Let’s be honest with ourselves… how many reactive ‘moments’ have any of us landed in our career? I don’t mean pitched, had approved, posted or even internally applauded. I mean moments when a piece of content has really flown online. Gone viral, if you will (how very 2012) and received meaningful engagement from communities that matter.

Hand on heart? At most, it’s a handful of times, likely less. And that is better than nothing.

The truth? There is rarely any tangible logic that separates the ideas that fly vs those that don’t. Captivating audiences on social, or any marketing channel for that matter, has never been easy. But the people scrolling have become unforgiving.

At risk of buzz wording ourselves into oblivion, we know that slop, AI drudgery, trend-led rip-offs, creator content without a cause, cutdowns, cast-offs and faux-culture are really getting to us all. We (as normal people, not industry bubblers) know that we’re savvy to ads, cynical of selling and bored of how the algorithm reads and repeats at a rate of knots that pummels our feeds with the same trash we don’t want, will never need and after two commutes scrolling will cast aside with a quick re-search or click of a “do not show me this content”.

But what can brands do to combat this? Let’s start by giving ourselves a break. Calm down. Don’t panic. Common sense will prevail. I genuinely believe that. And I believe a lot of other things too, like:

1. Our interests haven’t changed - they’ve just multiplied

Celebrities, humour, a catchy track, skills and talent we will never achieve, stuff that looks pretty, the content of our media has been the same for a century. There is more of it, sure, but there is surprisingly little ‘new news’ when it comes to what we want to see. The captivating bit will come from a surprising audience insight; a new behaviour that opens up an opportunity that is ownable and on brand.

2. Trial and error is not the same as throwing shit at a wall

We are way past the days of churning things out and seeing what lands. No one has the budget, resource and frankly, the f*cks for that, so put your AB testing in the bin for a minute and do the work upfront. With such an abundance of tools, platforms, content and real people out there, some smarts at the start really will make the process to a creative answer smoother. And no, that doesn’t need to mean a three-month strategic piece of work, it just needs to be reality.

3. Think about the few, not the many

Years ago, I read an article about the power of the teenage girl to lead culture. It’s still true. There is nothing more powerful than an ultra-passionate, strongly vocal group in life, or online. So, think about being direct, committed and passionate about how you speak to these niche(ish) communities. Word will spread.

4. Just. Go. On. The. Internet.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been met with “I don’t have Instagram”, “I don’t use TikTok”, “I don’t really watch TV”, “I’m not really into podcasts”. That, I’m afraid, isn’t good enough. Just look at it, there are actually great things to learn from a bit of mindless scrolling and a lot of it is really good. It’s imperative that you and your teams are using these platforms, and regularly. Give time to discussion and shares, set up ‘burner’ accounts to tailor feeds and watch competitors, sign up to those Substacks, watch the trending series. Knowledge is always power, and it's important that people feel like it’s time well spent rather than time away from emails.

5. Social doesn’t just mean quick and cheap

It can be (and some of the most captivating ideas are), but it isn’t a prerequisite for online content. Attention spans, or at least the content we want to give our time and attention to, are getting longer. Serialisation and repeated formats are back on the rise, and, to my earlier point, we love beautiful things. Something doesn’t need to be short-term or indeed short to be ‘of the moment’ or culturally relevant. Entertainment really does come from anywhere. Think about flexible formats as well as one-offs.

6. Believe in the brand

The key to any of this is a strong brand, personality and mission, as that’s where the flexibility to try things will come from. As comms people, marketers and creatives, we can make fun, captivating and interesting work. Being as passionate about the brand as you are about the idea really does pay back. Branded content that is genuinely entertaining, speaks to a genuine truth or insight, and looks arresting is not a chore to view. Brands should bear that in mind.

So, annoyingly for brands, there is no secret ‘sauce’. But our own role as a consumer is a real superpower when developing ideas that will stand out or make people care, even just for a few minutes. It’s about judgement, the ability to read the room, move quickly when it counts, and resist the urge to show up everywhere.