I attended a conference in New York City in March called Social Fresh. Conference leaders opened the first session with a presentation on the state of social media.

These are key takeaways that shifted my mindset on strategy.

Platform popularity is shifting

In case you didn’t already know, Threads and LinkedIn are growing rapidly. At this point, X and Snapchat are “utility” apps.

The big three platforms to focus on are Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Social Fresh leaders said TikTok structures today’s culture whereas these other platforms are distributing that culture across different audiences.

Discovery content vs. trust content

There’s a shift in which engagement metrics we should consider as “valuable.”

We shouldn’t be hyper-focused on follower counts, likes, and comments anymore. Instead, we should be looking at social platforms as a discovery tool for brands to help build relationships over time.

According to Social Fresh, 60% to 80% of your content should be for a “discovery audience.” This means your content should be distributed into two categories: discovery and trust.

Discovery content should be your viral moments or content you think would grab people’s attention at a larger scale, such as when you tap into trends. Trust content becomes your serial content that stays true to your brand. It is what encourages visitors to return.

Comments are down; hashtags are dead

More conversations are happening through people’s direct messages. Your audience wants to have private conversations and an intimate user experience. So, meeting your audience where they are is essential.

Also, hashtags shouldn’t be used as a discovery tool anymore. Instead, your content should incorporate enough context about the post’s topic in the caption. This allows the platform to identify what the post is about through SEO and distribute it to the correct audiences.

Creator marketing budgets are essential

According to CreatorIQ’s 2025 The State of Creator Marketing Report, creator marketing budgets grew by 171%. That’s because paid media campaigns are turning into creator relationships. People are more likely to trust a creator talking about a brand and its products versus the brand talking about the products themselves.

Knowing how to source and work with creators is highly valuable.

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