Midway through the year can be a reckoning for entrepreneurs who got distracted, pulled in too many directions, and lost chutzpah on the way to their dream destination they so enthusiastically vision-boarded six months ago. 

 

It was for me.

 

Before I headed out on my two-week summer sabbatical, I took time to fine-tune the path forward.

 

As I looked through the wins and setbacks over the last six months, it felt like a tale of two brands.

 

On one side, I’d gotten out of my comfort zone, tried new offers, and exceeded expectations on the business side.

On the other, I was in serious need of a systems overhaul on the content creation side.

 

My immediate reaction was to jump right in.
Make a daily content plan. Execute.

 

But as a content strategist, I knew that would only be a Band-Aid.

 

The first and most important thing I do when I’m mapping out a storytelling content plan for myself, my students, or my clients is find the guiding insight.

 

All good strategy (aka informed planning) starts with insight—an observation backed by evidence that clarifies the most effective and efficient small, consistent actions to take every day to reach your goal in the long run.

 

Before I started my company, StoryCraft, in 2020, I was a journalist for more than a decade. One of my roles was to find and dissect trends to discover takeaways people could apply in their real lives. 

 

I’m not talking about trends like Barbie-themed posts or the whatever “starter kit.” I’m talking about shifts in consumer behavior and preference.

 

When you align the steps for getting what you want with the changing tide of the overall market, you sail into your goals that much smoother.

 

For the last few months, I’ve had my journalist hat on—
researching the future of online business, knee-deep in studies from industry leaders like Gartner, Sprout Social, and Brand Builders, plus my own observations from clients and students to determine the best direction.

 

Not just for the next six months, but for the foreseeable future—as AI dominates and consumer trust hits record lows.

 

If you’ve been looking around at what’s working for everyone else, second-guessing what you “should” be doing or questioning what the right content plan for your business is, I want to walk you through how to strategically create one you trust.

 

I’m going to break down the storytelling content strategy I’m using for 2025–2026 as an example.

 

But this newsletter is really about how to use the principles of strategy building to create your own— so you know the daily actions to take to get what you want from the time and energy you spend on content.

 

We’ll walk through what professional strategists do: 

 

 

 

Let’s get into it, First name / friend.

 

 

Meta is aggressively shifting toward AI-created content. 

 

Late last month, Zuck said the company's new goal is to build “personal superintelligence for everyone,” and is currently on a hiring spree, poaching OpenAI’s top engineers to make it happen. 

 

This speaks volumes about the intention and direction of how the company will monetize our attention moving forward, but for now let's focus on the surge of AI bots on Meta-owned platforms. 

 

Within the year, Meta plans to roll out millions of AI-generated “characters” that behave like real users on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Which means by summer 2026, a significant portion of the content in your “for you” feed won’t be made by people. It will be made by bots—bots designed to entertain, respond, and farm attention. 

 

And Meta isn’t the only one creating bot profiles. 

 

Big brands with big budgets are in on it too. 

 

As we speak, companies like Unilever, Delta, Mars, and Forever 21 are creating and running AI-powered side accounts—think of them as satellite profiles created to support the main brand. 

 

Some are modeled after human influencers. Others are run by bots that post, respond, and test content—on autopilot. 

 

They’re designed to do very specific jobs:

 

🎯 Target niche audiences with ultra-tailored content
🧪 Test messaging, visuals, and timing to see what performs best
🗣️ Experiment with voice and tone without risking the integrity main brand
🕐 Engage 24/7 using AI agents that reply to comments, remix posts, and adapt in real time

 

These brand-run AI satellite accounts are rarely labeled as AI or being tied to a main brand—at least not in a way that’s obvious.

 

(That’s by design).

 

In most cases, they’ll appear to be human-created, independent accounts organically engaging with a product, trend, or idea. 

 

But behind the scenes, they’re being tested, optimized, and fed by AI systems—all under the umbrella of a larger brand strategy.

 

Because—same. 

 

But it also gives direction. 

