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:

Are you using this Instagram feature yet?
5 easy to model Reels templates
Is remarketing still worthwhile?
Discover the Niche Problem Post Formula for strategic LinkedIn content
Discover how to use AI search optimization
Facebook Updates: Brand Tools, New Ads, Creator APIs, and More
🗞️ Industry news from Anthropic, Claude, Google, and more

Pinned Comments on IG: Small Feature, Big Impact

This subtle but powerful new Instagram feature might just be your next best friend.

While the rollout has flown under the radar for many marketers, experts like Jenn Hermann are already using it to drive engagement, boost visibility, and make their content work harder—without touching the original post.

She's sharing eight ways to use this new feature to open up a fresh layer of strategy.

For small teams and solo marketers juggling multiple hats, this is a smart shift in how you drive action, spotlight social proof, or keep posts relevant over time. Read more here.

5 Reels Templates for Marketers

If you've been hesitating to create Reels because you're not ready to talk on camera (or just don't want to), you'll love this. Shannon McKinstrie shares how to create five high-performing Instagram Reels formats that require zero talking.

Each format is designed to help you showcase your message, product, or process, whether it's a transformation, tutorial, behind-the-scenes, or even just a powerful thought using tools and techniques you likely already have. These formulas play well with trending audio, boost retention, and make it easy to get content out the door today.

Perfect for busy marketers who are experimenting with video or looking for no-fuss ways to integrate Reels into their content strategy. Read more here.

Meta Ad Remarketing Strategy

Is remarketing outdated or just misunderstood? Jon Loomer agrees that, in most cases, it's no longer essential. Meta's algorithm is smarter now. It knows who's likely to convert, often better than we do.

But he also outlines one powerful exception and walks through a low-cost, high-impact approach that taps into old school strategy with new tools for reach-optimized ads, custom audiences, and ad sequencing tailored to your warmest prospects.

If your business relies on nurturing the right buyers over time, this could be the strategic edge you've been overlooking. Listen to more here.

Driving Qualified Leads With LinkedIn Content: A Proven Formula

The core of this lead generation strategy revolves around what McEwen calls niche problem posts. These posts follow a specific structure designed to get prospects nodding their heads in recognition, thinking "That's me" as they read.

The format breaks down to approximately 80% problem identification and 20% solution presentation. The primary goal is getting prospects to have that emotional recognition moment where they see themselves clearly reflected in the problem you're describing.

Focus on one niche problem post per week if you're posting five times weekly, or increase the frequency to one in three if you post less often. These shouldn't comprise your entire content strategy—mix them with personal stories, industry insights, and lighter content that shows your human side.

Before implementing any content strategy, you must establish crucial foundational elements. Everything else will fail without these fundamentals in place.

First, you need to know your ideal customer profile inside and out. This goes beyond basic demographics to understanding what keeps them awake at night and their specific pain points. You need to be crystal clear on who your perfect customer is, what challenges they face, and what drives their decision-making.

An effective method for gathering this intelligence involves using AI tools to analyze your customer interactions. Take transcripts from all your past sales calls and customer conversations, then feed them into your preferred AI tool. Ask the AI to identify common themes, frequently asked questions, biggest pain points and challenges, and patterns that emerge consistently across conversations.

Second, your LinkedIn profile must speak directly to that ideal customer. Transform your profile into a mini landing page that clearly communicates the value you provide to people and businesses like them, along with the results you've achieved for similar clients. This isn't about showcasing how amazing you are—it's about demonstrating exactly how you help people like your prospects and why they should trust you. Back this up with case studies, testimonials, and concrete evidence of your expertise.

Finally, you need a legitimate, proven offer and a sales funnel to move prospects through your process. This means having an offer that people have actually purchased before, something tested and proven to work, along with a systematic way to guide prospects from initial interest to final purchase.

How to Format and Style Niche Problem Posts

These niche problem posts work best as text-only content without images or videos, so prospects focus entirely on the message without visual elements pulling their attention away.

