Being Social at Platform Social
By: Ellie Pepper & Mishka Jaiswal, Senior Account Executives
In the fast-evolving world of social media and branded content, we sat down with leading talent at the annual Platform Social conference to discuss what it takes to stay ahead in 2025. Here is your quick-hit guide to the must-know insights:
Expand Your Toolbox
On the ‘Future Proofing Your Influence’ panel - media, marketing and content leads from Pinterest, TikTok and Youtube discussed how balancing analytics with creativity drives the greatest results. The panel also highlighted their respective platforms' tools that help brands, agencies, and creators better understand audiences and trends. Some of these included:
The value of mood boards & trend predictors: Pinterest emphasized its growing community of Gen Z users who explore brands through curated mood boards. This audience increasingly relies on boards to bring their vision to life and shop for specific products, providing a key opportunity for brands to engage with this audience. Additionally, the Pinterest Predicts Forecast was highlighted as an imperative tool for growth. With an impressive 80% accuracy rate, brands can benefit by using it to identify trending keywords to enhance engagement in captions.
Instagram vs TikTok: The distinction between Instagram’s community focus and TikTok’s entertainment focus should guide content strategies for each platform. This session reinforced that for campaigns centered on building engagement and fostering relationships, Instagram is the ideal platform but if the goal is to create buzz and entertain, then opt for TikTok.
Try something new! Experimenting in content can drive strong results, especially on TikTok. Consider engaging in atypical talent selections for a fresh take on your brand content.
Diverse Perspectives
While not new, discussions of the day from the shared values panel reinforced the importance of diverse representation both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. We at Agnostic could not agree more with the need to integrate and spotlight diverse perspectives in the work we do everyday.
Ellie and Mishka with Vinay Virmani, Partner & Chief Content Producer at UNINTERRUPTED and The Good Karma Company and Sara Koonar, President at Platform Media.
The Engagement Challenge
Platform execs reinforced “audience attention” as a key metric for evaluating content performance, with view duration serving as a strong indicator of engagement. The takeaway? It’s still important to deliver key information within the first 10 seconds, while positioning the brand mention closer to the end to foster authenticity.
Looking ahead to 2025
The roadmap for thriving in social media and branded content is simple and continues to be authenticity, connection, and creativity. It was clear that brands today must continue to amplify diverse voices, adapt to shifting platforms, and push beyond their comfort zones to reach new audiences. Being bold, flexible, and open-minded isn’t just a suggestion—it’s essential for building impactful partnerships that resonate. The future is social, and it’s ours to shape!
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