Today's Guide to the Marketing Jungle from Social Media Examiner... | Presented by |  |
It's National Polka Weekend, Alluser... Accordions and tubas, this is your moment to shine!
In today's edition:
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Today's Tip of the Day is for Social Media
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Creating persona roles to guide AI content creation
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Follow this model for LinkedIn engagement
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Making time-off easier for marketers
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TikTok tests 60-minute videos
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Google announces new AI-powered ads features
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Meta introduces video to Catalog Product Ads
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Additional industry news from Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and more
If you use images in your social posts and aren't getting the engagement you expect, we have a tip for you:
Candid Mobile Images > Perfect Screenshots
The day after we launched the AI Explored podcast, our founder, Michael Stelzner, posted a simple message on Facebook, LinkedIn, and X, celebrating our breaking the Top 100 in Apple Podcasts in 24 hours: "Wow. We made it. I can't believe it. We broke the top 100." He used his iPhone to capture a screenshot of the show featured on Apple Podcasts and included it in the post.
In the first 9 minutes, the post received almost no engagement. This was unusual, so he deleted that post and gave it another go with the same image and slightly different copy. Still, there was no engagement. After 24 minutes, there was no engagement, so he deleted the second post.
For the third post, he used the same text but snapped a picture of his Mac screen using his iPhone to show the podcast's placement in the ranking.
Within 9 minutes, the post had 4 comments and 17 engagements!
The moral of the story? How you present your visual content is key. Ditch the boring screenshots and get creative with your phone camera.
Today's tip is inspired by Michael Stelzner, founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner.
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How to Create Better AI-Generated Content: Persona Engineering
Does your AI-generated content hit the mark, or is it too vague? Does it lack nuance?
When you use a prompt, AI-generated content may still be influenced by default settings or previous conversations. Persona engineering allows you to program an AI to act in a specific role or persona, enabling it to generate content that is more targeted, engaging, and aligned with your goals.
How to Engineer a Persona
Creating an AI persona is similar to writing a job description for a person. You need to be as detailed as possible. The more information you provide, the better the AI will be able to understand and fulfill its task.
Define the purpose: Start by determining what you want the AI to do. Are you seeking a brand voice persona to generate content matching your company's tone and style? Or do you need an expert copywriter persona to create compelling and persuasive copy?
Describe the role and responsibilities: Once you have a clear purpose in mind, describe the role and responsibilities of the persona. Be specific about the tasks the persona will be responsible for and the type of content it should generate.
Provide examples: To help the AI better understand the persona, provide examples of content that aligns with the persona's style and tone. This could be content you've written yourself or content from other sources that embody the characteristics you want the persona to have.
3 Personas to Create Quality Content With AI
Brand Voice Persona: A brand voice persona generates content matching your brand's unique tone, style, and values. This persona can help ensure consistency across all your content, whether blog posts, social media updates, or product descriptions.
Example: "You are the brand voice for a trendy, eco-friendly clothing company. Your tone is friendly, informative, and slightly quirky. You focus on topics related to sustainable fashion, environmental conservation, and ethical manufacturing practices. When writing, use a conversational tone and incorporate humor where appropriate. Aim to educate and inspire readers to make more conscious fashion choices."
Expert Copywriter Persona: An expert copywriter persona is skilled at writing compelling, persuasive copy that engages readers and drives action. This persona can help you create content that effectively communicates your message and achieves your desired results, whether generating leads, making sales, or building brand awareness.
Example: "You are an expert copywriter with a deep understanding of persuasive writing techniques. Your role is to create compelling copy that engages readers and motivates them to take action. When writing, focus on benefits rather than features and use strong, action-oriented language. Incorporate storytelling, social proof, and other persuasive elements to make your copy more impactful. Always keep the target audience and desired action in mind."
Stand-up Comedian Persona: A stand-up comedian persona can add humor, wit, and levity to your content. This persona can help you create content that entertains and engages readers, making your brand more relatable and memorable.
Example: "You are a stand-up comedian known for clever observations and witty one-liners. Your role is to inject humor and levity into the content you create. When writing, look for chances to make jokes, use puns, and poke fun at relatable experiences. Aim to make readers laugh while still delivering valuable information or insights. Keep the humor tasteful and appropriate for the target audience."
Today's advice is provided with insights from Dustin W. Stout, a featured guest on the AI Explored podcast.
