMEs) with the technical "chops" and verified credentials who can authentically speak about a product or service.
Winning the hackathon required more than technical skill when it comes to crafting the ideal prompt; it called for using AI to solve the "Needle in a Haystack" problem in finding the ideal creator with an authoritative voice, whose audience primarily resided across niche social media platforms like Mastodon, Discord, and specialized Substacks.
Most agencies use a hybrid approach, switching between different software tools like a Popular Pays, Tagger, or Influential, and conducting manual searches on the Internet and social media. This fragmentation slows down influencer marketing professionals and can lead to inefficiencies. For example, an influencer’s audience data lives in one place, their contact info in another, and content vetting happens in the feed.
As a team, we acknowledged that influencer marketing for Highwire’s clients, specifically those in cybersecurity and financial services, is fundamentally different from selling lifestyle products. We aren't looking for 'Influencers' in the traditional sense. We are looking for Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). In these industries, a high follower count doesn't matter if the person doesn't have the technical chops to back it up.
Here are the key lessons I believe our team uncovered from this AI Hackathon:
1. Prompt Precision is the New Vetting Tool
A key insight from the hackathon was that the quality of output for expert identification depends on treating prompts as you would a standard creative brief. In highly-regulated industries, the "risk factor" is massive; recommending that our clients partner with a former analyst-turned-creator who you later find out left their role under bad circumstances is a brand nightmare. To improve the results of our prompts, we, as a team, moved away from broad requests and used specific persona constraints. An example of that would look like:
Persona: "You are an influencer marketing professional who works at an advertising agency which specializes in B2B organizations with a strong focus in cybersecurity."
Context: "Find influential voices and experts who are considered influencers that have a track record of creating sponsored content for cybersecurity decision makers.”
Constraint: "Exclude 'finfluencers' who focus on lifestyle; prioritize those shaping high-level technical conversations on LinkedIn and X."
2. Gemini vs. Jasper: Casting the "Wide Net."
As an agency, we have access to the enterprise versions of two AI-powered tools, Google’s Gemini and Jasper. This investment level grants us additional capabilities and, most importantly, keeps our clients’ proprietary information secure and prevents any outputs from our prompts from being accessible to everyday users. This removes a major concern for our clients who are hesitant about sensitive proprietary information being accessed by competitors or market analysts.
As an agency, we recognized that Jasper and Gemini serve distinct functions when ideating on how best to navigate a currently fragmented tool stack. This is exactly where we saw the opportunity; we needed a way to streamline these workflows. And the key thing to note is that our submission did not involve using AI to replace the human element, but rather to speed up the initial casting of a 'wide net.’ Helping us identify potential recommendations that empower us to scale our efforts and ensure we’re finding the right creators for our clients. So what does that look like in practice?
Gemini for Discovery: Gemini excels at analyzing real-time data to find experts who are sometimes "invisible" to the most popular influencer discovery tools. During our tests with the varying prompts, Gemini successfully identified two creators that our teams had previously identified through hours of manual research.
Jasper for Alignment: We found that Jasper is more effective at ensuring there’s alignment between our client’s brand voice and the creators when evaluating said content against the “always on” content we create on behalf of our clients.
3. The "Human-in-the-Loop" as a Risk Mitigator
For many advertising and influencer marketing professionals, teams are facing a massive identification bottleneck. And that's why it was the crux of our build for the AI Hackathon. The reality of agency life is that we rarely get cookie-cutter requests for any social media or influencer marketing work. And on top of that, we often deal with timelines focused on major tentpole events, like a conference or a product launch.
One day, we’re looking for a cybersecurity analyst, the next it’s someone who can authentically speak about financial education. And because no two campaigns are the same, we can’t just rely on a static database of influencers we’ve researched in the past. We are effectively starting our influencer discovery efforts from scratch every time.
