The Future of Social Media

HubSpot's 2025 Social Trends Report Panel

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Summary

The HubSpot 2025 Social Trends Report Panel explores the evolution of social media from a marketing channel to a comprehensive business powerhouse. The discussion, led by HubSpot's Drew Stennet, features insights from top social media strategists on the importance of building relationships over transactions, the role of AI in maintaining human touch, and the supremacy of quality content and community building. The panelists highlight the challenges and unpredictable nature of social media, emphasizing a balance of authenticity and innovation to adapt to ever-changing landscape.

Highlights

Social media is evolving from just a marketing tool into a business powerhouse. 🚀
Key insights from leaders explain the importance of relationship-building over transactions. 💬
The future of online content is focused more on quality and authenticity. 🎨
AI is deemed a useful assistant in content creation, helping overcome creative blocks. 🧠
Community building is the gold standard for effective marketing in 2025. 🏆

Key Takeaways

Social media is evolving into an all-encompassing business tool, emphasizing relationships over transactions. 🤝
Creating authentic content is crucial as consumers increasingly prefer realistic, relatable content. 📸
AI is a valuable tool for brainstorming and streamlining workflows, enhancing creativity without replacing the human element. 🤖
Building a strong community is key in 2025, with engagement and authenticity driving business success. 🏗️
Quality content trumps quantity, helping maintain engagement and drive sustainable growth. 🌟

Overview

The HubSpot 2025 Social Trends Report Panel dives into how social media is transforming into a holistic business platform. Moderator Drew Stennet and his panel of social media experts discuss the current landscape, focusing on the shift from transactional to relational marketing. The conversation highlights how social channels are becoming vital tools for not just promotion, but meaningful customer interaction and engagement.

Key speakers like Chi, Erica Santiago, Samantha Miller, Jade Powell, and Skyler share their diverse experiences, emphasizing the crucial role of genuine connections and community building. They discuss the intricate balance between consistent, quality content and the spontaneous unfiltered posts that foster real engagement. The conversation touches on how social media can be unpredictable yet exciting for marketers adapting to rapid changes.

AI plays a supportive role in content strategies, helping marketers brainstorm and refine ideas while keeping the creative process vibrant and human-centered. As the panelists pointed out, thriving in the evolving social landscape means prioritizing authenticity and community over mere follower count, leading to sustainable success and impactful brand presence.

Chapters

00:00 - 05:00: Introduction and Panelist Introductions The chapter begins with a welcome message from Drew Stennet, a senior content marketing strategist at HubSpot Media. Drew introduces the panel, which is part of a discussion on global social media trends. The focus of the chapter is on the evolution of social media from a marketing channel to an all-in-one business powerhouse. There is an implication of discussing strategies and insights from thought leaders in the social and content space.
05:00 - 10:00: 2025 Social Media Trends Overview The chapter '2025 Social Media Trends Overview' discusses the importance of building relationships over chasing transactions in the realm of social media marketing. It highlights how brands are integrating AI into their strategies without compromising the human touch. Emphasis is placed on the value of quality content over sheer quantity. The chapter also explores the growing significance of community engagement, regarded as invaluable ('absolute marketing gold') in 2025. The introduction includes a segment where experts introduce themselves, setting the stage for in-depth discussions on these topics.
10:00 - 20:00: Describing the Current Social Media Landscape The chapter discusses the role and experiences of a social media leader at HubSpot, who has been in the field for nearly a decade. It highlights their focus on copy and creative aspects, citing examples like LinkedIn and Instagram, and emphasizes their involvement in driving a 'vibe shift' at HubSpot. The narrative illustrates a deep familiarity and enthusiasm for the digital and social media realm.
20:00 - 30:00: Authenticity in Social Media The chapter 'Authenticity in Social Media' kicks off with a warm welcome and introduction to Erica Santiago, a staff writer and senior marketing manager at HubSpot Marketing Blog. She leads the blog video program, collaborating with a team of bloggers to integrate video into their content. This initiative aims to give their blog content new life on different platforms, enhancing authority and reach.
30:00 - 40:00: Balancing Quantity vs. Quality in Social Media Content The chapter discusses the ongoing debate in social media management: balancing the emphasis on quantity versus quality of content. It highlights the importance of adding value to consumers and readers, which has been an enlightening experience for the speaker. Samantha Miller, the head of social at HubSpot Media, is introduced. She is responsible for overseeing social strategy for business and tech-focused brands. The chapter suggests that a thoughtful approach to content creation can significantly impact audience engagement and brand presence.
40:00 - 50:00: Integrating AI with Social Media Strategies In the chapter titled 'Integrating AI with Social Media Strategies,' Jade Powell, a seasoned social strategist and content creator, introduces herself and her extensive 12-year background in marketing and advertising. She encourages listeners to follow their social media for exciting upcoming content. The chapter hints at using AI to enhance social media strategies, teased by the enthusiasm of new projects on the horizon.
50:00 - 60:00: The Future of Social Media as a Business Tool The chapter discusses the use of social media platforms like LinkedIn by brands such as Delta Airlines, Netflix, and Timberland. The speaker is a LinkedIn influencer who has leveraged the platform to launch a brand event and community series called Creator Tea Talk. This series connects marketers with creators and influencers to facilitate transparent discussions about the creator economy.

