At our recent Think Tank event, Beyond the hype, MTM social media strategy and account manager, Mike Stevenson explored the intersection between creativity and data within social.
The shift toward data-informed creativity
Social media has never been more popular. It has also never been more competitive. In this challenging landscape, brands need to leverage everything at their disposal; combining behavioural psychology, marketing theory and machine learning to go beyond top level insights and uncover meaningful conclusions. By breaking down social data under three core dimensions - content, text and time, you can uncover the variables and behavioural patterns which are driving the best results.
This long-term approach allows us to move beyond traditional, day-to-day output and away from an overreliance on short-term performance indicators like vanity metrics. Understanding these patterns can shift social media from a “fluffy” discipline within your marketing mix to a practical, data-driven science.
Data should support, not replace, creativity
It’s important to highlight that this more scientific approach should never replace what makes social media special, and that is the creativity within it. Social will increasingly become a space that blends creativity and data to compound long-term success so, you need to be thinking about the two facets in unison.
As always, the validity of your conclusions is dependent on the size and quality of your data set. It is important to remember that having a large enough data base and a high volume of content plays an important role in providing the best insights, building a more holistic understanding of social consumption and engagement. From this foundation, you can develop tailored algorithms that go beyond reacting to yesterday’s popular post. Instead, they anticipate what’s likely to perform next, not as isolated content but as part of a strategic sequence. This approach enables the creation of interconnected posts, each optimised with the right combination of variables to generate meaningful momentum and drive measurable, long-term impact - not just surface-level engagement.
Through the combination of multiple machine learning models, trained on historical performance data – from likes, comments and impressions to post timing, content pillar, and creative format – we can identify the key features most predictive of success. Examples include analysing the ideal sequencing of content pillars, when to follow a thought leadership post with a relevant case study, or how often to share a product or service led promotion without causing fatigue. We also evaluate the optimal post cadence, balancing visibility with audience saturation to maintain engagement without overwhelming feeds.
Collectively, these insights feed into a continuous cycle of testing, learning and refinement, informing everything from creative to messaging to schedule, while also shaping and contributing to the broader campaign architecture. Over time, this creates a bespoke, living system, where the more data you gather, the more intelligently you can steer the content strategy going forward.
A smarter system, not a perfect prediction
We’re not predicting the future perfectly, this is about making consistently better decisions by optimising all of the data available.
By analysing past performance, assessing real-time inputs, and weighing them against your goals and constraints, we can compute the next best action with greater confidence and clarity.
Unlocking a measurable competitive advantage
The real opportunity lies in what comes next. With every labelled post and every audience interaction, the system will become more intelligent, both learning, adapting and fine tuning itself over time.
The result?
- Content that performs more reliably
- Campaigns that build momentum strategically
- Reduced guesswork and improved ROI
Towards intelligent, ethical ecosystems
This system can’t replace creative thinking or the knowledge of social media managers, but it can be used only to support and enhance their success. Essentially, it is the partnership between data, creativity and experience that helps us make sense of the madness and understand what we need to consider to maximise results. Ultimately, these steps, supported by the right operational workflows, help reduce the uncertainty and create more opportunities to delight your audience with the campaigns that they will actually respond to.
We’ve been focused on how an integrated, data-driven approach can transform your social presence but this process can be extrapolated into all other areas of your marketing and communications, creating intuitive omnichannel ecosystems that become increasingly aware of customer needs and behaviours. These systems have the potential to help brands position themselves more authentically in today’s AI gold rush, where transparency, authenticity, intelligence, and autonomy all matter equally.
Closing thoughts
If you’ve had no exposure to machine learning, it can seem daunting, but it doesn’t need to be. Working with a partner or taking the time to explore the tools available yourself can transform not only the way your team looks at data and dashboards, but also how your audience sees and interacts with your brand on a daily basis. This isn’t about replacing people with algorithms, but about empowering teams to make smarter decisions, design better content, and deliver measurable results.
If you have any further questions on the role that advanced analytics and machine learning plays in a social media strategy, contact us today and build a strategy that stands the test of time.