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Authenticity is key, and video is king. Learn how to best connect with your audience this month.
Set Yourself Apart: Build Lasting Connections
In today’s crowded market, making your brand stand out is more important than ever before. Human-centered branding might just be the answer to setting your company apart. Here’s how:
Know your Audience
Human-centered branding starts with who your audience is and what really matters to them: their values, aspirations, and needs. It’s about listening closely, responding genuinely, and crafting personalized experiences that build real relationships. When people feel seen and understood, they’re far more likely to trust your brand.
Tell your Story
Behind every brand is a story, and yours can be the bridge to a genuine emotional connection. Why was your brand created? What do you value? What solutions do you bring? Telling your story with authenticity helps people relate to your mission. Make it about more than just your business, make it about your audience and the journey you share with them.
Break the Mold
Forget cookie-cutter branding. To truly stand out, show what makes your brand unique. Let your personality shine through every touchpoint, and most importantly, be transparent. Align your actions with your values and show your commitment through your actions. Brands that tend to lead with empathy and purpose build deeper, longer-lasting connections.
Bring it to Life on Social
With the rise of TikTok, YouTube shorts, and Instagram reels, short form content is setting the pace, and your brand’s image and personality has never mattered more. Social media offers a powerful way to humanize your brand. Brands today are partnering with influencers and content creators sharing relatable moments with their audience. Show up, engage often, and keep it real. That’s how meaningful brand loyalty is born.
When you focus on real people, real stories, and real values, you earn trust, spark connections, and stand out for all the right reasons. Now what are you doing? Your audience is waiting!
What in The Data Dump is This?
As part of its antitrust battle with the FTC, Meta opened the vault and released a wealth of internal data.
Here’s what matters:
- Video dominates. Reels are now the primary driver of engagement on Facebook and Instagram. News feed usage is declining, and Facebook stories never took off.
- Private>public. Users are spending more time in DMs than on feeds. 63x more messages are sent than public posts each day.
- Click-to-message ads are gaining ground. As real engagement shifts to private channels, Meta’s ad products are evolving to meet users where interaction actually happens, in the DM’s.
- Platforms are blending into each other. Every app now features the same core tools – messaging, feeds, stories, and video. Differentiation is disappearing, and the fight for published creator content and user experience is becoming the true battleground between social media tech giants.
Ok, Strategic Elements, I get it, now what does this all mean for brands and marketers? It means if you’re not thinking video-forward, creator-focused, and DM-ready, your strategy is living in the past.
Here’s How Smart Brands Are Winning
Meta’s Q1 report is clear – video drives engagement, personal drives influence, and private drives results. Here’s what’s working:
- Reels fuel discovery and engagement across Meta platforms.
- Creators drive major influence, with 40% of shoppers trusting their recommendations.
- Messaging on WhatsApp and Messenger is exploding.
- AI-powered ads (Advantage+) boost revenue by 22% per dollar spent.
- Threads is scaling fast with 350 M+ users and strong early ad performance.
The message? Adapt or fall behind.
If you’re wondering how to shift your strategy or where to spend your next ad dollar, it’s time to get a meeting in the books. Strategy is what we do.
Goodbye LinkedIn Premium Custom CTA Buttons
Wave farewell to tweaking your custom call-to-action button on your LinkedIn Premium profile – well, sort of. If you’ve already had one set up, it stays but forget about switching it up or adding a new one if you turn it off. The silver lining? Company pages still get to keep the fun of customization! If you are looking to drive traffic to revolving external pages using your LinkedIn profile, you will need to leverage posts.
Engage Your Customers with Your Brain Power
Thought leadership is the new currency of trust, and customers crave it. Ready to cash in? Nearly 75% of decision-makers trust thought leadership content over traditional marketing materials, according to Edelman-LinkedIn’s B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report. Translation: It’s time to lead smart, not loud. LinkedIn’s got your back with tips on staying relevant, owning the white space, keeping it sharp, and speaking to the right crowd. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, lead with your brainpower—it’s what the people want!
X’s New Blockbuster Video Offering
X launched “X Originals,” a new initiative aimed at producing and hosting exclusive video content directly on the platform. This move is part of X’s broader strategy to transform into a video-first platform, competing with the likes of YouTube and TikTok – a long way to come from a short-character text-only app some of us remember.
For advertisers and social media pros, XOriginals opens fresh avenues for brand integration and potential sponsorships within original content, featuring big names like; Khloe Kardashian, Anthony Pompliano, Tucker Carlson, Tulsi Gabbard, and WWE. It also signals X’s commitment to retaining users through unique offerings, potentially increasing user engagement and focused time spent on the platform, exactly what advertisers need.
Grok Gets Visual: New Data Visualization Features
X’s AI chatbot, Grok, received new features allowing users to create charts and input sketches directly into Grok conversations ( or #Grokversations ). Can Grok be your X and Y axis’ new best friend?
For content creation teams, these tools can streamline the process of generating visual content and facilitate more dynamic interactions with audiences. It also reflects X’s ongoing efforts to integrate advanced AI capabilities into users’ everyday workflows.
Upvotes and Downvotes: X Tests Reddit-Like Approval Features
X is experimenting with upvote and downvote buttons on posts, similar to Reddit. This feature provides users with more obvious ways to express their approval, or lack thereof.
Upvotes and downvotes could significantly impact content visibility and user engagement strategies. For advertisers and social media managers, understanding how these new metrics influence content ranking will be crucial for optimizing reach and engagement. Just like an election, marketing teams must understand and brace for the literal “ups and downs” of votes.
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What is an example of human centered branding that you have seen succeed?
Strategic Elements is a full-service public affairs, marketing, and media consulting firm based in Iowa. Our team of political operatives, marketing experts, and media strategists helps businesses, organizations, and causes shape public opinion, influence policy, and drive meaningful change.
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