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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More Instagram reach, growth, and engagement in 15 minutes
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LinkedIn's latest metrics tool
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LinkedIn Updates: Video features, Qualified Leads Optimization, LinkedIn Verification, and more
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Are you adding images to your prompts yet?
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🗞️ Industry news from Anthropic, LinkedIn, Reddit, and more
The 15-Minute Instagram Growth Hack
Ever feel like you're shouting into the void on Instagram? Posting amazing content but crickets in return?
You're not alone. In today's oversaturated platform, even accounts with quality content need something more to rise above the noise.
Lucas O'Keefe is sharing the goods--a simple 6-step, 15-minute routine that dramatically improves his reach, engagement, and follower growth, even when his content isn't necessarily the best.
It doesn't require fancy equipment, content calendars, or advanced strategy.
Instead, the approach focuses on the one element that Instagram's algorithm consistently rewards, but most creators overlook. It creates a natural engagement loop that brings people back to your content without begging for likes or using cringe-worthy tactics. Read more here.
LinkedIn's Latest Analytics Tool: An Expert's Overview
Ever feel like you're tossing money into LinkedIn ads without really understanding what's happening? AJ Wilcox just unpacked LinkedIn's newest analytics feature, and he says it might change how you view your campaigns.
The Measurement Insights tool promises to connect those expensive clicks to actual revenue by tracking your funnel from awareness to closed deals. It uses AI to tell you which companies and job titles are progressing toward purchase, not just clicking your ads.
But is it useful? AJ gives an honest breakdown of where it shines and where it still misses the mark. Read more here.
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On this week's Social Media Marketing Talk Show, Jerry Potter and AJ Wilcox discuss the latest LinkedIn news and what it means for marketers like you.
LinkedIn Verification Expanding Beyond the Platform
LinkedIn has long emphasized user verification as a key trust signal, distinguishing it from other social platforms where anonymity is more common. Now, LinkedIn is extending the value of this verification beyond its own platform.
"LinkedIn has always been the one network where when you post, when you interact, you're not operating under a pseudonym. People know it's you, and it makes it safer to interact," explains Wilcox, who recently received his own verification.
The platform now shares this verification data with partner companies such as Adobe Behance, TrustRadius, Gitu, and usertesting.com. This means your LinkedIn-verified status can be displayed on these platforms, providing an additional trust signal across your digital presence.
This cross-platform verification offers valuable credibility, especially as online identity verification becomes increasingly important. Rather than having multiple verification systems across different platforms, LinkedIn's approach allows users to leverage a single trusted verification across multiple sites.
"I love the fact that LinkedIn has fully invested in this," Wilcox says, highlighting the value of this streamlined approach to digital identity verification.
Qualified Leads Optimization
One of the most exciting LinkedIn ads updates is the new Qualified Leads Optimization feature, which allows advertisers to optimize campaigns based on leads that progress to specific stages in their sales funnel.
"When a lead makes it to a certain stage in your CRM, you can automatically report that back to LinkedIn and say, 'Hey, this person that clicked from an ad or came from somewhere else, they just became a qualified lead,'" Wilcox explains.
This feature works through LinkedIn's Conversions API, enabling advertisers to tell LinkedIn when someone becomes a qualified lead or opportunity. LinkedIn then uses this data to optimize campaigns and find more users who match the profile of these successful conversions.
The implementation does have some limitations. It requires setting up the Conversions API, which Wilcox describes as "honestly kind of difficult" and "pretty technical." Additionally, campaigns using this feature must run on the lead generation objective with maximum delivery bidding, which can be more expensive than other bidding options.
"Maximum delivery bidding is the most expensive way to pay for your traffic, like, ninety percent of the time," Wilcox notes. While he's personally not using the feature yet due to these constraints, he remains "excited about the concept" and hopes LinkedIn will expand the bidding models available for this optimization in the future.
Create on LinkedIn
This mini-site offers detailed guidance on different types of posts you can make on LinkedIn, complete with specifications and best practices for each format. This mini-site is designed with both beginners and experienced LinkedIn marketers in mind.
"They have a whole bunch of tips. It's like, 'Here are six different kinds of posts that you can put on LinkedIn,'" explains Wilcox. "Click on one. It'll give you the specs and some tips."
What makes this resource particularly helpful is its interactive nature. You can explore various content types, including video, text, images, newsletters, and polls. Then, with a single click on "create one of these right now," the site directs you straight to your LinkedIn profile, where you can immediately put this knowledge into practice.
LinkedIn Accelerate: AI-Powered Campaign Creation
In the growing trend of AI implementation in advertising platforms, LinkedIn has developed Accelerate, an AI-based campaign and ad creator designed to simplify the ad creation process.
