Today's Guide to the Marketing Jungle from Social Media Examiner...
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Friday is almost here, Alluser! Before you unplug, here's one last round of insights and updates. Whether you read them now or save them for later, you won't want to miss these.
In today's edition:
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This feature lets you customize your Instagram Reels algorithm
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The latest Instagram trends to adapt your content strategy for reach and engagement.
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🗞️ Industry news from OpenAI, Pinterest, and more
Instagram Reels Your Algorithm Feature
What if you could edit your Instagram algorithm like a playlist—adding what you want, skipping what you don't?
That's now a reality, at least for Reels.
Yesterday, Instagram rolled out a new feature that lets you peek under the hood of your algorithm, showing you exactly what it thinks you're into—and giving you full control to update your interests in real time. Want more AI content? Less food videos? Just tap the new icon and start customizing.
For marketers already experimenting with AI and data-driven content strategies, this move signals a future where audience targeting may get reshaped by user-controlled algorithms.
With Instagram teasing plans to expand this feature across the platform, including Explore and the Home feed, the implications for organic reach and content visibility are worth watching closely. Watch more here.
What's Working With Instagram Marketing Right Now
Instagram has gone through a significant journey, and now the platform is coming back to human-based content.
This shift represents a major change from previous years, when marketers were told to make their content about the audience rather than themselves.
The content that's working now is less like blog writing and more about drawing people in through narrative.
How? To start, here are two tactics to try right now.
Shift to Me-Centric Content Hooks
For years, marketers were taught to remove themselves from the content and focus strictly on how-to value. However, the platform has shifted toward human-based content and storytelling. To stand out against AI-generated content, you must weave your unique perspective and lived experience into your posts.
Instead of generic educational hooks, switch to personalized, me-centric hooks. This doesn't mean the content is selfish; it means you are establishing authority through your specific experience.
For example, rather than posting "How to do X," try a hook like "How I achieved X as a [Job Title]." A doctor shouldn't just say, "I fix bones"; they should say, "I fix bones for a living." This subtle shift builds immediate authority and connection.
Use Mid-Reel Hooks
Most marketers know they need a hook at the very beginning of a Reel to stop the scroll. However, if you have a strong opening hook but then ramble for 90 seconds, you will lose your audience.
To maintain retention, you need to deploy a mid-reel hook. This is a phrase inserted after your initial tip or introduction that re-engages the viewer's curiosity and incentivizes them to watch until the end.
Here are a few ways to implement this:
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The Bonus Tease: After sharing a tip, say, "And you're going to want to stick around until the end because the last tip is the one that gets the most results."
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The Curiosity Gap: Use a phrase like, "If you think that one is good, wait until you hear number 3."
These mid-reel hooks are essential for driving watch time, which is a critical signal the algorithm uses to decide whether to push your content to more people.
Other topics discussed include:
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Two Ways to Update Your Instagram Content Strategy
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Five Ways to Refine Your Instagram Content Mix
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How to Reverse-Engineer High-Performing Content with AI
Today's advice is provided with insights from Michelle Gifford and Shannon McKinstrie, featured guests on the Social Media Marketing Podcast and speakers at Social Media Marketing World.
Instacart Launches In-Chat Grocery Shopping with ChatGPT Integration: Instacart and OpenAI have partnered to launch a fully integrated grocery shopping experience within ChatGPT, allowing users to move from recipe inspiration to checkout in a single conversation. Built on the Agentic Commerce Protocol, this integration marks the first in-app checkout experience available on ChatGPT. Users can ask for meal ideas, get item suggestions, build a cart from local retailers, and securely pay—all without switching tabs. OpenAI
Google Launches Gemini 3 Deep Think Mode for AI Ultra Users: Google has released Gemini 3 Deep Think mode to AI Ultra subscribers within the Gemini app, enhancing its ability to handle complex reasoning tasks. Designed for challenges in math, science, and logic, the mode uses parallel reasoning to evaluate multiple solutions at once. Users can access the feature by enabling Deep Think mode alongside Gemini 3 Pro. Google
Facebook Redesigns Feed, Search, and Creation Tools for a Smoother User Experience: Facebook is rolling out updates to improve content discovery, creation, and sharing across its platform. The Feed now supports full-screen views and grid layouts, while photo interactions like double-tap likes add a familiar feel. Story and Feed post creation have been redesigned for ease, placing popular tools like music and tagging front and center. Updates to search include more immersive results and a new full-screen viewer. Facebook is also making profiles more socially engaging by highlighting shared interests with friends and improving comment moderation and visibility across content types. Meta