Keep your posts between 300-350 words on average. While this might seem long for social media, it's necessary to properly develop the problem-symptom-solution sequence.

Dense text blocks perform poorly on mobile devices, where most LinkedIn consumption happens, so each major point should have visual separation to improve readability and comprehension. Break the post content into short paragraphs, often just one or two sentences each, to make skimming easy on mobile devices.

Bold any key phrases and bullet points to help important information stand out when people skim. Since LinkedIn doesn't provide native formatting options, you can search for a LinkedIn text formatter or use sites like LingoJam to generate formatted text you can paste into your posts.

In your post, use the language your ideal customers actually use. Don't use your internal jargon or marketing speak—use the exact phrases and words your prospects use when describing their challenges.

McEwen's team developed its approach by analyzing sales call transcripts and customer conversations to identify patterns. They spent hours dissecting this information with AI, having back-and-forth conversations to refine their understanding. This wasn't a quick five-minute process—it required substantial time investment working with team members to go through findings line by line, testing different approaches, and iterating on the messaging.

For example, in targeting sales teams struggling with cold outreach, they identified "spray and pray" as a universally recognized problem term in that industry. Everyone in sales knows what spray and pray means—blasting out generic messages without targeting or personalization. They could then frame posts around this familiar concept while introducing their own terminology for the solution.

Pro Tip: If you're using AI to create your ad copy, this requires telling your AI tools specifically to use the exact same words and phrases that your customers use. If you don't, the AI will paraphrase and return imprecise language.

AI Search: How to Get Recommended By AI

While people say that search optimization is dead, that's not really true. AI search, or what some call AI SEO, has a lot of overlaps with traditional search engines like Google. The fundamental difference lies in how people interact with AI tools versus how they interact with Google search, and the need for a more holistic approach to building authority across the web.

Dr. Samantha North, an AI strategist who helps service businesses deploy AI automation, has found that leads that come to websites from AI sources tend to have much higher conversion rates and demonstrate significantly more engagement with content.

This enhanced performance occurs because people get a lot of their education on a topic from AI before they ever reach your website. They typically know much more about your brand and are much further along in the journey toward conversion.

The trust factor in AI recommendations appears particularly strong. The intimacy of AI conversations, combined with their depth, creates a friend-like interaction that leads people to trust AI recommendations more readily.

AI search optimization also provides a way to control your brand narrative and reputation. If there's negative sentiment out there about your business, you need to know about it and take action. AI search optimization can help you in that area as well.

Tools to Monitor AI Search for Mentions of You or Your Brand

Rather than manually searching for mentions of you or your brand across various AI models, investing in a search monitoring tool can save significant time and provide deeper insights.

Three tools to test are Peec, Trakkr, and Mentions. Among the available options, Mentions offers an intuitive interface that makes sense for most users, though all three tools provide value.

These tools do much more than save manual effort.

They track your mention rate across different prompts. So, if you test fifty prompts and only show up in five of them, you can optimize or create content to improve the likelihood you show up on those searches.

The tools also let you dive into different pages from your website and different sources that are surfacing answers about you or your brand. They provide detailed analytics about which URLs are feeding AI responses and help identify patterns in how AI models are accessing your content.

Finally, these tools track which models are suggesting you for which prompts and queries, which proves important for understanding your AI presence.

While ChatGPT represents the biggest referrer for brands, Perplexity often holds the second position in terms of traffic generation. Interestingly, Gemini doesn't show up as frequently in analytics, possibly because Gemini and some other models don't send referrer data, so you can't always identify that they're sending traffic to your website.

Google's AI overviews also deserve consideration, though they sometimes contain glaring inaccuracies. While you might proceed with caution when consuming AI overview content, other consumers may treat it as their answer source. You should test your brand's appearance in AI overviews by asking the same questions that you pose to other AI models.

