Hi CCs,

Happy Mother’s day! This includes pet parents btw (myself included).

As a social media agency owner, I am immersed in the brand-building social ecosystem across research, ideation, planning, and executing content shoots every month. One thing is true: success is in the planning. You cannot recover a shitty concept in the edit.

This week I shared a bit of behind-the-scenes into what goes into the content pre-production process for social campaigns at Posture Media. Pre-pro or bust.

Now let’s get into this week’s updates!
xx Winter

🔥 Featured Content

Treat your Instagram like a TV show...and watch it explode.

If you’re interested in crafting a signature series on social, which we know is performing right now, Erin On Demand shares a specific framework that builds trust and attracts the right attention. Learn how to select a topic that sustains engagement over time and structure content to make viewers feel like they are watching a dedicated show.

Social media strategy template 2026: full framework by Digital Applied

A sharp, full-stack social strategy guide for brands covering platform selection, content pillars, creator partnerships, and measurement. The "pick two platforms, not eight" framework alone is worth the read.

The winning content mix for LinkedIn in 2026 (pillars, formats, exact scheduling)

In this deep dive by Kait LeDonne, she covers setting up your content pillars for the 2026 algorithm, picking the formats that actually move the needle this year, and how to schedule it all so you don't burn out trying to keep up.

🤳 Content Inspo

Insider meme carousel. [LINK]
A meme-format carousel where each slide is a relatable internal thought your target audience has but never says out loud but makes them feel seen. It pulled 17.8K likes because it's built to be shared. The format is dead simple to replicate: pick your audience's inner monologue, put it on slides, post.

Then vs. now, a brand journey update. [LINK]
A simple "then vs. now" format that any brand or creator can steal. Show where you started, show where you are, and let the contrast tell the story. It works because it's inherently shareable and humanizes the brand without needing a polished campaign. Bonus: it gives your audience permission to start messy.

Don’t overthink it and try yapping (here’s a viral framework). [LINK]
Creator @seangstewart studied high performing ‘yapping’ videos and came up with a formula you can easily adapt to your business and brand.

💬 Tip of the day:

💎 Brand Spotlight

Benji makes first aid bandages for grown ups. I think it’s a really interesting concept, but one thing I love is how they document packing PR influencer kits. Brands get double the impact by showing who they’re packing for, which I feel inspires the influencer to respond with a reaction open. Great idea for brands of all sizes. 👌

📡 On Our Radar

Refy handed creators full control (no approvals) for its latest launch campaign. [LINK]

Creator content has become critical for retail media networks. [LINK]

Instagram’s “Great Purge of 2026” just reset influencer vetting. Here’s what brands should do next. [LINK]

Video marketing strategy 2026: short-form, long-form, and AI content. [LINK]

The ecommerce playbook: A practical field guide for modern DTC brands. [LINK]

The truth about going viral. [LINK]

🎶 TikTok

TikTok pulls back on an AI feature that described Charli D'Amelio as a collection of blueberries. [LINK]

TikTok lets users add relevant keywords to metadata. [LINK]

TikTok bolsters micro-series content via partnership with HOORAE. [LINK]

📸 Meta / Instagram

Instagram's recommendation algorithm will penalize 'unoriginal' photo and carousel posts. [LINK]

Instagram is getting an “AI creator” label. [LINK]

🧵Threads

Threads adds new posting options and animated mini stickers. [LINK]

Threads is finally rolling out DMs on the web. [LINK]

Threads adds playable music stickers in-stream. [LINK]

🤳 YouTube

YouTube starts rolling out free picture-in-picture (PiP) globally on Android, iOS. [LINK]

YouTube to let video creators swap out Content ID tracks for royalty-free AI substitutes. [LINK]

☠️ 𝕏 

FTC settles lawsuit over alleged X ad boycott. [LINK]

Custom voice models added to xAI’s Grok tool set. [LINK]

🟦 LinkedIn

The winning content mix for LinkedIn in 2026. [LINK]

2026 LinkedIn benchmarks report by Social Insider. [LINK]

LinkedIn partners with Amazon Ads. [LINK]

🍥 Pinterest

Pinterest’s latest campaign wants you to live your life, not just scroll it. [LINK]

Introducing tvScientific by Pinterest: Pinterest audiences now available for Connected TV. [LINK]

🤖 AI Boom

X announces a rebuilt ad platform powered by AI. [LINK]

OpenAI launches self-serve ad platform. [LINK]

Meta officially connected Meta Ads to Claude. [LINK]

Anthropic teams with Goldman, Blackstone and others on $1.5 billion AI venture targeting PE-owned firms. [LINK]

Meta plans advanced 'agentic' AI assistant for users. [LINK]

China to invest in DeepSeek at $50 billion valuation. [LINK]

OpenAI advances voice intelligence with new models in the API. [LINK]

Winter Mendelson
Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer: Posture Media

🦇 Let’s connect on Instagram and LinkedIn

P.S. I will probably have typos in the event that my dad is unavailable to proofread. Sorry in advance.

​Need hands-on social media help? Creative Commerce is created by Posture Media, a Brooklyn-based social-first creative studio that helps companies build winning social strategies. Let’s chat if you’re looking for creative support.

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