by Here's a recap of the most important insights, trends, and updates you need to know about today! Catch up in minutes and go into the rest of the week prepared.
In today's edition:
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Turn Instagram's search bar into your content strategy engine
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How TikTok's new AI tools could transform your ad strategy
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🗞️ Industry news from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more
How to Use Instagram as a Search Engine to Plan Content That Gets Views
Struggling to figure out what content to create next? Instagram's own search bar is the research tool most marketers overlook. Here's how to use it:
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List three to five keywords your ideal audience would type into Instagram to find content like yours. Think the way your customer thinks, not the way your industry talks. For example, a web developer's audience might search “how to make my website show up on Google” rather than “technical SEO.”
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Type each keyword into the Instagram search bar and tap the Reels or Posts tab. Instagram surfaces the most viral and most recent content under that term. Study what appears: the hooks that open each piece, the format (talking head, text overlay, carousel, B-roll), the topics covered, and which posts have the most shares. Shares indicate the content was valuable enough for someone to send to a friend, which is the strongest growth signal on Instagram.
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Look for “stand-out content” on accounts in and around your niche. These are posts where the creator's typical views might be 10,000, but one post broke out to 100,000 or more. That outlier tells you exactly what topic, hook, or format triggered the algorithm to push it further. Note what made it different from that creator's usual posts.
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Set a timer for one hour and stay disciplined. Research mode is not scrolling mode. Document what you find: the hooks, formats, and topics that are working right now, and how you can adapt them for your own audience and expertise.
Pro Tip: Copy your top five competitors' Instagram handles into a Claude prompt and ask it to analyze their content against yours. You are not trying to become them. You are looking for patterns: what they do well that you can incorporate, and what gaps in their content you can fill.
The content that appears at the top of keyword searches is the content the algorithm has already validated as high-performing. By studying these results before you create, you skip the guesswork and build content based on proven demand. Michelle Gifford recommends doing this research weekly to stay ahead of shifting trends, and choosing three to five content pillars (recurring topics) based on what you discover.
This tip was shared by Michelle Gifford at Social Media Marketing World.
What's Your AI Level, Really?
You're using AI. But how well? This free quiz maps where you actually stand—across five levels—based on how you prompt, what you build, and whether your workflows run without you.
In under three minutes, you'll get a personalized results page that pinpoints your biggest gap, hands you a ready-to-use AI prompt matched to your level, and shows you the single move that matters most right now. No fluff. No sales pitch. Just a clear picture of where you are.
Is AI Making It So Anyone Can Run Effective TikTok Ads?
TikTok just rolled out a wave of AI-powered tools that could fundamentally change how you create and manage ads on the platform. From a new marketplace of AI agents to a creative studio that generates video ads on demand, these updates are designed to make TikTok advertising accessible to businesses of all sizes. Melissa Laurie, founder of Oysterly Media, breaks down what these changes mean for your business and where you still need to stay hands-on.
A New Way to Manage TikTok Ads Without Opening Ads Manager
TikTok's latest update lets you connect your ad account directly to the AI tools you already use, so you can manage campaigns, pull reports, and brainstorm strategy through a simple conversation. Learn how this works and why it could eliminate the most intimidating barrier to TikTok advertising.
Downloadable AI Skills That Work Like a Media Buyer
Find out how a new category of downloadable tools can instantly level up your campaign strategy, from surfacing winning creative patterns to recommending how to allocate your budget. Discover which skill Melissa recommends starting with and why she says it gets you most of the way to a finished ad concept.
An AI Video Creator That Turns a Brief Into a Finished Ad
TikTok's upgraded creative studio now takes your brand guidelines and current platform trends and generates ready-to-edit video ads. Learn what types of businesses are seeing the strongest results with AI-generated creative and the one content category where it works best right now.
