Social Media Fest 2025 Day Two – The Summary
Day two of Social Media Fest delivered another round of high-impact insights - from the power of authenticity and long-form content to smarter ways to prove ROI in influencer marketing. Speakers challenged myths, shared creative strategies, and explored how brands can thrive in a constantly shifting digital landscape.
Stay tuned for deeper dives into the top sessions, plus a full recap of day three.
Social media marketing needs a reset
With Beth Thomas, Director of Social, Frank.ly.
Beth challenged the obsession with short-term engagement and trend-chasing in social media marketing. She argued that many brands confuse visibility with value, and it’s time for a strategic reset.
Several of her key insights:
Views aren’t value – Viral reach doesn’t automatically translate to long-term business impact.
Strategy over stunts – Brands need clear goals, consistent tone, and a point of view – not reactive content.
Know your niche – Great brands lean into their unique identity and audience voice.
Session Takeaway
Chasing trends won’t build brand equity – clarity, consistency, and strategy will.
When 'corporate' won’t cut it
With Alison Tarry (Citypress) & Sophie Clutterham (Lloyds Banking Group).
Alison and Sophie shared how Lloyds Banking Group evolved from cautious, corporate content to a bold, creative, social-first approach – gaining relevance without losing brand trust.
Several of their key insights:
Be people-first – Put real stories and employee voices at the heart of content.
Build from the inside – Upskill teams and encourage “citizen storytellers” to build credibility and creativity.
Structure for agility – Use flexible swim lanes to balance planned and reactive content.
Session takeaway
Human content, not corporate polish, is what cuts through on social today.
Proof in the post: unlocking social ROI across campaigns, creators & colleagues
With Rachael Goulet – Director of Social Media, Sprout Social.
Rachael shared her hard-won insights from 15+ years in social, reframing ROI not as a single number, but as the collective value across campaigns, creators, and colleagues. She urged social leaders to “be the nucleus” of their organisations by translating social value into business language.
Several of her key insights:
Social ROI isn’t one metric – It’s an ecosystem of influence, spanning awareness, conversion, and internal impact.
Creators & colleagues are ROI engines – Creator-led content outperforms brand-led, and colleague-shared content gets 8x more engagement.
You can’t prove ROI alone – Break silos. Social teams need access to data, platforms, and collaboration with Sales, Finance, and Product.
Executive fluency matters – Translate social wins into business terms (time saved, revenue generated, strategic insights).
Session takeaway
The proof is in the post. Social ROI exists, but only if you connect the dots and speak the language of your stakeholders.
Unlocking demand and discovery with in social thinking
With Wes Hosie – Social Campaigns Director, Rise at Seven.
Wes made a compelling case for moving from on social to in social. Rather than just distributing content, brands must embed themselves into social culture, search behaviour, and platform-specific trends to truly drive discovery and demand.
Several of his key insights:
“In Social” means human-first – Think cultural context, emotion, and self-expression, not just scheduled content.
Search is shifting to social – Platforms like TikTok are influencing consumer journeys far beyond For You pages.
Discovery = relevance + visibility – Use interest-based content, creators, and trends to boost both.
Every platform has a role – TikTok is about cultural edge; LinkedIn is about intent and utility. Treat each differently.
Session takeaway
Being “on social” isn’t enough. Brands that thrive are “in social,” embedded in culture, search, and consumer mindset.
The Myth of Ever-Changing Social
With Ruth Lee, Senior Director at Citypress.
Ruth detailed how social isn't changing as chaotically as we’re told – it’s grounded in timeless communication fundamentals. The best brands succeed by mastering consistency, understanding people, and not chasing every trend.
Highlights:
Fundamental 1: You’re always talking to people → listen, learn, and fuel conversation.
Fundamental 2: People adapt to tools → trends matter, but cultural fit matters more.
Fundamental 3: If it’s good, they’ll stay → shortform works, but story is king.
Don’t hide behind links – give people full value inside the platform.
Paid + Organic need to work together – don’t silo efforts.
Be funny, if it fits – or partner with those who are.
AI is useful, but homogenisation is a risk – protect brand voice.
