Find your angle. Become recognizable. Then expand your brand.
Format is the advantage now.Everyone looks at the content wars and goes:
At every turn, for 5 years now, people have felt the same way, and been wrong, EVERY TIME.
TikTok is going to be banned (lol).
The algorithm sucks right now (but somehow others are growing...)
The truth still remains. Every minute spent consuming traditional news is being subverted by video and carousels on social networks. Every website with an interstitial or a paywall that isn’t powered by a creator frontend is in panic. There are literal billions of dollars and millions of human consumption hours that are still transitioning from this.
And every piece of traditional TV is now consumed mostly with a phone on at the same time. Slow game? Ad comes on? Plotline slow? Every consumer is on Instagram, TikTok, X etc.
This IS a zero sum game, and content from individuals and brands is winning it. Are you? I certainly am, and I would prefer if all of you were along for the ride instead of the corporations of the world.
Netflix bringing podcasts onto TV shows how scared they are of YouTube. Disney licensing its IP to OpenAI is watershed moment of realizing they simply aren’t as entertaining as the masses, and need to work with them instead of against them.
They are fucking SCARED. Of you, me, and every person who gets to leverage attention against the big monopolies that have told us what to watch and think for so long.
Frankly... fuck them. It’s our time, and this is your blueprint to do it.
So here’s where we’re at.
Could you educate people with your content in a somewhat entertaining way. People learned about marketing tactics, about how to cook meals, workout plans, obscure hobbies. Value, value, value.
This was also first mover advantage. In 2024 I could make videos about cool color combos for design and get hundreds of thousands of views, because no one else was doing it and demand was there. Now, its commodified.
The storyteller thrived, an expert explaining the history of a fragrance note, the process with which a paint color comes to life, an analysis of Tom Ford’s vision change between collections in the 2000s.
Value alone slowed, value wrapped in a good story, with accompanying visuals thrived. How-tos, wrapped in actual work and opinion. What you would do in a scenario... the art of the story.
This was the time where first movers and old school influencers got subbed out for the actual most interesting people that chose to make content. It was the rise of the thoughtful creator, the professor who started teaching, truly interesting humans. 2025 was an incredible content year.
Find your angle, then become recognizable, then expand your brand.
We (the Cut30 squad) thrived in this era, hundreds of our creators and grads dominated social feeds.
Browse more yap examples on VideoDatabase ↗Our focus... helping people share their expertise in ways people want to hear. Comparisons, stories, rankings, styles of content.
You, where you’re at in your career or your journey, sharing stories and opinions with the context of what you know.
For a brand, its getting people at your company or from the internet on screen to do the same. Stop doing cute photo shoots, trends, just post a video about your product and GET AN EXPERT ON YOUR FEED.
Now, let’s talk about the funnel.
We’ve said it again and again, because it’s true: content is a funnel. If you want to succeed, you need ways to spike the top and generate views. As long as those views are tangentially connected to your middle of funnel value and entertainment-driven content about your core topic that your audience actually enjoys... you’ve built a growth machine.
Our top-of-funnel rule is simple: the content just needs to reach the right persona, not perfectly communicate your product or positioning.
If you teach hardware design, start by speaking to people interested in tech hardware as consumers, or even design more broadly. That’s your top of funnel. The next layer down is where you zoom in on your actual expertise.
This strategy is a proven winner. We’ve seen it work again and again with creators who break out in Cut30.
If you want the direct viral tactics for brands to hit top of funnel, I break them down here:
Watch the original breakdown on YouTube ↗Once you have angles that work, it’s about dialing in recognition.
The hook still reigns supreme, but in an overwhelming feed, people increasingly stop because they recognize you, not just because you grabbed attention. Once you achieve recognition, the next job is comfort.
You build that through a styled environment or “set” (which is far less intimidating than it sounds), or through a recognizable visual system.
How do you carry the same themes and brand language into carousels and static content?
How does that same approach travel with you, literally, into new locations, contexts, and moments?
And once you’re an established character, you can either reap the benefits within a single format, knowing you understand this new landscape, or go a level deeper and expand your world.
That’s where collaboration with other creators comes in.
The entire ecosystem of media multiplication, capable of giving you infamy, if you want it.
I see people complain about social media, then open their feed and it’s a single static product image. Stop living under a rock, the codes are right in front of you.
