👀Highlights from social media report (& 1 dumb lowlight)

Greetings, salutations, and all that. Happy to be with you, Inbox Hackers. 

For today’s Feature Story, I break down a new, giant report on what consumers want from brands on social media. Then, we’ll hit our other sections…

• The Knowledge Base  

• Self Help (the it factor)

• Facts & Stats (news dried up)  

• Get Hacking (easy win) 

And if you missed the “People’s History of the Air Jordan 1” video, check it out.

Now, let’s get into that social media report.

Social Media Report (4,000 consumers, 900 social practitioners, & 300 marketing leaders surveyed)

Seems like a thorough survey, yeah? You can download the full report here if you wanna go deeper after my highlights.

Keep in mind, TikTok might be banned by Sunday, which could shift these results in the coming year.

Perplexity put the odds of a permanent ban at 75%. It estimated a temporary ban was 85% likely. 

The top 3 points that stood out in the social report are below.

#1 Brands should stop hopping on every trend and start humanizing their content.

#2 Print media ranked last out of six channels used by consumers to keep up with trends and “cultural moments” (podcasts ranked next to last but 12 percentage points ahead of print media).

#3 “Quality of products and services” is what consumers said makes their favorite brands stand out on social media. Easy litmus test of this being true? See if Temu is still riding high in 2026 after selling epic levels of cheap crap.  

Most Interesting Visual from the Social Report?

The experts and “cool kids” can act like Meta is not what it once was. But look at the numbers below…

Sure, I wish Meta would go bankrupt so Zuckerberg could go back to being an android instead of an uncomfortable-looking hipster. 

But Meta is #1 and #2. With Facebook and Instagram way out front. 

Only YouTube, Google’s pet megalodon, is close.

Now, there is a key point in this report that brands should ignore IMHO. First though, a couple of insights that made me think of the grocery store checkout lane.

Social Selling Impulse Purchases

Sprout Social found 81% of consumers say social media compels them to make spontaneous purchases multiple times per year. It gets better…

 28% of consumers make impulse purchases once a month.

So, even if you break out in hives thinking about posting on social media and avoid it…

It’s likely you’re missing a pile of chances for sales — at least sales based on impulsive social media users. 

It’d be no different than a candy bar company being morally opposed to placing their chocolate delights on Kroger’s checkout lane racks. They’ll miss sales. And in the case of candy bars, they’d miss the majority of sales opportunities.

Something to think about if you sell products and services that people want right NOW. Or NEED right now. 

Like a plumbing service. Might take two years of social media posts to get into the head of a social media user. But when their toilet’s backed up or basement’s flooded, that big payday for the plumber is worth it. 

One Dumb Thing in the Social Media Report

The following “fact” should’ve never made it into a report designed to inform businesses. 

“93% of consumers think brands need to combat misinformation more than they do today.”

First off, I think that’s made up. Or the question was asked in a way to intentionally get that answer. 

What kind of consumer thinks John Deere should combat misinformation? Who believes Burger King should make the fry guy do fact checks? 

That’s stupid. 

Worse? Broadly speaking, all this “misinformation talk” is based on the assumption that the average person is super-stupid. That they need a “ministry of truth” to save them from lies (or malinformation).

Look. If someone is looking for a brand to guide them on what’s truly reality, that’s on the individual consumer. They should first consider that storytelling is a pretty basic part of brand building and maybe just think for themselves. 

Anyway, the full report is here if you wanna go further into the surveys.

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Self-Help

Some people have it easier than others. Depending on what “it” is.

I’ve got a friend who does well with money. Attracts it. 

He was in our fantasy league’s championship game. With three injured starters, though.

Likely to lose. What happens? 

He lost. But before the game, his opponent offered to split the pot 60% for the winner and 40% for the loser. 

So my friend basically broke even. No idea why the other guy made that offer. He could see he had a huge advantage. That’s just the way “it” is for my buddy. 

If money doesn’t easily come your way. Trust me, there’s another “it” that does come easy for you. Look for it.

Facts & Stats

Bonus:  Digital audio ads have been shown to have a 49% better impact on long-term memory than AM/FM ads and a 36% better impact than __________. Answer at end of email.

Get Hacking

A specific strategy to implement today

Got a newsletter and need an easy win in email deliverability?

Add a “best of” edition. Simply highlight the stories that got the most engagement for you in your regular editions. Put those in your “best of” edition.

Send it to your most engaged readers—should get lots of opens and clicks. 

Sprinkle in a few extra tidbits if you want. You’ll be surprised how much your loyal readers care what you’re:

• Watching 

• Reading

• Listening to

• Glad or mad about

Alt Hack: Use email triggers. Validity reports marketing emails sent in response to behavioral triggers generate 10 times greater revenue than other marketing email types. No idea how to start with triggers? Check out our longtime sponsor, Inbox Mailers. Their triggers quickly fix the problem of low open rates.

Thanks for reading Inbox Hacking. Please share it with your peeps - it’s sugar-free but stings a bit.

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

Bonus answer from Facts & Stats section: Digital audio ads have been shown to have a 49% better impact on long-term memory than AM/FM ads and a 36% better impact than TV ads.

Ad of the Day: Kia SUV goes I Am Legend in zombie apocalypse ad.