Top 11 takeaways from Ragan and PR Daily’s Social Media Conference 2025

To say it’s been a tumultuous year for social media doesn’t fully capture the upheaval, strife and stress that social media professionals of all kinds have dealt with for the last year. So three days at Ragan and PR Daily’s Social Media Conference in Walt Disney World were like an oasis of calm, allowing these hardworking communicators a chance to come together to learn, refresh and network together.

Hundreds of communicators joined the conversation, learning from professionals from all parts of the social media world, from internal communicators to external social media managers, from B2B to B2C and even viral powerhouses.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the conference that you can apply to your own social media practice today:

• From Kara Hendrick, Chewy: Don’t just tell employees what they can’t do on social media – empower them with what they should do and reward them for sharing great content.
• From Edder Reynoso, formerly with Sesame Workshop: Follow the “Cookie Monster Rule”: Every post should be instantly recognizable as you, even if your name and avatar aren’t attached.
• From Victoria Lozano, Crayola: Creativity is a necessary skill in every workplace. Nurture it wherever possible.
• From Santi Pochat, LinkedIn: Social media is a demanding job. Take time to rest and recover. If your job isn’t OK with that, that’s not OK.
• From Matt Nelson, WeRateDogs: When something is working, double down. But also know when it’s time to walk away. “Doggo” and “pupper” had their day, but eventually needed to go.
• From the technology panel: Audit, evaluate and then make your case to others by seeking cross-functional buy-in that you can use to scale adoption as a collaborative exercise.
• Host Jayde Powell and creator Nicole Phillip: Do your research about where viral trends come from. Be mindful to credit original creators and consider what you repurpose through the lens and context of the community that created it.
• Genna Cozzolino and Cori Clancey, Northwell Health: Tap into your internal subject matter experts in ways that bring their personality and vibe to humanize your educational or instructional content.
• Marie Bucklin, Fidelity: Make sure when you’re crafting social media policies, they are for everyone. It should be easy for folks who aren’t socially savvy to understand.
• Jimmy Rice, Southwest: LinkedIn is where your execs go to discuss big ideas. Treat it like a dating app for them. Remember to focus on clarity, confidence and charisma.
• Tulani Andre, National Geographic: People want to see real stories and see people impacted by your brand. Find the trends and moments that make sense for you to be involved in. Be a little bold, be a little weird.

Registration is now open for the 2026 conference – don’t miss your chance to attend!