“Culture isn’t a monolith… it resonates differently across every individual audience. It isn’t authored in boardrooms or dictated in strategy decks; culture ignites when people unite over the passions that truly define them” – Amy Pearce, Agency Partner, Meta. 

Culture isn’t something a brand can schedule; it’s something they have to co-author. It’s forged authentically through content, community and discourse, rather than in committees. With 3.58 billion people using at least one of Meta’s apps daily, these platforms represent a massive, living ecosystem where users aren’t just scrolling; they’re discovering, sharing and shopping. It’s this active engagement that allows Meta’s platforms to work harder for your business goals.  

To help set the scene, here are the stats defining the current landscape: 

The death of mindless scrolling

Contrary to the myth of passive consumption, modern consumers (particularly Gen Z) are intentionally training AI algorithms to reflect their specific interests.  

• Intentional curation: 53% of UK Gen Z users actively curate their feeds to optimise discovery. 

• The conversion link: 91% of these users state that active curation makes them significantly more likely to discover brands they actually want to purchase. 

• The rise of reels: Short-form video is the primary vehicle for this shift (still). Reels now account for 50% of all time spent on Instagram, with 4.5 billion shares occurring daily. 

The shift toward personal passions means consumers now prioritise niche creators over mass market influencers. This democratisation has changed how brands approach their creative strategy. 

• The niche advantage: There is a high receptivity to micro creators. In the UK, 66% of users (and up to 81% in the US) want to engage with niche creators they don’t yet follow. 

• The frequency effect: For this generation, repeated exposure is the catalyst for conversion. In the UK, 69% of Gen Z are more likely to purchase a product after seeing content or ads multiple times. 

The result is an important shift in how brands build equity: influence is no longer a top-down broadcast. Instead, it is a bottom-up conversation driven by “little bites” of content that achieve a cumulative impact over time. 

We will explore this concept in more depth throughout this whitepaper, as it emerged as a consistent thread across every session. Bridging the gap between how Meta builds its tools and how Connective3 executes against them. 

The next session focussed on how brand media and creative strategy should work together. And the fact that, to unlock sustainable growth on Meta, brands need to evolve from basic channel execution into a true Brand Media partnership. This approach focuses on feeding the Meta algorithm the high-quality signals and creative assets it requires to scale efficiently. 

So, what’s changed? 

The traditional performance playbook (optimised for the immediate click) is hitting a ceiling because modern user behaviour no longer aligns with static, click-based models. 

• The 80% gap: Bidding solely for clicks effectively alienates up to 80% of your potential audience. Most users are inspired by content but may not transact in a single session; if you only optimise for the “clickers”, you miss the “converters”. 

• The new framework: Success is now defined by the formula “Bid x action rate x ad quality”. This means your creative relevance and predicted engagement are just as critical as your budget. 

• Quality signals: The “machine” is only as good as the data it consumes. Implementing advanced technical setups (like enhanced CAPI parameters) can increase reported conversions by up to 40%, providing the AI with better data to find incremental audiences. 

The power of awareness in performance

A Direct Response (DR) only approach is a race to a dead end. When a brand focuses exclusively on the bottom of the funnel, it risks audience stagnation and rapidly rising acquisition costs. Breaking through this plateau requires a dual approach: embracing a full-funnel strategy to nurture future customers, while simultaneously hunting for small signal wins (those technical and creative optimisations that feed the algorithm better data to unlock immediate efficiency). 

Here’s how we’ve applied these strategic shifts for our clients at Connective3: 

Case study 01: A great example of a C3 account where the transition into brand building began by identifying efficiency wins within existing DR campaigns. We introduced advanced event parameters to the client’s Conversions API (CAPI) connection, increasing reported conversions from a 20% baseline to upwards of 40%. 

While technical in nature, this signal win provided Meta with the high-quality data it requires to optimise effectively. The result allowed us to maintain original lead volumes while reallocating the saved budget into New Customer Traffic campaigns, effectively funding brand growth through technical optimisation. 

Case study 02: A classic account seeing 90%+ of the budget dedicated to direct response. For this client, the “DR only” model resulted in 80% of monthly reach hitting the same existing users, leading to a saturation plateau. When awareness spend was paused entirely over the summer, this figure climbed to 90%, causing conversion efficiency to tank. 

