Funny how everyone on LinkedIn uses the Summary portion as a buzzword garden - you've got the whole experience section for that.

But hey - I've got 15+ years working in agencies, with a heavy emphasis on social, content, influencers, and campaigns. As a Director of Creative Strategy, I've lead Social AORs and campaigns for Microsoft, Beats By Dre, Verizon, Spotify, Minecraft, Bethesda, Rock Band, and a slew more - a bunch of details on all of that below.

Besides that? Huge NBA fan who plays ball 4 days a week, vinyl record collector, colossal music fan, and guy who Postmates far too much. Let's make something cool.

Jack Appleby

Okay, I’ve identified seven ways to know if someone’s using AI to write their LinkedIn:

I actually haven’t, I just think it’s ridiculous that anyone cares. If the content in front of your eyes is good, enjoy it! If it’s not good, scroll on right past. But there’s nothing more silly spending time wondering who’s using AI or having emotions about it.

Social Media / Creator Consultant | Work: Microsoft, Beats By Dre, Verizon, Twitch, Morning Brew, Rock Band, Community (six seasons and a movie!) & a slew of video games.

Should your brand only hire Social Media Managers who have their own personal brand and social following?

OF COURSE NOT. It's okay if social's just a job to them. Not everyone needs to build a personal brand in their free time. Does it help? Sure! Can it help show how someone thinks? Yes! But should it be a determining factor? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

“Industry experience required.”

Easily the dumbest, most self-sabotaging phrase in hiring.

If I'm hiring a social media manager for a shoe brand, they don't need five years of footwear experience—they need to understand marketing. They need to get storytelling, and community, and human emotion, and how to make engaging content.

MARKETING IS A TRANSFERABLE SKILL, FOLKS. What, are we in a post apocalyptic society where whatever task you're assigned in the zombie wasteland is your new career for life? Come. On. 

None of your industries are special snowflakes, folks. Yeah, there will be some industry specific things; maybe it's legalities, or demographic preferences, or who knows what. Any half decent marketer can learn that stuff in 30 seconds. Stop pretending like your field is rocket science. 

What's funny is I benefited from this silly way of thinking! Check my LinkedIn—over half my jobs are in the video game industry because once I had gaming experience, those companies kept on calling me. Funny thing? I wasn't allowed to play video games as a kid. And honestly? I don't think my ~gaming experience~ is what made me good at those jobs—it was my social experience.

So uh, hiring managers and companies? Maybe we get a littleee more creative and a littleee less lazy with how we hire people, yeah?

Welp, I did it. I built a 2nd media business around my 🏀 passion, that’s now a 2nd major income stream.

This is the TikTok payout for How To Hoop Forever last month. That's not counting brand deals or in-kind trades.

I'm being paid to play basketball.
You can follow along: https://lnkd.in/eFHFcG_s

ChatGPT can now turn off em-dashes.

What will the LinkedIn AI Police who wanna scream about "I CANT BELIEVE PEOPLE USE AI" complain about now?

Every. Single. Brand. Should. Post. YouTube. Shorts.

Here's 3 very simple reasons why ↓

YOU CAN LITERALLY JUST REPURPOSE YOUR REELS + TIKTOKS
Short-form vertical video is short-form vertical video. These platforms are the sameeee. You've already made the content, so why not just post the content on another massive social network?

YOUTUBE IS THE 2ND LARGEST SEARCH ENGINE
We've heard a lot about the importance of social SEO—Gen Z loves to search YouTube and TikTok the way us millennials usually google things. Getting your social content on YouTube ensures you're in the mix for searches

YOUR BRAND'S YOUTUBE IS PROBABLY DUSTY
Let's be honest, you probably just dropped old TV spots onto your brand's YouTube. Shorts suddenly give that channel purpose, AND will give your next commercial better lift when you inevitably toss it on this channel!

Why isn't your brand on YouTube shorts? What's stopping you? Lemme know in the comments.

I’m super proud of this week’s newsletter.

I’m writing about moving SLOWER in social.

