Today's Guide to the Marketing Jungle from Social Media Examiner...
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The weekend 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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Tools and apps for YouTube video production
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Optimizations for more clicks on your Facebook ads
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This Instagram Stories strategy generates the engagement you're after
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How to build 5 AI sims for marketers
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🗞️ Industry news from OpenAI, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more
4 Tools for Making YouTube Videos
If you want to make videos for YouTube but don't have the budget for additional tools, Nick Nimmin has great news.
He recently shared four, no-cost tools that cover everything from video editing to thumbnail creation and audio processing.
Want the list? Read more here.
Advanced Optimizations for Facebook Click-to-Message Ads
Ever wondered why some businesses seem to be crushing it with Messenger ads while yours are just... aren't?
Meta compiled insider strategies that go way beyond the basics, covering everything from optimization tweaks that most people overlook to audience targeting hacks that can dramatically boost conversion rates.
From discovery to re-engagement, they've broken down exactly what works at each customer journey stage. Want to know how savvy brands are turning casual scrollers into paying customers through simple conversations? Or how you can leverage your existing customer data to find more people just like your best buyers?
The most successful businesses aren't just running ads—they're creating meaningful conversations that build relationships. And there's a science to making those conversations happen at scale.
Whether you're already using click-to-message ads or thinking about adding them to your strategy, these advanced techniques could be the difference between wasting budget and watching your ROI soar. Read more here.
Just Hours Left: Social Media Marketing World Recordings...
One last reminder…
You only have a few hours to secure your Virtual Ticket for Social Media Marketing World.
After tonight, it will be gone forever.
With your Virtual Ticket, you can watch every keynote, session, and workshop from the conference for a fraction of what people paid to attend in person.
"They provide you with all of the sessions, so for the coming year, I'll have resources on a lot of different topics as they come up with our clients," said Cliff Winkler.
I want the recordings before they're gone forever!
Instagram Stories Strategy for 2025
Struggling to get consistent engagement from your Instagram Stories? Unsure how Stories fit into your broader content strategy as we head into 2025?
To develop an effective strategy, you need to understand that the Instagram Stories algorithm values engagement. It's constantly evaluating how people interact with your Stories by tracking:
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What percentage of people watch your Stories all the way through
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How many people engage with your content
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What types of engagement you receive
The higher your engagement signals, the more Instagram shows your Stories to more of your followers.
What's the most prized engagement signal? Instagram DMs. When a follower DMs you via your content, that engagement action indicates their strong interest in and the relevance of your content, which helps your Stories gain even more prominence.
Now that you understand what the algorithm wants from your Stories, you can start fresh.
Apply the 50-30-20 Instagram Stories Content Pillar Framework to Your Content Mix
For a balanced approach to Stories, Gifford recommends this content breakdown:
50% Value Content
Value content can take many forms but should always provide useful information related to your expertise: examples, step-by-step instructions, demonstrations, etc.
For example, Gifford often shares Instagram tips broken down into easy-to-read text slides.
Instead of creating minute-long videos that many people won't watch with the sound on, consider using image posts with concise text points. Users will hold the screen to read your content, providing an additional positive engagement signal to Instagram.
When creating these slides, use an image or b-roll as the background and include enough text to be valuable but not overwhelming. A good rule of thumb is to give three main points with 1-2 sentences under each.
30% Engagement Content
Engagement content invites your audience to actively participate in whatever your story prompts viewers to do. Activations include emoji sliders, direct calls to DM you, question boxes, and poll stickers.
When used weekly, question boxes can generate engagement while providing valuable insight into what your audience wants or needs from you. For example," What Instagram questions do you have?"
A valuable tip for increasing the engagement you get on your polls is to always use your fourth option to give viewers who are reluctant to vote a way to engage. For example, if your poll asks viewers about their Instagram Stories posting cadence, your response options would be:
20% Connection Content
Connection content humanizes your brand by sharing glimpses of your personal life or business behind the scenes. This doesn't mean revealing your deepest secrets—just strategically chosen elements that align with your brand and mission.
For example, if you're a marketer serving primarily women business owners, sharing moments from your life as a working parent might create relatable connection points.
Gifford, an agency owner and a mom of five, also coaches two of her daughters' sports teams, so she shares posts about the games or practices and other parts of her busy days.
Create a Strategic Stories Content Calendar
The next step in your strategy is creating a weekly Stories calendar that maps the 50-30-20 framework to your business goals. Consider:
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What content are you creating on other platforms that Stories can support?
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What products or services are you currently promoting?
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What email opt-ins or lead magnets are you offering?
Then, schedule the right number of Value, Engagement, and Connection stories for specific days each week. For example:
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Sunday (Engagement): Post a question box
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Monday (Value/Engagement): Answer questions from Sunday
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Tuesday (Value): Share value content related to your podcast or blog
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Wednesday (Value): Highlight a product or service with a special offer for Story viewers
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Thursday (Connection): Share connection content
For optimal engagement, keep your daily story count reasonable; 5 to 7 Stories is ideal. If you have related stories, post them together rather than spreading them throughout the day. Finally, be consistent with when you post.