The narrative flipped in November with the reintroduction of awareness spend. Within a single month, we reached 3 million new users, accounting for over 25% of the total monthly reach.  

Not only did this future proof the account into 2026, but the immediate impact was a 9% YoY reduction in CPL, proving that awareness is a performance multiplier, not a cost centre. 

Case study 03: Moving into brand spaces doesn’t always require massive new budgets; sometimes, it requires a smarter approach to existing formats. This consumer brand was heavily reliant on Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs) in a highly competitive, product led market. 

Using C3 tools, we prioritised brand presence by introducing “coherence” into these automated formats – integrating consistent brand elements, social proof, and clear product naming into the imagery. A 30 day A/B test delivered undeniable results: a 39% lower CPA and a 63% higher ROAS compared to the standard, unbranded DPAs. 

The missing link: Creative as the primary lever

We’ve shown how technical precision and full-funnel media strategies can lower costs and reach millions of new users. However, even the most optimised account structure will fail if the content it delivers is ignored.  

In an increasingly crowded feed, recognition happens long before reading. To capture attention in the 0.4 seconds it takes for a user to register a mobile ad, the creative must be instantaneous. At C3, we’ve introduced C3create and our Performance Playbooks to specifically solve the tension between creative diversity and brand consistency. 

Our approach moves away from rigid, static brand books toward a dynamic system designed for the speed of social: 

• Visual identity: We don’t just copy-paste brand assets; we adapt core guidelines specifically for the technical and aesthetic requirements of paid social canvases. 

• Systematised content: By using design systems and copy matrices, we produce a high volume of diverse assets efficiently, ensuring the “discovery engine“ always has fresh material to test. 

• Distinctive assets: We move beyond the logo to develop a “system of ideas.” This ensures a brand is instantly recognisable through specific colour cues, motion styles, and tone of voice – building equity in a split second. 

“This systematic approach allows brands to show up with frequent, high-quality touchpoints that feel cohesive without being repetitive. By aligning media bidding with creative volume, we can turn brand presence into a measurable performance engine.” – Dan Seekings, Group Head of Creative, Connective3. 

Take a look at what we did for our client USN here.

“The traditional divide between brand and performance is a false dichotomy. In a fragmented digital ecosystem, Brand is Performance. It simply operates on a different temporal scale and requires a more sophisticated lens to measure accurately.” – Nick Handley, Performance Director, Connective3. 

The challenge: Beyond the last click trap

Short-term stakeholder demand often leads to an overreliance on last click attribution. This oversimplifies the consumer journey and causes platforms to overclaim conversions, leading to the chronic undervaluation of brand building activity.  

To solve this, measurement has to evolve from platform siloed metrics to a holistic statistical approach. 

The measurement framework

In 2026, to understand the true origin of sales, brands should adopt a tripartite measurement strategy: 

• Media Mix Modelling (MMM): Top-down statistical analysis used for long term budgeting, cross-channel forecasting, and high-level strategic planning. 

• Multi Touch Attribution (MTA): Granular, bottom-up analysis of digital touchpoints to understand the tactical interplay between social, search and display. 

• Incrementality testing: The most critical component. By using holdout groups to strip back platform reported data, brands can see the actual impact of their advertising versus organic baseline sales. 

The feedback loop

Tthe shift from seeing brand as a cost to seeing it as a performance driver is strategic, not tactical. It requires a continuous cycle of experimentation: 

1. Brand feeds performance: Stronger brand equity lowers acquisition costs (CPA) and improves conversion rates in the lower funnel. 
2. Testing informs creative: Constant A/B testing and lift studies provide the data needed to justify creative pivots and budget reallocations.
3. MMM shapes strategy: Long term data ensures that the “system of ideas“ is actually moving the needle on market share.

Key takeaways

• Measure holistically: If you measure brand in channel isolation, it will always be undervalued. 

• Start small, iterate fast: Gain stakeholder confidence through small scale incrementality tests before scaling. 

• Think long term: Brand building is the process of compounding interest on your media spend.  

The old rule of “perfect consistency” where every ad looks like a carbon copy of a single master asset is no longer effective in a world of infinite content. To thrive, brands need to embrace a new model: Compound Branding. 