Why Raw, Unpolished Video Still Wins on TikTok
If you've been investing in high-production video ads, you may be surprised by what actually stops the scroll. Discover the video style and opening framework that Melissa's agency uses with major brand clients, and the common mistake that causes viewers to swipe past your content before it even starts.
Want to Learn More?
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Watch on YouTube
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Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music
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Read the show notes on Social Media Examiner
No Time to Go Deep on AI?
Most AI training assumes you have a few hours to spare. You don't.
The AI Business Society's bite-size lessons give you practical skills in just 5 to 15 minutes — one technique at a time, ready to deploy immediately. No fluff, no filler, just what works.
Instagram Adds Reach Penalties for Unlabeled AI-Generated Profiles: Instagram is introducing a clearer “AI-generated profile” label for accounts featuring AI-generated people and will begin limiting recommendations for profiles that should use the label but do not. Creators who accurately disclose their AI-based identity will not face reduced reach, while those incorrectly flagged can appeal through Account Status. The policy distinguishes AI-generated identities from creators who simply use AI tools in their content creation process. Instagram
Reddit Adds 15-Second Video View Optimization for Advertisers: Reddit has introduced 15-second Engaged Video Views, giving advertisers a new optimization and billing option designed for campaigns that need more time to communicate their message. The goal targets users more likely to complete shorter videos or watch at least 15 seconds of longer creative, while automated bidding and pay-per-engaged-view billing help focus spending on deeper attention. The feature is now in public beta globally and can be tested against Reddit's existing 6-second video view goal through Ads Manager. Reddit
Reddit Makes Automated Max Campaigns Available to All Advertisers: Reddit has expanded Max campaigns beyond beta, giving all advertisers access to automated targeting, creative optimization, placements, and budget allocation. The rollout also adds Advertising API support, an integration with Smartly, and new asset groups for managing and measuring different products or creative strategies within a single campaign. Reddit says beta advertisers using Max campaigns saw lower acquisition costs and more conversions compared with their existing campaign approaches. Reddit
Snap Rolls Out Unified Attribution Globally for App Advertisers: Snap has made Unified Attribution globally available to app advertisers using AppsFlyer or Adjust, bringing Snapchat performance metrics and MMP conversion data into a single measurement framework. The system allows advertisers to optimize campaigns using real-time MMP signals, assess cross-channel outcomes, and make scaling decisions without moving between separate measurement environments. Support for additional MMP partners is also underway. Snapchat
TikTok Adds Voice, Polls, and Photo Carousels to Comments: TikTok is expanding its comment experience with new formats designed to make conversations more interactive and expressive. Users will be able to leave 60-second voice responses, share up to nine photos in a single comment, and post Live Photos, while creators can run polls with as many as five choices directly beneath their videos. Comment Polls and Live Photo Comments are available globally, with Voice Comments and Photo Carousel Comments rolling out worldwide over the next month. TikTok
X Moves U.S. Creator Payouts to X Money: X is shifting U.S. payouts for Original Content Rewards and Subscriptions to X Money, giving creators access to funds as soon as payments are issued. Existing X Money users will be migrated automatically, while other creators will need to set up the service through the Money tab before accessing their next payout. XCreators via X
YouTube Tests Automatic Retailer Optimization for Affiliate Products: YouTube is experimenting with serving creator-tagged affiliate products through alternative eligible local retailers while keeping the tagged product itself unchanged. The test is intended to determine whether automatically selecting the retailer can improve shopping performance, potentially giving YouTube more control over merchant optimization behind affiliate product recommendations. Videos marked with the Paid Product Placement setting are excluded from the experiment. YouTube
YouTube Expands Watch With Live Reactions to More Creators: YouTube is testing broader access to Watch With, enabling eligible mobile creators to livestream their reactions alongside another creator's live content. Reaction creators can monetize their broadcasts independently, while the original stream receives attribution for the resulting concurrent viewers, public views, and watch time. Eligible streams allow reactions by default, although source creators can opt out before going live. YouTube