HubSpot's 2025 Social Trends Report Panel Transcription

00:00 - 00:30 Hi everyone, welcome to our global social media trends panel. My name is Drew Stennet. I'm a senior content marketing strategist at HubSpot Media and this year I have been working behind the scenes on our 2025 social trends report. I'm super excited to be chatting today with five amazing thought leaders who are absolutely crushing it in the social and content space. Today we're going to dive into how social is evolving from just another marketing channel into a truly all-in-one business powerhouse. We'll talk about why
00:30 - 01:00 building relationship matters more than chasing transactions, how brands are using AI without losing a human touch, and why quality content continues to win over quantity these days. Plus, we'll explore why community has become absolute marketing gold in 2025. Now, let's kick things off by having our experts introduce themselves. Wow, I'm always like so amazed. Like, is that really me? that I do these things. Um, but hello everyone. My name is Chi.
01:00 - 01:30 I have been leading social um at HubSpot for about two years now. I mainly work on the copy and the creative. So, if you guys see us on LinkedIn or if you see a cool image on Instagram, please give us a shout out, give us a like. Um, and I've been very fortunate to get this opportunity to help do the vibe shift as we refer to it on HubSpot. Um, and yeah, I've been on social for almost 10 years now. So, the internet is really all I know, and I'm really happy to be here.
01:30 - 02:00 So, thank you for having me. We're so excited to have you here, Chi. Thank you so much. Hi, my name is Erica Santiago and I am a staff writer and senior marketing manager over at the HubSpot Marketing Blog. I am also the team lead for the blog video program which is where um I work with a different with a team of different bloggers and we come together and try to figure out ways to integrate video into our blog content so that we can give it a second life on other platforms um build authority and just
02:00 - 02:30 add more value to you know consumers and people reading our content and it's been really fun and eye openening and I'll probably share some stuff uh from that um throughout this panel. So yeah thank you so much for having me. Thanks for being here, Erica. Oh my god, it's me. I feel like I desperately need to update my headsh shot, but um I'm very excited to be here. My name is Samantha Miller and I am the head of social here at HubSpot Media. So, I oversee social strategy for our business and tech focused brands
02:30 - 03:00 including the hustle, mindream, and masters of marketing. Yes, that was also a shameless plug to please follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, all of the things. since we're cooking up a lot of fun things and I'm very excited to be here today. Thanks, Samantha. Hello everyone. Um, my name is Jade Powell. I am a social strategist and content creator from Atlanta, Georgia. Um, I have been working and marketing in advertising for over 12 years now. And I have also been behind the scenes working
03:00 - 03:30 at brands like Delta Airlines, Netflix, Timberland, and more. But I feel like most people know me from LinkedIn or what I like to call the briefcase app. I am a LinkedIn influencer and have been having so much fun on the platform. And it's also where I launched my brand event and community series called Creator Tea Talk where I connect marketers to creators and influencers to have transparent conversations about the creator economy. Jay, thank you so much for being here today. Um, Skyler, you're our final
03:30 - 04:00 panelist. Just icons all around. I'm I'm in such good company. I feel so good right now. Hey family, I'm Skyler. I am Well, I like to lead with dreamer and storyteller first and then multiddisciplinary artist and content creator second because the first one the first two are what drives me and then the second will pay my bills. So, we like the balance on this side. We like balance. Um, but no, I'm I've been doing creative strategy, content strategy for a while now. And I am just really obsessed with how we look at the nuances of life, but both its like intricacies
04:00 - 04:30 and like the subtle moments, the soft ones, and then the very large dramatic moments, and how creators and brands can articulate that in their content in a way that connects with people and kind of makes things human again. So, I'm very excited for this conversation because it's all I've ever loved and all I've ever stood for. Um, I've worked both as a content creator working with brands um, across lifestyle, travel, um, fashion content and then also on the back end as a creative consultant and strategist. So, similar to Jade, um, I've been behind brands like HBO Max and
04:30 - 05:00 Lionsgate with our inclusive audience initiatives. I was also head of marketing for the CCNYC and Culture Con. Um, I was also a strategist at BuzzFeed in its prime. So, it's it's been a long time coming to get to this place and I'm I'm just excited to talk to you guys today or you gals today. Yeah. Um, thank you all. I think I am so excited for this conversation. Um, thank you so much for your introductions. I do want to take just 30 seconds and plug this report. The hub the 2025 HubSpot Masters
05:00 - 05:30 in Marketing Social Media Trends Report is basically your playbook for winning at social media this year. And it's backed by real data from over 10,000 marketers across the world. What we found is pretty fascinating. Things like 76% of marketers are seeing that authentic, relatable content is actually outperforming the super polished stuff. A whopping 85% say building a community online is absolutely make or break for their strategy. And as a YouTube child,
05:30 - 06:00 um, I was thrilled to see that YouTube has completely taken off in the last year with an almost 80% year-over-year growth. Meanwhile, we're seeing platforms like Discord, Reddit, and Twitch gaining serious momentum. Today, what we're going to be talking about and what you can read about in the report is not just about spotting trends. We have packed all of this with really practical strategies that you can use to connect with your audience and drive business results. So, now that we're talking
06:00 - 06:30 about the current social landscape, I would love to kick off our discussion with a simple but big question. If you had to describe the current social media landscape in one word, what would you say and why? Let's go around the panel and hear your thoughts. Let's Jade, can I call on you first? Yes, of course. Um, so it's so funny because when I think about social, I can't help but think of the word grown, which is like what I feel like the aunties would call it. And I think it's
06:30 - 07:00 like partly cuz I've been working in social for a while. So, I feel like I've been able to like kind of grow up with social and see how social has changed so much. But like I was mentioning, I've been working in social for 12 years now. So, it has truly been like incredible witness to see how social media has changed both as a professional and someone who just like uses it for everyday use. Um, like I was talking to one of my friends recently and I was telling her how like I missed the days of old MySpace when you can have a top
07:00 - 07:30 eight or you would like use HTML to code your like fancy MySpace profile. And now we're in this like position where social has changed so much where like creators and influencers and brands are like the face of social. So it's just changed so much. And now I feel like it's really kind of contributing to the fact that we're like seeing social become this space where it is a hub for entertainment across the board whether you're a creator, influencer, brand, or everyday user. So it's been nice to see that. Um, but ultimately I say grown
07:30 - 08:00 because I I just feel like a mother kind of like watching my child become this thing that is a bigger than what we could have possibly imagined like 15 years ago. Yeah, that is absolutely so true. I think that's maybe the perfect word to to describe that. But I'm so excited to hear what our other panelists are thinking. Um, Skyler, how about you? I'm just smiling cuz I'm just like, yeah, exactly. I'm a mother. Like that's how I feel being a part of this
08:00 - 08:30 landscape for so long. It's it's just changed so much. And I feel like as a mother, when you have a child who is just whiling, that's that's what the side of it that I'm on. So my word is frenetic. I was going to say frantic, but I'm trying to keep it cute and positive because social is she's all over the place right now. Like I think that there's this pendulum that we're swinging between on a couple of different in a couple of different ways. Both from a content creator perspective and then also from a brand perspective, right? So, we're like trying to build community, but then also go viral or