The three forces shaping modern culture

We’re operating in a new environment driven by: 

1. Content proliferation: Low-cost, high-speed access to creation and consumption. 
2. AI distribution: Sophisticated engines that prioritise discovery over following. 
3. Individualisation: A consumer expectation that content is tailored to them, at scale. 

Consistency vs coherence

The traditional approach of “consistency“ typically involves matching every single execution to one “Big Idea” and a strict style guide; however, in a fast-moving feed, this often results in static content that fails to stop the thumb.

In contrast, the new model of coherence relies on a system of ideas held together by a unifying brand ethos. Much like Nike, where the brand is recognisable even in the absence of a logo, coherence acts as the “connective tissue” that allows a brand to remain unmistakable while still embracing diverse, creator-led content. 

The new speed of attention

For digital natives, the 06 second ad is the new 60 second commercial. What does this mean for brands? 

It means that every second of engagement must be earned rather than expected. Influence is no longer built through a single, long-form narrative, but through “little bites“ of content that achieve a cumulative impact over time. 

By producing a high volume of diverse assets, brands allow AI algorithms to identify and reach different audience segments based on their specific, individual motivators, rather than relying on manual, top-down demographic layering. 

Key takeaways

• Release the grip: Brands need to better align  with culture by working with creators and their unique languages rather than forcing a corporate tone.
• Cumulative attention: Brand equity isn’t built by one big moment, but by accumulating attention one second at a time across multiple assets.
• Creative is the targeting: High-volume, diverse creative is the only way to maximise the performance of modern discovery engines. 

In her session, Sarah highlighted that 50% of time on Instagram is now spent on reels, so the opportunity to capture attention is vast. To help brands navigate this landscape, she introduced one of Meta’s newest and most exciting brand products that’s available in exclusive beta: Reels trending ads.  

Reels trending ads allow brands to appear directly alongside the top 5% of creator-made content. This content is ranked daily based on viewership, virality and engagement, making sure your adjacent to the most culturally significant moments on the platform. 

 Key features & benefits

• Premium placement: Ads are placed after high-performing, trending reels, ensuring your brand is seen when users are most “open to discovery”. 

• Strict brand safety: Sarah emphasised Meta’s commitment to protection, using limited inventory filters to ensure ads never appear next to sensitive topics. 

• Category targeting: Brands can align with specific interest sets, such as Sports, Food & Drink or Beauty & Fashion, to reach highly engaged niche audiences.
• Proven impact: Initial alpha tests showed a 20% increase in unaided brand awareness, performing on par with or exceeding competitor “pulse” products. 

Get involved

Reels trending ads are currently in Beta and offer a unique first mover advantage for brands looking to lead rather than follow trends. To find out more or to request early access before global rollout, please email us for more information.    

Partnership ads are a Meta tool that we’ve seen great success with allowing you to harness the organic influencer of creators.

Partnership ads are no longer a niche tactic for lifestyle brands; they have evolved into a cross sector utility for grabbing attention and blending high-level entertainment with mid-funnel consideration. 

• Harnessing creator signals: Partnership ads consistently outperform standard brand handles by using social proof. We’ve seen numerous case studies where shifting the “messenger” from the brand to a creator significantly improves CTR, CPM and overall ROI. 

• The micro influencer advantage: A collective of micro influencers is often more effective than a single macro celebrity. This multi-node approach allows for a richer, more varied brand story that builds frequency naturally across highly engaged niche audiences. Often while being far more cost-effective than a single hero talent. 

• Authenticity over prescription: The most successful partnership ads occur when brands stop being overly prescriptive. By leaning into creator authenticity and allowing them to translate a brand message into their own native voice, the content feels like a recommendation rather than an interruption. 

• The hook strategy: Winning in the first second requires prioritising the hook. By exploring different creators, brands can identify which visual and verbal triggers resonate with specific audience motivators, ensuring the content stops the scroll immediately.

To successfully scale, brands need to first identify and dismantle common growth blockers. During account audits, the C3 team frequently identifies key barriers to success: 

• Structural alignment: A common red flag is an account structure that doesn’t match business goals, often characterised by an overreliance on the bottom of the funnel. 

• The creative ceiling: If an account lacks creative variety, it hits a ceiling. Scaling requires breaking the brand safe barrier by mixing polished assets with unpolished native content to feed the “Andromeda” algorithm. 