Why speed doesn’t get us anything, how we’ve held ourselves to a reactionary standard that’s honestly not worth much, and why slowing down and being more deliberate are what get you the best social media results. 

Sub here to get it tomorrow: Futuresocial.beehiiv.com

BIG NEWS: my newsletter Future Social just hit 80k subs, and we've kept a 39% open rate!

I'm so proud of this thing. I've never spent a dime on advertising—Future Social has solely grown from readers sharing my articles & encouraging other to subscribe. Hell, I don't even promote it very much, but I really pride myself on writing strategies & case studies that help our beloved social media industry to keep getting better.

If you're not subbed yet, would love to see ya:
https://lnkd.in/eCGxAWpJ

What are your Social Media Predictions for 2026?

I'm gonna feature my favs in the newsletter!

Here's a list of areas to challenge your thoughts—just drop a comment here with your predictions!

- What’s one big social platform shift you think everyone’s underestimating?
- Which social network is due for a major glow-up… or a major collapse?
- What’s one content format you think is about to explode?
- What’s a trend we’re all obsessed with right now that won’t survive 2025?
- How will AI realistically change the day-to-day job of a social media manager?
- What’s one new feature Instagram/TikTok/YouTube WILL roll out next year?
- What’s the biggest skill social pros will need by 2026?
- What’s a type of content brands should immediately stop making?
- What’s the next “For You Page” evolution? (More personalization? More curation?)
- What’s one creator behavior you think brands should steal?
- What’s a metric that will matter way more than it does today?
- What’s a metric we’ll all stop caring about?
- Will Threads actually become a thing? (Or… lol no?)
- What do you think the TikTok algorithm will look like post–ownership change?
- What’s one consumer behavior shift we’re all sleeping on?
- What’s a category of brands that will win big on social in 2026?
- What’s a hot take about the future of paid social?
- What’s your prediction for UGC creators in 2026?
- What new job title will emerge for social teams next year?
- What’s one way social media marketing will look completely different 18 months from now?

Or pick your own!

There's one major mistake I'm seeing brands make over and over in their Influencer Marketing efforts ↓

Brands are giving influencers unreasonably short timelines to create the content, then giving themselves what feels like eons to approve the content... then turning back and asking the creators for edits within 24 hours.

Influencer partnerships are just that—partnerships. It's gotta be a team effort on both sides. You're immediately alienating influencers when you ask for impossible deadlines, or when your brand doesn't deliver timely feedback after asking influencers to drop everything to make content.

Like, think about it. If you've identified an influencer as someone who can successfully drive business for your brand, you probably wanna do everything to make sure they have a great experience, because the last thing you want is them no longer supporting you!

The solves are simple:
- Be realistic in timelines, for both creators and approvals
- Have a clear approval process on the brand side
- Suggest timelines to influencers, but specifically ask them to feedback on the timeline and see what works for them.

Pink Instagram backgrounds now exist!

Buttt you can’t get them. The details ↓

So Instagram started a very exclusive awards program called Rings—basically the Oscars for Insta. Only 25 creators were selected worldwide for the honor.

Two of the benefits of winning Rings:
- creators get custom background colors
- your IG stories ring turns gold (example on left)

Personally, I don’t love the colors look (it’s hard to read & at a glance, it’s impossible to know why they have colored backgrounds when no one else does), but would you want the option to change your color?

No alternative text description for this image

Hot take: your brand’s social will fail if it’s all trend content.

You need to make real, original IP. Unique content!

Your social strategy can’t just be reacting to whatever’s new and hot on the For You Page. The celeb memes and popular songs you’re using? Yeah, those are copyrighted.

YOU DON’T NEED TRENDS. Your brand is interesting all on its own, I promise! And really, your content should constantly pay off the EMOTIONAL BENEFIT of your product, which really doesn’t need any ~culture~ (oh, I’m yelling again, sorry).