08:30 - 09:00 we're trying to be consistent while also trying to like be strategic and authentic. Like, it's we're trying to balance both. And I think that's what's most important, but then it's I think that's full of opportunity, right? But then it's overwhelming. So, while we're trying to fight against um almost like attention spans, we know they're shorter than ever, but then we also know people crave community because people are wanting want something real, want something they can grasp onto. So, I think that as I've started to navigate these days, it's like trying to to keep
09:00 - 09:30 my foot in both worlds to be relevant to stay relevant and kind of on top of things for my audience. So, that is my little contribution. Um, so it was funny as I was listening to Skyler and Jade talk and they have this very positive outlook and I was looking back and reflecting on the word that I wrote and mine was not necessarily as positive and um I definitely am very excited about the future of social but I think the word that I would currently use to describe everything is challenging. I think that you know we're we're kind of at an
09:30 - 10:00 inflection point in the social media landscape. I think that like there's a lot of things going on at a higher level, you know, just in terms of like businesses and the landscape overall. Things are changing constantly. Um, I think a lot of people are also kind of feeling burnt out by social and just a lot of screen time. I mean, I don't know about you guys, but like my screen time is absolutely off the charts and I'm terrified to open that app. So, I just uh refuse to do it. I think also, you know, there's a lot going on with the
10:00 - 10:30 key players. On one hand, there's Tik Tok and like what's going to happen with that? And then you have, you know, like the rise of Substack and is that going to stick or is that going to, you know, kind of go the way of like Clubhouse or, you know, Lemonade or whatever it is. Um, and then, you know, then you have something like Instagram that's kind of been around forever, but kind of gets more and more bloated by the day. So, I think all of this is to say that like, again, I I've been in the space for, you know, over a decade at this point. I live and breathe social and I love
10:30 - 11:00 working in this industry, but it's definitely a challenging time to be part of this industry because there's just so much change going on. So, you kind of just have to be, you know, keep your head up, be adaptable, um try things out and lean into, you know, community and people that kind of um you know, inspire you to create your best work every day. Um, Samantha, the mention of Clubhouse is such a throwback to me that um, that had a chokeold on me and like totally
11:00 - 11:30 it was such a thing and then no one ever like spoke about it ever again. Like I think it was like wiped from our memories. Truly. I need to like do a deep dive and see what happened there. But um, great thoughts. Thank you so much Erica. I would love to hear from you. Yeah. So what I actually wrote down my word because I I wanted to make sure it made sense. But um the word that I think of is like loi. So in terms of music, so
11:30 - 12:00 I'll explain. So in terms of music um loi is like low fidelity is when um a song has intentionally like imperfections. So little popping sounds, delays, things like that. And what I've noticed, and I noticed that, you know, we're going to be mentioning authenticity at some point. Um, in terms of social media and just the content that I'm seeing, there is so much imperfection that is very intentional. So, for example, uh, I'll use say
12:00 - 12:30 Dolingo as an example. I'm on Tik Tok all the time, an unreasonable amount of time, and I love Dolingo. Like, I love their presence and how they um market um, their services, etc. And if you watch their content, it's very um very simple, very low budget. Um it's not perfect. It's not very it's a bit uncoou at times and it's very in terms of doing that, it's very impersonal. And then
12:30 - 13:00 earlier today, I actually saw a Netflix promo that was going viral on Twitter and I'm sure was probably going viral on other short form video platforms because Twitter now kind or X I should say gets these videos last now, which is a whole other discussion. But um so it was a Netflix promo for uh Temptation Island. And I remember typically when Netflix is promoting a show, it's very stylized. It's a big budget uh promotion. You could tell they put a lot of money into the promo. This one was so simple. It
13:00 - 13:30 was one of the contestants that went viral on a different episode or season of Temp of Temptation Island. He was there just running from room to room. There was no just talking about the season that's going to come up and stirring up, you know, drama and things like that. But it was very simple. There was no edits. There was no music and sound bites and everything. It looked like something that I would have shot in my apartment. like I like I'm carrying my laptop around my apartment talking to my friends. It's
13:30 - 14:00 very simple, very low fidelity in a way. Um the Jennifer Hudson show, the way they promote um the talk show online, same thing, full of imperfections. They have the celebrities go down the hallway before they get on set. So, it gives you a behind-the-scenes look. You don't really know how they're going to react. They might dance. They might dance very badly. They might look excited. They might look awkward. There's no airs. There's no big production behind it. It's just them walking down a hall and getting hyped up. And that is what in that type of authentic content is what
14:00 - 14:30 goes viral a lot. So from influencers looking in imperfect in their videos sometimes just shooting in their bedroom, things like that. It's just everything feels very low fidelity and in a way very authentic. And one more thing, I promise I'm done. I have a professor I have a friend who's a professor at um NYU and he was talking to his students about where they like to get their information and he showed them um a a professional news anchor who's wearing a suit you know very glossy nice like background very professional giving
14:30 - 15:00 them information and then he showed them a person on TikTok who is just in their bedroom with some cute little fairy lights in the background makeup not really done they're kind of just in their pajamas relaying the same information and the students said that they would have trusted the person in their bedroom versus the person that's in the suit. So that's that's kind of what I think of just this very toned down kind of lowfidelity approach to content that is intentionally imperfect for like the sake of authenticity. So I hope that all made sense. That's that's what I think of Erica. That made complete sense and I
15:00 - 15:30 love I know we've discussed um that example that you shared at the end as well. Um and I think that's so interesting and so accurate for the data we found in the report. Um chi I made you intro first. saving you for last on this question. I'd love to hear your thoughts. I actually was going back and forth on two words, but I'm going to go with unpredictable um as like my top choice. My second one was boring. I will get to that as well,
15:30 - 16:00 but I feel like it's unpredictable. I think mostly because of course like Sam touched on um there's like so many changes around guidelines and policies that are affecting these platforms and changing how users feel about them. Um and the other thing that makes it unpredictable is AI. Um it's a part of our jobs. It's a part of our lives. But it's also changed how people are kind of creating on social. Um how they're consuming on social. I think some people
16:00 - 16:30 hate seeing AI generated content. Um, but at the same time is really helping small social teams and small businesses scale. So it feels like a very unpredictable time and it's almost like a cycle from my point of view in social like these unpredictable moments come like every 5 years like whether it's a new app or whether it's AI or like a new format like every 5 years there's something that comes in we hate on it and it changes the game. So it feels
16:30 - 17:00 very unpredictable to me and I feel like maybe all of you can relate as being social pros. It's almost like we're always leading the fam behind us, but it's dark ahead of us cuz I'm like, I might not have the answer to your questions. But that's also the beauty of it of when things are unpredictable. It's like you're finding out as you go. So, I think that's one fun fact about why it's unpredictable. But I was also thinking of boring is because now everyone wants to do the same kind of
17:00 - 17:30 thing. Everyone wants to be sassy. Everyone wants to be unhinged. Everyone's talking the same way in the comments. And that's kind of why it feels boring to me as someone who's also been a on the creator side is that yes, like it feels more authentic, but also like we can't all have the same personalities. Like that's a bit insane to me. So, as much as I love Dolingo and the team behind Dolingo, I always tell people like you don't have to be