How to Optimize Your Existing Website Content for AI Search

If your brand already has content showing up in Google search, audit that content and look for top-performing pieces. See if any of those are also performing in AI search, then optimize them from an AI search standpoint.

The optimization process involves several specific changes to existing content.

First, make sure the article uses simple language. Eliminate jargon, complicated sentence patterns, and all unnecessarily complex elements that might confuse AI models or readers.

Next, change basic headings into question-based formats that mimic how people would interact with an AI tool. Instead of a heading like "Our Services," change it to "What services does [Your Brand] offer?"

Add a summary box at the top of each article to give AI models something easy to source from. This summary box functions like a TLDR (too long, didn't read) section. It should contain what you think are the most important points of the article and what you would want the article to get picked up for.

You can easily use Claude or ChatGPT to help create these summaries. Put your whole article into the AI tool and ask it to pull out the five most important points for a summary box.

Finally, schema markup has always been somewhat important in traditional SEO, but for AI search optimization, it's becoming increasingly important to give AI models clarity about what each of your pages contains. For example, if you have a how-to post, you could use the how-to schema to tell AI models exactly what type of content they're analyzing.

You don't need to become an expert in schema markup; ChatGPT can help construct these markup elements for you.

More Threads Ads Format Options

Meta is expanding advertising options on Threads with new formats, including Carousel ads and additional video formats. The platform is also preparing to roll out Advantage Plus Catalog to Threads, giving advertisers more ways to showcase their products and services.

These updates reflect Meta's ongoing strategy to increase ad placements across all its platforms. The company aims to keep advertisers interested and excited about new features while helping them achieve better results. Threads has been showing positive initial signals for advertising performance, prompting Meta to continue expanding placement options.

The addition of the Carousel format is particularly significant because it allows advertisers to showcase multiple products or tell a more comprehensive story within a single ad unit. Video format expansions provide creative flexibility for brands that want to leverage the engaging nature of video content on Threads.

As these features roll out, advertisers will be able to test Threads as part of their broader Meta advertising strategy, potentially reaching audiences who are active on this growing platform.

Value Rules Allow Sophisticated Bid Adjustments

Meta has introduced a powerful new feature called value rules, which allows advertisers to establish account-wide preferences about their most valuable customer segments. This feature is accessed through advertising settings and represents a more sophisticated approach to campaign optimization.

Value rules work differently from traditional audience targeting within ad sets. Instead, they tell Meta which customer segments are most valuable to your business based on metrics like lifetime value, allowing the platform to adjust bidding strategies accordingly across all your campaigns.

For example, if your data shows that male customers aged thirty-five to forty-four generate twice the lifetime value of other segments, you can create a value rule that instructs Meta to bid sixty percent higher for this demographic. Simultaneously, you might set a rule to bid twenty percent lower for your least valuable demographic.

"You can tell Meta, listen, I want to bid sixty percent higher on this male demographic that I just described, and I want to bid twenty percent lower on my least valuable demographic, whatever that happens to be for you," Zirker explains.

The key distinction is that these rules operate across your entire advertising account, regardless of individual ad set targeting. Even if your ad set targeting says something different, the value rules overlay provides Meta with additional information about what's most valuable to your business. Meta then prioritizes these value rules when making delivery decisions.

This feature is particularly valuable for larger budget advertisers or businesses with very specific customer demographics. The recommendations should be based on solid customer data around lifetime value and other meaningful metrics rather than assumptions. When implemented correctly, value rules help Meta's algorithm deliver ads more efficiently to your most profitable customer segments.

Creator Discovery API Opens Partnerships

Meta is releasing its Creator Discovery API, which will enable third-party tools to access Meta's creator marketplace and help advertisers find influencers and content partners more easily. This API release addresses a significant demand from advertisers who want better access to creator partnerships.

The creator marketplace has existed on Meta's platforms, but it hasn't been as publicly accessible or globally available as competing platforms like TikTok's creator marketplace. The API release will change this by allowing various third-party tools and platforms to integrate creator discovery functionality into their services.

