Kim Tipton shares why creator-led content wins over celebrity endorsements, how platform-native strategy beats cross-platform repurposing, and why brands that chase trends will
always lose to those that build cultural fluency.
Do you prefer brand awareness or performance? What is your preferred marketing channel? In this series, we get to know
past Insider Summit attendees and ask about their preferences.
Kim Tipton, Senior Social Media Manager,
Kimberly-Clark:
Creator-Led Content or Celebrity
Endorsements: Creator-led Content. In an era where authenticity is engineered and people aren’t as fascinated by a peek behind the golden curtain; creators highlight the one
thing we all tend to miss consistently in marketing: the (real) human element.
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Broad Reach or
Precise Targeting: Why not both? There’s a time and a place to go super precise and personalized, I often prefer that approach on social. Identifying key behaviors of
a consumer group and speaking very directly to that group in a way that’s organic to them. However, broad reach is also important for discoverability. You can make an impact when you’re
invisible. So, you create structured systems tied to objectives where both broad reach and precise targeting can complement each other and achieve your goals
Organic Growth or Paid Social: Both again. Organic growth and paid social are basically twins at this point. Gone are the
days that you’re rewarded for just pay to play and an organic-only strategy isn’t going to consistently get you the reach and frequency you need to hit your advertising goals in a year
(most of the time, there are a few unicorn examples that enjoy VERY healthy organic results - lookin’ at you Nutter Butter!). TL;DR: you need to have a robust strategy and dedicated support for
both disciplines. Hopefully executed by two smart teams who know how important it is to talk to each other often and most importantly, have fun with it.
Platform-Native Content or Cross-Platform Repurposing: Platform-native Content + don’t completely sacrifice volume
for perfection. Consistency and quality are the most important things. I know it’s hard when the biggest and best brands are posting bangers every day of the week and you’re struggling to
consistently get out eight in a month but steady and strong wins the race here. If you can’t consistently output quality content, more of it isn’t going to move the needle for you. Focus
on strong, data-validated content that works hard for you and then find ways to repurpose or adapt it for syndication. What does well on TikTok won’t always do well on Instagram that also
probably do well on YouTube but if you create for one platform, find what works and then adapt for other placements, you’ve now got a versioning strategy that helps you crack the quality/volume
game with a foundation built on insights instead of envy.
Short-Form Video or Static/Carousel
Content: Both. Very much both. Similar to my previous answer, the focus should be on quality content over simply “algorithm hacking” with more carousels or
making everything a video. Every platform prioritizes media differently, every algorithm has madness to its method--but more than that, people reward good content. Consumption habits directly feed
into how these algorithms “rank” your content. Focus on making good sh-…stuff for actual humans. Do that over and over again. Learn from it, make it better and make more of it.
Results will follow.
Trend Participation or Original Content
Creation Organic content creation and cultural fluency. Trends are just the way brands feel like they can “tap into culture” quickly to drive affinity with
consumers and while that was true a few years ago, now to make waves in culture, you need to be there for a long time, not just a good time. Fleeting participation in trends is much more aligned with
parasitism than cultural fluency these days. Brands that win either create their own “trends” (read: culture, worlds, moments, etc.) or drive culture forward in an un-selfish way. My
advice is to focus on creating great content that makes sense for your brand and what you hope to achieve on social media, and work on your why in the background. Suddenly, it’ll get real easy
to spot the moments in culture where you fit, where you can frontline, and where you’d be better off sitting out.
Story-Driven Content or Product-First Content: Depends on the moment. Both have a place! Not every launch is anthemic, not every social
post needs an RTB. This is where your content strategy (and a proper strategist to steward it) shines through. Sometimes you need to inform, sometimes you need to make people laugh, all the time you
need to consider 3 things: the channel, the audience, and why you’re there. That + your strategy will allow you to operate with excellence for whatever campaign, program, or work you’re
accountable for while (hopefully) having a little fun along the way.
If you’re interested in submitting content for future editions, please reach out
to our Managing Editor, Barbie Romero at Barbie@MediaPost.com.