Today's Guide to the Marketing Jungle from Social Media Examiner...
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The weekend is almost here, Alluser! Here's a recap of the most important insights, trends, and updates from the week. Catch up in minutes and go into next week prepared.
In today's edition:
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Is your Instagram content ready for Google search?
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From Mari Smith: What marketers need to know about Meta's AI
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5 quick fixes for your LinkedIn company page
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A proven organic Instagram content strategy for leads and sales
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3 ways to use AI for social media content research and production
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LinkedIn Updates: Video Posts, Custom CTA Buttons, Attribution Reports, and More
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How to choose the right AI tool
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Combining 2 AI models for cooperative strategic development
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🗞️ Industry news from Google, Instagram, Snapchat, and more
Your Instagram Marketing Posts Are About to Hit Google Search
Starting July 10th, Instagram is flipping a major switch. Public posts from professional accounts will automatically become searchable on Google and other search engines.
For the first time, your Instagram content can reach people who've never opened the app—they're just Googling questions you happen to answer.
Think about the possibilities for educational carousels explaining industry basics, problem-solving posts, or captions where you break down complex concepts. These could start appearing in search results alongside blog posts and YouTube videos.
The shift is particularly interesting for creators, consultants, and service providers who've been using Instagram to build authority.
Are you ready for this expanded reach, or does your content strategy need some serious reconsideration? Learn more and follow the discussion here.
How to Withstand the Meta AI Marketing Revolution
Meta just turned 20, and Zuckerberg isn't celebrating with cake and nostalgia. He's doubling down on AI domination with billions in investment, planning to give every business a world-class AI assistant that customers can interact with directly. Meanwhile, marketers are scrambling to keep up with every new AI tool, burning out from the bright-shiny-object syndrome.
Here's the thing: while everyone's trying frantically to master the latest AI apps, the smartest marketers are doing something completely different.
In this 90-minute deep dive, Smith reveals her five-brick framework for thriving in Meta's AI-powered future without losing your authenticity or sanity. She shares what's really coming to Facebook and Instagram (some under NDA until May 7th), which AI tools actually matter, and why authenticity is making a massive comeback as synthetic content erodes trust. Learn more here.
Why Your LinkedIn Company Page Isn't Getting Noticed
You've optimized your website, crafted great emails, and your team's putting in the effort—but your LinkedIn Company Page still feels like a ghost town. No likes. No comments. No growth. Sound familiar?
In this video, Michelle J Raymond breaks down the five most common (and fixable) mistakes companies make on their LinkedIn Pages—from invisible team members to setup errors that tank your reach.
These issues plague brands of all sizes and industries—and are holding you back from real engagement and opportunity. Watch more here.
Stop Letting AI Overwhelm You
New AI tools launch daily. Which ones matter? Which ones are hype? The AI Business Society cuts through the noise with training and guidance from vetted experts.
Save time and money by learning from others' experiences. Focus on tools that deliver real ROI instead of chasing every shiny new AI release. Build a sustainable AI strategy that grows with your business.
Member Ana Rogers explains, "As a freelancer, I don't have a company around me with an AI council and people in different departments testing stuff out. The AI Society will help me fill that gap."
Help me choose the right AI tools →
Instagram Content Strategy: Attracting Quality Leads and Sales
Are you posting consistently on Instagram but not seeing business results? Wondering how to move beyond likes to generate quality leads and sales?
According to Marberry, visitors decide within five seconds whether to follow you, making your profile crucial in converting casual browsers into followers and, eventually, customers.
The foundation of your Instagram lead generation strategy starts with optimizing your profile.
#1: Guide Visitor to Conversion With Pin 3 Strategic Posts
First Pinned Post: Use this post to tell visitors why you created your business, what you're passionate about, and the story behind your brand. This helps people connect emotionally with your company and builds investment in what your business does.
Second Pinned Post: This post should lead people to either a freebie (lead magnet) or a paid offer. Create content that adds value while naturally guiding viewers toward your CTA. This could be in the form of a Reel or carousel post.
