Josh Rangel

The best way to stay on top of trends is to remain curious. Read every day. A few things to consider: - sign up for trend-based newsletters like Internet Brunch or After School by Casey Lewis - review Google Trends data or look at what's trending on Twitter/X, TikTok, Pinterest, etc. - check Later.com's "top TikTok trends" blog or the creative resource hub for Trends on ads.tiktok.com

One big thing: have a beginner's mindset. Always be open to learning. Keep educating yourself. Social algorithms and trends change weekly, if not daily. You have to stay on top of those changes. Consume content. LinkedIn posts, TikToks, blogs, podcasts, newsletters, etc. Engage with content. Create content. Get hands-on experience with LinkedIn, TikTok, Threads. You learn by doing. But probably the most important thing: test and learn: what content is working? What content is not? What trends work for your brand? Which don't? How is the algorithm treating video vs. text vs. memes, etc. Ultimately, you have to do the work. There's no better teacher than experience.

Depth vs. width. Going deep and being focused on two social platforms, where your core audience spends the most time, is better than spreading yourself too thin and creating empty engagement on five. Focus on creating better, more meaningful engagement, not trying to force it everywhere.

My job didn't exist when I was in college because social media didn't exist then. And to be honest, any social media textbook being studied now will be outdated in 6 months. Everything I learned about social media as a profession I learned on the job. And this profession changes daily. Just because you’re not in school or don't have a college degree doesn't mean your education has stopped or you're not able to gain hands-on experience. Read newsletters and articles. Follow social media professionals on places on relevant social channels. Take free online courses on YouTube, LinkedIn, or HubSpot. Whatever you do, never stop learning.

Well, Twitter no longer exists. But Twitter's ad products were never good. And X's aren't either. Add that with the health of the platform, Elon's hostility and a seemingly incompetent CEO, what's the incentive to advertise there? They lie about the number of users, time spent on the platform, post views, etc. And they've gutted the staff, so your account reps are working on dozens of other clients. Brands don't need to advertise on X. It’s actually not a safe space for brands. There are plenty of other, more reliable social platforms with better ad products. Your best bet, advertise on other platforms.

Twitter no longer exists. It died when Elon took over. And X is not a brand-friendly place. They just told brands to go “f%*k themselves” and the rhetoric by many of its users has grown increasingly hostile. There many other safe spaces for brands to tell stories. And FWIW, with the increased character count for premium users, X has deprioritized threads as a function.