Today's Guide to the Marketing Jungle from Social Media Examiner...
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New week, fresh insights, Alluser! Stay sharp with the latest updates on AI, social media marketing, and emerging trends. Here's what you need to know.
In today's edition:
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Your Trial Reels strategy may need to change
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Are LinkedIn newsletters working?
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TikTok Updates: Retargeting, Hashtag Limits, and More
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Intro to using Nano Banana
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🗞️ Industry news from Instagram and more
Trial Reels Changes
Instagram's latest update is quietly changing how Trial Reels are ranked.
The new algorithm now penalizes duplicate or re-uploaded Trial Reels, meaning those identical tests you've been running might be getting buried before they even have a chance to perform.
Brock Johnson shares that the platform still rewards experimentation, especially when it comes to trying different hooks or visual tweaks, but you'll need to focus on difference, not repetition.
If you're using AI tools or scheduling platforms to scale your video strategy, especially for Instagram, this change has direct implications. A few adjustments to your workflow now can save your reach later. Read more here.
What's Best for Your Newsletter: LinkedIn, Email, or Substack
LinkedIn's algorithm is still a moving target, and yes, it's frustrating. Email newsletters continue to be solid performers, but they come with their own quirks. And now, Substack is everywhere, buzzing through your LinkedIn feed like it's the next big thing.
Coach Michelle J Raymond shares what's working across these platforms, based on her own first-hand experiments. From growing a LinkedIn newsletter to nearly 9,000 subscribers, to navigating the double opt-in headaches of email, to staking her claim on Substack.
You'll also hear how she's using one platform to build another, what's driving the Substack gold rush, and why more platforms doesn't always mean more results. Watch more here.
It's Confirmed, Alluser!
After 12 conferences and tens of thousands of glowing testimonials from attendees, Social Media Marketing World is still the # 1 place to take your marketing to the next level. And being there in person is the best way to attend.
Why? Because in addition to discovering the latest marketing strategies, you'll also make valuable connections with other marketers on a similar journey. These connections can't be found anywhere else.
"Not only did the conference speakers have amazing sessions that taught me new ways to do my business... But the CONNECTIONS I made were essential," said attendee Katie Brinkley.
Finally connect with marketers who get it.
Yes, I want to make new connections.
On this week's Social Media Marketing Talk Show, host Jerry Potter and Keenya Kelly break down the latest TikTok news and what it means for marketers like you.
TikTok Retargeting Tool
TikTok is testing a powerful new retargeting feature that brings the platform's advertising capabilities much closer to the sophisticated targeting options available on Facebook and Instagram. This development represents a major step forward in TikTok's evolution as an advertising platform and creates new opportunities for marketers to maximize their return on ad spend.
The new retargeting tool works through a simple but effective mechanism. When someone clicks on a TikTok ad and then spends at least ten seconds on the advertiser's website, that person becomes eligible for retargeting campaigns. This creates a crucial bridge between TikTok's native content environment and external websites, allowing marketers to re-engage viewers who have shown initial interest in their offerings.
This ten-second threshold is particularly interesting from a user behavior perspective. While it may seem like a short timeframe, it actually represents meaningful engagement in the context of today's fast-paced digital environment. As Kelly points out, this relatively low barrier could actually provide valuable insights to businesses about their website's ability to capture and hold visitor attention.
The retargeting capability addresses one of the biggest challenges marketers have faced on TikTok: the difficulty of nurturing leads beyond the initial point of contact. Previously, if someone watched your TikTok ad but didn't convert immediately, you had limited options for re-engaging them. This new feature changes that dynamic entirely, allowing for the kind of sophisticated funnel marketing that has proven so effective on other platforms.
For businesses concerned about the ten-second threshold, this could actually serve as a diagnostic tool. If retargeting campaigns reveal that very few visitors are meeting this minimal engagement requirement, it may indicate issues with website loading speed, user experience, or the alignment between ad content and landing page messaging.
The timing of this feature is particularly significant given the increasing restrictions on cross-platform tracking due to privacy regulations. By keeping retargeting within TikTok's ecosystem, the platform can provide more accurate tracking and targeting while respecting user privacy preferences. This closed-loop approach may actually result in better data quality than cross-platform tracking methods that have become increasingly unreliable.
Looking ahead, it's reasonable to expect that TikTok will expand these retargeting options to include different time thresholds and engagement metrics. The ability to set custom parameters—such as thirty seconds for deeper engagement or specific page visits for more targeted campaigns—would bring TikTok's capabilities in line with more established advertising platforms.