Third Pinned Post: The final pinned post should be something fun that demonstrates your expertise, shows your personality, or provides a quick win for your audience. This gives potential followers a taste of the value they'll receive if they follow your account. Marberry notes that while Reels tend to perform better, carousel posts can also be effective for pinned content.
#2: Audit Your Existing Content Strategy
Marberry recommends examining your last nine posts or the last three months of content, depending on how active you've been. Ask yourself these key questions:
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Does your content deliver on the promise of your bio? Suppose your bio says you'll teach gluten-free baking in under ten minutes, but your profile is filled with personal photos and unrelated content. This disconnect will confuse and alienate potential followers.
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Does your content align with your business goals? If your goal was to grow your email list, but none of your recent posts included a call to action for your lead magnet, you've missed opportunities for conversion.
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Are you using clear, strategic calls to action? Your CTA doesn't always need to be promotional—it could be as simple as "Heart this if you can relate" or "Tag a business bestie who needs this message,"—but it should guide followers toward the engagement or action you want.
For posts that don't align with your strategy, you have options:
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For Reels, you can hide them from your profile grid by clicking the three dots and selecting "Hide from profile grid"
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If photos and carousels don't align with your strategy, you might need to delete them and focus on producing more strategic content in the future.
Remember that consistency with your brand promise is key to building trust with your audience.
#3: Map Your Customer Journey
After auditing your content, you need to clarify the customer journey for your ideal client or customer on Instagram. Many businesses fall into a content creation "hamster wheel," chasing follower growth without a clear plan for what happens after someone follows them.
"Start with the end in mind," Marberry advises. If your goal is to sell 100 tickets to a conference by June 1st, work backward from that goal to determine your content strategy.
Here's how a typical customer journey works on Instagram:
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A potential customer discovers your content (often a Reel) while scrolling through Instagram
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They tap on your handle and visit your profile
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Within seconds, they decide whether to follow you based on your optimized profile
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They begin consuming your content, perhaps binging on your posts
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Through strategic CTAs, you guide them to take an action (comment a keyword)
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You use DM automation to send them a direct link to your offer or lead magnet
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They move from Instagram into your owned marketing channels (email list, booking calendar, etc.)
Marberry shares a success story from one of her clients, a luxury jewelry store in Denver. The store optimized its profile, created targeted content to attract its ideal clients (Gen Z customers looking for engagement rings), and used a clear call to action: "Comment 'connect' and we will DM you a link to our calendar."
This strategy successfully converted an Instagram follower into a high-ticket sale. The potential customer discovered their content, commented on their Reel, received a calendar link via DM automation, booked an in-store appointment, and ultimately purchased an engagement ring—all from one piece of organic content.
This example is particularly powerful because before implementing this strategy, the jewelry store had been spending $2,000 per month on paid Instagram ads with zero conversions. Their strategic organic approach yielded better results without the ad spend.
With your profile optimized and your customer journey mapped out, it's time to develop a content strategy that attracts and converts your ideal audience.
Other topics discussed include:
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How to optimize your Instagram header and Highlight albums
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The Hook-Value-CTA formula for creating effective organic Instagram content
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How to test your content with Trial Reels
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How to use DM automation for lead capture
Today's advice is provided with insights from Elizabeth Marberry, a featured guest on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.
Watch the full interview on YouTube
Using AI-Inspired Social Content to Grow a Loyal Audience
Finding it hard to create enough content to stay consistent on social media? Wondering how AI can help you post with purpose—not just frequency?
Sabrina Ramonov, who grew from zero to 750,000 followers in a year with no paid ads, no budget, and no team say a primary benefit of using AI for social content creation is the ability to scale your teaching and outreach without burning out.
3 Ways to Use AI for Social Media Content Research and Information Gathering
One of the most underrated AI applications is documenting your daily business activities to find post ideas. "I think one of the most underrated ways to use AI is to help you document what it is you're doing every day in your business," Sabrina explains.