"There's been a lot of demand for this. TikTok has a wonderful creator marketplace, Meta does too, but it hasn't been as publicly available or globally available as quickly as people wanted," Zirker notes. The API will enable a broader range of tools to help advertisers identify potential collaborators.

For brands and businesses, this means easier access to data about creators, including their audience demographics, engagement rates, content style, and past brand partnerships. Third-party tools will be able to build sophisticated search and filtering capabilities, helping advertisers find creators who align with their brand values and target audiences.

The expansion of creator discovery capabilities will likely accelerate influencer marketing on Meta's platforms. As more advertisers gain access to comprehensive creator data through various tools, the process of identifying, vetting, and connecting with potential partners becomes more efficient.

This development also benefits creators by increasing their visibility to potential brand partners. Rather than relying solely on Meta's native discovery tools, creators will be discoverable through multiple platforms and services that brands already use for influencer marketing and campaign management.

The API release represents Meta's recognition that facilitating brand-creator partnerships benefits the entire ecosystem. Brands get access to authentic voices that resonate with their target audiences, creators gain monetization avenues, and Meta benefits from the engaging content and increased ad spending that result from successful partnerships.

More Features, Tools, Changes, and Updates Discussed Include:

Reels Trending Ads Expand to More Advertisers
UK Advertisers Face Potential Reach Limitations
Landing Page View Optimization Reduces Costs
WhatsApp Status Ads Create New Engagement
Community Notes Program Expands with New Contributors
Vibes AI-Generated Video Feed Launch
Advantage Plus Catalog Expands Creative Access

Watch it on YouTube

Meta Launches 'Vibes' Feed for Creating and Sharing AI-Generated Videos: Meta has introduced Vibes, a new feature in the Meta AI app that enables users to create, remix, and share AI-generated short-form videos. Users can start with their own ideas or repurpose content from the feed by adding music, visuals, and stylistic changes. Vibes integrates directly with Instagram and Facebook, allowing seamless cross-posting and remixing. The feature marks Meta's latest push into AI-powered creative tools, with more capabilities expected to roll out soon. Meta

Meta Offers UK Users Ad-Free Subscription Option on Facebook and Instagram: Meta is rolling out a new subscription model in the UK, allowing users to pay for an ad-free experience on Facebook and Instagram. Priced at £2.99/month on web and £3.99/month on mobile for the first account, the update responds to recent guidance from the UK's Information Commissioner's Office. Users who choose not to subscribe will still see ads and retain control over their ad preferences. Meta highlights the UK's regulatory environment as enabling more user choice while maintaining ad-supported free access. Meta

YouTube Launches Labs Program to Let Users Test AI Features: YouTube has introduced YouTube Labs, an open-access program inviting users to explore its latest AI-driven experiments. The first test is now live in the YouTube Music app, where AI hosts provide real-time insights during radio and playlist sessions. All users can join, with the understanding that features may be temporary and quality may fluctuate. Feedback from Labs participants will help shape future innovations across YouTube's platform. YouTube

ChatGPT Introduces Instant Checkout with Agentic Commerce Protocol: OpenAI has launched Instant Checkout within ChatGPT, allowing U.S. users to buy products directly in chat, beginning with Etsy sellers and expanding to Shopify merchants soon. Powered by the new Agentic Commerce Protocol—developed with Stripe—this system enables secure, AI-assisted transactions without disrupting merchant operations. The protocol is open-source, giving developers and businesses a way to integrate seamlessly while preserving control over payments and customer interactions. OpenAI

Claude Sonnet 4.5 Sets New Benchmark for Coding and AI Agent Capabilities: Anthropic has released Claude Sonnet 4.5, its most powerful and aligned model to date. With significant upgrades in reasoning, math, and real-world software use, Sonnet 4.5 leads benchmarks like SWE-bench and OSWorld. The release brings new tools for developers, including code execution in the Claude app, a VS Code extension, and the Claude Agent SDK to build custom agents. Safety and alignment are also improved, with advanced defenses against prompt injection. A research preview, "Imagine with Claude," is live for Max users. Anthropic