And I believe our submission was a success because we demonstrated that using AI to handle the initial "wide net" phase allowed our team to focus on the high-stakes verification process. While AI can quickly identify potential candidates for an influencer activation, it cannot verify whether or not a creator is the right brand fit. By letting AI handle the bulk of the identification, our team could scale our efforts without sacrificing the deep vetting required for brand safety and impactful results.
Based on my learnings, here are some things to consider as you look to implement AI into your workflows:
The 80/20 Rule: Let AI handle 80% of the initial expert identification and "wide net" research, but keep 20% of the effort focused on human credential verification.
Data Validity: Always fact-check credentials surfaced by Gemini. While it can find the "needle," it can hallucinate technical details when prompts lack precision.
Platform Diversity: Move beyond Instagram/TikTok; use AI to scan professional, gated platforms where SMEs actually reside.
Thanks again for spending time reading this latest update! If interested, you can check out more of my writing here.
What’s Top of Mind for Advertisers and Marketers For Social Media in 2026
Unlock breakthrough growth in 2026 by making social the linchpin of a connected digital ecosystem—a dual-track strategy where community-driven engagement meets high-performance advertising.
Traditional social media best practices, such as frequent posting and relying on algorithms (automated systems that determine which posts users see), have been replaced by a more advanced, dual-track approach. I have observed that successful brands on social media are not simply using new tools, such as AI’s ability to create image and video assets (e.g., photos and short videos). They are building comprehensive digital ecosystems (interconnected digital platforms and tools) and ensuring that social media plays a critical role in them.
As we enter 2026, our clients are asking us to help achieve results that require a fine balance between organic social, Search Engine Optimization, and paid social performance. All while looking to cultivate trust and drive intent in a scalable manner.
Organic Social: From Feeds to "Communities of Intent."
In 2026, public feeds on Instagram and TikTok are strictly for discovery. Community spaces now dominate conversions. Brands prioritize small, high-intent groups over follower count. Hootsuite’s 2026 trends data shows the 'micro-drama' trend: short-form, serialized video content similar to telenovelas. It's human storytelling that draws users back to the ongoing story, not just the product.
As for social media best practices, brands have an opportunity to evolve from content that feels like a generic corporate update to content featuring employee advocates. If your brand is launching a new product, get the product team or developer share why its release is a big deal. Gartner research shows that audiences trust individual experts and employees more than brand logos.
The Rise of Search Everywhere Optimization (SEO 2.0)
The most significant change in best practices this year is the fragmentation of search. Search in 2026 is now a constellation, not a single sun: users search for answers across multiple platforms, each with its own algorithms and discovery methods. Between algorithm changes across the most popular social media platforms and brands and publishers adjusting their strategies to ensure their content shows up as LLMs scrape the web, optimization now goes beyond Google to include discovery on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
According to Sprout Social’s 2026 demographics report, 41% of Gen Z now turn to social media first when looking for information, overtaking traditional search engines. What does this bean do for agencies looking to support their clients on social media?
For organic social, treat your post copy and captions as meta-tags. Use keyword-rich, conversational language that addresses specific questions, such as "how to scale B2B social" rather than "our new services." Hashtags still serve a purpose, but you can now "move" some of your hashtags to your post copy. To clarify how this works in practice, here is a quick before-and-after comparison:
Bland caption: "Check out our new features. #B2B #socialmedia"
Transformed caption: "Looking for ways to scale B2B social? Discover proven strategies and the latest tools for effective growth."
This simple shift turns a generic update into a targeted, discoverable post that resonates with users' real questions.
For paid social media, explore using search-intent ads on platforms TikTok and Pinterest. These ads have a 32% higher click-through rate than standard feed ads. In practical terms, brands reported paying an average CPC of $1.05 for search-intent ads, compared to $1.20 for standard feed ads—resulting in both a higher engagement rate and a reduction in cost per click. They work because they reach users looking for specific solutions in that moment.
