KEYNOTE: The Real Marketing Strategies That Work in 2025 | Possible

Why Organic-First Social Creative Is The New Center of Gravity

Gary Vaynerchuk lays out a blunt thesis: the old paid-owned-earned triangle is obsolete. In a roomful of marketers and founders he frames a clear, controversial mandate for 2025—do not spend working media amplifying creative that has not first proven itself organically on social platforms. Algorithms no longer simply reward follower counts; they reward relevance. When creative earns views without paid support, it signals true audience interest that can be scaled into measurable business outcomes.

From Paid Disguise To Creative-Based Reach

For decades, marketers used media budgets to mask weak creative. Today, platform algorithms create reach for content that resonates, meaning creative quality now generates distribution. Gary cites real-world examples where organic virality directly boosted product sales and marketplace ranks, arguing that views earned organically are the most reliable signal of creative effectiveness. He frames this as a strategic shift for Fortune 5000 firms: invest disproportionately in organic social creative or cede market share to nimble challengers.

Practical Money Moves: Reallocating Marketing Budgets For Social Production

Gary recommends a hard-dollar reallocation: up to 20% of total marketing budgets should cover continuous social creative production, not just episodic campaigns. Producing high volumes of tailored content increases relevance across demographic segments and platform interest graphs, and reduces dependence on expensive, low-return programmatic buys. He also underscores that creative measurement has become actionable: organic views correlate strongly with sales spikes, making creative performance quantifiable.

Interest Media, Superfans, And The Creator Economy

We’re now in an "interest media" era where platforms push content to people based on what they care about, not purely who they follow. That dynamic makes it easier to identify superfans and heavy users through CRM integrations and emerging data tools, including blockchain-backed identity systems. Podcasting and experiential events become production days—content engines that feed social channels with shareable, contextual creative.

Live Social Shopping, AI Influencers, And Common Sense Marketing

Live social commerce is poised to scale in the West, mirroring China's early adoption; entertainment plus immediacy drives impulse purchase behavior during live streams. Gary also warns that AI-generated influencers will soon be indistinguishable from humans, creating both opportunity and a 24-month window for preparation. Above all, he urges marketers to return to common sense: target the audiences that actually buy—Facebook Blue for older buyers, TikTok for younger cohorts—and stop weaponizing anxiety language around change.

Culture, Continuity, And Being A Practitioner Founder

On agency building, Gary stresses loyalty and continuity: retain talent, speak truth to clients, and remain practitioner-led so leadership understands the day-to-day craft. He credits this focus for VaynerMedia’s ability to produce consistent creative output that drives measurable business outcomes rather than chasing short-term revenue through compromises.

The central throughline is straightforward: creative that earns organic views proves relevance and drives sales, and companies that reorganize budgets and culture around continuous social production will win in the attention economy. Measurement follows outcome—sales and marketplace movement—not vanity metrics—and marketing must evolve accordingly to remain a business driver in the years ahead.