Content Strategy? The One Thing You're NOT Doing
Let’s cut to it.
Your content strategy? Probably too focused on updates and not enough on why they happen.
Every time a new feature rolls out, the industry panics. Feeds flood with “What does this mean?” and “Should we pivot?” But by the time you’re reacting to an update, the real shift already happened—months ago, probably buried in a news cycle you weren’t paying attention to.
The Biggest Mistake in Digital Strategy
For the past seven years, I’ve seen the same pattern:
🔴 Too much focus on platform updates.
🟢 Not enough focus on the bigger picture.
Algorithm tweaks aren’t random. They’re the result of political, legal, and social pressures—factors that don’t come from inside the app, but outside of it. Changes are made to protect their bottom line from lawmakers, media scrutiny, and cultural shifts.
Furthermore, these changes are rooted in trying to compete and dominate in a world where scarcity feels very real, even up there in Mt Olympus. IN the battle for consumer attention, we’re finding that consumers are becoming ever more scattered, niched down and specific in how their relationship between how content is made and digital engagement makes them part with their cash. Therefore, these changes might appear small, but ultimately be a seismic shift in the long term and vice versa. All of these clues of where to place the bets rests on racing headlines on political movements regarding trade, sales, the stock market and tech advancement.
For example:
Privacy laws tighten? Expect organic reach to drop as platforms hoard first-party data.
Election misinformation spikes? Your discoverability is about to take a hit.
A whistleblower calls out engagement-driven harm? That high-performing strategy of yours might not be viable anymore.
This is why so many brands are always playing catch-up. They focus on what’s trending now instead of what’s shaping the industry next.
You could argue that just being mindful of it all is the way to go but you’d be wrong here too. It’s phsyciallt impossuble to do abaolsutely everything Meta et all want you to do to reach your consumer. You can try to be a lapdog and keep everyone happy, but you can can bank on burnout or fallout.
So, When Should You Pay Attention to Algorithm Updates?
Here’s the real play:
Algorithm updates should be used to tweak a pre-existing, long-term content strategy—not to define it.
A solid strategy isn’t just about reacting to what’s hot this month. It balances:
✅ Long-term direction – A clear, adaptable content plan that isn’t thrown off by every update.
✅ Trend-led agility – The ability to use short-term shifts without losing the bigger picture.
But the problem? Most brands put ALL their energy into the second part.
Just look at the Threads bonus structure.
Brands and creators rushed in, money was thrown around, engagement spiked… and now? Crickets. A repeat of every Meta bonus structure before it. Now, it’s carousels again. Surprise, surprise.
If your entire content approach is dictated by short-term shifts, you’re not running a strategy—you’re running on fumes.
The Game Has Changed—It’s Not Just About Sales Anymore
Social platforms used to optimize for purchase potential. Now? It’s about ego and control.
Yes, monetization still matters. But keeping users inside the app matters more. That’s why they push new features hard, dangle incentives, then pull the rug.
If your entire strategy is built on rented land (aka social platforms), you need an ejector seat plan.
Email capture? Good start.
Owning your audience outside of social? Even better.
Thinking Substack is your safety net? Careful—you don’t own that either.
So, what’s the takeaway?
Track platform updates—but don’t build your strategy around them. Half of them won’t matter in the long run
How to know which ones do matter - read the news. The answer often lies in economic shifts and politics. I.e. track the dissent, track the money.
Carve space for trend-related content within a pre-existing series-led content plan across platforms, so you don’t jump off of a cliff trying to manage digital.
Be prepared to NOT give a shit. Is an update even worth the immediate boost in engagement or not?
Invest in places where you know you have a get-out plan if data ownership changes, always be wary if you’re spending more than normal energy on nurturing people in one specific place if you don’t fully own their contact information or the data.
Bottom line: The next big shift? It won’t be in a product update. It’ll be in a headline. And if you’re not paying attention, you’ll be playing catch-up forever.
