If you’ve been anywhere near social media lately, you know it’s utter chaos. Users are inundated with constant content, and they’re turning away from AI slop in search of authenticity, meaning and community.
That was one of the clearest themes we took away from AdWeek’s Social Media Week. Across sessions, we heard the same tension expressed again and again: Brands and organizations still need to produce a high volume of consistent content, but they also need that content to feel authentic and tailored.
Here are 10 takeaways for brands on what’s shifting and what social teams should pay attention to now.
1. Doing more on social might be hurting your brand.
We’re all inundated with content these days, and unlike in the early days of social media, it’s impossible to scroll to the bottom of your feed. An Instagram expert noted that they see the most profile growth when users post only about 10x a month. There will always be trends to participate in and competitors to mimic, but consistently producing meaningless content that has no relevance to your brand dilutes your voice and weakens your community.
2. On Reddit, brands have to earn the right to speak.
It’s never been easier to find a solution to a problem on demand, but it’s also never been harder to trust that solution. That’s why Reddit is the most authentic platform on the internet. There are no influencers or thought leaders, and there’s no incentive to say something other than what you actually believe. As a brand, what you say there needs to be meaningful. Don’t dominate the conversation; offer a diverse opinion, share new information or perspectives, foster deep connections and do your homework before speaking up.
3. Forget follower count. Welcome to the era of “deep engagement.”
We’ve known for a while here at Orchestra that engagement matters more than follower count. But engagement metrics go deeper than total engagements and engagement rate. “Deep engagement” metrics like saves and shares can give us a clearer picture of intent. We don’t need to connect with all of our potential leads or fans at once, just the next one. Discovery happens everywhere: group chats, influencer content and word of mouth. These meaningful metrics signal intentional action.
4. Your community can tell when you’re faking it.
Stop honoring a specific community for just a day or a month. Communities can tell when a brand genuinely cares about the audience they are speaking to, and when it’s just posting to post. The best way to engage a community that’s important to your brand is to consistently create content that is interesting, funny and useful to them. Let the community lead, speak in their language and make it a pillar of your brand identity instead of a slot of your social calendar.
5. Your best social strategy might be in the comments.
If we could make a word map of every word spoken during every panel, the biggest word would be “trust”. One of the most successful ways to earn and keep trust is to listen to exactly what your audience wants and deliver on it.
Take, for example, Slack (which we all know and love), which popularized its Huddle waiting room music. Users were seeking it out on YouTube as focus music and posting about it online. Slack used that opportunity to connect with followers in a way that was authentic to its brand: it made a Huddle playlist and a vinyl record for Huddle music lovers to collect. In doing so, it created a stronger sense of community around something its audience already loved.
6. During big events, treat every post like a first hello.
When promoting high-visibility events, assume every post is someone’s first exposure to your brand. That’s how NBC approached the Winter Olympics: To engage both casual observers and die-hard fans, it used cultural and feel-good moments as a bridge to get people to watch the Games.
7. Let creators do their thing.
While brands often view their audience as a set of personas, content creators have a much more intuitive understanding of who they’re speaking to. That’s why brands and organizations should trust creators to lead on content collaborations. By offering clear guidelines instead of scripts, brands can empower influencers to create content that feels authentic and resonates far more deeply than traditional messaging.
8. In a crisis, empathy beats defensiveness every time.
In a crisis, a defensive or blame-heavy approach will only escalate the situation. Success requires prioritizing the victim’s perspective and ensuring a response is grounded in empathy rather than contempt. Social media teams aren’t crisis communications staff, but they can play a critical role by partnering closely with comms teams.
9. Get your producer hat on.
Social media roles have evolved from brainstorming content ideas to actively managing talent and producing video. Social media strategists must know how to coach subjects through direct-to-camera videos, make them feel comfortable and pivot quickly if the original concept isn't landing.
10. Reach out to us to help evolve your social strategy.
Okay, so this wasn’t actually a takeaway from Social Media Week. But if you’d like more support implementing any of the above, we’d love to hear from you.