• Proving incrementality: For mature accounts where low hanging fruit is gone, the shift must move toward advanced testing, using holdout tests and geo uplift studies to find the marginal gains that drive scale.

Tactical wins

Recent tactical wins have also highlighted how real-world testing can challenge traditional marketing assumptions, particularly regarding social proof and lead quality. In a series of split tests, the team discovered that the exact same video performed significantly better when run as a Partnership Ad via a creator’s handle than as a standard ad, proving that the source of the content is often more impactful than the content itself.  

Similarly, counter intuitive strategic friction has proven highly effective for lead generation. By adding SMS verification to lead-gen forms, the team intentionally added friction to the user journey, which resulted in a 12% increase in CRM booking rates. This suggests that a slightly harder journey for the user often filters for intent, resulting in a much higher quality lead for the business.  

Workflow and vision

To maintain this pace, the team uses a specific stack of tools to bridge the gap between ideation and execution: 

• Creative analytics: Tools like Motion are used to look beyond ROAS, analysing “thumb stop ratios” and “hold rates” to diagnose exactly where a creative succeeds or fails. 

• Production & forecasting: The workflow is stabilised by AI driven copywriting and Flair for rapid background generation, while the Impact (MMM) model is used for high level budgeting and forecasting.

Future outlook: The 18-month bet

Our team shared unified vision for the near future of the platform: 

• Localised globalisation: Entering new markets is easier than ever but winning requires a localised approach to creative and UX. “Copy-pasting” a UK strategy is a recipe for failure. 

• Creativity at scale: The biggest bet is on the synergy between native and generative AI creative. The future involves maintaining rigid brand guidelines while allowing AI to produce the dozens of variations needed to reach every niche audience pocket. 
• The new North Star: Success must be measured on incrementality, not just last click ROAS. 

Content strategy: Landing success with the campaigns that work

What is AI mode?

Currently, AI mode is a long-form AI overview, and can be accessed within Google itself, either by clicking on ‘AI mode’, which is its own feature next to ‘images’, ‘maps, ‘videos’, etc; or by clicking ‘dive deeper in AI mode’, at the end of an AI overview.

Currently, citations are pulled from top ranking sites, to pull together a long-form answer, but it’s not just blogs that are featured – in some instances, it’s product listings, videos, and forums.

While this is still in a test phase, the long-term aim for this is that as Google better understands a searcher’s browsing and shopping habits, it will only showcase brands that the user already interacts with; which will make it harder for newer and smaller brands to be discovered.

To find out which AIOs you appear in, input your site URL, and click on ‘organic keywords’. From there, select ‘SERP features’ ‘include target in’, and ‘AI overviews’ – any URL that has the diamond symbol next to it, indicates you have an AIO.

To see the full scope of opportunity, simply amend ‘include target in’ to ‘include’ – any keyword without a diamond icon highlights an AIO is triggered for that keyword, but your site isn’t included in it.

We typically look at keywords that you rank for on pages one and two, to highlight the number of potential AIOs you can be captured in, and the total monthly search volumes.

By using Ahrefs’ brand radar, you can also track brand mentions within AIOs themselves – which is interesting, as numbers will be lower than keywords, but it enables you to see where your name is actually cited within the text, as opposed to just a link. However, to use this feature, you’ll need to pay extra.

How to conduct keyword research for Google and across social channels

To understand the scope of video opportunities within Google itself, use Ahrefs. Type in your focus keyword under ‘keyword explorer’, then under ‘SERP features’, select ‘video preview’ and ‘video’. This will give you all of the keywords that bring back videos.

Pair this with keyword research on social channels, and you’ll find the sweet spot for your ideas. We use keywordtool.io – it gives you access to keyword research across a variety of social channels, including Instagram, YouTube and TikTok – you just pick the country/language you’re targeting, and you can see monthly search volumes and trends.

In case this visual representation isn’t convincing enough about why you should care, then here are some interesting stats about the shopping grids:

• 98% of ecommerce keywords now trigger multiple Google shopping grids
• 80% of SERP real estate for ecommerce keywords is now dominated by shopping features
• 30% decline in clicks is already impacting top-ranking organic pages

*seoClarity research grid data – October 2024

When the organic shopping grid was first introduced, it generally appeared at the bottom of page one, not as prominently as it does now. As search has evolved, the shopping grid now features at the top of page one – often above the regular listings. This means regular results get pushed further down the page resulting in lower CTRs. Sometimes, double grids appear, with one at the top and bottom of the page, making getting featured in the organic shopping grids a necessity, not a ‘nice-to-have’.

