From LinkedIn anxiety to perfectionism and content burnout, Shaily Hakimian-Armstrong, owner of Your Social Media Sherpa, touched on many of the challenges marketers quietly struggle with every day at Experience Inbound 2026. But instead of offering another list of hacks or trends, she shared a more human approach to social media. One centered around authenticity, relationships, and making content feel a whole lot less intimidating.
Here are a few standout insights from her session.
One of Shaily’s biggest themes throughout the presentation was simple: social media works best when it builds on real-world relationships.
Whether it’s LinkedIn, Facebook groups, text messages, or even WhatsApp, the goal isn’t to reach everyone. It’s to stay connected with the right people.
“You don’t need a bajillion eyeballs. You pick the right bucket and you feed them.” - Shaily Hakimian-Armstrong
Instead of chasing virality, Shaily encouraged attendees to focus on staying top-of-mind with clients, peers, and communities they already know.
Shaily opened up about spending nearly 20 hours creating a single LinkedIn video early in her career — something she now laughs about.
Her point? Perfectionism often slows people down more than it helps.
She encouraged attendees to post more imperfectly, experiment often, and learn through repetition rather than obsessing over getting every post exactly right.
“Fight perfectionism. Just post the thing.”
Another major takeaway was the importance of storytelling and context in content creation.
Shaily showed examples of posts that simply announced awards, conferences, or accomplishments without explaining why they mattered. Her challenge to marketers was to go one layer deeper.
Instead of:
“We won an award.”
“We attended a conference.”
Try explaining:
What was learned
Why it mattered
What impact it will have
What makes your perspective unique
People connect with stories, experiences, and personality far more than generic corporate updates.
Throughout the session, Shaily emphasized that many companies already have strong networks — they just aren’t leveraging them online consistently.
She encouraged marketers to tap into the knowledge and relationships already sitting inside their organizations by interviewing leadership, sales teams, or long-time employees for ideas and insights.
“The power of social media is what is built upon real activity.” - Shaily Hakimian-Armstrong
Perhaps the most refreshing part of the session was Shaily’s reminder that there’s no single “correct” way to do social media.
Not everyone needs to make videos. Not every post needs to sound corporate. And not every platform is right for every audience.
Her advice was simple:
Find what feels natural
Share what you actually care about
Focus on helping people
As she closed her session, one quote summed up the entire presentation perfectly:
“Social media is about the people, not about your business. Provide for the people, and the people will provide for you.” - Shaily Hakimian-Armstrong
At its core, Shaily’s session was a reminder that social media doesn’t have to feel performative to be effective. The strongest online presence often comes from simply being helpful, relatable, and willing to share your perspective.