A LinkedIn Post Formula for Long-From Storytelling
As a content creator on LinkedIn, your primary objective is to engage your audience, spark meaningful conversations, and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
The key to achieving this lies in the art of storytelling.
The most compelling stories will come from the pivotal moments that have shaped your career trajectory: triumphant victories that left you feeling accomplished and proud, setbacks and failures that taught you valuable lessons and helped you grow, and transformative experiences that altered your perspective and set you on a new path.
Pro Tip: To ensure that you never run out of story ideas, document your experiences regularly. Carry a small notebook or utilize the notes app on your smartphone to capture interesting conversations, thought-provoking insights, and significant milestones as they occur.
3 Ways to Open
The opening lines of your post are critical in determining whether your audience will stick around to read the rest of your story. You need a strong hook that immediately grabs their interest and makes them eager to learn more.
One option is to begin with a thought-provoking question that challenges your readers' assumptions or sparks their curiosity. Inviting them to reflect on a particular issue or idea creates intrigue and encourages them to keep reading to discover your unique perspective.
Another powerful opening technique is to begin with a compelling quote that sets the tone for your story and hints at the insights to come. Choose a quote relevant to your topic, emotionally resonant, and delivered by someone your audience respects or admires. This can help establish credibility and generate interest from the outset.
A third approach is to use a cliffhanger opening that hints at your story's climax or turning point. By providing a glimpse of the most exciting or transformative moment, you create a sense of anticipation and make your readers want to know how you arrived at that point and what lessons you learned along the way.
Once you've hooked your audience with a compelling opening, it's time to delve into the meat of your story.
Focus The Narrative
As you share your narrative, focus on creating a clear and logical structure that is easy for readers to follow and emotionally engaging from start to finish.
While including every aspect of your experience can be tempting, too much extraneous information can distract and confuse your readers. Ruthlessly edit out unnecessary details or tangents that don't directly contribute to your core message or purpose.
Instead, highlight the key moments and turning points that drive your story forward and illustrate the lessons you learned. Use vivid descriptions and sensory language to transport your readers into the scene, allowing them to experience the events as if they were with you.
2 Ways to Close
As you conclude your story, it's essential to tie everything together with a clear and powerful lesson or takeaway. This insight is what you want your readers to remember and apply to their own lives and careers long after they've finished reading your post.
People are more likely to remember the first and last things you say in your post. So, make sure your closing message is as impactful and memorable as your opening hook.
One effective way to deliver your key takeaway is to weave it seamlessly into the fabric of your story, allowing it to emerge naturally as the narrative unfolds. By subtly highlighting the lessons throughout your post, you create a sense of coherence and purpose that makes your message more impactful.
Alternatively, state your main lesson explicitly at the end of your post, using strong, declarative language to drive home the significance and relevance of your insights. This approach can be particularly effective if you want to leave your readers with a clear call to action or a memorable sound bite that they can easily share with others.
Your Call to Action
As you conclude your LinkedIn story, consider how you can maximize its impact and encourage meaningful engagement with your audience.
End your post with a call to action that encourages engagement and relationship-building. Invite comments, ask thought-provoking questions, and provide ways for your readers to share their own stories and perspectives.
Today's advice is provided with insights from Michaela Alexis, a featured guest on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.
How Always-On Marketers Can Take Time Off
In the fast-paced world of marketing, it can feel like there's always something urgent that needs your attention, especially if you're in a leadership role.
Stakeholder demands, project deadlines, and unexpected challenges can keep you glued to your desk for long hours, day after day. With so many demands on your time and attention, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you're too busy to step away or that your team can't function without you.
However, working nonstop without any breaks is a recipe for burnout. For many of us, taking time away is easier said than done.
These tips will ensure that you take time off and give you the confidence to know that everything is handled while you're away:
Scheduling Time Off
One of the easiest ways to ensure you take breaks regularly is to schedule them in advance. Treat your breaks as non-negotiable commitments, just as you would block off time on your calendar for an important meeting or deadline.
By committing to making taking breaks a regular part of your routine, you'll improve your own well-being and effectiveness, set a positive example for others on your team, and create a culture of self-care and balance in your workplace.
If you're not used to taking regular breaks, stepping away for an extended period can be overwhelming. Instead, start small and build up gradually over time. For example, start by taking a short walk or doing a quick meditation practice each day, then gradually take longer and more frequent breaks as you become more comfortable with the idea.
Prepping Stakeholders
Communicating clearly with your team about upcoming breaks is essential for ensuring that everything continues to run smoothly in your absence.
