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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Are you losing targeting power with Meta's Advantage+ Campaigns?
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An easier path to your next YouTube thumbnail
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Facebook Updates: Ads changes, content quality, and more
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Creating video with Gemini's Veo2
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🗞️ Industry news from Instagram and LinkedIn
Meta's Advantage+ Campaign Setup: Has Your Targeting Control Vanished?
If you've recently switched to Meta's streamlined Advantage+ Campaign setup, you might have noticed things look... different. Especially when it comes to targeting.
Jon Loomer has been hearing from many advertisers convinced they've lost the granular audience control they once had with original audiences. But is the algorithm actually limiting your targeting options, or is it merely a redesign?
Jon investigated every audience type across both systems, from age ranges and gender to custom audiences, lookalikes, and detailed targeting. He also compared exactly what happens when you click that mysterious "further limit the reach of your ads" link versus the old "switch to original audiences" option.
What he discovered might surprise you, especially regarding how performance goals affect your targeting control in both setups. Read more here.
YouTube Thumbnails, Faster and Easier
Ever stared at a blank graphic canvas, struggling to create that perfect thumbnail?
What if you could skip that whole process?
Nick Nimmin just shared something that might change your content game forever. Drop in a video link, and watch what happens. No more prompting headaches, no more guesswork about what works, no more wrestling with design tools.
Your future self (and your click-through rates) will thank you. Read more here.
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On this week's Social Media Marketing Talk Show, Jerry Potter explores the latest Facebook news and what it means for marketers like you.
Meta's Q1 2025 Earnings Insights
According to the report, Meta generated $41.4b in ad revenue in Q1 of 2025, $3b more than Q4 of 2024. This increase is particularly notable because Q4 typically sees higher ad spending due to holiday promotions and, in the U.S., election advertising. The fact that Q1 outperformed Q4 suggests strong growth in Meta's advertising business.
For marketers managing ad budgets, it's worth noting that the average price per ad increased by 6% worldwide. While Meta characterized this as "only" 6%, this can represent a significant cost increase for businesses with larger advertising budgets.
The report also stated that Meta's family of apps (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp) reached 3.4 billion daily active people in Q1, up from 3.29 billion. Additionally, Threads has reportedly grown to 350 million active users, making it an increasingly important platform to consider in your marketing strategy.
Time Spent on Facebook and Instagram Declining
Interestingly, while Meta's shareholder report paints a picture of continuous growth and engagement, Mark Zuckerberg's recent testimony in a U.S. antitrust lawsuit presented a somewhat different narrative.
During his testimony to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook and Instagram's share of time spent on social media apps "has gone down meaningfully" and that much of the interaction people have on these platforms is directly with their friends and has shifted to messaging apps.
This contradiction between what Meta tells its shareholders and what it acknowledges in court aligns with the company's stated goal of positioning Instagram as a platform where people connect and message their friends rather than a place primarily for content discovery.
New Anti-Spam Measures That Could Affect Your Content Strategy
Facebook is implementing new anti-spam initiatives that aim to reduce content that disrupts user experience and authentic creator visibility. What's concerning for marketers is that some common marketing practices are now being flagged as potentially spammy behavior.
These new anti-spam measures will limit reach and monetization opportunities for accounts that use tactics including:
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Excessive hashtags (likely more than 3-4 hashtags)
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Unrelated captions (where the text doesn't match the visual content)
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Content duplication (recycling the same posts repeatedly)
Facebook is also enhancing its comment moderation system to allow users to flag irrelevant responses and implementing tools that automatically hide comments from suspected fake identities.
For marketers who rely on content recycling tools or use multiple hashtags to increase visibility, these changes signal a need to adjust strategies to avoid being caught up in these new filters.
Meta Verification: Important Updates for Verified Accounts
If you use Meta Verified for yourself or clients, an important update could affect your verification status. Meta has formalized limitations on profile changes prior to verification applications.
Users cannot make "excessive changes" to their profiles within a certain timeframe before applying for verification. These changes include modifications to profile names, pictures, usernames, locations, or account types.
While Meta hasn't specified exactly how many changes constitute "excessive" or defined the exact timeframe that would trigger a rejection, this formalization means verification applications could be denied on these grounds.
Though Meta hasn't explicitly stated whether this applies to Meta Verified for businesses yet, it's reasonable to assume similar rules might extend to business verification in the future.
Meta Testing New Verification Features
Meta is testing new features related to verification. One test involves in-app education that more clearly tells users when a business account is not yet Meta Verified. This tactic is reminiscent of Apple's privacy prompts, which used fear-based language to encourage users to opt out of tracking rather than presenting neutral options.
This approach seems designed to create an additional incentive for businesses to pursue verification, as it essentially highlights which accounts haven't yet been verified—potentially creating a form of "verification shaming."
Original Content Protections
Meta is testing advanced original content protection features for verified accounts. These include allowing subscribers to request human review of original content on Instagram, and adding an "original by" label that links back to the creator on any reposts, helping maximize engagement for original content
These features address content theft concerns and provide more protection for creators who invest in developing original material.
Advertising Updates: Dynamic Overlays Replace Ads Info
Meta is changing its ads interface by renaming the "Ads Info" label to "Dynamic Overlays." This change appears primarily to declutter the ad creation page while making the feature sound more valuable.
As part of this update, Meta has relocated the information labels for catalog items to the Advantage Plus creative enhancement section. These Dynamic Overlays are the elements you can add to your ads that display information like price, discounted price, percentage off, or free shipping.
The functionality remains largely the same, but marketers will now have greater flexibility to toggle each label type on or off individually rather than being limited to selecting just one at a time. This should allow for more customized ad presentations.
Meta AI App Launches: Implications for Marketers
Meta has launched a stand-alone Meta AI app, which no longer requires users to access the AI assistant through Messenger or other Meta platforms. This new app includes a discover feed where users can share and explore how others are using AI, and it offers enhanced personalization by remembering specific user preferences.
For marketers, this development presents several opportunities. First, it provides a free AI tool option, though comparisons to the free versions of other AI assistants like ChatGPT remain to be seen.
More significantly, the additional data gathering through this AI app could potentially enhance ad targeting. As the app collects more information about user preferences and behaviors, it could lead to smarter advertising through features like Advantage Plus.
Watch it on YouTube
Discovered: Create Mind-Blowing Videos with Just Your Phone
Have you spotted that new icon in your Gemini phone app yet? After weeks of anticipation, Paul Roetzer finally got his hands on Veo 2 – Google's AI video generator.
Imagine conjuring an entire cyberpunk cityscape, complete with flying cars and rain-slicked streets reflecting neon lights... all from a text prompt. And the best part? These 8-second videos materialize in about a minute.
Paul shares how he used Gemini to help him craft a detailed prompt that pushed the system to its limits--testing everything from complex environments to realistic physics and specific camera movements.
If you've been curious about the future of AI video creation but haven't had time to experiment, this might be your easiest entry point yet. No complex software required, just your phone and imagination. Read more and watch the video here.
Instagram Spotlights Stories Enhancements: For marketers looking to refresh their content strategy, Instagram highlighted several enhanced Stories features worth implementing. The Draw and Text tools have received upgrades, including special symbol capabilities and font styling options. Instagram
LinkedIn Details Market Voice Metrics: The platform walks marketers through what the Share of Voice (SOV) and Extra Share of Voice (ESOV) metrics mean, how to calculate them, and why they matter in today's competitive digital environment. LinkedIn
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