If you want relevance year-round, you need content that’s recognizable, repeatable, and uniquely yours. This is cliche, but the best brands in the world don’t join trends, they leverage social insights to start them.
So, I partnered with Hootsuite to create a simple checklist to help you build evergreen content that’ll do numbers without ever checking what’s trending. 
👉 Head to Hootsuite’s LinkedIn page for the full breakdown: https://lnkd.in/eSa3qpNS

#HootsuitePartner

Brand partnership • Social Media / Creator Consultant | Work: Microsoft, Beats By Dre, Verizon, Twitch, Morning Brew, Rock Band, Community (six seasons and a movie!) & a slew of video games.

Can we stop trying to reboot Vine?

TikTok and Instagram have already won. You don't even want Vine back—you just don't realize it.

The nostalgia for the app is cute, but here's what'd happen:
- you'd log in on day 1 out of curiosity
- you'd love the shortest videos ever again
- by week 2, you'd forget its on your phone as your habits go back to Instagram (where your friends and creators are) and TikTok (where the best algorithm in the world knows what content you want).

VINE 2 IS NOT GONNA HAPPEN STOP IT!!!

If you get upset when your brand's social media comments turn negative... you've probably put too much of your identity into your job. 

You're not the company your work for, or the product, or even the social media content you make for the company. It's all work. And sure, you should be proud of when the work does well! But when it doesn't? Or when the company's under fire for some reason that has literally nothing to do with you? That shouldn't bother you.

But I see farrrr too many social media professionals (especially young ones) tie their self-worth to their social media jobs. That's always a recipe for disaster. 

Maybe I'm lucky—my social career began on 3 hated products. I worked community management for some EA video games: Battlefield, Need For Speed: The Run, and Mass Effect 3... also known as a massive game that launched with major glitches, the most hated rendition of a beloved franchise, and the long-awaited trilogy ender with an ending blasted by fans. All 3 got tonssss of negative comments, and I knew up front that those comments weren't a reflection of me.

So please, make sure you're not tying too much of yourself to your brands. Touch grass, as they say.

graphical user interface, text, application

Yeah, you could post memes & lols on LinkedIn...

Anddd it'll do truly nothing to help your career.

I loved a LinkedIn post I saw from Shannon Kelly Ash this morning. She ran a little experiment on her personal account:

"I posted a bunch of unhinged nonsense daily and gained 1,500+ followers and 400,000+ impressions in just over a month. Sounds pretty neat on paper, right? 

Except … visibility ≠ opportunity.

When I used to post polite content tips [3 likes], my inbox was full of job offers and freelance opportunities. Now? With exponentially more reach? Nothing."

This is the number one mistake I see people make in content. We think all engagement is good engagement. We think being the funny guy means we'll get attention... but it's not the attention you want.

You want to be an authority! You want to appeal to bosses & budget holders, not be one of those LinkedIn people who complains about the industry or pokes fun at things. That doesn't get you noticed by the right people.

So please, use LinkedIn, but if you're here to better your career? Share content that shows off that big ol' brain of yours.

And hey, if you need an easy way to start? I've got a $5/month thing I built that gives you daily LinkedIn writing prompts meant to mine your brain for thinking & ideas that are specific to YOU. Give it a look over here if you like: https://lnkd.in/gTTZVf4e

If you're using AI for brand social content, it's gotta be commercially viable.

That's why I'm big on Adobe Firefly—every image is created by an algorithm that's squeaky clean and trained properly without stealing anyone's art! #adobefirefly #adobepartner

What's the best piece of advice you'd give to someone who wants to work in social media?

Black F̶r̶i̶d̶a̶y̶
Black F̶r̶i̶d̶a̶y̶ ̶W̶e̶e̶k̶
Black F̶r̶i̶d̶a̶y̶ ̶C̶y̶b̶e̶r̶ ̶M̶o̶n̶d̶a̶y̶
Black F̶r̶i̶d̶a̶y̶ ̶E̶x̶t̶e̶n̶d̶e̶d̶
Black Existence

Reply with your take, I'm gonna feature a bunch in my newsletter!