Advertising: Precision Over Proximity
In 2026, advertising and marketing leaders are being pressured to once again do more with less and focus on efficiency. Social media remains a major part of the overall marketing mix, with global social ad spend projected to reach $219 billion. Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are investing resources in a channel that enables greater precision in targeting to maintain a healthy Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC, the average expense to acquire a new customer).
On social media, more shoppable ad formats are being used across industries, with data from NewMedia showing that advertisers are seeing an average ROI of $5.20 per $1 spent when using "shoppable" ad units.
And with AI overviews and in-app shopping, ads must convert directly on the platform, leaning into the zero-click environment and avoiding the need for users to visit slow-loading landing pages. According to data from Portent, slower-loading landing pages can result in a 40% loss of potential conversions.
The "Human-Made" Differentiator
Even as AI advances, a brand’s top asset is its human touch. While 83% of marketers use AI for scale, the best brands use it for tasks such as data analysis, publishing timing, and copy iteration. Front-end efforts like having real people on screen as talent, real community managers responding to users comments and questions, and genuine voice-overs still depend on human leadership making the right decisions.
For example, one global campaign for a lifestyle brand saw engagement plummet after automated replies failed to address a customer’s emotional concerns. It was only when a community manager stepped in with personalized follow-up and empathy that the situation turned around, resulting in a surge of positive comments and shares. Real connection, not automation, became the brand’s differentiator.
Key Takeaways
Audit for Search: 10-Minute Mini-Audit for Quick Wins,
Treat TikTok and Instagram profiles as mini-websites. Before posting your next piece of content, run through this three-step checklist:
Is your username and display name searchable? Choose simple names that match your brand and common search terms.
Does your bio clearly state what you offer and include relevant keywords? Make it obvious to a new visitor what you do and why they should follow.
Are your highlights, pinned posts, or link-in-bio organized and up-to-date? Make it easy for users to find your most important offers or resources in one click.
If you can answer yes to all three, your profile is optimized for discoverability and ready for 2026 social search habits.
Balance Your Budget: Use organic content to engage your current audience and paid ads to reach new, targeted groups.
Prioritize Video: Short-form video content continues to deliver 35% higher engagement than static posts, but it should appear authentic and unpolished. (Team, 2025)
Measure revenue, not vanity. In 2026, link every social campaign to a business goal like sales, leads, or lifetime value. If not, it isn't a justified investment.
Part 2 of The Power of Presence: Driving Authentic and Inclusive Storytelling
Contributors: Zachary Walker, Highwire; Fermina Phillips, OACC
Be sure to check out Part 1 of this interview with Fermina Phillips of OACC here.
Part 2
Brands today don’t just communicate; they connect and engage. However, participation without authenticity and cultural fluency is a recipe for falling flat. As the call for authentic inclusivity grows louder, savvy leaders are moving beyond performative gestures, embracing practices that embed inclusivity into the core of their businesses. This shift not only strengthens their workforce, but also paves the way for meaningful and sustainable growth.
This is the second part of the co-authored and is the latest contribution to our ongoing digital dialogue with Highwire’s community partner, the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC). It highlights the power of candid discussion and collective learning. Fermina Phillips, OACC board member & branding marketing advisor, joins forces with Zachary Walker, Highwire’s VP of Social Media, to share invaluable strategies and insights rooted in cultural fluency and inclusive communication. Together, they explore the art of inclusive storytelling, offering communications and creative leaders practical guidance on striking the right tone while building meaningful connections.
3. What challenges do communications and creative leaders often face when trying to strike the right tone, and how can they navigate those moments thoughtfully?
Fermina: Crafting communications for multiple audiences is a common challenge. We strive to create messages that resonate with AANHPI community members by using specific, authentic language, while simultaneously providing clear context and background to the broader public audience.
To navigate this, our brand voice acts as our compass: communication must be warm, inclusive, and empowering. By maintaining a tone that is always approachable, celebratory, and educational, we foster connection and inspire curiosity, ensuring our message invites people of all backgrounds into the conversation.
