What’s up everyone! Merry Christmas and welcome back to Stronger Social - the cheat code for social media professionals.🎄We have a fun agenda for today’s email - including a career update and some strategy advice for 2026. But after you read this, I highly encourage you to schedule your content out for the holidays and then disconnect to spend time with friends and family.
In this issue, we will go over the following:
My new job (LFG)
My #1 tip to dominate social in 2026
Social Pro Spotlight: Matthew Decof shares some elite social knowledge
5 hot social job opportunities that you should check out
Let’s go! 💪
-Sam
I have an exciting career update…
After 5 years of leading social for C4 Energy, Cellucor, and XTEND - my time has come to an end. I’m grateful for my time and had the privilege and opportunity to drive hundreds of thousands of followers, lead countless social-first campaigns, and generated memes that our consumers loved.
However…
I am so excited to announce that I am stepping into a new role as Head of Social Media for Cadence. I’m so excited for this next chapter and I am so hyped to be a part of such a great brand.
Cadence is a premium hydration brand that is destined for massive growth in 2026. A hydration brand devoted to athletes with ambition, hydration without compromise, and backed by science. Truly the best hydration products I have ever had. Highly recommend checking out our products.
Make sure to go give Cadence a follow! I have some big KPI’s that I am ready to hit 😅
New year. New KPI’s.
Who’s ready?
2026 is almost here. And I’m sure you have come across countless social posts about how to succeed on social in 2026. Probably a few posts about predictions for 2026 as well. That’s all great. But today I am going to share one (1) tip to dominate social media in 2026 that will do wonders for your brand on social.
Just one.
But I think it’s something that needs to be said and will transform the way you view community building through a social media point-of-view and help you hit your new KPI’s.
So here it is 👉 In 2026, we need to change the way we view “community”.
Community on social media is more than just a lot of likes, comments, and shares on your social posts. It’s more than a broadcast channel on your Instagram. It’s more than having a lot of Instagram story tags of consumers with your products.
Communities are built in real life.
They’re built through in-person, highly shareable, community-driven events and experiences in real life. And then they are amplified through social media.
As Social media professionals, we must think bigger than our digital platforms and focus more on creating these memorable IRL experiences that generate word-of-mouth, true community engagement, and community empowerment. Then all of this can all be amplified through social.
It’s bigger than generating a lot of comments. It’s more about participating and empowering your community in the real world.
So now what? In 2026, I really want you to focus on creating memorable and shareable community-driven events and experiences in real life.
If you need some ideas, I got you 👇
Create an in-person stunt surrounding a brand campaign or moment
Create a recurring or isolated community event
Generate a large photoshoot for brand content that influencers & ambassadors can attend
Collaborate with another brand for an in-person experience
Collaborate with an influencer or talent to host a meet & greet, community workout, or community event.
Host a sampling experience at a retailer your products are available at
The list goes on and on…
But in 2026. I want to challenge you to create memorable brand experiences in real life. Not just social media posts. Those experiences need to be community-led, memorable, and shareable (learn more about shareability here).
This is how community is built.
It’s bigger than making posts. It’s about creating this IRL experiences.
Go and make that happen 🙌
SOCIAL PRO SHOUTOUT
Social is so much bigger than what shows up on your own brand social feed. This was a huge lesson for me in 2025, and Matthew nailed this. Matthew is a legend in the space and runs the social over at Foot Locker. Make sure to go give Matthew a follow on LinkedIn!
SOCIAL OPPS
If you’re on the job hunt and exploring new Social Media Opportunities, here are some roles to check out.
✌️ KBYG (Know Before You Go)
Before you go and enjoy the holidays…here are a few quick hitters for you.
✍️ View the Stronger Social archive. Catch up on previous issues here. There are countless issues that cover social media career coaching, strategy development, and much more.
📲 Quick Social Tip: Dive deep into your comments section and learn more about your audience and community. The better you know your community, the better social content that you can create.
‼ Forward to a friend! If you do find Stronger Social helpful, make sure to forward to a friend.
🤔 Got a topic that you want to see addressed in a future issue?If so, respond to this email and let me know!
Sam Wells
Thanks for reading and hope you have a great week!
Follow me on LinkedIn here
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