Social Matter — The dual influence, and the era of the people – Vol. 09

After years of chasing volume, the digital landscape has changed the rules of the game. Visibility has given way to credibility.

The current ecosystem has become dual and complex, caught in a clear tension. On one hand, the technical requirement to optimize data to feed AI algorithms; on the other, the imperative need to connect through human empathy.

In a saturated environment, relevance is no longer an option; it requires methodological rigor, cultural understanding, and the ability to turn every impression into a space of true authenticity.
 

01. DUAL INFLUENCE: CONQUERING THE AI’S BRAIN AND PEOPLE’S HEARTS

An invisible strategy for machines and a deeply emotional one for audiences
 
The discovery and sales funnel has incorporated a new player that does not consume, but decides what is consumed: Large Language Models (LLMs). These models are not a final destination, but an intermediary—one that the audience trusts more and more to get recommendations. On this new board, the battle to appear in AI responses redefines corporate strategy. AIs interpret your brand, summarize it, and position it based on the attributes they associate you with, the sources that cite you, and the authority of your digital footprint. We must be aware of the relevance of AI as a method for validating information and, therefore, influencing consumer habits and user opinions.

Today, marketing is inevitably dual: we need structured content to position ourselves in the AI’s “brain,” but also a human approach to keep connecting with whom we want to connect: people. The strategic takeaway is clear: AI discovers you, but humans validate you. While technical optimization ensures that LLMs recommend your brand, endorsement and final conversion will continue to depend on empathy and trust—an exclusively human territory that no avatar or algorithm can replicate.
 

02. CULTURAL RELEVANCE: ENTERTAIN OR DISAPPEAR

Entertainment is no longer a format; it is the mandatory toll to capture attention
 
If your brand is not entertaining, it is losing money. In a landscape where 97% of users visit social media looking for entertainment, the premise is clear: either you bring cultural value or you step aside. Cultural relevance consists of making brands part of people’s lives naturally. Large budgets can buy impressions, but if the brand cannot be integrated into meaningful moments, there is no relevance or business. Boring ads cost 27% more to capture attention, while brands like Oura, On Running, and Lego have doubled consumer preference simply by being entertaining.

An exceptional way to achieve this is the creation of shared habits, an approach to gain relevance through ritual design. Brands like KitKat, Corona, Guinness, or Oreo have built their empire on consumption rituals that integrate into daily leisure.

Furthermore, this entertainment finds its ultimate expression in music, which has transformed into the perfect promotional showcase. It is no longer enough to sponsor a festival; now brands like Cupra, Adidas, or Gucci operate as record labels, funding musical careers to break directly into pre-existing and highly loyal communities.

If they want to penetrate culture, brands must be entertainment producers. Connecting through music or their own rituals is no longer a branding option; these are some of the ways for consumers to voluntarily open the doors of their free time to you. And that is quite an achievement.
 

03. PHYSICAL EXPERIENCES THAT EVOKE ASPIRATION

Faced with digital saturation, the physical becomes the engine of FOMO and a source of recommendation
 
To dominate the digital conversation, ironically, brands are having to return to the physical world. Generating influence today requires designing hyper-tangible experiences that provoke a genuine reaction (and therefore, shareable) in creators. It is no longer enough to send a product in a pretty box; you have to evoke emotions and convey entire narrative universes through the senses.

We see brilliant examples of this experience designed to make an impact. Overskin, to demonstrate the water resistance of its new mascara, sent creators a book of sad photos so that their own tears would test the cosmetic. In the luxury sector, Miu Miu surprised with the unboxing of its “Fleur de Lait” fragrance, packed in kinetic sand that simulated ice cream and had to be removed with a spoon. And in retail, Fnac L’Illa Barcelona launched GRA, a space that combines specialty coffee and artisanal pastries, transforming the philosophy of traceability and honesty into an in-person experience where culture and leisure are consumed tangibly.

The unboxing or the store visit are no longer logistical processes, but the first act of a content campaign. Material astonishment is the spark that ignites digital FOMO: if you want a creator to talk about you with passion, give them a physical experience they cannot help but share.
 

04. THE ERA OF MUTANT RESONANCE: HUMAN CODES FOR THE INVISIBLE ALGORITHM

When platforms turn off the visibility tap, credibility becomes the only profitable asset.
 
The paradigm of influence based purely on volume has collapsed. Platforms like TikTok have stopped giving away reach and views are dropping, adding to the organic stagnation that Instagram has been dragging along. As a direct response, the boosting of influencer content by brands tripled during the past year (data from Primetag and IAB). There was a time when influence was simply a matter of visibility: massive audiences, reach metrics, multiplied impressions. However, in 2026, influence has evolved from the content plan to the media plan.

This drop in organic reach redefines the creator’s role. They are no longer hired to be mere distribution storefronts; they are hired for their authority. Today more than ever, influence is not measured in followers, but in its capacity to generate strategic and cultural relevance. Credibility is not a metric, it is a privilege, and influence cannot be managed through improvisation.

The paradigm shift requires brands to stop buying “gross reach” and start buying “delegated trust.” In this new model, the creator provides legitimacy, community, and the message, while the brand puts in the media investment (boosting) to scale that message further. Activating profiles without community authority, no matter how many followers they have, is a budgetary risk today. a nivel presupuestario.