By balancing cultural fluency with broad accessibility, OACC aims to inspire a sense of belonging within its community.
Zachary: The primary challenge is the gap between speed and effectiveness, especially in high-stakes environments. What's that saying about the golden rule? “Things can be Fast, Cheap, or Good, pick two.” The same can be said for anything creative.
On social media, where trends can often appear seemingly out of thin air, there's pressure to participate immediately (e.g. the viral sensation sparked by TikTok creator Jools Lebron, who championed the virtues of being “demure” and “modest”). But, when it comes to connecting with diverse audiences, there's a greater risk of misinterpreting cultural nuances. As partners to our clients, it's crucial to balance this speed with the precision of our overall message, ensuring we communicate their brand narrative thoughtfully and effectively.
Beyond speed, another major challenge, particularly in the agency world, is representation behind the curtain. While I am proud to be a marketing leader of color, representation gaps persist in our industry. Organizations like the ANA consistently share reports illustrating that people of color are underrepresented in leadership and creative roles within advertising and marketing agencies. If the teams creating the work aren't diverse, they will inevitably face blind spots. This underlines the importance of diverse representation in creative roles, making our audience feel enlightened and aware of the need for change.
4. Looking ahead, what advice would you give to marketing and communications professionals who want to authentically embed inclusivity into their everyday practice — not just campaigns?
Fermina: Based on my experience at OACC, here are a few ideas to use to authentically embed inclusivity into communication in everyday practice:
Community-Led Creation: For cultural storytelling, position your organization as an amplifier, not the author. Ensure the narratives, language, and tone are developed by the people whose culture or experience is being featured. This transfers ownership of the story and ensures immediate authenticity.
Address Multiple Audiences: When crafting a message, actively consider the needs of both the cultural insider, who needs authenticity, and the broader public, who needs context and clarity. Successfully balancing these demands ensures your message is both respectful and accessible.
Acknowledge Intersections: Recognize that no individual is defined by a single category. People hold multiple identities (e.g., a Filipino woman who is also an artist and a mother). Your communications should reflect these intersecting identities to represent the full, nuanced humanity of your community.
Zachary: Authenticity is built through consistent action, not occasional campaigns. It's not a switch that can be turned on when an ask comes to deliver a narrative that will resonate with a diverse audience.
My advice is rooted in leadership and eternal curiosity.
First: treat diversity as a strategic capability by embedding cultural fluency requirements across every aspect of the organization, from every brief to every KPI established and every hiring decision. This means going beyond the action of hiring diverse talent to ensure that every team member is equipped with the cultural knowledge and sensitivity needed to effectively communicate with — and understand — diverse audiences. The recognition that diverse perspectives are an agency's competitive edge is a must-have, not a nice to have.
Second: workforce diversity is positively associated with higher business performance outcome measures. Racial diversity is positively associated with higher performance in organizations that integrate and leverage diverse perspectives as resources for product delivery. And gender diversity is positively associated with more effective group processes and performance in organizations with people-oriented performance cultures.
But here's the critical point: we must move beyond checking the boxes of race and gender. True diversity requires us to center and amplify its more nuanced dimensions: socioeconomic background, neurodiversity, lived experience, generational perspective, and cultural fluency, to name a few.
For example, two individuals may share the same racial identity but bring vastly different insights based on whether they grew up in an urban or rural environment, or whether they're first-generation Americans or lifelong citizens. Similarly, a neurodiverse team member may approach problem-solving in ways that unlock creative breakthroughs that others might miss.
And lastly: I will forever be a student of culture. As a lifelong learner, I know that my job as a marketer isn't static. Therefore, I prioritize setting time aside each week to continue learning about social media platforms as well as the niche communities within them.
Something that's helped me in my professional career and something that I discovered thanks to a former boss of mine is exploring Driscoll's "What Model?" developed by John Driscoll in the mid-1990s. To ensure you are constantly learning and adapting, ask yourself the following:
"What?": What is the cultural trend or insight that we've uncovered?