There are endless trends, and most of them don’t matter. You already have a world of people who want to know you. Don’t waste time borrowing someone else’s tactic.
The vlog has been replaced by the story. Consumers don’t want a play-by-play, they want something genuine. Less content, better written and better positioned. If you do it, make it exceptional, make sure its you.
That era is over. If it isn’t wrapped in a story, don’t post it.
You have to care about the small things: dropping in images, framing, lighting. None of this is hard, but it does require intention. Nobody just turns on a camera and wins. It takes planning (and yes, we’ll give you the blueprint).
A waste of money. When we talk about sets, styles, or production, we never mean spending thousands of dollars. It’s about intention with the tools and spaces you already have, not hiring old-school videographers. So many people are doing this themselves because… it’s actually easy. This isn’t a dark art. It’s a handful of tutorials away. Don’t burn cash pretending otherwise.
In the age of AI, its value has collapsed. Without human connection, it’s harder and harder to generate real leads. In the last 3 to 4 months, we haven’t seen a single person in our network get meaningful results without being on camera for some of their content. This matters, because it used to be optional. Now? You’re just noise.
This is great as a part of your funnel, as 1/4 of your brand content, but at the end of the day now humorous content as a core of what you’re building breeds negativity and puts up views that don’t actually have a measure on your resonance. Use it sparingly in addition to a more rounded approach.
If you’re a brand trying to win on short-form in 2026, and you either haven’t cracked it yet or feel lost, this is the playbook.
You need to choose a core archetype, a style your brand will consistently execute on.
If you don’t pick and stick to one, you end up with a hodgepodge of unsuccessful bullshit.
Yes, brands eventually become a blend of archetypes. Most mature brands land somewhere around three. But at the beginning, do one.
Here are the four:
Position a team member or credible creator to tell intricate stories that educate people on your brand’s world, everything from cybersecurity to dermatology. Authority-first.
Social-optimized, creatively directed content that’s conceptual and visually exciting. Lo-fi or immaculate production, doesn’t matter. The idea comes first. This works best if you have a one-of-a-kind social or creative talent on your team.
Humor, memes, skits, unexpected choices. Attention-first content designed to catch what falls through the funnel.
Your core feed matters less than enabling creators, affiliates, and influencers to tell your story at scale. Earned Media Value over owned content. Distribution beats organic.
Pick one. Execute it until it works, add more later.
From there, define recurring content pillars.
What are the 3 to 5 types of content your brand can do repeatedly, test, and improve?
If you can’t name them clearly, your audience definitely can’t recognize them.
This video covers planning and executing a pillars system.
If you’ve got traction, pillars are working, growth is real, wins are happening, this is the next layer.
No matter your archetype, put a real expert on camera 2 to 6 times per month. Start building recurring personalities now, you’ll thank yourself later.
One starts working? Add another. Have them collaborate. If it’s too much for one feed, spin up a second account.
Episodic social show or recurring format, either way, people should know what to expect from you.
This isn’t just for creators. Brands need this too.
Strong series share a few things:
Collaborate more. Get new people on screen. Enable everyone you hire: photographers, stylists, creators, to post BTS. Your experts and UGC creators should like the brand enough to naturally build it into their lifestyle.
This is how worlds scale.
Think: BAPE inviting guests in-store. Alexis Bittar running a serialized drama. Bilt building a sitcom. Opal launching a whiteboard self-help channel.
Alex breaks this down here:
And most importantly, zone in on your campaigns and use them to maximum efficacy with teasing, debuts, sustainment, collaboration and full social planning. Full breakdown here:
If you actually want to turn attention into revenue, welcome to the closing wars.
Brands are finally doing this. You should too. Comments → DMs for guides, drops, downloads, it compounds fast. Just don’t rush it before you have content-market fit.
Comments aren’t for emojis. They’re for selling. Ask questions. Make recommendations. Start conversations that turn into DMs.
Customer acquisition is war. DMs are your best weapon. Answer questions. Proactively message ideal customers. Drop alerts, discounts, invites. This is CRM with personality.
For any service or higher-ticket product especially, where else do you get true 1:1 access to your audience?
It’s fitting to close with the close, so that wraps up what we’re looking at ahead. We’ll see you on the inside.
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