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Our thinking on YouTube, social, culture and the future of brand content.
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Behind the Scenes Content: 20 Ideas and Examples for Brands (2026 Guide)
What behind the scenes content is, why it builds trust, 20 ideas you can film this month, real examples and a six step plan to make it work.
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Social Media Marketing News: AI Platforms Fight for the Ad Budget
This week: ChatGPT ads triple their advertiser base, Google gives brands control over where AI campaigns spend, and the biggest consumer goods brands spend more of their sales on being seen.
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Marketing ROI in 2026: What Is a Good Return and How to Measure It
What a good marketing ROI really looks like, what the benchmarks by channel say, why the ratio misleads, and how to measure the return that actually grows profit.
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Branded Content Series: How to Plan a YouTube Series for Your Brand (2026 Guide)
A seven step playbook for planning a branded content series on YouTube, from the format and season plan to Shorts series, release schedules and measurement.
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Generative Engine Optimisation: How to Get Your Brand Cited by AI (2026 Guide)
What generative engine optimisation is, what the research and the platforms actually say, and a 7 step plan to get your brand named and cited in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI answers.
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Best AI Video Generator for Marketing: 2026 Tools Compared for Brands
Veo, Runway, Firefly, HeyGen, Synthesia and more, compared by job, price and commercial rights, with a six step plan for using AI video without damaging trust.
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AI in Marketing 2026: What the Data Says CMOs Should Actually Do
CMOs now put 15.3% of marketing budgets into AI, yet only 30% are ready to scale it. Our report on what the 2026 data says works, what backfires and the 90 day plan we recommend.
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How to Use AI for YouTube: A 7 Step Guide for Brands (2026)
Where AI genuinely helps a brand channel, what YouTube now requires you to disclose, what can cost you monetisation, and a seven step workflow that keeps the craft human.
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Social Media Strategy Template: How to Create a Social Media Strategy in 10 Steps (2026)
A free one page social media strategy template, the 10 steps to fill it in, a worked example and the UK data that should shape every decision.
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YouTube Brand Lift Study: How to Run One in Google Ads (2026 Guide)
What a YouTube brand lift study measures, what it costs in the UK, how to set one up in seven steps and how to read the results without fooling yourself.
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YouTube Shorts Strategy for Brands in 2026: Is It Worth It and What Works
Over 200 billion daily views, Shorts ads now priced like in stream and a fast growing TV audience. The data, the case studies and a seven step plan.
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Social Media Content Calendar Template: How to Plan a Month of Brand Content (2026)
A free social media content calendar template for brands, the seven steps to fill it, a worked monthly example, UK key dates to the end of March 2027 and the posting data that should set your cadence.
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How to Calculate Share of Search: Formula, Google Trends Method and Template (2026)
Share of search is the free brand metric that tends to move before market share. Here is the formula, a seven step Google Trends method, a worked example and a monthly template.
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How to Calculate Social Media ROI: Formula, Examples and Template (2026)
The social media ROI formula, a seven step method to track it properly, a worked example with real costs, and a template your team can fill in this month.
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LinkedIn Video Best Practices: A 7 Step B2B Guide for 2026
The specs, lengths, hooks and formats that actually work for B2B brands on LinkedIn video in 2026, built on LinkedIn’s own data and the latest benchmarks.
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ASA Influencer Guidelines: The UK Rules for Labelling Ads in 2026
What counts as an ad, which labels the ASA accepts, how it enforces the rules and a seven step process to keep every creator post compliant.
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Social Media Marketing News: TikTok and Meta Build AI Agents Into Ad Buying
This week: TikTok and Meta use Advertising Week New York to put AI agents into ad buying, and L’Oréal says almost 20% of its marketing investment is now AI led.
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Paid vs Organic Social Media in 2026: Where Brands Should Spend
UK social ad spend hit £11.5bn and Meta ad prices are rising every quarter. What the data says about paid vs organic social media, and how to split your budget.
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Instagram Reels Strategy for Brands: A 7 Step Guide for 2026
How Instagram ranks Reels, the length that performs best, trial reels, music rules for business accounts and a weekly template your team can run.
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Influencer Contract Template: 12 Clauses Every UK Brand Deal Needs (2026)
A clause by clause influencer contract template for UK brands, covering deliverables, approvals, usage rights, exclusivity, disclosure, payment terms and AI likeness, with a free checklist.
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How to Find Influencers for Your Brand: A 7 Step Guide for 2026
A practical seven step process for finding, vetting and shortlisting the right influencers, with the official platform tools, engagement benchmarks and a vetting checklist.
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Branded Entertainment in 2026: Examples, Economics and How Brands Get It Right
Product placement alone is a $29.6bn market, Barbie turned a toy into a $1.45bn film and YouTube now fills a billion hours a day of TV screen time. Our report on what branded entertainment is, what it costs and how to make it work.