Instagram Adds Option to Re-Share Public Stories with Creator Credit: Instagram now lets users re-share any public Story to their own Stories feed, even if they're not tagged, expanding its existing re-post functionality. The new feature automatically credits the original creator, supporting visibility and reducing the need for manual re-posts that often strip attribution. This move aligns with Instagram's broader push to promote original content and discourage aggregator accounts, while giving creators and brands new ways to amplify reach through community sharing. Social Media Today
Meta AI Expands Reels Translation: Meta has expanded its AI-powered Reels translation tool to support Hindi and Portuguese, alongside English and Spanish. The feature allows creators to dub their Reels with their own voice tone and optional lip syncing, creating seamless, multilingual content. New translation features are also on the way, including automatic translation for text and caption stickers and support for multi-speaker Reels. Creators can manage and preview translations with full control, helping them grow international audiences effortlessly. Instagram
Instagram Rolls Out Templates in Edits for Trending Video Creation: Instagram is enhancing its Edits feature with the introduction of Templates, enabling creators to easily produce trending video formats, build storyboards from ideas, and incorporate public Reels into their content. The feature is launching with a dedicated Templates section, initially available in select countries including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. Instagram plans to expand the offering with additional tools and template types in the coming weeks. Creators via Threads
LinkedIn Rolls Out Tools to Scale Personalized Creative and Brand Reach: LinkedIn has unveiled new advertising tools aimed at helping B2B marketers drive brand awareness and scale creative production. Reserved Ads secure premium feed placement to deliver predictable impressions and high attention. Meanwhile, ad personalization uses profile-based macros to tailor messages dynamically, increasing relevance for each viewer. New AI tools like AI Ad Variants and Flexible Ad Creation simplify content generation and automate performance optimization. These features help marketers deliver personalized, high-impact campaigns more efficiently. LinkedIn
LinkedIn Passes 100M Verified Members, Launches Trust API and Zoom Integration: LinkedIn has reached over 100 million verified members, reinforcing its push to make professional interactions more authentic. To expand this trust beyond its platform, LinkedIn has introduced a self-serve API that allows developers to embed LinkedIn verification signals—such as confirmed identity or workplace—into their own apps and services. The new API aims to enhance credibility and reduce risk across the digital ecosystem. Zoom is the latest partner to join LinkedIn's Verified network, with user profiles soon able to display LinkedIn verifications directly in Zoom. LinkedIn
Pinterest's 2026 Trends Report: Pinterest has unveiled its 2026 trend forecast, Pinterest Predicts™, identifying 21 cultural shifts centered around comfort, identity curation, and grounded optimism. As trend fatigue rises, users are embracing nostalgia, escapism, and individualism through styles like "Gimme Gummy," "Afrohemian Decor," and "Glitchy Glam." The report showcases rapid trend evolution, with Pinterest noting a 4.4x acceleration over the past seven years. Brand partnerships with NYX, CASETiFY, Maybelline, and others will bring these trends to life through curated products and immersive experiences. Pinterest
Reddit Launches Alpha Test of Verified Profiles with Grey Checkmarks: Reddit is piloting a new verified profiles feature to help users distinguish real individuals and businesses during key interactions like AMAs or news updates. Selected participants in this limited alpha will receive a grey checkmark and access to additional tools like Reddit Pro and new profile flairs. The feature is designed to support transparency without undermining Reddit's pseudonymous culture and will remain opt-in and non-status-driven. Verification requests are not open at this time. Reddit
YouTube Shorts Adds New Ad Features: YouTube has introduced several updates to Shorts ads aimed at helping brands boost engagement and ROI during the holiday season. Brands can now enable comments on eligible Shorts ads, mirroring the interactivity of organic content. Additionally, creators can link directly to brand websites within Shorts, and Shorts ads now run on mobile web alongside TV, desktop, and app surfaces. These updates follow strong performance data showing YouTube Creator Ads on Shorts significantly raises purchase intent. Google
YouTube Create Adds AI Video Tools and Seller-Level Commerce Analytics: YouTube is enhancing its mobile creation and commerce tools with two major updates. The YouTube Create app now integrates a custom version of Google's Vo 3 Fast AI model, allowing Android users to generate videos and images with audio directly from text prompts. Additionally, YouTube Studio's Advanced Mode now offers seller-level shopping performance data, giving creators insights into sales, returns, and order metrics to better optimize shoppable content. YouTube
YouTube Tests AI-Powered Create Mode for Shorts: YouTube is experimenting with a new "Create" mode on its mobile app, offering creators AI-driven tools to simplify short-form content production. The new interface may appear via the [+] icon or as a swipe option from the Shorts tab, and includes features like AI-generated images, video clips, green screen backgrounds, and music tracks. This test is designed to inspire creativity and collect user feedback as YouTube explores ways to make Shorts creation more intuitive. YouTube
YouTube Enhances Inspiration Tab with Smarter AI Tools for Creators: YouTube is rolling out updates to its Inspiration tab this December, offering creators a more dynamic and intuitive way to generate content ideas. The revamped tool now features customizable visuals, improved navigation, and richer rationale behind each suggestion. Creators can explore ideas informed by their channel data and audience behavior, input their own prompts, and review performance signals before deciding what to produce. YouTube assures users that inputs are anonymized and deleted after 45 days, as part of ongoing privacy efforts. YouTube
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