This includes:
These interactions can be recorded using AI tools, and then extract key insights and draft social media content based on the discussions.
Ramonov does this every week for her Blotato office hours, during which anyone in the community can join and ask questions.
After the session, she uses a prompt to pull key points around which she can create content.
Extract the three most frustrating challenges people expressed during the call.
This approach transforms routine business interactions into valuable content opportunities. Instead of creating content from scratch, you're using real insights from actual customer conversations as inspiration.
Sabrina also suggests taking your best-performing posts and using AI to analyze the comments for insights. Controversial comments can be a seed for new posts that are coming up," she explains.
This approach ensures your content responds directly to audience interests and questions, creating a virtuous feedback loop.
For beginners, Sabrina recommends analyzing comments on other creators' content in your niche and looking for topics you can discuss based on your personal experiences. Alternatively, you can use Perplexity and set the focus specifically on Reddit to search for the top posts on that topic.
Create and Test Your AI-Generated Content Across Social Media
Once you've gathered insights and research, transform them into engaging social content using a custom GPT trained on your established writing style.
Sabrina recommends posting test content multiple times per day across different platforms to quickly identify what resonates with your audience.
Platforms like TikTok, Twitter/X, and Threads are particularly suitable for frequent posting, as they don't penalize creators for multiple daily posts.
Sabrina, who publishes a lot of short-form video, explains that TikTok is excellent for beginners. TikTok's algorithm first shows your post to two hundred people based on your hashtags and the video's content. If it does well, they show it to 500 more people, and so on.
This incremental exposure allows for rapid feedback on what content resonates.
"So test five different hooks, five different topics, and you'll see very quickly within hours which of those hits and which doesn't," Sabrina advises.
Blotato: An AI-Powered Content Management Solution
Throughout her own journey, Sabrina created a tool called Blotato to solve her own content publishing challenges. This comprehensive solution addresses each stage of the content creation process, from ideation to publication, helping creators maintain consistency without burnout.
The AI-powered social media management tool with a social scheduling aspect and a strong AI writing assistant has evolved to include several powerful features for content creators:
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Content Database: The system stores all your published posts, allowing you to remix or repurpose them easily.
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Multi-Source Content Generation: The system uses sources. You can run YouTube videos, articles, TikTok videos, and podcasts through an AI writing assistant trained on your voice, and it generates drafts for all of those platforms.
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Multi-Platform Scheduling: The tool integrates with nine social media platforms, allowing centralized scheduling.
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AI Image and Video Generation: Sabrina notes that "ninety-eight percent of all social media posts now have an image or video attached," making this feature essential.
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Voice Integration: Blotato connects with Eleven Labs, allowing users to incorporate their own voice or select from hundreds of high-quality stock voices for video content.
Today's advice provided with insights from Sabrina Ramonov, a featured guest on the AI Explored podcast.
Watch the full interview YouTube
On this week's Social Media Marketing Talk Show, host Jerry Potter breaks down the latest LinkedIn news and what it means for marketers like you.
Website Hyperlinks Become Premium-Only
In a significant shift, LinkedIn is removing website hyperlinks from user profiles unless users subscribe to premium services. The feature, previously available through Creator Mode to all users, will now be restricted to:
Enhanced Video Post Embedding Options
LinkedIn has introduced improved embedding capabilities for video posts, designed to help content creators drive more views to their LinkedIn videos. Users can now choose from three embedding options when placing LinkedIn video content on external websites:
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The full post
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A version with less text (requiring users to click "more" to read the complete text)
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Video-only display for a clean, streamlined appearance
"If you want to drive more views on your LinkedIn videos, this is a great way to do it," Potter recommended. However, the feature has limitations: it currently does not support embedding multi-photo posts or reposts that include commentary.
Expanded Post Analytics for All Users
LinkedIn has introduced valuable new analytics capabilities to help users better understand their content performance. All members can now track when posts drive profile views and new followers.