Let all stakeholders and team members know when you'll be out of the office, who will fill in for you during your absence, and how people can reach you in case of an emergency.
It's also a good idea to set expectations around communication while you're away. Will you be checking email or taking calls? If so, how often and during what hours?
Handing Off Your Workload
Be sure to delegate or hand off your responsibilities before the week before you leave.
Identify key tasks and projects that need to be handled in your absence and make sure they are assigned to other team members well in advance of your time off, then provide them with any resources, training, and support they'll need to do the work.
It's also a good idea to establish regular check-ins before your vacation to ensure that everyone is ready to take over while you're away.
Finally, before you leave for your break, take some time to tie up loose ends and ensure that everything is in order. This may involve completing critical tasks, sending out status updates to clients, or creating contingency plans for potential issues that may arise. By taking these proactive steps, you'll give yourself peace of mind and allow yourself to disconnect fully and recharge while you're away.
Today's advice is provided with insights from Terry Isner, a featured guest on the Marketing Agency Show.
ChatGPT's Data Analysis: OpenAI is rolling out data analysis enhancements in ChatGPT. These improvements allow users to interact with and create tables and charts and add files directly from Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. These improvements are available in GPT-4o for ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise users. Source: OpenAI
Reddit Partners With OpenAI: Reddit and OpenAI have partnered to benefit both platforms' user communities. OpenAI will integrate Reddit content into its products using Reddit's Data API. In return, Reddit will leverage OpenAI's AI models to introduce new features for its users and moderators. OpenAI will also become a Reddit advertising partner. Source: Reddit
Threads Tests Pinned Columns: Threads is testing a new web experience that lets users pin separate columns for their favorite searches, tags, accounts, saved posts, and notifications. Source: @mosseri via Threads
TikTok's 60-Minute Videos: TikTok is testing 60-minute video uploads with select users in certain markets, with no immediate plans for a wide rollout. Source Tech Crunch
X's Communities Updates: X has revamped its Communities feature to improve user engagement and connectivity. The update includes enhanced discovery tools, recommendations, search options, and sorting capabilities. Future plans include community analytics, live audio spaces, and better moderation tools. Source: Tech Crunch
X's New URL: Elon Musk's Twitter—rebranded as X in July 2023—has officially changed its URL from Twitter.com to X.com. Source: @elonmusk via X
YouTube Updates: YouTube is rolling out a new Member's First badge for viewers. Users can choose to have a video go from "Members Only" to "Public" on a certain date. Additionally, live-stream viewers can now like a Super Chat, and users can change comment settings for individual posts. Source: YouTube
Microsoft's AI-Powered Translation: Microsoft Edge will soon offer a new AI-powered feature that provides real-time video translation on various websites, including YouTube, LinkedIn, and more. The feature will translate spoken content through both dubbing and subtitles live as users watch videos. Source: The Verge
Instagram Tests 'Lately': Instagram is testing a new feature called "Lately," which allows users to highlight their stories from the past seven days. Source: Hammod Oh via Threads
Instagram's Send Rates: In his most recent Q&A session on Instagram, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri addressed a question about expanding reach in the app and the top considerations factored into the algorithm at present. He stated that send rates, specifically the number of sends per reach, are more important than watch time or like and comment counts in determining overall reach. Source: Social Media Today
LinkedIn's New Threaded Messages: LinkedIn has introduced a new feature that allows users to create threaded messages within the platform's messaging system. This feature lets users reply directly to a specific message by long-pressing on it. Source: Social Media Examiner Editorial Staff
LinkedIn's Saved Posts: LinkedIn's "Saved posts" will now be accessible via the left side panel on mobile. Source: Lia Haberman via X
LinkedIn Adopts AI Standard: LinkedIn is adopting the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) standard to identify AI-generated content on the platform. C2PA helps trace the source and authenticity of digital content, including detecting generative AI use. LinkedIn will label detected AI-generated images and videos with a C2PA icon, displaying metadata when clicked. The icon will be added to user-generated AI content and visible to all viewers during creation. Source: LinkedIn
TikTok's New Fan Spotlight Feature: TikTok has launched Fan Spotlight. This new feature allows artists to showcase up to five of their favorite fan videos at a time by pinning them to the top of their music tab for up to seven days. After that, the artist can choose to pin new fan videos. Creators whose videos are chosen as a Fan Spotlight by the artist will receive a notification. The new feature is now available for all artists on TikTok. Source: TikTok