Enhanced DM Features
TikTok has significantly upgraded its direct messaging capabilities, introducing features that bring the platform's private communication options closer to the sophistication found on more established social platforms. These updates address long-standing limitations that have hindered marketers' ability to provide effective customer service and build relationships through TikTok's messaging system.
The most significant addition is voice messaging capability within DMs. This feature addresses a major frustration point for marketers and content creators who have been limited by TikTok's restriction on clickable links in direct messages. As Kelly explains, the inability to share clickable links has made it challenging to direct interested viewers to specific resources, landing pages, or additional content.
Voice messages provide a more personal and efficient way to communicate with followers and potential customers. Instead of typing lengthy explanations or trying to work around link restrictions, creators can now record voice messages that convey tone, personality, and detailed information more effectively than text alone. This is particularly valuable for businesses that rely on personal connection and trust-building as part of their marketing strategy.
The platform has also enhanced image sharing capabilities within DMs, which Kelly has cleverly leveraged to overcome the linking limitations. She now screenshots her profile page, circles the link in bio area, and shares this image in DMs to visually guide users to her external links. This workaround not only solves the immediate problem but also eliminates confusion about where users should look for additional resources.
This image-sharing strategy addresses a common assumption that marketers make about user sophistication. Not everyone immediately understands what "link in bio" means or knows how to navigate to find it. By providing a visual guide, businesses can reduce friction in the conversion process and ensure that interested prospects actually reach their intended destinations.
The addition of stickers and other interactive elements within DMs creates opportunities for brands to add personality and visual interest to their private communications. This is particularly valuable for businesses that want to maintain brand consistency across all touchpoints, including one-on-one customer interactions.
These DM enhancements represent TikTok's recognition that private messaging plays a crucial role in the customer journey, especially for businesses that rely on personal relationships and direct communication. The improvements make it easier for businesses to provide customer support, answer questions, and guide prospects through their decision-making process without forcing them to leave the platform.
For customer service applications, these features are particularly powerful. Voice messages can convey empathy and understanding more effectively than text, while image sharing allows support teams to provide visual guidance for troubleshooting or explaining processes. The combination creates opportunities for the kind of personalized support that builds customer loyalty and positive brand associations.
More Features, Tools, Changes, and Updates Discussed Include:
Watch it on YouTube
How to Use Google's Nano Banana
While most AI image generators focus on pixels, Nano Banana taps into something smarter: reasoning. Built into Google Gemini's 2.5 Flash model, this next-gen tool understands context, brand cues, and even sketchy napkin ideas.
Rick Mulready shows you how to turn a hand-drawn logo into a clean vector file, create on-brand Instagram story ads in seconds, and maintain character consistency for YouTube thumbnails or storyboards.
You can even visualize data, generate meeting backgrounds, and build consistent visual narratives across campaigns—all inside Gemini or Google AI Studio. Watch more here.
Google Workspace Rolls Out Major AI Enhancements Across Its Apps: Google's August Workspace Drop delivers powerful AI-driven tools to streamline workflows and boost productivity. In Sheets, the new =AI function enables large-scale text generation, categorization, and analysis in multiple languages. NotebookLM now offers video-based summaries and flexible audio overview creation. In Chat, Meet, Forms, Drive, and mobile Docs, Gemini-powered summaries and insights help users stay informed effortlessly. Visual creators benefit from image-editing tools and audio balancing in Vids and Slides, while Drive's improved PDF editing and support for much larger documents enhance document handling. Altogether, this update brings smarter, more dynamic AI functionality across Google Workspace. Google
Instagram Lets Users Pin Their Own Comments on Posts and Reels: Instagram now enables users to pin their own comments to the top of the comment section on posts and Reels. By pinning a comment, creators can supplement their captions with updates, clarifications, and calls to action, and ensure they remain visible. The feature began rolling out this week and will be available broadly in the near future. Adam Mosseri via Threads
Snapchat Debuts Imagine Lens for AI-Generated Image Prompts: Snapchat has introduced its Imagine Lens feature, enabling users to generate AI-powered images by typing custom text prompts. Available to Snapchat+ Platinum and Lens+ subscribers, the Imagine Lens appears prominently in the app's Lens Carousel. Users can select from pre-populated prompts or input personalized ones using the caption bar and then share the resulting images with friends, post them to Stories, or export them outside the app. This expansion boosts Snapchat's growing emphasis on generative AI and creative tools. Snap
What Did You Think of Today's Newsletter?
Did You Know?
It takes at least five years for a bluebell seed to mature into a bulb and flower.
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