Facebook Adds New Tools for Creators to Build Fan Communities: Facebook is expanding its creator tools with fan challenges and customizable top fan badges. Fan challenges allow creators to prompt content submissions around shared themes, with dedicated feeds and recognition options. Custom top fan badges give creators with over 1 million followers the ability to assign branded nicknames to their most loyal fans. Additionally, new engagement metrics in the Professional Dashboard help creators measure fan growth and community interaction. Meta

Facebook Adds Fan Challenges and Custom Badges to Deepen Creator Engagement: Facebook is introducing new tools to bring fans closer to creators through interactive fan challenges and personalized top fan badges. These features allow users to create content alongside their favorite creators, compete on leaderboards, and earn badges that highlight their superfan status. With over 1.5 million fan entries and 10 million interactions in recent months, Facebook aims to strengthen creator-fan connections and foster more vibrant online communities. Meta

Google Enhances AI Mode in Search for Smarter Visual Discovery and Shopping: Google has upgraded its AI Mode in Search to support a more intuitive visual discovery experience. Users can now explore ideas or shop by describing what they want in natural language, or by uploading photos. AI Mode combines Gemini 2.5's multimodal capabilities with Google's new visual fan-out model to deeply understand images and deliver personalized, relevant results. The update also makes it easier to find and buy products, powered by Google's continuously refreshed Shopping Graph. Google

Snapchat Launches Paid Memories Storage Plans for Heavy Users: Snapchat has announced new Memories Storage Plans to support users with over 5GB of saved content. While most users will continue to enjoy free storage, those exceeding the limit can now choose from paid options offering up to 5TB. A 12-month grace period will allow users to upgrade or download their excess Memories. The update reflects Snapchat's commitment to long-term storage and continued investment in preserving users' most meaningful moments. Snap

TikTok Launches Smart+ Travel Ads to Convert Browsing into Bookings: TikTok has introduced Travel Ads, a new Smart+-powered ad format tailored for travel brands promoting flights, hotels, and destinations. These catalog-based ads feature dynamic travel cards with personalized product details, appearing across formats like Single Video, Catalog Video, and Carousel. Travel Ads aim to convert organic inspiration into bookings by identifying high-intent users and delivering relevant, visually engaging content. With TikTok now a leading source of travel discovery, the format offers a scalable way to drive measurable performance. TikTok

WhatsApp Adds AI Chat Themes, Motion Photos, Video Call Backgrounds & More: WhatsApp has rolled out a suite of creative and functional updates across iOS and Android. Users can now share animated Live and Motion Photos, create custom chat themes and video call backgrounds using Meta AI, and scan documents directly from Android devices. Additional features include enhanced group search and expressive new sticker packs. These updates aim to enrich messaging and calling experiences with more personalization and convenience. Meta

YouTube Shorts Adds Extend with AI Remix Feature for Creative Expansion: YouTube Shorts has introduced "Extend with AI," a tool that lets users remix eligible Shorts by adding AI-generated segments based on video-specific prompts. Users can choose a 5-second clip, apply a suggested continuation, and edit the new video with music and reordering tools. The resulting Short is linked back to the original, fostering content discovery and creator collaboration. The feature is rolling out globally, excluding the EU and UK for now, and is initially available in English. YouTube

Claude Brings AI Assistance Directly Into Slack Workflows: Anthropic has launched a deep integration between Claude and Slack, enabling users to leverage Claude's AI capabilities directly within Slack or by connecting Slack data into Claude. Available via direct messages, an AI assistant panel, or in-thread mentions, Claude helps draft replies, summarize discussions, and analyze shared files using contextual insights. Businesses can enhance meeting prep, project tracking, and onboarding through Claude's ability to search Slack messages and documents. The integration maintains enterprise-grade security and is now accessible to teams on paid Slack plans through the Slack Marketplace. Anthropic