17:30 - 18:00 Duolingo. You can be your own person and your own brand. So, it's a bit of both. It's unpredictable and it's also a little bit boring. I would love to see people like bring their true colors and shine a little bit brighter for who they are rather than trying to chase a trend. Yeah, that um I have such respect for the Duolingo team and other brands like that who really took those risks so early. But um yeah, I think we could have a whole fireside chat on kind of
18:00 - 18:30 the the cultural impact of unhinged social media content. Um for the sake of time, I am going to move on to the next question. Um thank you guys so much. This is already just so informative and helpful. Um, we have some statistics here for our viewers at home from the report just to kind of back up why we're asking these questions and kind of where we're we're coming from with this. But freefor-all, whoever wants to jump in on
18:30 - 19:00 this one, please go ahead. Our next question is talking about authenticity as a top priority for marketers and social media professionals. How do you define authenticity in brand content? And what strategies are you using to help ensure that your content is resonating with your audience in this era of social first discovery? Hi. Go. No, go ahead, Erica. Go ahead, girl. I feel like your input might be better
19:00 - 19:30 than mine, but okay. Um, I was going to say for me when I think of authenticity, I think um, as cliche as it might sound like honesty, I think that's very important. Um, something that I do not just with the videos that we create for the for the blog team and the marketing blog, but also just even in my writing for the blog team is I'm very honest about my experience in a certain subject. Um, I'll give an example. There's a a blog post that I wrote a while ago about uh, using chat GBT. I had a series called I tried where I
19:30 - 20:00 would be like I I tried doing this so you don't have to. So I tried using chat GBT to write a blog post so you don't have to and I'm going to tell you what I think. Um the the short of it don't do it. If you heard a cat in the background I'm sorry. Um the short of it don't do it. Um but I had never used chat GP chat chat GPT up until that point. So in the blog post I made a point of saying um this is my first time doing this. So we're going to be learning together. we're going to be walking through this together. And it made for a very authentic and honest post where, you
20:00 - 20:30 know, I I'm very transparent and I don't know what this means. So, I looked it up and I found it and I tried it. Or I've never done this before. I'm so sorry, y'all. I've never done this before. Um, and you know, this is how I found use in it, but if you're more experienced in it, then you might find better use in it. So, just being very honest about where you are uh with your experience and what you can offer and things like that. I think that's a authenticity. I thought my cats would be asleep during
20:30 - 21:00 this. Sorry. I'm actually a big fan of the cats. I bring them forward. Actually, I hear what they have to say. They're the stars of TikTok as it is. But no, I would I would say similarly though, Erica, to your point, honesty um and like vulnerability, I think that authenticity for all of us probably has looked like what it what looking what looking like a human or what feeling like a human on a platform looks like. Um, so it's transparency, it's relatability, it's how can I like, you know, break this wall um, and talk to my
21:00 - 21:30 audience instead of at them. And I think your example is perfect. It's how we connect to our audience either from a content creator perspective or a brand perspective. And that's where we've seen people win again as people are like really yearning for connection um, because things are so surface level or like she said, boring or or just copy paste. It's like please have a have a thought, have an original thought. Um, I'm so sure I quote I think that was the office that I quoted. It just makes its way into every one of my responses in my
21:30 - 22:00 life. But no, I think it's about like these these unfiltered moments and the more that you give that to people, the more it relates. And I think that even though with my platform, it looks a little different because I I think that I curate uh content in a specific way, but it's still led with emotion. And that's what I found uh people attached to. when I started uh creating content when I was in college. I think it was like oh lord I'm about to be so young when I say this but 2016 2017 I started on social and I was like trying to be relevant trying to be cute and cool and
22:00 - 22:30 just copy and pasting what I saw on Pinterest and she was not working. It was not doing the things and it's because there was no personality. There was no emotion or or humanity behind it. And I figured okay well let me take a step back and think about what I want to say and who I want to say it to and then what they want to hear. And then when I married the three of those things, that's when I started to do well on social. And that's when I started to see results with like the clients I worked with or the campaigns that I was kind of executing on. And so that balance of both being strategic of course, but then
22:30 - 23:00 how can I bring my how can I have an ethos with the content that I'm creating so that it it resonates with people because that is ultimately what attaches people to your brand and then increases I mean increases engagement, retention, all the things and then it's really sustainable, right? when you're leading with authenticity because then you don't have to you don't have to work at it. It's just who you are. I found that I had I had to put more work in for trying to be this thing that I wasn't as opposed to just being what I was. And um even when I worked with brands, it was like, well, let's let's word this just
23:00 - 23:30 so. It's like, no, actually, let's give this brand a personality. Who is this person? Where are they from? What do they like? What don't they like? Because that's the big thing I love about brands now is like they stand for something. Ben and Jerry's I will ride or die for because they stand for something and their audience they're like we don't care who our audience isn't we care who it is and so you can say as much as you can who you are and then the people who are supposed to receive it will. So yeah I found similar to Erica that transparency and vulnerability has really it made a whole lot of difference
23:30 - 24:00 with my content and then the content that I've been able to do for others. very very similar to uh Skyler. I feel like authentic content to me is content that like literally makes your audience feel things. Um and it's funny because working in marketing is like I think people often forget that the social part of social media marketing is social meaning like you actually have to talk to humans. Um, but authenticity for me, like when I keep that in mind, it's of
24:00 - 24:30 course like honest storytelling or being unfiltered or being lowfi. But when we use those words, all I hear is that we want people to feel something when they see our content. And I think what people need to prioritize is like what those feelings could look like. So that could be feeling connected or inspired or excited or even annoyed or agitated. It's still like relevant emotions that are valid. Um, and whatever that looks like, it it ultimately comes down to kind of making people feel their
24:30 - 25:00 feelings in that way. And that's what authentic content is me. So, uh, well, authentic content is to me. So when I build out a social strategy, like literally crafting a deck for a client, I will always keep in mind what I call these kind of like four human truths, uh, which is that humans want to feel inspired, entertained, or in the know, which is where we see a lot of our trending content, and connected when they when they see the content, whether they're scrolling on their feed or consuming it elsewhere. So, if I'm building out a strategy with like those
25:00 - 25:30 four human truths uh top of mind, I know that my content will be authentic no matter what it looks like or where it lives. Jada, I love that so much. And I think um candidly just from your work I see, I feel like building that connection is something that like that's your secret skill for sure. Um you're so good at that. Chi and Sam, I would love to hear kind of from the perspectives of HubSpot's brand social and the work that you're doing Sam for the hustle um and
25:30 - 26:00 masters in marketing when we're thinking about balancing authenticity with brand values. Um and that is obviously like key to building trust and deepening these relationships and connections that we have with our audiences. What approaches have YouTube been using that are most effective for these brands um that also feel genuine to both your brand values and your your audience? the question is written so much better on the slide, but
