As Feeds Become Entertainment Hubs, Marketers Rethink Social’s Role

Why It Matters

The shift forces marketers to reallocate budgets toward content creation and new performance indicators, reshaping how brands build emotional connections in the feed‑first era.

Key Takeaways

• Brands treat social feeds as entertainment platforms, not just ad space
• Vertical video drives higher ad spend, outpacing CTV growth
• Marketers create multiple platform‑native versions to satisfy algorithmic testing
• Success metrics shift to cultural resonance, brand perception, and sentiment
• Companies hire entertainment executives to build content‑first strategies

Pulse Analysis

The migration of social feeds toward entertainment mirrors the broadcast‑to‑streaming transition of the past decade. As algorithms prioritize watch time and engagement, brands are no longer limited to static ads; they must craft narrative‑driven, platform‑native experiences that feel native to the scroll. This paradigm shift encourages marketers to think like media companies, leveraging short‑form storytelling, creator collaborations, and vertical video formats that align with users’ mobile consumption habits.

To succeed, marketers are adopting tactics such as "clipping"—repurposing long‑form content into bite‑sized, shareable snippets—and producing dozens of asset variations for each channel. Smoothie King, for example, is building hundreds of assets to satisfy the nuanced demands of each platform’s algorithm, while Health‑Ade is reallocating spend toward TikTok creator‑generated stories. According to the IAB, social video ad spend this year will grow faster than connected‑TV, underscoring the commercial relevance of vertical video as the dominant ad format.

Metrics are evolving alongside creative. Traditional vanity numbers like follower counts are giving way to measures of cultural resonance, brand sentiment, and relevance—indicators that better predict purchase intent in a feed‑first world. Agencies such as Mod Op now prioritize cultural impact over impressions, and retailers like Gap have created senior entertainment roles to orchestrate cross‑platform content ecosystems. As users spend over two hours daily on social, brands that master the entertainment‑centric feed will secure the most meaningful consumer connections.