Influential

Director of Sales

UM WW

Digital planning and buying practice lead.  Responsible for Digital media strategy, planning and buying for Chrysler Group, LLC including (Tier I and Tier II) Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Chrysler, FIAT, Fleet, and CPOV. Management of Digital media planning and buying team

SVP, Partner, Integrated Investment

Responsible for Digital media strategy, planning and buying for Chrysler Group, LLC including (Tier I and Tier II) Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Chrysler, FIAT, Fleet, and CPOV.  Management of Digital media planning and buying team.

VP, Digital Media Director

Organic

Responsible for Digital Planning and Buying for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge Tier I and Tier II.  Emphasis on Digital In Market including 3rd Party sites and BT (Ad Networks, Portals).  Management of seven-person planning and buying team.

Director, Media

Mindshare Team Detroit

Responsible for over 54 local dealer groups (Ford regional and Parts and Service), 27 local dealer groups (Lincoln / Mercury), and five Diversified accounts (regional and national).  Lead media team in the growth of Ford regional digital spend 300% between 2006 and 2007 and 95% growth between 2007 and 2008.  Managed media efforts to centralize LMDA regional digital media activities.  Optimized LMDA regional media strategy to include Paid Search and In-Market media.  Developed overarching local digital media strategy designed to receive local customizations based on each individual client’s campaign goals.  Built a scalable department based on client need and placed key people in key positions in order to achieve maximum client service, efficiency, talent growth and team collaboration. Day to day manager of 11 person local digital media department.  Traveled to the field to pitch and present online media solutions and conduct training seminars for agency people and dealers.

VP, Associate Media Director

GM Planworks

Dedicated to the launch and expansion of local digital advertising for GM.  Developed and executed scalable online media solutions, reporting, and process.  Day to day manager of nine-member local digital media department.  Received, managed, and processed various regular requests from the field.  Grew digital spend over 433% from 2005 to 2006.  Planned, purchased, and managed over 260 campaigns for over 200 local dealer groups.  Educated clients and agency partners on the subject of digital advertising.

Digital Supervisor - LMG

Beyond Interactive

I served as the day to day client contact for Sylvan Learning Centers and Oak Street mortgage.  I managed client budgets and agency resources to meet and exceed client goals.  I generated leads for clients via search engine marketing and other online media tactics, then utilized campaign reports to optimize media performance.  Grew Sylvan digital budget over 100% from 2003 to 2004.  Then grew the budget again another 200% from 2004 to 2005.  Participated in successful pitch for Oak Street mortgage.

Sr. Account Supervisor

Detroit Media Partnership

Outside sales role where I developed customized advertising schedules based on specific client needs.  I generated revenue via new business and the management of existing accounts.  I was also called on to educate members of the traditional print staff on the subject of digital advertising.

New Media Account Executive

I served primarily in an Account role where I managed digital advertising campaigns for a variety of clients (B2C and B2B).  I participated in several agency departments including, Account Services, R&D, Media, and Business Development.  I developed various training programs and refined other departmental processes.  I supervised Account Teams of various sizes (between 5 and 15 people).

Account Executive

Seasoned business leader with strong digital experience

I believe digital marketing is a critical component of every marketing strategy and each decision must contribute to bottom-results. 

My unique combination of sales, strategy, media planning, investment, account service and data analysis experience has enabled my ability to deliver excellent performance to both company and client business goals. 

As a proven executive, I have delivered on this by leveraging a hybrid mindset of outstanding account service, strong client relationships, operational excellence, innovation and visionary strategy. 
Employing this cross-functional style, I have demonstrated my ability to deliver measurable results for my clients and my company.

Core competencies:
- Sales
- Leadership
- Process and Execution
- Achievement of Goals
- Innovate and Grow Revenue
- Building High Performance Teams

Core Skill Sets:
- Digital Planning and Investment Strategy
- Negotiations and Deal Management
- Data Analysis and Optimization
- Client and Vendor Relationships
- Entrepreneurialism

taplio

The Battle

Jack Appleby

Jason Gole

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The Battle

Jack Appleby

Jason Gole

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jack Appleby's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJack Appleby's LinkedIn Performance