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“A viral moment is a tactic. Loyalty is a strategy.”: Q&A with DS+CO Senior Social Media Manager Kate Gardin
Most brands know social media matters. Far fewer know what to actually do with it.
Senior Content Strategist Emma Alexander sat down with DS+CO Senior Social Media Manager Kate Gardin to talk about why virality is no longer the goal, world building and what brands should be asking before they talk tactics.
Q: You work in social media every day. What’s the biggest shift you’ve noticed in the past year or two that you think most brands still haven’t caught up to?
The biggest shift is that people aren’t looking for more content. They’re looking for relevance, connection and a reason to care.
A few years ago, brands could get away with posting consistently and expecting audiences to show up. Today, attention is earned. Audiences are more selective about where they spend their time, who they engage with and what they allow into their feeds.
The brands breaking through the noise aren’t posting more than everyone else. They’re creating experiences, communities and conversations people want to be part of.
A lot of companies still think of social as a distribution channel. Increasingly, it’s a relationship channel. That’s a very different mindset.
Q: For years, going viral was the dream. Is that still a useful goal for brands in 2026?
I think we’ve confused visibility with success.
Going viral can be exciting, but it’s become a poor measure of whether a brand is actually building something valuable for its audience.
The platforms have changed. Reach is more accessible than it’s ever been. What’s harder to earn is sustained attention and creating fandom.
The brands that are truly connecting with their audiences aren’t necessarily the ones generating the biggest spikes. They’re the ones creating reasons for people to come back, engage repeatedly and eventually become advocates for.
A viral moment is a tactic, and a fleeting one. Loyalty is a strategy.
Q: There’s a concept gaining traction right now called “world building” for brands. What does that actually mean, and is it realistic for brands that aren’t Nike or a luxury fashion house?
World building is about creating an immersive experience for your audience: Your brand is the curator.
The strongest brands understand that people don’t build relationships with products. They build relationships with ideas, values and communities.
For a healthcare organization, that world might be education, wellness and patient empowerment. For a manufacturer, it might be innovation, workforce development and industry leadership. For a financial institution, it could be helping people navigate major life milestones with confidence.
The point is that you’re creating a space your audience wants to return to, even when they’re not actively buying.
That’s what makes world building relevant for B2B, healthcare, higher education and professional services. It’s not about creating a fantasy. It’s about creating consistency and value beyond the transaction.
The brands that do this well stop asking, “What should we post?” and start asking, “What experience are we creating?”
Q: Platforms change constantly. How should brands decide where to show up and when to follow their audience somewhere new versus holding steady?
I urge clients to follow behavior, not headlines.
Every year, there’s a new platform, a new feature or a new prediction about what marketers should be doing. Most of it creates more noise than clarity.
The better question is: Where is your audience spending time, and what are they doing when they’re there? And don’t just assume. Take the time to think about who they are and what content you’re competing with for their attention. Avoid being surface-level, or worse, incorrect. Have your social team do the research to really connect. Your audience will reward you twofold.
Someone might use LinkedIn to learn, Instagram to be inspired and YouTube to solve problems. The platform matters less than the audience mindset.
You don’t need to be everywhere. In fact, trying to be everywhere usually results in being forgettable everywhere. I’d rather see a brand show up consistently in two places where its audience is highly engaged than spread themselves across six platforms because they feel obligated to.
Q: Every brand feels pressure to jump on trends. When does that actually make sense, and when does it become a liability?
A trend should amplify your brand, not replace it.
Before participating in any trend, I think teams should ask three questions:
- Does this align with what we already stand for?
- Will our audience expect or appreciate us participating?
- Can we add something meaningful to the conversation?
If the answer to those questions is no, it’s probably not worth doing.
The risk isn’t just looking awkward, it’s training your audience to expect inconsistency. Over time, that weakens trust.
The brands that use trends most effectively filter them through a clear brand lens. They aren’t reacting to everything. They’re selectively engaging with opportunities that reinforce who they are. We saw this firsthand with a client in the optical industry. While trend participation isn’t always the right fit for their audience or industry, when a trend emerged that aligned with their brand and messaging, we moved quickly to capitalize on it.
Q: If a CMO came to you tomorrow and said, “Our social isn’t working. Fix it,” where would you actually start?
The first thing I’d do is stop talking about content.
Most organizations assume their social problem is a content problem when it’s actually a strategy problem.
Before we talk about platforms, formats or posting frequency, I want to understand who we’re trying to reach, what business objective we’re supporting and what role social media is expected to play.
Is the goal awareness? Recruitment? Lead generation? Community building? Reputation? Customer retention?
Once those answers are clear, the content strategy becomes much easier to develop. Too often, brands start with tactics and work backward. The strongest social programs start with audience insight and business objectives, then build the content around that foundation.
When we think of a social post the same way we think of an ad or a billboard, we’re missing out on what social does best for the audience (entertainment or education) and for you (real-time market research and connection). Helpful info in a bite-sized carousel or a trend that’s genuinely funny to your audience will outperform a post that reeks of trying to sell them something any day.
Q: What’s the one thing you wish every organization understood about social media before they started talking about tactics?
I wish more organizations understood that social media is a long game.
We live in an environment that rewards instant feedback, so it’s easy to focus on this week’s engagement numbers or last month’s reach. But the most memorable brands aren’t thinking post to post. They’re thinking year to year.
Social works best when it’s treated as a brand-building discipline, not a content production exercise.
The question isn’t “What should we post today?”
It’s “What relationship are we trying to build over time?”
Everything gets clearer once you answer that.
When you’re ready to think beyond the content calendar, we’d love to talk.
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