You know those posts where a brand tries really hard to sound casual or relatable?
A few years ago I probably wouldn't have noticed. Now I can usually tell within a few seconds, and it almost has the opposite effect on me.
Has anyone else become much more skeptical of "authentic" brand content?
A lot of business accounts seem to be chasing viral Reels instead of creating content that actually helps potential customers. Do you think Instagram growth is pushing brands in the wrong direction?
For me, it's fake urgency. Every week there's another "last chance" sale that somehow never ends.
What's yours?
Could be a local business or a huge company.
I'm more interested in why they stood out than who they are
I caught myself checking dashboards multiple times a day, comparing engagement, CTR, reach... all that.
Then it hit me that I'd spent more time looking at graphs than reading customer comments or support messages that week.
Since then I've been trying to do the opposite, and honestly I've gotten better content ideas from customers than analytics.
Anyone else guilty of this?
I'm on the growth team at a mid-sized DTC brand, and almost all of our budget has gone into paid social and search. That's where we have the strongest data, the most experience, and the clearest attribution.
Lately we've been getting a lot of pitches for CTV, OTT, and traditional TV. It feels like every conference and vendor presentation is pushing TV as the next big growth channel, so it's become a serious internal discussion.
I'm still not convinced it's the right move. While the reach sounds appealing, I'm concerned about measurement, attribution, and whether the cost makes sense compared to putting more budget into channels that are already performing well.
For those who've actually tested TV as a DTC brand, was it worth it? Did it become a meaningful acquisition channel, or was it more of a brand awareness play than a performance driver?
Getting your first 1k followers
Keeping engagement consistent
Converting followers into customers
Coming up with new content ideas
Staying consistent for 6 months
I'd probably swap 2 and 3, but curious how everyone else would rank them.
We're a pretty small team, so every new tool or workflow has to earn its place. Automation sounds great in theory, but I've also seen setups that end up creating more maintenance than they save.
The obvious things like follow-up emails, lead routing, and basic reporting seem worthwhile, but I'm curious where people have found the biggest return.
If you're on a small team, what marketing automation has genuinely saved you time without becoming another thing to manage?
Not because the content is terrible.
More because every post feels like it exists just to keep the calendar full.
Curious if other people feel like a lot of brand accounts have confused "being active" with actually being worth following.
Not improve.
Audit.
What's the first thing you're looking at before making any changes?
Not looking for safe answers.
I'm interested in the takes that would start an argument in a marketing meeting.