Premium subscribers receive additional insights, including tracking clicks to premium custom buttons like websites or newsletters. Users can access these analytics by clicking "View analytics" on recent posts, where they'll find two new sections: "Profile activity" and "Link engagement."
Potter noted these metrics address a crucial gap in social media analytics. While reach numbers show how many people saw a post, they don't reveal the actual impact or next steps in the customer journey. The new insights allow users to see whether their content successfully drove people to visit their profile, which represents meaningful forward progress in building relationships and potential business opportunities.
Company-Level Revenue Attribution
LinkedIn has launched a Revenue Attribution Report capability for B2B marketers dealing with complex decision-making processes. This feature allows marketers to measure campaign effectiveness at the company level rather than tracking individual touchpoints.
The new attribution system enables marketers to:
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Identify highly engaged companies for retargeting campaigns
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Analyze which industries and company sizes convert most effectively
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Use insights to refine targeting strategies and accelerate sales cycles
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Understand how multiple decision-makers within a company interact with campaigns
This feature addresses a fundamental challenge in B2B marketing: most business decisions involve multiple stakeholders rather than a single decision-maker. When tracking LinkedIn ad campaigns through individual touchpoints, it becomes difficult to understand the complete customer journey. The final decision might come from a CEO, an executive assistant whose opinion is valued, a COO, or any other influential parties within the organization.
More Features, Tools, Changes, and Updates Discussed Include:
Watch it on YouTube
How to Pick the Right AI Tool (Without Wasting Time or Money)
Could you be missing out by sticking with ChatGPT? Are you wasting cash and time chasing shiny new models?
In this video, Rick Mulready walks through the five most popular AI tools—ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok—breaking down what each one does well, where it falls short, and whether the free version is actually useful. He also covers important privacy settings you might not know about and explains who should consider upgrading (and who shouldn't bother).
If you're tired of generic comparisons and want a straight-shooting guide that makes it easy to decide which tool to use for brainstorming, content creation, coding, or real-time search—this is it. Learn more here.
How to Use Two AI Assistants Cooperatively
Most people who've discovered the power of ChatGPT for strategic thinking stop there. But what if you're leaving half the value on the table?
Fractional CMO Liza Adams at GrowthPath has been quietly experimenting with something that sounds almost too simple to work: running the same strategic challenges through both ChatGPT and Claude simultaneously. Not to replace human thinking but to amplify it in ways that feel almost unfair.
Her guide walks through a real example – developing a framework around how marketing priorities shift as companies mature in their AI adoption. What started as a simple LinkedIn poll evolved into something much more sophisticated through this dual-AI approach.
The process isn't about prompt engineering or getting fancy with AI features. It's about creating a three-way strategic dialog where each AI builds on the other's insights, catches blind spots, and pushes ideas further than any single conversation could reach.
Her screenshots reveal how AI assistants collaborate when you facilitate the conversation properly. They disagree constructively, build on each other's frameworks, and converge on solutions they wouldn't have reached alone.
Curious how this multi-AI strategic thinking actually works in practice? The step-by-step breakdown shows exactly how to orchestrate these conversations. Learn more here.