"Literally, all you do is you give it; this is the URL I wanna send people to." LinkedIn's AI looks at it and automatically generates audience targeting, ad copy, and creative assets based on the landing page URL. This hands-off approach could appeal to marketers with limited time or expertise, though Wilcox expresses some reservations about its current capabilities.
"As you'd expect, it's pretty limited involvement from us as marketers," he notes, preferring the control of manual campaign creation where he can "untick all the boxes that waste money and being ultra-specific about who my audience is." However, Wilcox acknowledges that "LinkedIn's AI just keeps getting better" and suggests that the tool could become "halfway useful in the next six months or year," making it worth watching as it develops.
Video in Direct Messages
You can send video messages from mobile and desktop but there are some limitations to be aware of. Video messages are capped at 20 megabytes, which likely translates to a couple of minutes of recording time, depending on your camera quality. For comparison, voice notes are already limited to 60 seconds, suggesting LinkedIn may be aiming for brief, impactful communications rather than lengthy messages.
Other features discussed include updates to the Marketing Overview homepage, LinkedIn video safe zones, LinkedIn Trends Highlights, ads duplication, dynamic UTM parameters, and more.
Watch it on YouTube
7 Ways to Use Images In Your AI Prompts
Plain text prompts are fine, but have you tried adding images to the mix? It's like upgrading from a microwave dinner to a gourmet feast.
Andy Crestodina has been experimenting, and he's sharing seven prompt recipes that combine prompts with uploaded images.
Need the perfect social caption in seconds? Get it.
Wondering if your landing pages match your ad copy? Check it.
Want to check your website's accessibility without hiring an expert? Try this quick visual check.
Ever wished you could peek inside your competitor's email strategy? There's an AI method that works like magic.
These image-prompt combos aren't just clever tricks—they're practical tools that deliver real marketing insights. Whether you're analyzing reports, creating product descriptions, or finding gaps in your home page, adding images to your prompts delivers truly helpful results. Read more here.
Anthropic Launches Claude Integrations: The new feature enables marketers to connect Claude to tools like Zapier, Intercom, Jira, Confluence, Asana, and more, allowing Claude to access and act on real-time business data across platforms. The update also expands Claude's Research mode, now capable of conducting web and internal tool searches (e.g., Google Workspace, CRM platforms) to produce detailed, citation-backed reports within 5–45 minutes. These features are available to Claude users on paid Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, making Claude a more strategic AI collaborator for marketing teams. Anthropic
AI Mode In Google Search: Google's AI Mode in Search Labs is now open to all U.S. users without a waitlist, enabling more conversational, task-oriented search experiences. Users can ask complex or specific questions and receive interactive product and local business results, including real-time prices, reviews, promotions, and inventory. These updates are powered by Google's Shopping Graph and local business data, helping consumers make confident purchase decisions. For marketers, this means greater visibility for local listings and products in AI-powered search results, opportunities to appear in shoppable cards that showcase pricing, availability, and product imagery, and increased importance of structured data and product feed optimization to surface in AI Mode responses. A new side panel on desktop helps users return to ongoing searches, making persistent discovery and engagement more likely. A limited test will also bring AI Mode directly into standard Search for some users, indicating Google's push to integrate AI-driven exploration into the mainstream search experience. Google
Google Performance Max Reporting Updates: The new reports give marketers deeper visibility into campaign performance across individual channels like YouTube, Search, Gmail, Display, and Maps. Channel-level reporting (beta): See which channels drive the most conversions and optimize accordingly. Full search terms reporting: Now matches the granularity available in Search and Shopping campaigns, helping refine text assets and apply negative keywords. Detailed asset-level reporting: View impressions, clicks, and costs for each asset across Performance Max, Search, and Display to strengthen creative strategy. Diagnostics and tips: Identify issues limiting performance on specific channels and get suggestions to improve results. Google
LinkedIn BrandLink: The platform announced its Wire Program is now called BrandLink. LinkedIn
Reddit Q1 2025 Earnings Summary for Marketers: Reddit reported strong performance in Q1 2025, with total revenue reaching $392.4 million—a 61% year-over-year increase. Ad revenue specifically accounted for $358.6 million, also up 61%. U.S. revenue rose 57% to $313.9 million, while international revenue surged 82% to $78.5 million. User engagement metrics revealed a 31% year-over-year growth in Daily Active Uniques (DAUq), reaching 108.1 million. U.S. DAUq climbed 21% to 50.1 million, and international DAUq jumped 41% to 58 million. Weekly Active Uniques (WAUq) globally increased 31% to 401.3 million, with a notable 44% rise internationally. Reddit
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