26:00 - 26:30 um I I mean for HubSpot again it it is a little bit different because I'm obviously coming in from a little bit of the branded side, but what we've been doing um is kind of asking ourselves or our team or even our agency partners when we're making content. Um is this something that's for the culture? Like is this a cultural thing? Is it a vibe thing? Are we trying to like make a joke here? If so, let's not put product in there because it's very rare that like a joke and a trend can like be balanced
26:30 - 27:00 equally with product. And usually the fight is always can we make it more branded or can we put product in? So my job as just guardian of the internet on my side of the internet is to be like no. And my reason is like are we trying to make an ad or are we trying to make people laugh? Um, and it's a very like small question, but we always ask that like, is there an a genuine way we can make a joke about a product here or like
27:00 - 27:30 plug a product here? If not, let's not force it cuz we're not doing ad. I work in the organic social team, not in the paid team. So, I try to I try to push that a lot. I'm like, it's not an ad, so let's not. However, the best part of that kind of exercise is that when a social post that's organic and might have a mention of a product takes off, we then boost it later. Then we work with the paid team cuz guess what? An organic content piece resonating with our audience will make an ad so much
27:30 - 28:00 more effective than if we just put it out there as an ad alone. Um, so it's kind of like hard to be like this is what's vibes and this is what's product. But we do that exercise with every piece of content and we push back when we feel like no something is honestly just for the vibes. And our best performing content is usually not branded and not product heavy. It's very rare that something that's heavy on like the branding and the product like takes off and when it does amazing cuz that means our team is doing that balance super
28:00 - 28:30 well. But I love that in a way that we're kind of building on that authenticity or trying to reinforce the humanness is honestly our comment section on LinkedIn specifically and there is no strategy behind it. It's me on this couch behind me scrolling in talking to people like if someone has a fun comment like I love to reply and I always get these comments on Twitter and are linked to be like HubSpot's reply guy deserves a first of all it's a girl. Second of all, I'm just here having fun.
28:30 - 29:00 And I think that is so important to remember that you cannot force um humor. You cannot force relationships. You must inherently be excited about the thought of talking to people, um being around people, making jokes, even being on the internet. It is not something that you can teach people. You can get better at it for sure. You can scale that. Um, but it's something you must inherently have if it is to like be something that you can grow fast. Um, and it's not
29:00 - 29:30 something that I think he can teach people. So, it's it's also like a certain personality. I feel like every social media hire is part of a same personality subset. We all are hilarious as hell, talented as hell. Um, and I think that's honestly the key. You do have to rely on some of that personality. And the last thing I'll say about that is uh for your own mental health. Always draw that boundary about how much of your personality you give to a brand. Um that is obviously the secret
29:30 - 30:00 sauce behind every brand's human touch and human tone. But for your own sake or if anyone's listening back home and working on this, make sure there's always a guardrail. You do not want to become the brand and and it shouldn't. So yeah, those are my very long thoughts. That was so well said and I loved in particular what you said about like saying no to things. I think that goes such a long way in being authentic because you can't jump on every trend nor should you and you have to like
30:00 - 30:30 protect your brand with every fiber of your being and sometimes that means you know hey we're going to sift this one out. Um, but something that we do over at HubSpot Media in particular with the hustle and like I live for this kind of thing is jumping into these like larger, you know, conversations in the cultural zeitgeist and finding out, you know, oh, is there some type of business angle or marketing angle or AI angle, of course, depending on what brand it is. So, for example, a few months ago when Selena
30:30 - 31:00 Gomez got engaged, I don't know if you guys saw, but in the back of the photos there was like a Taco Bell like box or something. And so, everyone was like, "Did Taco Bell sponsor this engagement?" Like, what is going on here? Um, and we ended up posting about it and did like really really well for us. And I think that that, you know, was just it really kind of exemplifies people want to hear from our brand. They want to hear our POV on things. They want to hear this kind of like business or marketing mindset, but they also kind of want to
31:00 - 31:30 be like tapped into, well, what is everyone talking about? What are kind of these headlines? Um, and how can we kind of create that unique content that the people are craving? Um, so it's been really fun to, you know, kind of experiment with different content formats like that and learn about what our audience is into. Yeah, Samantha, I feel genuinely like a more informed human um because of the work that you guys are doing specifically on the Hustle Social. Um and you make it so fun. Like I'm I am educated and informed and I'm giggling
31:30 - 32:00 while I do it. So kudos to you. That means a lot. Yeah, you're killing it. Thank you. Um I can't believe we have less than 20 minutes left together. So I am going to move us on to question four. We're just at halfway through. Um, but I would love to know this is free game for anyone. What are the key advantages of balancing quantity versus quality and social media content? And how are you approaching this balance on platforms like YouTube where long- form content is
32:00 - 32:30 starting to see kind of a renewed interest? It's funny because I feel like more recently, uh, brands have been asking me to have like an established POV on YouTube, but I'm like, I don't know, guys. I'm just a girl. Um, but I will say that even though that YouTube isn't like a platform that I'm necessarily prioritizing in my work, um, neither as a creator or a strategist, I will say that there's room for both quality and quantity across the board. I feel like I
32:30 - 33:00 find that constantly pumping out content, no matter how great it is, um is actually really good for scaling. Um because the more that you publish content, the more that you'll be likely to kind of reach new audiences, which is often times the goal for a lot of brands. They want to increase their follower or subscriber count. Um but I feel like the other hand of that is, you know, the quality piece. In my opinion, it's like the key um kind of way to
33:00 - 33:30 build community. And that's where you're going to get, you know, your most your most loyal fans, the the creators and influencers that love to kind of organically post about your brand. Um and that gives you kind of more opportunities to get the like true engagements, but that a lot of us as social media marketers are kind of striving for like the shares and the likes and the comments. Um I think it really comes down to what your goal is for YouTube. If you're launching a YouTube channel, you may want to scale fast and build community later. And
33:30 - 34:00 that's where I feel like that's the time to kind of focus on the quantity or the output um of the number of videos that you're trying to create. Or you may want to do the opposite and build community first and then scale later, which is my preferred method cuz I'm very pro community first. Um but either of those options can kind of get you where you want to go, but I think it's really just dependent on the goal that you have and what you're trying to accomplish. Those are really great insights, Jade, and I think can be applied um obviously outside of YouTube and I think even
34:00 - 34:30 outside of social. I'm a content marketer, but I don't make social content um at least not in my current role. And I think um content people across the board are seeing kind of this pressure between um putting out a lot of content and putting out really great content. And it's hard to do both. But I think what you said about just aligning with your goals, like that is good marketing 101 and like such a needed reminder in the content economy right now, especially for folks like us who are um doing the IC work and making this
34:30 - 35:00 making this all come to life. But Erica, I know with some of the work that you're doing with HubSpot's blog video program, I'd love to kind of hear your perspective on this, not just related to YouTube, but kind of how you guys are scaling video content. All right. going to be a bit of feedback. Um, so I I was actually as as I was listening to to to your answer, Jade, I was thinking about how with the blog video program, we're
