A comparison of Hearsay customers’ engagement rates for social media from 2019 to 2020 highlights what so many of you have shared about your own experience: With lockdowns in full swing last March, the volume of and engagement with social media posts spiked. As more people spent time online for both business and personal pursuits (remember those weeks packed with Zoom happy hours?), digital noise across all channels increased significantly. But May foreshadowed the consequences of this uptick in sheer volume—a prolonged decrease in engagement rates, as people tuned out in the face of increased competition for eyeballs and attention. Across the board, savvy advisors and agents stepped up to adopt a more strategic, bespoke approach to leveraging social media. They used previously unexploited features like LinkedIn’s 2nd and 3rd degree connections, InMail and Sales Navigator to expand prospecting efforts and garner new business. They showed up with thoughtful, timely and relevant content to meet customer needs for education and information. In particular, video content represented an effective means of capturing eyeballs: In 2020, 53% of Hearsay’s global customers across all lines of business published more than 247,000 videos on the platform. They also used in-app messaging and texting to cut through the clutter and speed responses, delivering service that delighted.