"So what?": Why is it essential, or how does it affect your target audience?
"Now what?”: What action should you take based on this insight? Your growth as a marketing leader is directly tied to your willingness to evolve with the culture you seek to influence.
This "What? So what? Now what?" model is more than just a professional tool for me; it’s a personal mindset. It’s the framework I use to hold myself accountable as a leader and a lifelong learner.
Final Thoughts:
The future of marketing and communications will be defined by those who lead with genuine cultural fluency — those who see, value, and embed the full spectrum of lived experience into their work. By treating inclusivity as a core capability, and curiosity as our most valuable asset, we can create work that doesn't just resonate, but truly matters. We hope these insights provide a clear path for all of us to move beyond performative gestures and build the authentic, resonant, and truly inclusive work our industry and communities need.
About Our Contributors:
As a person of color and marketing leader, Zachary is thrilled to share his unique perspective on leveraging social data and personal experience to build truly equitable and effective communications. Zach’s success leading the social media strategies of iconic brands like Oscar Mayer, Kool-Aid, and Chamberlain has afforded him the opportunity to speak at several business and networking events over the years, including Social Media Week, the SocialRock Conference, multiple virtual panels, and marketing–related podcasts.
Fermina is passionate about brands, people, and products who lead marketing with innovation and social conscience. As a member of the APIA community, she seeks to contribute to cultures that foster diversity, open communication and respect.
Tips for Developing a Winning Social Media Program
Strategy is a choice, not a chore.
Everyone has a "social media strategy" until the first quarterly business review hits, and the numbers are’t going "up and to the right." And while the easy answer is to say that the content published in the previous quarter was not good or engaging, there’s an underlying reason as to why. Typical business leaders often treat social media like a megaphone, but the winners treat it like a laboratory.
To help my clients cut through the noise, we don't start with questions like "What should we post?" Instead, start by evaluating how your organization stands up to five core elements and dive deeper into some topics that might help you evolve your current social media strategy.
If you or your client can't answer these with data-backed confidence, you don't have a social media strategy; you're just casually creating content and hoping for success. So where do we start?
The Five Core Elements
Audience: What do we know about our target audience? Where are they actually spending time online? If your target audience is Gen Z, you likely need to focus your efforts on Instagram and TikTok. If you're a B2B Enterprise organization whose target audience is senior decision makers, you're likely creating content that will resonate with a more professional audience on LinkedIn.
Content: What is the purpose of the social media content we're creating? What is the "value exchange" your brand or organization is offering? Why should your target audience stop scrolling? Hint: It's usually by educating, entertaining, or informing your audience.
Goals: What is your actual goal for using social media, and how does it tie back to the actual business outcomes of your organization? A good example would be to generate "3,500 monthly web visitors and 75 qualified leads," not just "add more followers."
Measurement: What does success look like for your organization? Or more directly, how do you prove that your efforts are having a noticeable impact? Success should be tied to your overall business goals and can look like referral traffic, lead attribution, and Share of Voice through Social Listening.
Resources: How do you plan to allocate your available resources to creating said content? If resources are strapped, identify ways to extend the life of a piece of creative or content so that it can be repurposed across channels.
Stop Guessing: Conduct an Audience & Competitor Audit
Now that you've spent a little time thinking about those 5 elements, here's a staggering reality: 56% of marketers do not conduct formal research to understand their target audience. Which means they are throwing darts in a dark room, hoping to hit the target.
Understanding your audience and how they are active on social media is the only way to unlock consistent engagement. What does that look like in practice?
Audit the Competition: You don't need to copy them, but you do need to see where they are succeeding and falling short on social media. Identify the gaps. If your top competitors are ignoring video content, that is the "green space" your brand has an opportunity to play in.
The Multi-Platform Reality: The latest data showthat the average social media user now cycles through 6.7 social platforms per month. Your brand doesn't need to be on all of them; you need to be on the right ones with a tailored approach for each. Don't try to cut corners by posting the exact same content across channels.