SESSIOn Takeaway
Forget the hype – great social is just great communication. Get the fundamentals right, balance creativity with risk, and show up with purpose, not just presence.
How to Prove ROI in Influencer Marketing
With Alex Frolov, CEO at HypeAuditor.
Alex showed us how influencer ROI isn’t a guessing game – it’s a system. With the right tracking, comparisons, and creative partnerships, influencer marketing can deliver real business impact.
Highlights:
Measuring ROI tools:
Promo codes & tracking links.
Custom landing pages.
Region and audience comparisons.
Exclusive influencer products.
Beyond sales:
Track EMV (Earned Media Value).
Use IGC (influencer-generated content) for site and ad creative.
Leverage social proof and brand trust.
Smarter strategy:
Don’t just demand revenue – seek insight and partnership.
ROI = a system of signals, not a single metric.
SESSION Takeaway
Influencer marketing ROI is measurable if approached systematically. Track smarter, reuse content, and work collaboratively with influencers – not just transactionally.
Influencer Marketing Panel
Magali Mas D'Amato led the panel on influencer marketing, joined by Dayana Collazos Ibarra (The Folio Society), Stef Lait (OST Marketing), and Esme Rice (Vayner Media).
Key Messages:
Choose influencers based on engagement and brand fit, not just followers.
Employee-generated content drives high trust and engagement.
Long-term, collaborative partnerships produce authentic results.
ROI measurement requires a broad, integrated approach—not just sales numbers.
Prioritise diversity and avoid bias in influencer selection.
Session Takeaway
Influencer marketing works best when built on trust, creativity, and meaningful partnerships—not quick transactions or surface metrics.
Unlocking the Power of Consumer Intent
With Charles Kerr, Google.
Charles highlighted how understanding consumer intent is essential for marketing success in today’s fast-paced digital landscape. By focusing on what consumers want in the moment, brands can deliver more relevant and effective experiences.
Key Messages:
Consumer intent is the strongest signal for effective marketing – focus on what people want now.
Search behaviour shows real-time needs; brands must optimise for intent-driven queries.
Combining search data with other signals (like social and ecommerce) creates a fuller picture.
Use AI and automation to scale intent understanding and activation.
Session Takeaway
Marketing rooted in consumer intent delivers relevance and impact – brands that listen and respond to real-time needs will lead the market.
Analyse, Ideate, Make – How VaynerMedia and Indeed Supercharge Organic Social
With Charlotte Scott, Vayner Media, and Darragh McGinley, Indeed.
This session explored Indeed’s evolving organic social strategy focused on repurposing existing content, tailoring it by market and platform, and shifting from a follower-based to an interest-based model to maximise reach and engagement.
Key Messages:
Organic social is about relevance, not just follower counts.
Reuse and repurpose existing content creatively across platforms.
Daily/weekly content creation needs to be audience-focused and agile.
Shares and saves are critical engagement metrics driving reach.
Use data to assess what works and pivot quickly if content underperforms.
Influencer collaborations, multilingual approaches, and local market insights are vital for scale.
Session Takeaway
An interest-led, data-driven organic social strategy that emphasises content reuse and audience relevance drives greater reach and engagement than traditional campaign-based, follower-count strategies.
The Future of Social Content Creation: Panel Discussion
Mel Barfield hosted the dynamic panel on the future of social content creation, joined by Miruma Dragomir (Planable), Leila Woodington (VEED), James Erskine (Rocket), Jonathan Taylor (Phantom Peak).
Key Messages:
Authentic influencers with engaged, trusting communities outperform superficial ones.
Tone of voice must reflect genuine customer experience and purpose.
Content should resonate with target audiences, e.g., kids vs. parents, through nuanced understanding.
Poorly executed trends and sloppy AI usage undermine brand credibility.
Captions on videos are crucial for silent viewing habits.
CEOs and leaders can succeed on social if authentic and relatable.
AI is a tool, not a replacement for creativity; users will demand quality and authenticity.
Social media regulation and shifting consumer expectations will shape the future.
Session Takeaway
Successful social content creation hinges on authentic storytelling, respecting community nuances, careful influencer selection, and smart use of technology. Brands must avoid surface-level trend-jumping and instead focus on meaningful engagement with their audiences.
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