35:00 - 35:30 kind of in a lucky spot where there's a group of us making content. So, we're able to create a lot of content, batch it, and then put it out. So, we're able to have a fairly large quantity of content coming out, but because it's made being made by each of us individually, we're able to focus individually on our quality. So, we're in that like unique space. It's like, okay, we could put out quality content in bulk. Um, this coming April, we're going to have at least like I don't know, seven or eight videos in the first
35:30 - 36:00 week or so or so. We'll see. But like that's that's what it's looking like. Um, and that's a very that's because we have so many people working on it and not everybody gets to is is able to do that. But, um, I would say the advantage to balancing quantity versus quality. I would say is that I'm actually going to draw for some from from something that I do outside of HubSpot that is still a bit relevant. So, I'm I'm based out in Philly and there's a uh dance studio across the street from me. I help them
36:00 - 36:30 with their Tik Tok and their social media and stuff. Um, and we were posting so much content on Tik Tok and it is hard now to blow up on Tik Tok compared to what it was when it first came out. Um, when it or when it first blew up at the start of around like 2020. I remember when it started in 2020. I was doing my own kind of personal content creation. I'm a huge anime nerd. So, I was doing like anime based content and talking to voice actors and doing all this stuff. and my content on Tik Tok just went like it
36:30 - 37:00 just blew up very quickly. Um, and and even content where I was just kind of I don't want to try to like censor myself. I was kind of just messing around and not really being very serious. I was just put putting stuff out there and it was just really gaining a lot of traction. And now Tik Tok is a little bit different because it's so oversaturated. Um, so we were, so we were putting out a lot of content on the dance studio now. And some of it would blow up, a lot of it not so much. And then just last week, we I posted a a
37:00 - 37:30 video of everyone doing like their own uh choreography to Crush on You by Lil Kim. And it blew up on TikTok. It did incredibly well. I woke up and we had it's a very it's a new studio, so they only had like a handful of followers. I woke up the next day, we are already around like a thousand. And I'm like, "Oh my goodness." And um but it worked because they all came to that video because that's the one that blew up, but then they started seeing all the other videos that we had. So th so they were staying on our page and those videos
37:30 - 38:00 were starting to get traction. So I think the balance is that, you know, as you're putting out content, it might not feel like you're gaining an audience. it might not feel like much is happening, but sometimes all you need is that one video that somehow someway, I'm still figuring it out, hits that sweet spot and it gets all these people in and now you have a full portfolio to show them. It's not just that one really good video. So, I think that's um an advantage, but I do still think that it's important to prioritize quality whenever you can because um like Chi
38:00 - 38:30 said, sometimes social media it does get very boring because everyone's doing the same thing. I'm on Tik Tok, Instagram reels, YouTube shorts for an unnecessary amount of time. And I would say about 75% of the content I see on those platforms aren't really valuable, aren't very useful. It's it's just kind of it could be anything. You know, a cat and a dog napping together, uh a kid having soup for the first time and reacting. Um, and then every now and then it's
38:30 - 39:00 like, oh, here is this really amazing, valuable information that you would have never thought thought of before, but most of it is kind of a content sludge. So, I think it's important to try to stand out amongst like that sort of content sludge, too, because people will just keep scrolling. So, yeah, I hope that all makes sense. I keep saying I hope it makes sense because I hear myself. I don't I don't know how it sounds. No, it made all the sense. It made all the sense. I was just going to quickly say to Erica's point I because that was initially what I was going to also ping on and say is that that's what I've seen also work for like my brand
39:00 - 39:30 when I started promote or posting or publishing I was just again turning things out and then but then I found okay let me be more intentional and I still wasn't seeing results but whenever I then was consistent with the quality of my content and then having um the quantity also over time like pit certain things that I knew would do well. Whenever someone then came to my page and they wanted more of that type of content, it was it was set up for them. So often as a brand, you have to think
39:30 - 40:00 about, well, what do I stand for? What what do I want people to see? What am I going to feed people when they're hungry for more of my my brand? And I and even if you're just beginning, it's like, okay, if you're going to put this piece of content out, at least have in mind three to five other pieces of content that could speak to that. Because if you do put your child or I don't want to use children because I that's a different story, but let's say you put your dog right eating something or doing something silly or cat. Shout out to Erica's cats doing something silly and you know, okay, this might go viral or this might get a lot of attention. Are there other ways that you could like
40:00 - 40:30 bring that same energy to life with other pieces of content and put that out? And is that also what your brand stands for? Because sometimes I'll put content out and it has nothing to do like I'll just be doing a little dancy dance and that's not my brand at all. But then I have other pieces of content that have the same flavor as that. So then when people tap in, they're like, "Oh, yes. This is okay. This is close enough. I'll take it." You know? But no, I think that's brilliant, Erica, that you saw those results. And it's so nice that you're helping the dance that dance company. I think that's so cute. Oh, I love them. I I'm also helping because I want them to stay open. They're across
40:30 - 41:00 the street from me. I love that. I don't like driving in Philly, so I want to keep walking over there. I love it. Um, thank you guys so much. I think this discussion has been u just incredible so far. I want to be cognizant of our time and our viewers time at home. Um but I'd love to move on to question five which I am like genuinely so excited to hear your thoughts on this. Um and it's like how are we using AI right now? How are we integrating AI into social media
41:00 - 41:30 workflows in ways that are enhancing creativity and not replacing it? Like have you guys found that balance yet? What are the strategies you're using? Please tell me everything. I can go first on this because we are on the HubSpot social team kind of like running a pilot project. Um trying to test as many tools as we can or we have a CMO who's supporting that for us which is really nice. Um, and we kind of have
41:30 - 42:00 like free reign to like test as many tools as we want just to kind of figure out where and what tool kind of plugs into social cuz one it is such a nuance thing. Um, you can't always trust AI with capturing that super well and it's also a very creative and human thing. So, it's more like an interesting case study even for me to be like where can I actually use AI to make my life easier. Um it's the very basic answer that my favorite thing is like using it as a
42:00 - 42:30 brainstorm partner for copy. When you write copy every day all day for so many things you're bound to hit a wall. Like I'm not ashamed to say it. I hit a wall at least once every day when it comes to copy and you're and when you're working for a brand you're talking about the same thing every day, right? So in my head I'm like there's only so many ways I can think of talking about marketing hub. Um, and that's where I mostly use AI where I'm like, "Okay, explain to this to me like I'm 5-year-old. Explain this." If you're talking to like a
42:30 - 43:00 marketing manager who's like 35 and loves Taylor Swift, explain this like in Jenzi terms. Explain this in pop culture terms. Um, and recently I also asked it to write me something in Kendrick Lamar's voice, like give me a rap, give me give me two lines to like accompany this meme image you want to post. So, I've been really trying to use it kind of as like different personalities. I know we all have like target audiences and these personas that we build, right?
43:00 - 43:30 So, I'm kind of using it as a writing partner for these personalities and kind of seeing like what's sticking, what's not. Um, and a lot of times it's honestly to get rid of my own copy block. So, that's how I've been using it. And the other thing is an admin thing. If you guys use Zoom, if you're a Teams Microsoft Teams person, I can't help you. But if you guys use Zoom, um Zoom has like an AI companion that like basically summarizes all of your calls um and gives you like action items and