The Content Powerhouse: Short-Form is King
Speaking of video content, the data is in, and it's a landslide. Sprout Social data shows that short-form video content is 2.5x more engaging than long-form content. In 2026, if video content isn't at the center of your "Content Mix," you're trying to cook with one hand tied behind your back.
There is no "one-size fits all" content mix. Still, a good starting point should be content that is educational (e.g., How-tos, industry and proprietary insights), community-focused (e.g., create two conversations within your content, ask questions), and culturally relevant (e.g., Humanize your brand, lean into trending content themes).
The "Monitor & Pivot" Loop
Last and not least, we have to talk about data and performance. Social media is evolving faster than ever. And what worked in Q1 might be irrelevant by Q3.
So look to establish KPIs and move past vanity metrics like followers gained, and look at more impactful metrics like Click-Through Rate (CTR), Landing Page Views (LPV), and Conversion Rate. And keep your team agile by setting a regular monthly sync, reviewing data to see how your content is performing, and leaning in double on what's working and ruthlessly cutting what isn't. And if you work with a creative team or even have a more design-oriented team member, try to determine why content performed above benchmarks through a qualitative lens.
The Bottom Line
Developing a winning social program isn't about being everywhere; it's about being intentional somewhere. It's a marathon of consistency backed by the sprint of real-time data.
The Power of Presence: Driving Authentic and Inclusive Storytelling
Contributors: Zachary Walker, Highwire; Fermina Phillips, OACC
Part 1
1. When you think about inclusive storytelling, what does “community first” mean to you, and how does it shape the way you approach communications?
Fermina: At the OACC, "community first" means our storytelling originates from the community. It’s a commitment to prioritize and amplify the authentic voices, needs, and diverse perspectives of the people we serve — viewing our artists, cultural practitioners, and audiences as one interconnected community.
This approach is the foundation of our programming and communications strategy. Instead of leading with our organization's brand, we lead with the community's stories. When we invite performers and presenters to participate in programs or exhibitions we do not make suggestions or edits. We want the artists to lead the process, so there is authenticity in what they present.
For example, our communication for the Oakland Ilokana film premiere centered on the power of preserving a Filipina grandmother's oral history. When promoting our annual Lunar New Year x Black History Month event, our messaging highlights the artists and traditions that embody Asian and African-American solidarity.
Zachary: To me, "community first" is the strategic anchor that shifts communication from broadcasting to belonging. This shift is not just a change in strategy, but a new way of understanding audiences in an ever-changing digital world. It's recognizing that the people you're trying to reach aren't just consumers; they're individuals who are exposed to influential voices and culture-makers daily. As marketers, our job is to help our clients get their message to resonate through the noise. This approach not only fosters a sense of belonging but also inspires and motivates the audience to take action. And, as we know from consumers, America's population is becoming increasingly multicultural, reflecting a growing trend toward greater diversity and cultural pluralism. In fact, this recent Forbes article reported that "only 26% of African-Americans, 10% of Hispanics and 3% of Asians feel represented in advertising."
Part of this may be because recent data suggests that 85.4% of the ad industry comprises White advertising professionals, many of whom appear to be simply reflecting their own experiences and subconscious biases in the campaigns they create. This approach is problematic, as it often overlooks the diverse perspectives and lived experiences necessary to create truly inclusive campaigns.
Consumers form deeper connections with brands when they feel seen and understood through advertising. Conversely, when consumers feel consistently excluded, underrepresented, or misrepresented, it breeds negative sentiment toward a brand. This emotional response directly impacts brand loyalty and purchasing decisions, making authentic representation not just a moral imperative but a business necessity.
In my work at Highwire, and across our clients in various industries, this means our strategies are built on listening to our target audiences first, so we can craft messages that connect with them. We treat the most popular social platforms not just as distribution channels, but as real-time research labs. This is essential, because consumers are primarily using social media platforms to form and share opinions, which means brands must meet them there with respect and nuance.