Ok, so now you know you have to get featured in the shopping grids so you’re probably wondering how?

There are three main areas to consider for organic shopping grid optimisation:

1. Optimise your product detail pages (PDP’s)

 On-page optimisation is critical to succeeding in this space to ensure that Google has access to product descriptions, attributes like colour and size, and additional information like shipping and returns. Don’t scrimp on details – the more the better.

Title tags should be accurately optimised with details like product name, colours and sizes, and product and merchant listing schema should also be used.

Top tip: Ensure any JS loaded content has fallback HTML that Google can crawl.

2. Merchant centre and feed optimisation

Make sure your free listings status in Google Merchant Centre is turned on:

In addition to this, the product feed should be properly optimised. Ensure well optimised titles, descriptions and attributes. Add more custom attributes if it’ll help your products to stand out, and don’t forget to include shipping and returns information, and include variations when appropriate.

Click on one of those images at the top of the screen and a panel opens up showing more products from different retailers:

Google Analytics

To get PDP data in Google Analytics, you can filter to only include “Session default channel group = Organic Shopping”, and only include landing pages that are PDPs.

Google Search Console

Here, you can filter on the following options to see shopping performance:

As a reminder, product snippets are the rich results that appear in the regular 10 blue links search results. Merchant listings include any of the enhanced shopping features including the shopping grid and images.

Google Merchant Center

See how your free listings are performing in Google Merchant Center by going to the performance section and toggling on ‘Organic’:

What is the ‘Discussions and forums’ SERP feature?

Google’s ‘Discussions’ SERP feature is particularly interesting, because it differs so greatly from the rest of the search results page. While the majority of the SERP is owned by brands displaying the content they want to share with consumers, this feature surfaces real user conversations from brand forums, as well as websites like Reddit and Quora.

It responds to your query with the authentic, user-generated conversations it thinks you’ll be interested in engaging with; whether you’re looking for product reviews and recommendations, travel tips from seasoned holidayers, or troubleshooting hacks for common tech issues.

For example, a ‘Discussions and forums’ result appearing for the search term ‘best credit cards’:

How do people interact with the feature?

Where returned, ‘Discussions’ appears on the SERP like any other Google search feature: on the first results page.

To find and interact with other forum users, an individual simply needs to make a Google search as usual, and look out for the tab labelled ‘Discussions and forums’ – this may be a drop-down filter to open out the forum options, or it could be a carousel housing relevant discussion hubs.

Once users have identified the ‘Discussions’ section, they’ll be presented with a quick snippet summarising the conversation, to give an initial steer as to whether it’s of interest. If it is, they can click through to explore deeper, engage with the forum, and even participate in the discussion.

Is the feature worth your attention?

Did you know, according to Ahrefs, there are an estimated 2.6 million non-brand keywords in the UK that return the ‘Discussions and forums’ SERP feature? This rises to 18.5 million in the US.

For wider context of where this positions ‘Discussions’ among alternative SERP features, using the same dataset, there are about 595,000 non-brand featured snippets and 10.6 million ‘People also ask’ boxes. So, it’s somewhere in the middle!

What’s interesting is these appearances are across a range of markets and industries, too, from sport, lifestyle, and home improvement to finance, legal, and ecommerce. Ultimately, if there’s a talking point to be had, the chances are there’s a forum for likeminded users ready to discuss issues, experiences, and advice.

And, while these 2.6 million keywords might only represent a small portion of the full search landscape, where ‘Forums’ are returned, they’re an often-prominent feature – and one that’s certainly worth acknowledging if you’re targeting impacted terms.

What sort of SERPs return discussions and forums?

Across the recorded 2.6 million non-brand SERPs that return a ‘Discussions’ feature, an overwhelming 98% can be clustered into the ‘informational’ category. Which makes sense, right? After all, when searching to learn more about something, it’s helpful to have a forum on hand with real-world advice, insights, and experience.

Meanwhile, 38% can be categorised as ‘commercial’ intent – which, again, checks out; genuine, authentic user reviews and conversations are incredibly useful at the consideration stage of any buying journey. Interestingly, though, just over 17% also fall into the ‘transactional’ bracket, indicating a continued-appetite for user-generated discussion as far down the funnel as the conversion stage.