43:30 - 44:00 next steps and things like that, which for me as someone with ADHD is great. I love it. I can't keep a track of everything that happens in calls. If you've been on creative calls, they're all over the place. It's never clear. So, I love that. I love using the Zoom Companion on our calls. And then I honestly use that summary, pop it back into um the AI we use and ask like, okay, now just pick out the parts that are relevant to me in my job and let's go from there. So that those are two ways we've been using it to kind of like
44:00 - 44:30 make things more efficient or reduce like roadblocks, but we're also testing a lot of like our top performing content and trying to uncover if there's any patterns there in these in these little piece of content. So, top 20, top 100. Um, and what we figured is like AI is still not as great at discerning context and there's so much context and nuance with like memes and cultural trends that what it might classify as like a not so
44:30 - 45:00 great thing or be like don't use an emoji might not fit with the trend or in the moment the information that we have. So something to keep in mind even if you're using AI is that you as a human still have to discern if that output is good. Um that is your job. So AI can't take over your job. Don't worry unless you're bad then I can't help you. But if you're good at it, you discern the output. That is important. And if you're in any type of creative job, ask it if
45:00 - 45:30 it's accurate. Cuz let me tell you, a lot of times I've gone back and I've been like, is this accurate? and AI comes back to me like actually no it's not uh I think what you were saying was true. So again seconduess the work you're getting out of it is if you're a creative don't lose your critical thinking treat it as a designer would treat Photoshop. It's a tool to get you there to your vision but it cannot replace you. And social media like Jade
45:30 - 46:00 said earlier is social. You can't have bots talking to bots. It has to be it has to be a human person at the end of the day. So those are my thoughts on AI. Yeah, I completely agree with Chi. It's funny because like anytime I talk to other marketers about my work with AI, I'm like listen, me and AI AI go together real bad. We're like white on rice. It's like a a true relationship. And AI has become like what I like to call kind of like my junior strategist
46:00 - 46:30 cuz I really do treat it like a second pair of eyes or a second brain that allows me to kind of uh challenge my own thinking especially if I don't have someone that I'm working uh directly with which oftenimes I don't because I'm a freelancer. Um but I will literally tell ChatGBT like hey I have an idea for a campaign for Timberland for example because I've been working on uh their strategy for months now. Um, but I'll say like, "Oh, I want to do an influencer campaign during Coachella where like influencers are showing us
46:30 - 47:00 how they're well showing us their Timberland boots before and after the event so that we can like showcase durability of the boots." Um, and then I will literally ask chat GBT based on the information I provide you about this potential campaign, are there any questions that you think I'm not answering that I should consider? And then chat will literally give me considerations that I can then incorporate into my strategy and then present it to the client. So that by the time I'm in the cl the client meeting, the client's like, "Jade, you thought of
47:00 - 47:30 everything." And I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, I know." It's like, I have to credit chat for that. So, it really just makes my work a lot more seamless and a lot more well thought out because I do think as marketers, we can have our own biases. So to have that third-party kind of um POV, it has been incredibly helpful for me. Wait, I have another fun thing on Jade's um segueing from there, use it also for play and fun. Like use it outside your
47:30 - 48:00 job. So like you feel less afraid and less like intimidated. I literally used it to analyze my birth chart and then tell me what content I should post based on my birth chart. So use it for fun things. Also, I think again going back to like have fun with what you're doing. Otherwise, it's going to be so intimidating and stressful. So, I love that, Jade. I love that you ask it to be like what is I'm not thinking of. Tell me what my brain is. What is outside my capacity? And I love that so much. I got to start doing it. No, it's also great
48:00 - 48:30 for therapy. The girls on TikTok are using it for therapy and I did it the other day and I was like, "Oh my gosh, not me being a people pleaser." So, it's so great. Yeah. I um gee, that's such a great call out and something. Um I don't know. I think everyone here at the HubSpot Marketing Org is like very very keen on all things AI right now. Um I would love if you guys could share some examples of how AI tools have transformed your approach to social from content creation to strategy development
48:30 - 49:00 and how this has impacted your relationship building aspects of your social program. Chi, I think you have already given some really strong examples, but I'd love to hear um if there's anything left in this conversation that you guys are just dying to share with our our listeners at home. I almost said readers cuz I'm so used to written content. So, I love to use AI for actually kind of like the admin side of my job. Um, I really lean on it for like putting together a campaign brief or
49:00 - 49:30 helping me with like a playbook or something like that. Um, I do think it's worth noting though that, you know, as we were saying before, like you have to fact check like AI is not the be all end all of knowing all of the answers. So, I kind of like to lean on it of like, okay, can you help me get this started? And then like use my brain for adding more of the creative side of it. um just to kind of use that as a a jumping off point. But I think it's been really helpful in kind of creating a lot of
49:30 - 50:00 like documentation for us, especially as we begin to scale that like isn't always necessarily the uh the most fun part of my job. Yeah. Using it for a campaign brief literally that changed my life. Yeah. It's my co-pilot, my my little side my side thing that I keep I keep on call just in case cuz I was similar. I was like I don't even know her. I was actually the same with TikTok. I was like I want nothing to do with this. And then I was like, I can't as a strategist, as a creative, you can't not touch new things. And I would say it's literally the same for me. I actually
50:00 - 50:30 had to sit down with my uh creative process and looked at every part of my process that gave me friction and then figure out a way so I could focus on what I love to do, which is like the art of it all and allow chat GBT to come in and do the small little things that could trip me up for an hour. Like word, like sometimes words, not wording things, right? I'm like, "Okay, girl, this is what I'm thinking." Cuz my chat GP, that's my girl. So I'm like, "All right, girl. This is what I'm thinking. and this is how we're locked in. what like this is what I'm imagining but I don't know what word or or how I want to frame this or I'll even challenge myself
50:30 - 51:00 like okay I'm thinking about it like this how how else might I think about this campaign in a compelling and like emotional way and then I've also used it for to to everyone's point of double-checking that it's doing the things I've had to figure out the formulas for um AI specifically chat GBT and how to plug things in in a way that the system uh understands it and one of those things that has been such a breeze is like I do so many um shot lists or I'll do uh scripts or I'll have to build
51:00 - 51:30 out a deck and or or p do pitchbacks for brands. It takes care of all of that. So I have certain formulas that are already ready to go and it knows what I like because it's it's taken a lot of troubleshooting. But I like how AI remembers you in a way where it's like okay I know what we've done before. I'm going to use that to inform this. So I think for creators looking at your process and then thinking about okay well where what takes a lot of time because I I'm just thinking about the fact that I have the same 24 hours as Beyonce and if she can if she can thrive so can I. And I'm just thinking about
51:30 - 52:00 the ways we can get rid of these pain points and AI does that without making me feel smaller as a creative. I just feel more uh empowered and and kind of supported especially because when it's just you and your brain all the time. I have my partner who I work with a lot, but it's just the two of us. And it's nice to kind of go back and forth and collaborate on the smaller things so that it helps uplift the bigger, more rich and like flavorful things. I love that so much. I think um you guys
52:00 - 52:30 all shared some really amazing use cases. Um Erica, I have to go back to Cast Magic for a moment. I'm like thrilled and giddy that you brought that tool up. They are good friends of ours here at HubSpot Media. For the sake of time, I am going to move on to our last question and I know it's going to be great because everything you guys have said so far has just been so thoughtful um and truly just so valuable. So to close us out, I would love to go to this final question. As social media evolves