Google Labs Introduces AI Coaching with Expert Avatars: Google Labs has launched "Portraits," an experimental tool that offers personalized AI coaching through avatars of real-world experts. The inaugural Portrait features Kim Scott, renowned author of Radical Candor, providing users with conversational guidance on effective workplace communication and leadership. Developed in partnership with the experts themselves, these AI avatars ensure responses are grounded in authentic knowledge and style. Powered by Google's Gemini AI model, the system interprets user queries and delivers insights based on the expert's content. Currently available to U.S. users aged 18 and older, Google plans to expand the platform with additional expert avatars in the future. Google
Snapchat Launches Messaging App for Apple Watch: Snapchat has introduced a new app for the Apple Watch, allowing users to preview and respond to messages directly from their wrists. The app supports various input methods, including the Apple Watch's keyboard, scribble, dictation, and emojis, focusing on streamlined messaging functionality. The Verge
Mixed Video Ad Formats Drive Higher Brand Lift on Snapchat: A global study by Snapchat and Magna Media Trials reveals that using both skippable and non-skippable video ads significantly boosts brand performance metrics. Tested across five markets, the research shows a mixed-format strategy outperforms single-format campaigns in ad and brand awareness. While skippable ads cater to user control and resonate strongly with Gen Z, non-skippable ads prove valuable for initial brand engagement—especially when creatively executed. Snapchat advises brands to blend formats and prioritize entertaining, user-driven content to optimize ad effectiveness. Snapchat
Instagram Adds Recaps and Celebrations for Creators: Instagram has rolled out two new features—Recaps and Celebrations—designed to help creators better track their performance and stay motivated. Celebrations mark milestone moments such as reaching 10,000 followers or having a reel go viral, while Recaps provide personalized monthly digests with insights like view counts, follower growth, and tips for improvement. Recaps are being released gradually and will be available through the Professional Dashboard or notifications. The update is part of Instagram's ongoing effort to provide more actionable tools and encouragement for creators. Instagram Creators via Instagram
Meta Introduces Opportunity Score to Guide Campaign Optimization: Meta Ads Manager now features a new Opportunity Score, ranging from 0 to 100, designed to help advertisers quickly assess how closely their campaigns adhere to Meta's performance best practices. The score reflects the implementation of recommendations—such as merging overlapping audiences, enabling Advantage+ placements, fixing delivery issues, and adopting Meta's automated bidding and creative tools—with weighted impact indicating which optimizations could yield the most gains. Advertisers can monitor and improve their score across account, campaign, and creation workflows. While a high Opportunity Score signals strong setup, it doesn't guarantee improved ROAS or outcomes but offers a clear roadmap for potential efficiency gains. Meta
TikTok Empowers Advertisers to Track & Reduce Carbon Emissions: TikTok is now offering advertisers an integrated way to measure the carbon footprint of their campaigns, thanks to a new partnership with Scope3. This collaboration uses TikTok's first-party and campaign data together with Scope3's open-source emissions model—aligned with the Ad Net Zero framework—to deliver transparent, grams-per-thousand-impressions CO₂ equivalent metrics. The platform underscores a three-pronged strategy: increase transparency, enable precise measurement, and support reduction efforts. This initiative is part of TikTok's wider climate roadmap, which includes aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030, committing to 100% renewable electricity, and investing in carbon removal projects. TikTok
Smart+ Boosts Performance with Full‑Funnel AI Automation: TikTok has introduced Smart+, an AI-driven solution now available through Ads Manager, that simultaneously automates targeting, bidding, and creative across various performance objectives. New enhancements include finer account-level targeting, brand safety integrations, better bidding options, and unified support for web and app campaigns. Available formats include Catalog Ads, Web Campaigns, App promotions, and Lead Generation. According to TikTok, 71% of users saw at least a 10% uplift in performance, while Web Campaigns produced a 53% increase in ROAS for purchase-focused objectives. Smart+ also leverages TikTok Symphony to optimize creative assets automatically. All major features are overviewed in the TikTok for Business blog post. TikTok
Instagram's Edits App Gains Teleprompter and Deeper Analytics: Instagram's Edits video editing app has received a significant update that adds an integrated teleprompter overlay—complete with custom scroll speed, font size, and transparency—to help creators deliver polished, on-camera content. The update also includes a new Reels insight dashboard ranking users' ten most recent uploads by views, as well as minor enhancements like additional fonts, filters, voice effects, safe-zone overlays, and simplified transitions. Social Media Today