Facebook Begins Phasing Out Automated Ads Ahead of 2026 Shutdown: Facebook has begun phasing out its Automated Ads product, with the feature set to be fully discontinued by 2026. While existing campaigns will continue running, users may no longer be able to create new automated ads. Deleting an active Automated Ad will terminate the campaign immediately and remove all related performance data. Other ad formats on Facebook remain unaffected. Meta

LinkedIn Streamlines Campaign Creation and Optimization for Small Businesses: LinkedIn has introduced new tools to help small business marketers launch and optimize ad campaigns faster and more effectively. Highlights include Auto-Targeting to simplify audience building, Draft with AI to accelerate creative production, and Canva and Adobe Express integrations for easy design. The updated Recommendations tab supports A/B testing and one-click improvements to campaign performance. Together, these tools aim to maximize ROI and minimize the time and effort required to run successful campaigns. LinkedIn

Meta Introduces Business AI Tools for Messaging, Ads, and Websites: Meta has launched a suite of Business AI tools designed to help companies drive customer engagement and sales across WhatsApp, Messenger, Meta ads, and now eCommerce websites. Businesses in the U.S. can instantly deploy AI agents that learn from existing campaigns and content, offering personalized support and product recommendations around the clock. Early users like Julep and Solgaard report significant boosts in conversions and operational efficiency. Business AI is free to use with Meta ads and available at competitive rates elsewhere. Meta also plans unified backend management and integrations with tools like Salesforce and Zendesk to simplify AI deployment across all customer touchpoints. Meta

Meta to Use AI Interactions to Improve Content and Ad Recommendations: Meta has announced it will start personalizing content and ad recommendations based on users' interactions with its generative AI features, beginning December 16. These updates apply across platforms like Facebook and Instagram and aim to enhance relevance by treating AI conversations as new personalization signals. Notifications about the change will roll out on October 7 via emails and in-app alerts. Users will still have control through existing Ads Preferences and feed tools, and sensitive conversation topics will remain excluded from ad targeting. These changes will apply across linked accounts within Meta's Accounts Center. Meta

Sora 2 Debuts as a Breakthrough in Realistic, Controllable Video Generation: OpenAI has launched Sora 2, a new video-audio generation model that significantly improves realism, physics accuracy, and prompt controllability compared to earlier systems. Integrated into a new invite-only Sora iOS app, users can generate and remix videos—and even insert themselves via "cameos"—in a social feed designed to foster creativity. Sora 2 supports complex scene composition, synchronized sound, and personalized realism, while offering user-centric tools like natural language feed controls and robust consent features. Available now in the U.S. and Canada, Sora 2 is free to use with future access planned via web, Pro tier, and API. OpenAI

X Adds Sorting Feature to Help Users Prioritize Engagement on Likes: X has rolled out a new feature enabling users to sort post likes by either "Top" or "Recent," making it easier to identify mutual followers and influential accounts engaging with their content. Accessible via the "View Activity" tab on posts, this update enhances visibility into high-value interactions, especially useful during high-traffic posts. The feature is part of a broader UI refresh led by Head of Product Nikita Bier, who's focused on fixing long-standing issues and improving user experience. As rival platforms like Threads gain traction, such refinements aim to help X maintain its core user base. Social Media Today

YouTube Rolls Out Viewer Controls and Gen AI Effects: YouTube has introduced several updates aimed at enhancing viewer experience and creator engagement. A new Hide button for end screens allows viewers to dismiss them during playback, while a redundant subscribe button from the channel watermark on desktop has been removed. In auto-dubbing, YouTube is piloting expressive speech and lip-sync features to improve dubbed video quality. Additionally, generative AI tools are now fully available in Effect Maker, enabling creators to design transformative and interactive Shorts effects using simple prompts and templates. YouTube

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