The full breakdown can be seen below:

The astute among you might notice the number of SERPs returning a ‘Discussions’ box exceeds the total of 2.6 million. Ultimately, the simple answer is that many SERPs are too diverse to fit into one box, so about 53% of keywords return a mixed landscape.

What is forum SEO?

Forum SEO takes many principles from its much more famous cousin, classic SEO, with the overall goal of optimising discussion threads and user-generated forums to appear more prominently in search engine results – especially Google’s ‘Discussions and forums’ feature.

It focuses on making forum content discoverable, relevant, and useful for users looking for real-life experience and expertise.

Forum SEO vs classic SEO

The main difference between everyday SEO and ‘forum SEO’ is that website content can be heavily controlled, optimised, and maintained. Meanwhile, forums are user generated – so there’s very little scope to change the content posted by members.

With this in mind, rather than being a platform to publish polished content, forums are instead an opportunity to raise brand awareness and engage with audiences who make up your market.

How can you optimise forums for search?

We’ve given a summary of what forum SEO is (spoiler, it’s mostly just traditional SEO techniques applied to forums), but how can you optimise an owned forum to prompt an appearance on Google?

Unfortunately, unlike website content, you don’t have direct control of the UGC that’s posted on the platform; but there are a few things within your control:

• Ensuring your threads have an informative, relevant, and useful title.

• Including a relevant descriptor in the thread URL.

• Encouraging user participation and facilitating a conversational community, to demonstrate an engaging environment.

• Deliver a strong user experience, whether it be making it easy for users to access related forums or engaging with users in an authentic, non-salesy way.

If a forum focuses on the above bullets, there’s a strong chance of it being pulled into the ‘Discussions’ SERP feature, which can improve brand visibility.

What is ‘Sources across the web’?

Featuring on both desktop and mobile SERPs, ‘Sources across the web’ is a common SERP feature that addresses a query with quickfire responses aggregated from various (unsurprisingly) sources from across the web. For instance, if you’re to search ‘SEO software’, Google provides you with a useful round-up of the best and/or most popular SEO tools to consider.

Each answer is accompanied by a dropdown which includes the cited sources, and wider context; as well as the option to search for the keyword directly.

What is ‘People also ask’?

When you make a Google search, the SERP will often include a ‘People also ask’ box which includes useful, related questions and quick-fire answers – much like a series of ‘Featured snippets’. The questions presented are what Google thinks you might also be interested in, based on what people also commonly search for alongside your query.

This box features a series of dropdowns, with the answer to the associated question and the accompanying source URL. For example:

Where do the answers from ‘People also ask’ come from?

The ‘People also ask’ box typically pulls answers from pages that have rankings for the exact or related query, and include high-quality, relevant information.

Notably, though, the page doesn’t need to rank in position one – nor even page one for that matter. There are instances of PAA sections providing quickfire answers from sites ranking on page two or even three – giving brands an instant boost and potential for page one visibility.

I’ve seen an AI overview in the ‘People also ask’ box

As Google search continues to evolve, and AI Overviews becoming increasingly commonplace across the SERP, we’ve started to see the odd ‘People also ask’ answer shared as an AIO – rather than a response sourced from an existing web page. In fact, it’s considered that as many as 13% of ‘People also ask’ answers are Google-generated.

Is the feature worth your attention?

Considering the latest data from Ahrefs, in the UK, there are an estimated 10.6 million non-brand SERPs that return the ‘People also ask’ feature – rising to a whopping 68 million in the US. What’s more, PAA is reported to accompany 81% of AI Overviews, which is likely a sign of its continued significance in the modern, evolving search landscape.

The feature’s prominence across Google’s results pages – especially considering it’s often also positioned towards the top of the SERP – reenforces that it’s worth paying attention to if you’re targeting affected queries.

How to write for ‘People also ask’

Much like optimising for featured snippets, improving your chances of appearing in the PAA feature often relies on:

• Creating high-quality and well-structured content.

• Using question subheadings (tagged as H2s/H3s/etc) and providing a clear and concise answer.

• Directly answering commonly asked queries.

The above optimisation techniques are SEO best practice, so addressing each bullet will put you on the right path!