Reset Your Instagram Story Feed Once per Week
At least once a week, let all your current Stories expire by not posting for a full 24 hours. Your first post following the reset should be an image (not a video) with a simple call to action that encourages people to DM you. For example:
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Post a simple giveaway in which viewers DM you to enter
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Post a question with multiple response options tied to specific emojis, then ask people to respond by sending you a message with their emoji
When you implement this reset strategy, your first story typically receives substantially higher views—often double your normal engagement. This happens because Instagram recognizes the high engagement signals and begins showing your Stories to more of your followers.
Today's advice is provided with insights from Michelle Gifford, a featured guest on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.
Watch the full interview on YouTube
How to Build 5 Different Digital Twins: Your First AI Teammates
Have you ever joked about cloning yourself to get more done? Liza Adams did, too—and then she actually did it.
Digital twins aren't just another AI tool—they're your first true AI teammates. They mirror how you think and work, helping you stay consistent, work faster, and focus on what really matters.
She's been working with her own digital twin for over a year, and the results have blown her away. Tasks that once took 3 hours now take 45 minutes. But what's most surprising? It's never been just about productivity.
In this post, she explains exactly how she built LizaGPT, how you can create your own digital twin (it's easier than you think!), and why starting with a personal simulator is the fastest path to AI value for your team.
You'll see real examples of her conversations with her twin and discover the five simulator types that create immediate value for GTM teams. Read more here.
Grok Studio Launches: Grok has gained a canvas-like feature called Grok Studio for editing and creating documents and basic apps, available to both free and paying users on Grok.com. According to the official Grok account, the tool enables Grok to "generate documents, code, reports and browser games" in a separate window that allows collaborative work between users and the AI. While Grok Studio offers familiar functionality like HTML preview and code execution in languages such as Python, C++, and JavaScript in a window adjacent to Grok's responses, its utility is enhanced by a simultaneously announced Google Drive integration that allows users to attach documents, spreadsheets, and slides from their Google Drive accounts to Grok prompts. TechCrunch
Grok Enhanced With Memory: xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, has announced a new "memory" feature for its Grok chatbot that allows it to remember details from previous conversations with users. This feature enables Grok to provide more personalized responses based on user preferences learned through continued interaction. According to a post from the official Grok account on X, these "memories are transparent," allowing users to see exactly what information Grok has stored and choose what to delete. Users can disable the memory feature from the Data Controls page in the settings menu. Individual memories can be deleted by tapping the icon beneath the memory from the Grok chat interface on the web, with this functionality coming soon to Android. The new memory feature is currently available in beta on Grok.com and in the Grok iOS and Android apps but is not accessible to European Union or United Kingdom users. TechCrunch
Instagram Rolls Out Blend: Blend allows you and your friends to create a unique Reels feed based on content suggested for each participant. The feed is created within your Instagram chat and is updated daily with new content based on participants' Instagram activity. Each reel in the Blend is labeled with the name of the person or people it was suggested for. The Blend is refreshed with new content daily, and a notification is sent to the chat when this happens. Each of your chats can have its own unique Blend with different participants. A person's suggested reels are only added after they accept the invitation to join the Blend. Instagram
LinkedIn Expands Testing of Wire Program: LinkedIn is currently testing this program with a select group of publishers, including Barron's, Bloomberg, Business Insider, Forbes, LinkedIn News, MarketWatch, NBCUniversal, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo Finance. Advertisers can use Campaign Manager to run self-serve in-stream video ads on LinkedIn after identifying and aligning with a participating publisher, with their ads appearing before the publisher's video content in the LinkedIn feed. LinkedIn
LinkedIn Ads Metrics Accreditation: The platform has announced a significant milestone in its collaboration with the Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation audits. In addition to maintaining re-accreditation for four display ad metrics previously announced in 2023, LinkedIn has now received new MRC accreditation for four video ad metrics: gross impressions, net impressions, gross clicks, and net clicks. These video accreditations apply specifically to LinkedIn.com and the LinkedIn mobile app, covering ads within Desktop, Mobile Web, and Mobile In-App environments for In-Feed Video Ads. LinkedIn
OpenAI Releases Two New Models: The o3 and o4-mini reasoning models can agentically use and combine every ChatGPT tool - web search, Python data analysis, visual reasoning, and image generation. Both models have full access to tools within ChatGPT and custom tools via function calling in the API. Access to these models begins today for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users, with Enterprise and Edu users gaining access in a week. Free users can try o4-mini by selecting 'Think' in the composer before submitting their query. OpenAI
X Updated Its Post Analytics UI: The new interface provides users with a more comprehensive overview of individual post performance and includes all engagement and reach metrics such as re-posts, shares, video views, and Premium viewers, along with a chart showing post activity over time by different metrics. The feature is exclusively available to X Premium subscribers. Social Media Today
YouTube Ads Updates: YouTube recently announced new midroll ad features to help creators optimize ad opportunities before system changes roll out in May 2025. A new feedback feature in YouTube Studio shows which manual midroll ad slots are unlikely to serve ads. Creators can now combine manual and automatic midroll ad slots on a single video. Starting in May, YouTube will tune ad-serving models to place more midroll ads at natural break points to increase creator earnings potential and viewership, and will automatically add automatic ad slots to existing videos with manual midroll ad slots to expand opportunities. Creators can opt out of this automatic addition feature in the earn tab in YouTube Studio before May 12th, 2025. YouTube recommends creators check their highest-performing videos and adjust midroll placements as needed to optimize for the upcoming changes. Source: YouTube
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