As a summer intern at Trekk, I’ve been diving head first into the world of marketing. As I observe, research, and shadow client interactions, one thing has stood out to me above all: innovation. Social media platforms can be the perfect way to experiment with this innovation while improving overall brand image.
At the core of all marketing strategies is the desire to grow and be better. Summer 2026 is a time to think creatively and try something new. You never know what new content strategy could strike a chord with your existing audience, attract new eyes, or increase sales.
Changes in the world of artificial intelligence, shortened consumer attention spans, and an increasing desire for authenticity all impact the way your audience will interact with your advertising.
Here are some trending social media marketing strategies and tactics to try this summer.
Try New Tools
Short-Form Video Content
In my opinion, a strong social media presence is crucial to get your company name out there. Social media traction can be used not just to increase brand visibility but to drive up sales. Visibility online is important to keep your company on your intended audience’s mind.
Utilizing social media platforms can not only attract a brand new audience but boost your company’s reputation and overall brand image. Online platforms with casual or personal messaging can feel like a more authentic way to discover a business’s quality.
While all types of social media posts can increase visibility and sales, short-form video content is the next avenue to explore. Attention spans have seen a significant decline. The average person’s single-screen attention span is 47 seconds, compared to 2.5 minutes in 2004. While video content can grab an audience more than an image, unfortunately viewers may not engage with content that seems too long.
Getting into video production can be daunting if your team isn’t the most tech savvy. However, you already have many of the tools needed at your fingertips. Don’t have a professional video camera? Use your phone! Most smartphones now come with high-quality cameras that can capture clear visuals your audience will find top notch.
While video editing can get complicated on large projects, short-form video content for socials does not need a high production value. Simplicity works. As long as your video is clear, concise, has quality audio, and is free from any glaring errors, it will likely work for social.
When I managed the social media for Northern Illinois University’s student newspaper The Northern Star, the higher-production-level Instagram reels were not the best performing. The videos that took significant time to film, had multiple rounds of edits, captions, graphics, and a variety of locations averaged between 1,500 and 5,000 views per post.
Then, we struck social media gold when we got footage of a car being flipped over and loaded onto a tow truck after an accident on campus. This video received over 150,000 views and gained the account hundreds of followers.
As a follow-up, we posted security camera footage of the crash that received over 78,000 views. Both posts also received over 5,000 shares each. These videos did not have captions or even audio. There was simply a headline overlaid on the footage with text below directing viewers to read the full story on our website.
The production was not what made these videos viral – the content was. Focus on content that is immediately engaging, interesting, or eye catching in some way. If the content is good, you don’t need to sweat every single technicality.
When I first joined the newspaper, I knew nothing about video editing. However, in a short time I was able to learn how to use editing software to quickly create video content for social media. I even eventually led a training session for others on how to edit social media videos.
For basic editing, free apps like CapCut can quickly compile clips together. If you’d rather work from a desktop or want to add in elements like captions, Adobe Premiere Pro is a beginner-friendly option. There are plenty of free tutorials available on platforms like YouTube geared towards those learning to edit.
Many editing platforms also have built in AI tools to make things like generating closed captions much quicker.
If you have existing longer-form content posted to your website or YouTube, consider clipping a portion of the video to use on social media. The biggest challenge for this conversion will be the aspect ratio. While YouTube content is horizontal, videos made for social platforms should be vertical and mobile-friendly. When editing, make sure you don’t make any awkward crops. The most important object in the shot should be in frame and nothing should be cut off.
Take an interesting clip from your video, such as a funny or surprising moment on a podcast, and upload it to your social media of choice. You can also reference the video’s original source in the caption to further promote the original content and drive viewers to a secondary page.
While social media is important for overall brand awareness and messaging, it isn’t necessarily a revenue generator in itself. Using a call to action to guide viewers to your preferred website location can turn those views into sales.
If this is your company’s first time creating video content, start simple. A customer testimonial or employee anecdote can make a compelling video that does not require a location change or variety of angles.
Remember, not all platforms reach the same audience. On The Northern Star’s social media, audiences on Facebook and Instagram would react vastly differently to the same posts. Sometimes, opinions would be completely opposite due to the generational gap between the platforms. Consider your target audience, what social media sites they would be most likely to spend time on, and how they prefer to engage with content.
Utilize LinkedIn for AEO
One way to boost your business’s AI visibility is through LinkedIn posts. AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Google AI Mode, and Google AI Overviews are used by B2B buyers to find information. LinkedIn is the second most-cited source for LLMs, just behind YouTube. This means AI tools will use information on your LinkedIn to provide answers to those looking up your specific business or general field.