52:30 - 53:00 from a marketing channel to a complete business tool for customer discovery, community building, and commerce, how are you guys planning to evolve your content strategy to balance building relationships while still driving business results? Because I feel like um it can be kind of hard, especially in like a reporting perspective. Um it can be kind of hard to quantify the tangible business results from organic social. we know they're there, but like how are you
53:00 - 53:30 guys thinking about that right now? So, for um the blog video program that we're doing, it's still very young. We were a pilot last year. Now, we just moved into being a program. So, I feel like it grew from infancy to being like a toddler. So, it's growth, but not like we're still getting there. But, I think it makes me think about um your question makes me think about like what the long-term vision is for that program. And for me, my long-term vision v vision for that is I want the contributing bloggers who are making videos, I want them to let their personality shine and
53:30 - 54:00 for them to become um like kind of like allaround creators that people flock to, not just for their expertise, which is important, but be also just because of the people that they are. Our blog team is full of just such creative people who are they're funny, they're so smart, they're they all have a different voice when it comes to writing. uh they all have a different voice when it comes to their videos and I I can run down we don't have time but I can run down the list of all the ways
54:00 - 54:30 in which they all have just such distinct personalities and I feel like that if we build upon that um that's going to attract people to their content and they'll be able to kind of build community around themselves. I want our contributors to kind of just become all-around creator personalities um that people want to flock to and want to build community around. Um and that's kind of the future that I that I envision for um our bloggers is just in general just having community around
54:30 - 55:00 them. So yeah, that's that's that's my plan is just developing into creator like personalities that people flock to. Similarly, I would say a lot of what what I'm well I wouldn't say pivoting into it. I think it's been the the base of um or like my platform is what it is because of my community. So like allowing it to be community centered and or continuing to be community centered especially as people want more authenticity. They want to connect. We want the third spaces. We want to like show up at our friends house in the middle of the day and just work together. Like all the things that make
55:00 - 55:30 you feel warm and fuzzy because you're in community with other people. We're seeing bits and pieces of that online. And then I've found that through that connection I've been able to also do that with my community. And I mean it's the reason why I' I've been able to work with brands and the comment I get back from brands all the time about my content is like, "Yo, your comment section is insane. Like people talk so much." And I'm like, "Yeah, cuz it's me too. It's not just them. We're going back and forth." And that has allowed my not only my partnerships to take off because by doing this intentional work,
55:30 - 56:00 but then making sure that I'm thinking about the people I'm serving it to first, it naturally is being shared or or getting in front of different eyes or brands want a piece of that because a lot of brands are really struggling with retaining that with retaining engagement um and and community involvement. Um and then there are the brands who are killing it and the creators who are killing it by really folding community in. And I think that the reason that my brand ever took off in the first place was because I remember my I had posted a piece of content while I was in Tulum because that's the first time that I think I had like 9,000 followers and I
56:00 - 56:30 could not budge. And within a couple weeks I was at 32 because of this one piece of content. And I remember it was because I was in my DMs and in my comment section asking people, well, what do y'all want to see more of? Is this like do you'all like this? Am I getting it right? I don't have you don't have to guess because you have the data there and you have the people there. And I think that as we kind of move into this world of of our audience wanting, you know, to to be more authentically connected to us, it inherently happens like if you're making it about the people and then your ethos, right? You're marrying the two. Naturally,
56:30 - 57:00 you're going to drive those results or naturally you're going to see, you know, success from that. So, I I'm going to stick to what I know. And I actually love that. This is where the trends are shifting because I got really nervous and it's why I didn't pick up TikTok for a while was because I was like, "Oh, I actually don't know." like, "What do you mean I can only put 15 seconds up and then they're going to swipe past me? They're not going to click my profile. They don't care about my bio. What does that mean?" And I really struggled. And as soon as I got into it on Tik Tok, there was a shift. And I was like, "Thank God, I can start to like talk to my audience or I can share how I feel or
57:00 - 57:30 I can do longer com captions." Not on Tik Tok, but Instagram's real cute for that. And so, I think that it's like leading it back into kind of where we our roots, where we started. I love that it's like cycling back to that type of energy. Yeah, I love what uh Sky said and it's so funny to hear her talk because we're so aligned with everything being community oriented. Literally the same literally lots in but I if I can I'd love to kind of speak to my personal brand on LinkedIn.
57:30 - 58:00 I mean like Sky said like for me there's no community without content. So, when I talk about my presence on the platform, people are often shocked to learn that like 70% of my content on LinkedIn is really off the cuff and the other 30% is content that I like plan or schedule, which honestly I rarely schedule. Um, but definitely plan. Um, so while I would consider my entire LinkedIn presence authentic, I still have like a a content mix that works for me, which
58:00 - 58:30 includes content that is kind of like these random ideas or thoughts that I have, but also the things that are like a little bit more methodical. Uh, like when I'm promoting speaking engagements that I'm doing or events that I'm hosting. So, for example, literally earlier today, I posted on LinkedIn, at this big age, why don't you have a Calendarly link? Because at this big age, why don't you have a Calendarly link? And that was just a random thought that I had yesterday that kind of came out of a conversation I was having with my friends. Um, so to me that content is
58:30 - 59:00 really like community focused and for the community that I have on LinkedIn. But I also know that, you know, in a couple of weeks I'll need to promote one of my webinars because I host paid webinars for creators who are a little bit more entrepreneurial focused. Um, and that content is really for my customer, people who are also in comm in my community, but are more so looking to make a purchase based on the value that I provide. So, with that said, I think it's really just about crafting a balance that makes sense for you. And a lot of that can happen through a a very
59:00 - 59:30 strategically um made content mix. Thank you guys so much, Jade. that. Um, I have to go snoop on your webinar content now and see what you've been doing. It sounds so exciting. Um, I think I am so encouraged. I know, like I mentioned, I'm not in the in the day-to-day weeds of social, so it's so refreshing to hear these perspectives. Um, for everyone at home, I would say it's pretty clear that social media has
59:30 - 60:00 become the heartbeat of business growth. And it all comes down to what we've spent the last hour talking about, which is making super meaningful connections. The brands that are killing it in 2025 aren't just jumping on every trend. They're building real relationships that last. The data doesn't lie. Focusing on community, creating authentic content, and using AI strategically is way better, way better for getting results than just pushing immediate sales. So,
60:00 - 60:30 as you fine-tune your social approach, remember, prioritize quality over quantity. Build a community, not just a following. And think about social media as both a search tool and a relationship builder. Before you go, make sure you subscribe to HubSpot's Masters in Marketing newsletter. It's absolutely free and delivers these kinds of insights straight to your inbox every week, plus exclusive tips and strategies you won't find anywhere else. Thank you all so much for hanging out with us today and here's to creating social content that actually connects.