Category: B2B

  • Big News: H&R Block Taps VaynerMedia as Social and Media Agency of Record

    Big News: H&R Block Taps VaynerMedia as Social and Media Agency of Record

    Taxes may only come once a year, but H&R Block is showing up for their consumers 365 days. (Drum roll, please!) That’s why they’ve expanded their partnership with us, naming VaynerMedia as their Social Creative and Media Agency of Record.

    This isn’t just a title swap. It’s part of a bigger transformation led by Chief Marketing & Experience Officer Jill Cress, turning H&R Block from a “see you in April” tax prep brand into one that delivers year-round value. Because being relevant in this industry isn’t just seasonal; it’s about showing up when consumers need you most.

    From Seasonal to Always-On

    For decades, H&R Block has been synonymous with the once-a-year filing rush, and it’s now building upon its legacy of earned consumer trust by moving into everyday online conversations that matter.  For us, it means creating content that earns attention, builds trust, and delivers impact at scale. The brand is rewriting its own playbook and meeting the needs of every generation, every day.

    A Shared Belief in Social-First

    Consumer behavior has shifted. People don’t want brands that pop in once a year; they expect you to show up every. single. day. Period.

    Enter H&R Block. Led by Chief Marketing & Experience Officer Jill Cress’s “fail fast, learn fast” mindset, this partnership is built to move at culture-speed and designed to test, learn, and pivot in real time. No dusty playbooks here.

    And the proof is loud. From AI-powered assistance to social-first storytelling to even gaming integrations, H&R Block isn’t waiting for relevance, they’re creating it.

    “Bringing social creative and media together under one partner isn’t just operationally efficient, it’s a competitive advantage,” says Cress. “VaynerMedia’s integrated approach fuels agility, sharpens our cultural edge, and ensures we’re building stronger connections with more customers, all year long by integrating H&R Block into daily interactions.”

    Year-Round Relevance, Built for Today’s Consumer

    Together, H&R Block and VaynerMedia are proving what happens when social creative and media don’t live in separate lanes: you get a brand that shows up in culture every day of the year, backed by measurable results that matter.

    Our CEO and Chairman of VaynerX, Gary Vaynerchuk, says it best, “When social content is supercharged with strategic media efforts, the results speak for themselves. By championing the integration, Jill is demonstrating H&R Block’s dedication to advancing modern marketing practices. We’re incredibly humbled that the Company has put their trust in us, and we’re eager to deliver impact that exceeds their brand goals.”

    Want to partner with us? Drop us a line!

  • From Influencers to Instant Checkout: Why Live Shopping Is the Next Big Play for Brands

    From Influencers to Instant Checkout: Why Live Shopping Is the Next Big Play for Brands

    This isn’t the influencer marketing you think you know. At VaynerMedia, we’ve been working with creators, affiliates, influencers, and talent for years, but between the rise of affiliates, the explosion of TikTok Shop (they’re pulling in over a BILLION dollars a month in the U.S. alone 👀), and the fact that people can now buy from their feeds in seconds instead of weeks, the game has officially changed. Every swipe is a signal, and every signal can turn into a sale.

    I sat down with our EVP, Commerce, Zubin Mowlavi, in a recent webinar. Zubin is an absolute fountain of knowledge in the commerce space and we dove deep into what’s really happening and why live shopping is shaping up to be one of the biggest brand opportunities we’ve seen in years.

    If you’re ready to put this into action today, keep on scrolling for the highlights.

    The Funnel Flip

    For years, the buyer journey looked like this: discover a product → think about it → see a retargeting ad → maybe get an email…and then eventually hit checkout. That whole process used to take days, or (omg can you believe it)…weeks.

    Social commerce has compressed that into seconds. On TikTok Shop, a product can go from “never heard of it” to “delivered to my doorstep” with one thumb swipe on a video. The funnel hasn’t just changed, it’s been turned completely upside down.

    Affiliates: The Keys To the Future of Live Shopping for Your Brand 🔑

    Affiliates aren’t just sharing links. They’re the people talking to your consumers on a daily basis. Having real conversations, building trust, and sharing insights at a scale brands could never pull off alone.

    Think of affiliates as curating mini storefronts that consumers actually want to shop. Each creator builds their shelf with products they genuinely love, and their audiences discover (and buy) based on that trust.

    The brands leaning into this shift in influencer marketing aren’t just selling more, they’re driving discovery in a way that feels authentic, and earning long-term loyalty.

    The Flywheel Effect

    Winning in live shopping is all about running a tight playbook. 

    Here is a four-step flywheel:

    1. Select partners with real cultural fit and sales history.
    2. Coach them with briefs that feel more like sales tips than brand manuals.
    3. Capture both the metrics and the qualitative insights and discover why something worked, or didn’t.
    4. Scale what’s working and tweak what isn’t.

    It’s fast, scrappy, and built for constant learning. What once took six months to test now happens in a single week.

    Rethinking Brand KPIs

    ROAS and CAC aren’t going away, but social commerce comes with its own scoreboard. We’re talking about:

    • Affiliate conversion rate (how many say “yes” to your outreach)
    • Revenue per video (because every TikTok video has a dollar sign attached)
    • Creator lifetime value (not just one post, but the ripple effect over time)

    Small signals add up quickly and they can reshape your entire business growth model if you’re tracking the right ones.