This audience-first? approach ensures that our clients' campaigns don't just speak to a community; indeed; they are truly of that community, driving genuine engagement and brand affinity. Conversations are a two-way street, so as much as we want our target audience to hear our narrative, we have to be willing to listen to what they have to say.
2. In your work with OACC/Highwire, what are some concrete practices you use to ensure cultural fluency and authenticity in storytelling?
Fermina: To ensure cultural fluency and authenticity, our practice relies on two core principles: artist-led creation and prioritizing native terminology.
At OACC, we view our role as one of amplification, not authorship. This means all OACC storytelling is developed by the featured artists and cultural practitioners themselves, which serves to uplift a wide range of authentic AANHPI voices. For example, when planning our Hawaiian Arts and Culture Day, Native Hawaiian artists developed the entire program content. We then ensured all our communications — from social media to press releases — used accurate Hawaiian language to describe the programs shared.
Using the correct, specific native terminology is a fundamental sign of respect and the cornerstone of authentic communication. This collaborative process ensures the narrative always originates directly from the community.
Zachary: At Highwire, the fiercely distinct approach that has helped our clients is structural and data-driven–ensuring authenticity isn't left to chance. We typically rely on three core practices. This emphasis on data-driven practices reassures our clients and audience that our storytelling is not just authentic, but also effective and impactful:
Audience-Specific, Platform Strategy: Authenticity on LinkedIn differs from that of TikTok. Our clients are often industry innovators. We adopt an 'educate, entertain, and/or inform' approach, defining a platform-native POV (Point of View) for each social media platform. More strategically, we recognize that inclusive storytelling is a revenue driver. An ANA/AIMM study of over 1,000 brands found that brands with substantial diversity in their advertising see a 45% increase in brand trust among diverse audiences, which translates directly into performance and ROI.
Insight-Driven Hypotheses and Storytelling: As a member of our agency’s Integrated Solutions team, I’m excited to work closely with our Insights and Analytics department to prioritize grounding every idea in a verifiable cultural insight rather than just a broad demographic target. This involves translating conversations gathered through social listening into a compelling narrative that will resonate in the short time we have their attention. For instance, utilizing vocabulary that's popular among Gen Z consumers (i.e. “No cap” or “bussin” to express excitement about a new product). We used this 'nugget' to create a campaign that resonates with this audience. The key is to uncover the 'nuggets,' or insightful trends, and turn that story into digestible, actionable content for our clients.
Diverse Creator Ecosystems and Governance: Authenticity must be delivered by authentic voices. Our influencer marketing practice helps clients who are actively looking to build relationships with creators who authentically represent their communities. This means not just finding influencers with large followings, but those who truly embody the values and culture of the community they represent. This could look like partnering with a more micro influencer whose audience comprises mainly a diverse audience that is genuinely engaged, instead of choosing a macro influencer whose audience is made up of several sub-target audiences. According to recent findings by Adweek, campaigns that successfully tap into diverse creators, particularly those from underrepresented communities, see significant increases in credibility and engagement. This underscores the importance of representation and the value it brings to our clients — especially for organizations with a global footprint.
About Our Contributors:
As a person of color and marketing leader, Zachary is thrilled to share his unique perspective on leveraging social data and personal experience to build truly equitable and effective communications. Zach’s success leading the social media strategies of iconic brands like Oscar Mayer, Kool-Aid, and Chamberlain has afforded him the opportunity to speak at several business and networking events over the years, including Social Media Week, the SocialRock Conference, multiple virtual panels, and marketing–related podcasts.
Fermina is passionate about brands, people, and products that lead marketing with innovation and social conscience. As a member of the APIA community, she seeks to contribute to cultures that foster diversity, open communication and respect.
Be sure to check out Part 2 of this interview with Fermina Phillips of OACC here.