Instagram Adds Grid Customization: Instagram will soon let users rearrange their profile grid posts, with the feature rolling out next week. Additionally, a new Spotify integration now allows users to share their current listening activity in Instagram Notes, displaying song and artist names in real time. These updates are part of Meta's broader "Anyway" campaign, which aims to ease content-sharing pressure and enhance creativity. Instagram is also expanding a Reels testing feature that lets users trial content with new audiences before sharing it more widely. The Verge
Meta Rolls Out AI Video Editing Across Apps: Meta has launched its first generative AI video editing feature across the Meta AI app, Meta.AI website, and Edits app, allowing users to apply creative preset prompts to short videos. These prompts can transform scenes with stylistic changes to outfits, lighting, and backgrounds—such as turning a video into a graphic novel or a futuristic video game. Users can edit 10 seconds for free and directly share their creations to Facebook, Instagram, or Discover. This tool is the first step in Meta's broader plan to offer fully customizable, text-based video editing by the end of 2025. Meta
Pinterest Debuts AI Collages and Smarter Trend Forecasting: Pinterest is unveiling two AI-driven marketing tools. The auto-collage feature, currently in pilot via Pinterest Ad Labs, transforms existing product catalogs into thousands of shoppable collages—doubling save rates compared to standard Pins. The enhanced Trends tool combines search, save, and shopping behavior to deliver more accurate forecasts, categorized spotlight themes, and editor-curated cultural insights. Pinterest
Reddit Enhances Comments With Sharing, Stats, and Drafts: Reddit has introduced new features to make commenting more dynamic and engaging. Users can now convert their comments into posts for broader visibility and continued discussion. Real-time comment analytics—including views, upvotes, replies, and shares—are available across platforms, allowing users to gauge comment performance. Comment drafts are also auto-saved to prevent losing content mid-reply. Additionally, Reddit's desktop interface now supports adding text to image, video, and link posts, expanding creative posting options. The rollout will continue over the coming weeks. Reddit
Snap Expands AI‑Driven Ads and Creator Engagement Tools: Snap has unveiled a powerful suite of new tools for advertisers and creators. AI‑powered Smart Bidding and Smart Budget features now optimize campaigns automatically, while the chat-focused Sponsored Snaps are enhanced with First Snap takeovers, creator-sourced messaging, and auction-based delivery. Businesses gain visibility through Promoted Places on Snap Map and performance measurement, all managed via a unified insights dashboard combining Lens, Map, Stories, and Spotlight data. Snap is also expanding sports content partnerships with the NFL and WNBA, with sponsorship packages linked to immersive Snap experiences. Snapchat
Snap Debuts Lens+ Tier to Unlock Premium AR Lenses: Snapchat has rolled out Lens+, a new premium tier priced at $8.99 per month, sitting above its existing Snapchat+ subscription. Lens+ grants members early access to hundreds of exclusive AR Lenses, including AI-powered video filters and Bitmoji Game Lenses, with fresh content added weekly. In addition to Lens benefits, subscribers retain all Snapchat+ perks—such as customizable chat wallpapers and Bitmoji backgrounds. Snap also plans to enable select creators to monetize their exclusive Lenses via Lens+. Snapchat
Threads Adds Native Direct Messages in Limited Test: Meta has enabled native direct messaging on Threads, starting tests in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Argentina. Users will see a new inbox icon, allowing private one-on-one chats without linking to Instagram. The feature is currently limited to individual messaging and will expand to more regions—including the U.S.—soon. Social Media Today
YouTube Promote and Shorts Updates: YouTube has expanded its Promote tool to the main Android app, enabling creators to launch ad campaigns for their videos directly from the watch page. This tool supports goals like increasing subscribers, video views, or driving traffic to external websites—all without needing to use Google Ads. A new promotions feed under the You tab helps creators track campaign performance. Additionally, viewers can now see and interact with creators' posts within the Shorts feed, enhancing engagement and content discovery. YouTube
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Napkin folding is a decorative art form that transforms napkins dating back to at least the 16th century in Florence, Italy. The practice reached its peak during the Baroque era, when elaborate folded napkins-sometimes called triumphs were used to impress guests at grand banquets.
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