If you don’t know where to start on LinkedIn, consider highlighting employee accomplishments or milestones. Trekk’s LinkedIn posts with the most engagement highlight employee’s new certifications and anniversaries at the company.
These posts can be simple to create as well. You just need an employee’s headshot and an informative but concise caption explaining the accomplishment and its relevance to your brand. Highlighting employee qualifications can also increase overall credibility.
While you should post on a company page, having individual member profiles write content that shows domain expertise is incredibly important. Users with authority, such as CEOs, produce the most cited content. Structured content, such as bulleted or numbered lists with headings, is also more favored by AI engines.
If there is a change at your company, any news, or a new service you are launching, highlight it on LinkedIn. A structured post on a new service including keywords can help AI algorithms notice your company and highlight your capabilities.
HubSpot Tools to Watch For
Another upcoming feature to check out is HubSpot’s beta tool that analyzes Reddit mentions of your brand, keywords, and competitors.
This AI tool can efficiently give you social insights on what the public thinks about or needs from your company.
Monitoring the community conversations regarding your business can help identify both strengths and weaknesses. These conversations can become jumping off points for new ideas. You could discover new client pain points and brainstorm new ways to tackle them.
Knowing the conversations surrounding your competitors, and how they compare to your own company’s mentions, allows you to make sure you are staying relevant in your industry.
Be Authentic
Forming a real connection with your audience is crucial to creating loyalty and a positive brand image. Who is your company? What do you care about? And how do those values impact your operations and how you interact with customers?
Highlighting the human element of your company helps customers feel valued and like more than a source of income. Authenticity is a deciding factor for which brands to support for 90% of customers.
With the rise of generative AI, using original content is crucial to mark your brand as trustworthy. Don’t go the easy route and fall back on copy or images created by a computer. Rely on human creativity to spark authentic connections with your audience.
If you must use AI, any content should be thoroughly proofed by human eyes. Errors, especially those that make it clear the content was created by AI, look sloppy and careless to audiences. While AI shouldn’t solely create visual content or text, it is still an incredibly useful tool for analyzing and sorting data. Just remember, AI-generated content cannot be copyrighted. In the U.S., only human-generated content can legally be copyrighted.
Creating a distinct authentic brand image also makes you more memorable to your audience. If your content and marketing strategies are cohesive and reflect your company goals and values, your audience will begin associating that brand identity with your products.
In a world where advertisements are everywhere, especially online and on social media, having an authentic image can set you apart from a sea of cash grabs.
Your greatest asset for authenticity is your team. Consider highlighting employee expertise in social posts, blogs, or podcasts. You know you’re qualified to be successful in your market. You just need to show your audience that authority.
On Trekk’s business podcast Sidetrekked, members of our team share their insights on a variety of trending business topics relevant to our client audience. This not only helps our clients but shows our expertise in the marketing world.
Tell real stories. Highlight the work employees are doing day to day and the real impact that work has on customers. Showing production in action can boost that authenticity and be engaging to your audience. Capitalize on emotion. Feel-good stories can leave a more lasting impression than just factual data, and it sets you apart from competitors.
Our client Renaissance has a unique in-house copper studio that helps streamline their projects. Showcasing this studio on their YouTube is visually interesting and demonstrates their specialized craftsmanship.
Make sure to engage with your audience as well. Welcoming customer feedback can help people feel heard, and if you solve a problem they have, that will greatly increase the customer’s loyalty to your business.
Have Fun
If your brand image is more casual, consider capitalizing on summer fun. With beach days, sunshine, and relaxation on consumers’ minds, a fun pun or reference to vacation activities could be a refreshing focal point of your marketing.
Mixing casual content alongside informative content can help the brand image as a whole. “The main purpose of social media for marketers is reputation building and information sharing, and building trust and confidence in your brand and your company,” Trekk’s Content Developer Kayla Eddy said. According to Eddy, the best way to build brand trust through social media is to find the balance between casual and informative content.
“You have a feed that's full of good information and helpful tips and resources, but then you also have the COO playing pickleball on Wednesdays, or you have the office dogs,” Eddy said. “I suggest mixing up your informational content with just truly personal content.”
Fun imagery and bright colors can be far more eye-catching than standard informational content. However, make sure to still prioritize clarity. With so much content online and advertisements everywhere, getting your intended message across quickly is crucial.
While fun posts can be engaging, make sure if you’re pushing content online, especially on social media, your intent and product is clear at first glance. You don’t want to lose potential customers who scroll past simply because they do not realize what you are actually promoting.
There is a balance to be found between muted tones and fun accents. Your posts should be visually interesting, but not aggressive on the eyes or hard to look at.
Whatever your next marketing venture or social media post is, remember your audience and be creative. Don’t be afraid to try out one of these trends to engage your audience in an entirely new way this summer.