YouTube Tests 'Dream Track': YouTube is testing a new feature called "Dream Track," which generates AI-generated instrumental-only soundtracks for Shorts. YouTube is expanding the experiment by enabling creators to create 30-second, non-looping instrumental soundtracks by entering English-only text prompts and selecting a music genre, such as pop, hip-hop, or country. Source: YouTube
YouTube's Self-Certified Timestamps: YouTube is expanding its self-certification timestamps feature. Over the coming weeks, users will see timestamps accompanying yellow icon appeal decisions. If users receive a yellow appeal after self-certifying, they can appeal and have YouTube review it. When the review is complete, the issues found by YouTube that led to a yellow icon will appear in Studio for desktop alongside timestamps of where in the video they appeared. Source: YouTube
Google's YouTube Music Extension: Google has begun rolling out the YouTube Music extension for its Gemini chatbot, allowing users to command the chatbot to play songs from YouTube Music by song, playlist, artist, and more. Source: Neowin
Google's AI-Powered Ads Features: Google announced AI-powered features for its advertising products to help businesses improve ad performance. Generative AI enables high-performing ad assets aligned with brand standards, while new image editing capabilities allow for object addition, background extension, and cropping. Google is also introducing immersive ad experiences, interactive ads in Search, and new formats for YouTube Shorts. Google will also test Search and Shopping ads in AI Overviews for users in the United States. Source: Google Ads
Meta's Catalog Ads: Meta has introduced video support for its Catalog Product Ads (formerly Dynamic ads), allowing advertisers to include video assets alongside still images in their automated ad campaigns. Source: Social Media Today
Facebook's New APIs: Facebook has released Graph API v20.0 and Marketing API v20.0 with updates including, an auto-upgrade feature, support for Reminder Ads and multi-advertiser ads, and the introduction of the CPA_GUIDANCE API. Generative AI creative features are now available in the Marketing API, and the Instagram Video API supports the "Resumable Upload Protocol" along with six new metrics for Carousel Container Media. Source: Meta
Reddit Partners With Kantar: Reddit has partnered with Kantar to help advertisers effectively measure and optimize their brand campaigns on the platform. Source: Reddit
Snap's Ads Improvements: Snapchat is improving its app advertisers' experience. Improvements include redesigned ad formats, a streamlined app download experience on iOS, and new bidding capabilities for mobile gaming. Source: Snapchat for Business
TikTok's New Floating Player: TikTok has introduced a new floating player feature for desktop users. This feature allows users to continue watching videos while browsing other tabs. Source: Social Media Today
TikTok's New Ad Solutions: TikTok introduced new business solutions at its 4th annual TikTok World product summit. The new tools include Creative AI solutions (TikTok One and TikTok Symphony), Performance and Measurement solutions (Performance Automation, TikTok Shop Marketing Automation, and Unified Lift), and enhancements to Branding placements (Interactive Add-Ons for TopView and Duet with Branded Mission). TikTok also launched a Media Buying Certification program to empower digital marketers and strengthen its network of trusted partners for advertisers. Source: TikTok
X's Creator Payouts: X announced that all new creators must verify their ID to receive payouts. All existing creators must do so by July 1, 2024. Source: @xDaily via X
X Makes Likes Private: X announced that likes on the platform will soon be made private. Source: @wanghaofei via X
YouTube Updates: YouTube will be expanding its multi-language audio to more creators later this year. Shorts viewers can also select their preferred video quality through mobile settings. Over the next few weeks, YouTube will also experiment with a "Reply" button and the ability for viewers to like Super Chats. Lastly, the platform launched a new immersive Minecraft effect for Shorts. Source: YouTube
YouTube's Advertiser-Friendly Content: YouTube's Ads Policy team is sharing updates to clarify the Advertiser-friendly content guidelines, making them more transparent and understandable for creators seeking to monetize their content. Creators can subscribe to a dedicated post to receive email notifications about updates, which are also logged on a separate page. The team is updating Help Center articles with additional details, examples, and restructured information based on creator feedback. Creators are encouraged to use Self-Certification to rate their content, as its accuracy helps identify areas where guidelines need further clarification. Source: YouTube
What Did You Think of Today's Newsletter?
Did You Know?
The attack of a mantis shrimp is one of the fastest and most powerful in the animal kingdom. Its attack speed is 23 meters per second, which means it boasts a 51-mile-per-hour punch! Plus, it's pretty to look at.
Michael Stelzner, Founder and CEO
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