Who Needs Predictions When I Can Just List Things to Stress About?

We're back(ish).

I'm going to be honest and say that I've been cheating on LinkedIn with TikTok. I've made a lot of money in the creator rewards program for tapping "record," yapping for 3 minutes and pressing "post" -- can you blame me? That said, I also donated all the money I've made so far to Trans and Black Creators. Which brings me to...

Recently a friend made a playful joke about me being a 41 year old Content Creator on LinkedIn and TikTok. I don't take it or myself too seriously and laughed along with everyone else but then added in: "It's pretty cringe right? But if you could make an extra $4K per month yapping and also build a pipeline that resulted in you making 2x's the salary you made at your previous job wouldn't you do it too?"

There is always a bit of anxiety I've had with being a creator and now being a CMO. "Am I diluting people's perception of me by being too sarcastic and relatable on LinkedIn?" "Am I potentially damaging a professional brand by being on TikTok?"

I don't know.

But I do know that I'm being authentically myself and maybe the thing that has to change is the expectations that C-level executives are supposed to be distant, unapproachable and overly controlling of their personal brand.

Someone called me a Social Media Oracle a few years ago and I think this week I maintained that credibility.

I don't want to pat myself on my own back but I made this post below about Spotify Wrapped and the literal next day Spotify Wrapped came out so finger snaps for me.

A Client of Mine is HIRING!

Before we hop into things, I have been Advising the fine folks over at Rover.com the past few months and they are looking for a Senior Director of Brand. The team there is top, kind, nice, and you get to play with puppies all day (note: I don't know if that's true or not). Before you hop into my DMs just know that social plays a small part of this job and a deep understanding of performance marketing, brand strategy and integrated marketing is critical. You can see that job here:

Rover Senior Director of Brand Job Opening

#notsponsored just helping out a client :-)

Also I'm hiring to join my team at General Idea in January. Be on the lookout for that announcement soon.

My Anti-2025 Predictions for Marketing - AKA, "The Five Biggest Challenges Marketing & Advertising has in 2025:

You're going to be SICK of everyone's 2025 social media, influencer and marketing predictions soon so I thought I'd make the anti-version.

1?? WTF will happen to TikTok?

January 2025 is when TikTok has to provide an update to Congress and based on Trump's feelings towards China, it doesn't look good if TikTok refuses to sell. Remember that the US market only represents 16% of the user base and TikTok will survive if they have to exit the United States but what will be crippled is small businesses and creators whose quality of life depends on the app.?

2?? Where Are The Paid Social Creative Directors? (Nowhere).

The best paid social ads are creator driven or created by in-house content creation teams. No cap. As more and more brands realize how little they need campaign quality video, production agencies will start to flounder if they can't figure out how to transition their video offering to producing high volume outputs of short-form 0:10 iPhone-quality ads on sets. But that's not the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge is how FEW seasoned industry professionals there are that exist in this space.?

3?? Black Friday is F***ed.

And its all of our own fault. I was in Target in Chattanooga, TN on Black Friday. There was no panic. No line. No Kevins & Karens. I was frankly disappointed as I went to be entertained.

How did this happen? Well.... a few years ago SEVERAL brands started launching their Black Friday sales the weekend prior to Black Friday and today, Black Friday sales are launching the day after Halloween.

What used to be the day that big box retailers could rely on to get out of the red and into the black is now a race to the bottom. Brands that rely on sales to drive revenue are weakening and brands that invest in well... brand... are showing strength.?

4?? Why Are We Still Needing to Prove Influencer Is Necessary?

Sooner or later you're going to have to just pull the trigger on influencer and dump as much money in it that you can... and expand to new channels like Shorts, Threads and LinkedIn. Adam Mosseri & Co. has all but destroyed engagement and reach capabilities for brands. TikTok is still in a ˉ\_(ツ)_/ˉ answer for why some posts get 100K+ views and some get 800 views.

Influencer is categorically and statistically the most reliable channel for moving the needle on mid-funnel consideration and brand marketing leaders have to stop demanding for proof and invest in unmeasurable probability.?

5?? Is Social Good Dead?

Are you willing to stand your ground on social issues or will you choose neutrality? With far right conservatives now in power in the UK, US and, soon likely, Canada, more and more brands are choosing to be neutral vs. progressive and this creates a true separation of church and state dilemma for brands that used to invest in impact who may want to just avoid cancel culture. Black History Month planning should be starting NOW... or not starting at all. Are you doing social good because it is right? Or because it's marketing? We'll find out soon.?

Prob my last newsletter of the year but maybe there will be more things to Yap about before the year is up!

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