 

If you’re wondering how a brand of your size and budget is supposed to stay visible and reach people in the midst of this mass influx of AI accounts, I beg you not to hit the panic button. 

 

There’s another side to this story where you come out on top. 

 

More on that in the next section, but first the first step in building your strategy: Collect data and observations. 

 

A quick Google search of your industry will tell you the trends.

 

I like to look at studies, but if you don’t enjoy sifting through piles of raw data, media outlets often do the heavy lifting for you. 

 

Ask yourself—

 

This is where you’ll find original insights. 

 

 

 

 

Because it’s getting harder to tell what’s real, trust is eroding faster than Elon’s credibility. 

 

72% of people trust companies less than they did a year ago—

But that’s not such a bad thing for writers, experts, consultants, creators, and people who are the face of their businesses. 

 

Consumers don’t put personal brands and companies in the same category. 

 

In fact, 74% of people are more likely to trust people with a personal brand—which is just an overhyped term for a reputation. 

 

But most compelling for your bottom line: 58% of Americans would be willing to pay more for services from a professional who does NOT work at a large company but has an established personal brand. 

 

 

The more you connect with your audience, sharing your experiences, insight, and wisdom through storytelling, the more likely they are to trust and invest in you—which brings me to the action plan: 

 

The most effective types of storytelling content now. 

 

 

Based on this data—and conversations with my clients and students—my plan is to double down on creating two types of content:

 

1. “Why Should I Listen to You?” content.
Think: results and insights into problems and problem solving.

 

2. “You Belong Here” content.
Think: shared values, aspirations, and similar viewpoints on how to achieve success.

 

They both demonstrate why you're a good choice:

 

→ One through skill.
→ The other through values and personality fit.

 

“Why should I listen to you?” is the question every audience has in the back of their mind—which sounds harsh, but really it’s a filter. Because there’s so much information out there, the messenger matters more than ever. This kind of content doesn’t just inform like traditional educational content—it builds confidence in your judgment by showing (not just telling) your expertise.

 

These stories give people a window into how you apply your formal credentials in real-world situations:

You know how hiring managers don’t choose applicants based on résumés alone? They also look at intangibles: personality fit, attitude, communication style. Online audiences are no different.

 

“You Belong Here” content is about fit:

 

Together, these two story types build credibility and connection—the foundation of a strong personal brand in a low-trust future.

 

I’ll give plenty of examples in upcoming content.

 

 

 

To distribute this content, I’m focusing on platforms, communication styles, and formats that put human factors on a pedestal.  

Back in March, my mentor, Cannes Lion speaker Sun Yi, said something that stuck with me:

 

 

If someone watches your 12-minute YouTube video, listens to your 30+ minute podcast, or reads a full email newsletter, that’s more than visibility. That’s commitment—a better predictor of loyalty and future sales than any single viral moment. 

 

I’m taking Sun’s advice. 

 

My goal is to start a YouTube channel, podcast, or Substack. I’ve also committed to more videos—long and short-form.  

 

As someone who struggled with video consistency in the past, I know the best way to commit to this goal is to start building the habit (and skill) of video creation.

 

I’m starting small. Stupid small. 

So small I can’t fail, by posting one video a week.

 

This is just one way I'm turning strategic insights into a small step I can take every day to get closer to my goal.

 

 

All good strategy starts with insight.

 

Once you have data and observations from your experience, you can form a hypothesis to reach your goal and build a plan.

 

From there, you can get tactical: what are the small actions you can take to reach your goal based on your insights?

 

Trial your plan for a quarter and adjust as needed until you find the system that works for you in the long run.

 

Why a quarter? Ninety days is enough time to see if your actions are leading to the outcomes you want—but not so long that you’ve sunk too much time into something that’s not working for the long term.

 

I hope this information helps you create a custom plan you're excited to stick with.

 

Before you head out—

Are you on YouTube, Substack, or other non–Meta-owned platforms?

 

I’d love to hear what’s working for you off Instagram and Facebook.
Hit reply and let me know.

 

That’s all for this week.

 

Thanks for reading!