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TikTok Marketing Strategy for Brands: A 7 Step Playbook for 2026
A step by step TikTok marketing strategy for brands: who is on TikTok in the UK, what the platform says works, how to mix organic, creators and paid, plus a weekly template.
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How Much Do Influencers Charge in the UK? 2026 Rates and Pricing Guide
Sourced 2026 influencer rates by platform and follower tier, what really pushes the price up, and a six step way to set a fair UK creator budget.
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Influencer Brief Template: How to Brief a Creator (With Examples)
A free influencer brief template with the ten sections every creator brief needs, UK disclosure rules, usage rights wording and a filled in example.
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Creator Marketing in 2026: What It Is, What Works and Where Brands Should Spend
Unilever now works with around 300,000 creators and UK creator spend is forecast to pass £1bn. Our report on what creator marketing is, which models work and how to budget for it.
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Social Media Marketing News: Meta Puts AI in the Middle of Creator Deals
This week: Meta builds AI into how brands find and pay creators, Google puts a shopping assistant inside YouTube ads, and big brands start asking where their creator money really goes.
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How to Repurpose Long Form Video into Shorts, Reels and TikToks (2026)
A seven step workflow for turning one long video into a month of vertical clips, plus the 2026 originality rules on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok that decide whether those clips get reach.
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YouTube Hooks: 25 Opening Lines That Keep Viewers Watching
How to write YouTube hooks that hold attention in the first seconds, with a six step method, 25 adaptable opening lines for brands and a checklist.
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YouTube Script Template: How to Write a Brand Video Script in 2026
A free YouTube script template for brands, the seven step process we use to fill it in, a worked example and a Shorts version you can copy today.
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How to Increase Audience Retention on YouTube: 7 Fixes That Work
Retention is the clearest sign a video earned its time. Here is how to read the curve, find where viewers leave and fix it, step by step.
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What Is a Good Click Through Rate on YouTube? 2026 Benchmarks
YouTube says half of all channels and videos sit between 2% and 10%. Here is how to read your CTR by traffic source, why it falls as a video grows, and six ways to lift it.
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Is TV Advertising Worth It in 2026? TV vs YouTube for Brands
TV still drives the most advertising profit, but YouTube now owns a record share of the TV screen. What the 2026 data says about where brands should spend.
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YouTube Analytics Explained: How to Read the Metrics That Matter for Brands (2026)
A step by step guide to YouTube Analytics for brands: what impressions, CTR, retention, traffic sources and returning viewers really mean, the 2026 view count change, and a monthly report template.
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How Often to Post on YouTube: A Posting Schedule for Brands in 2026
What YouTube says, what data from 10 million channels shows, and a weekly posting schedule a brand can actually keep.
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YouTube SEO in 2026: How to Rank Videos in Search, Step by Step
A practical, eight step YouTube SEO playbook for brands: what YouTube says actually drives search rankings, how to write metadata that ranks, and how to get your videos into Google and AI answers.
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Is Influencer Marketing Dead? The 2026 Reality Check
Spend is still climbing, but trust, compliance and weak content are sorting winners from noise. What the 2026 data says is dying, what is growing and where brands should put creator budgets next.
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How to Start a YouTube Channel for Business: A 9 Step Guide (2026)
A practical, step by step guide to launching a brand channel properly: the right account type, permissions, verification, branding specs, a first series and the numbers to watch.
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YouTube Thumbnail Best Practices for Brands: The 2026 Guide
The specs, design rules and testing process we use to make brand thumbnails that earn the click and keep the viewer watching.
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How Gen Z Discovers Brands in 2026: What CMOs Need to Know
Gen Z search on TikTok, trust creators over ads and talk to brands in the DMs. The latest UK and US data on how young people find brands, and six moves for marketers.
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TikTok vs Instagram Reels vs YouTube Shorts: Where Should Brands Post in 2026?
Reach, audience, engagement and the format rules that matter now. A clear comparison of the three short form platforms, with UK data, and how to choose where your brand shows up.
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The Organic Social Media Playbook for Brands (2026)
Organic reach is low for brands that post ads and hope, and huge for brands people choose to watch. Nine research backed principles for CMOs, and a 90 day plan.
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The Attention Gap: FMCG Brands and Social Media in 2026
FMCG brands still spend billions renting attention on TV and in print, while their future customers have moved to social. Our 2026 industry report on where the money goes, where the audience went, and how brands close the gap.
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How to Measure Brand Awareness: The 2026 CMO Report
CMOs are under more pressure than ever to prove what marketing returns. A practical guide to measuring brand awareness and the real ROI of social, video and creator content.
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YouTube Title Ideas: 30 Examples and How to Write Titles That Get Clicked
A six step method for writing YouTube titles, what the research really says about length, capitals and emojis, and 30 example titles brands can adapt today.
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