    Rewarding Creators the Right Way

    In 2025, brands should be thinking about affiliates like they’re your business partners. That means thinking beyond flat commissions. Some brands are experimenting with performance-based equity, while others are giving affiliates deeper data access to help them sell better with their niche, trusted audiences.

    The point is when you treat affiliates like co-strategists of the brand, the loyalty (and sales) are MASSIVE opportunities.

    You Got the TL;DR. Now Where Do You Start?

    Keep it simple:

    • Identify 15 affiliates who fit your brand and already drive results.
    • Test 5–7 products or bundles before trying to sell your entire catalog.
    • Hold weekly insight standups to capture what’s working and why.

    Remember, every swipe can be a signal. Every signal can be a sale. And the brands that lean into this shift now will be the ones setting the pace for 2026.

    👇 Want the full playbook from our team? Catch the live replay on our YouTube.

    👉Want to partner with us? Drop us a line!

  • An Update on the Underpriced Attention: The FYP Gets Social Proofed

    An Update on the Underpriced Attention: The FYP Gets Social Proofed

    Your brand strategy probably needs to change and Instagram just dropped THREE NEW features to prove it. We’re officially in the non-follower era, where the majority of views come from people who don’t follow you, and Instagram’s newest features, Reposts, Friends Map, and Friends Feed, are built for that reality.

    This isn’t just a platform update; it’s a wake-up call to rethink how you create, distribute, and measure your content. Brands that adapt quickly will earn outsized reach and engagement while everyone else plays catch-up.

    To help you move fast, the PAC (Platforms, Algorithms, and Culture) team, EVP, Peter Chun, and I broke down exactly what these changes mean, why they’re a massive opportunity, and how to take advantage right now.

    You can watch the full session here or keep scrolling for the TL;DR.

    The New Era of Social

    Let’s be real, social media is a landscape that changes faster than the seasons and we’ve been tracking the shift. On many of our top-performing Instagram Reels, between 99.2%-100% of views are coming from people who don’t follow the accounts. Instagram’s latest features aren’t just updates; they’re built to fuel this trend.

    This is the “non-follower era,” and it demands a different creative approach. Instead of producing content only for your loyal audience, you need to create posts as if it’s someone’s very first impression of your brand.

    The “P” and “A” of PAC: Platforms and Algorithms

    Let’s talk about the big picture: our PAC framework is built on three pillars, but right now, Platforms and Algorithms are the ones that matter most.

    The platforms are constantly releasing new features, and they all seem to slowly evolve from one platform to the next. The key is to adopt these new features early. Why? Because the platform wants to see how they perform, so they’re likely to give your content a boost. Brands need to think like creators and jump on these opportunities.

    The algorithms are all about primary metrics and understanding user behavior. Your content’s success isn’t just about views; it’s about what people do after they see your content. We’re talking about shares, comments, and, now, reposts. This is the power of what our team calls “underpriced attention.”

    Instagram Reposts: DM’s with a Megaphone 🙂 

    The headline feature everyone is talking about is the new repost button, which functions similarly to the retweet on X, or the repost on TikTok. It’s a game-changer because it builds off the behavior of sending DMs and makes it public; it’s your DMs with a megaphone. When a follower reposts your content, their followers will see it in their feed. This gives your content a massive organic reach that would have been impossible before.

    So, how can you use this?

    • Repost your top performers: Give your best content a second life by reposting it with a new note or a fresh perspective.
    • Give love to sub-brands or clients: If you’re an agency or a larger company, reposting content from other brands you work with or that you admire is a great way to show off what you’re doing and build community.
    • Connect with your community: Repost a fan’s post featuring your product. It’s a powerful way to show your brand’s empathy and connectivity, and it can completely change how people perceive you.

    Friends Map and Friends Feed: A New Way to Connect

    These two new features are all about seeing what your connections are doing.

    The ‘Friends Map’ lets you see content that has been tagged with a specific location from people you follow. The key takeaway for brands is simple: use location tags. If you’re a restaurant, a retail store, or even a brand hosting an event, a location tag is a new way to get discovered.

    The ‘Friends Feed’ is a curated feed of public Reels that your friends have liked, commented on, or shared. For brands, this is about understanding the mindset of the “group chat.” Create content that is relevant and so “on-the-nose” that people will want to tag their friends in it. The more conversation you can drive, the more organic distribution you’ll get.

    *We recommend that brands keep their locations private unless there’s an intentional reason to be discovered. We’ll be keeping close tabs on how use cases for this feature evolves.*

    If you’ve made it this far…

    The non-follower era is here to stay. While followers are still important, the new Instagram features are a clear signal that the platform is prioritizing discovery and shareability. The best thing you can do? Move fast. Experiment. Don’t be precious.

    As a brand or marketer, you have a massive opportunity to use these new features to reach new audiences and drive real value. Now get out there and start posting (and reposting!).

    Curious for more?

    Watch Peter, and I break it all down, live, on Linkedin and Youtube.

    And if staying ahead of the industry curve is your thing (it should be), hit follow on LinkedIn. We’re sharing insights, trends, and bold hot takes weekly. 

    Wanna chat? Drop us a line here