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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Leveraging LinkedIn Recommendations strategically
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5-part YouTube script framework for businesses
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4 things we’ve learned on The Road to 3K
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🗞️ Industry news from Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, and more
Build a LinkedIn Trust Loop Using Your Recommendations URL
Want potential clients to vet you quickly and feel confident enough to book a call? Marketers who scatter their credibility across platforms make it hard for prospects to verify it. This trust loop strategy will help:
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Go to your LinkedIn profile and find your recommendations section. Copy the direct URL that links to your recommendations. The URL format is linkedin.com/in/YOUR-USERNAME followed by the recommendations path. This gives you a unique, shareable link to your most trusted social proof.
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Add that recommendations URL to your Stan Store, your link-in-bio page, and your email signature. The goal is to create a circle: someone finds you on your website or link-in-bio, clicks through to your LinkedIn recommendations, reads real endorsements from real people with real profiles, and returns to your site ready to take action.
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Audit the top of your LinkedIn profile for visual trust signals. Replace a logo-only banner with an image showing you in action, such as speaking on stage or working with clients. Verify your account with LinkedIn's ID verification. Make sure your company page has an actual image, not a gray placeholder box.
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Add a call to action at the very top of your profile, telling visitors to follow you and ring the notification bell. This keeps you visible in their feed after the first visit and extends the trust-building window beyond a single profile view.
Pro Tip: LinkedIn recommendations carry more trust than website testimonials because each recommendation is linked to a real person's profile, job title, and professional reputation. AI cannot easily fabricate that chain of verification, which is why prospects treat LinkedIn recommendations as more credible than anonymous reviews.
This tip was shared by Judi Fox at Social Media Marketing World. Get your ticket to join us in Anaheim this April.
Make AI Your Career Advantage
Knowing a few prompts no longer sets you apart. So most marketers are testing tool after tool, hoping something sticks.
The ones who stand out know which tool fits which task and build workflows that save hours each week.
Learn how at AI Business World, April 2-3 in Anaheim. You'll get two days of hands-on training from practitioners who build these workflows themselves. Save 50% on your ticket this week.
How to Keep YouTube Viewers Watching and Turn Them Into Customers
Are you pouring hours into short-form videos that vanish from feeds (and consumers’ minds) within days? Adam Ivy, YouTube strategist and founder of the YouTube Revenue Lab, says long-form YouTube content built for retention can earn trust, attract views, and bring in customers for years, even after you stop uploading.
Why Focused Attention Beats Distracted Scrolling
Discover why who is watching matters more than how many, and why focused viewers are far more likely to become prospects than distracted scrollers.
The First Seconds That Decide Whether Viewers Stay
Learn how to open with an emotional hook and build intrigue without giving away the payoff, plus the storytelling sequence Adam uses to show viewers he understands exactly how they feel.
How to Keep Viewers Moving From Point to Point
Find out why numbering your steps may be costing you viewers, and the transition technique that keeps people watching longer than they realize.
Engagement and Calls to Action That Don't Feel Salesy
Discover how to spark comments that signal active viewing, a casual way to mention your lead magnet without losing trust, and an organic retargeting trick hiding on your thank you page.
Ending Your Video in Momentum
Learn why long goodbyes hurt your channel and how to wrap up fast so viewers move straight into your next video.
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
Meet the Ones Who Get It
Your friends outside marketing nod politely when you talk about reach and conversion. Even your team is too buried in deadlines to trade ideas.
Find people who speak your language at AI Business World, April 2-3 in Anaheim. Table talks and meetups make it easy to connect. And many attendees leave with friendships that last long after the event.
Here's What You Missed From Our Short-Form Docuseries
Mike and the team test ideas submitted by fans to get 3,000 people to Social Media Marketing World 2027. Here are four lessons from the past week:
1. Turn repetitive tasks into AI skills. Mike was scheduling every video by hand. He had AI build a skill from his feedback, and when it made a mistake, he had it fix the post and update the skill. Now he just says, “Schedule the video.”
2. Pair AI tools for their strengths. Claude can't hear, so it couldn't pick music for Mike's videos. Mike had Claude ask Gemini to listen to the options. Together, they found the right tracks.
3. In referral programs, the reward is the easy part. The hard part is tracking who referred whom without making it complicated for your customers. The team's rule: if it isn't simple, nobody will use it.
4. Show the process, not just the results. A fellow creator told Mike what he loves about the series: the transparency. Watching someone work toward a goal in the open, including what isn't working yet, draws people in.
Instagram Adds Carousel Creation to the Edits App: Instagram is expanding Edits beyond video-focused creation with a new carousel workflow that lets creators combine photos and videos, experiment with layouts, apply Edits fonts and text styles, and make reusable cutout stickers. The feature gives creators another format for producing Instagram content within Edits and is rolling out first on iOS, with Android support planned soon. Creators via Threads
Instagram Reassesses Native iOS Tab Bar After Apple Adds Image Support: Instagram head Adam Mosseri says Apple’s native tab bar now supports images, addressing an earlier limitation that had led Instagram to recreate the interface itself. However, Instagram still sees technical obstacles involving video-related color effects on iOS 26, the inability to retract the native bar during scrolling, and unintended tab changes caused by swipe gestures. Mosseri noted that iOS 27 appears to address the color-related issue. Mosseri via Threads
Meta Expands AI Advertising Tools From Campaign Creation to In-Conversation Checkout: Meta is introducing a broad set of AI-powered advertising capabilities spanning creative development, campaign management, audience discovery, video generation, and commerce. Ads Creative Studio is expanding to more advertisers, while Meta AI business assistant is becoming more agentic, with tools to create and optimize campaigns conversationally and automate recurring tasks. Meta is also introducing natural-language audience discovery, scaling generative video capabilities, and testing direct checkout within Meta AI, Muse, and Meta Business Agent experiences to shorten the path from product discovery to purchase. Meta
Reddit Expands Lead Generation With Max Campaigns, In-Market Audiences and CRM Integrations: Reddit is strengthening its lead generation advertising capabilities with automated Max campaigns, new intent-based targeting, expanded measurement partnerships, and deeper CRM connectivity. Advertisers can capture prospects through their own landing pages and forms, optimize toward lead submissions, and route data into existing workflows. The additions are designed to help brands move beyond lead collection toward qualified demand while providing clearer insight into campaign and pipeline performance. Reddit
Instagram Adds Threads Post Sharing to Stories: Instagram is introducing a Threads sticker that lets users embed previously liked or saved Threads posts directly into their Stories. The feature extends Meta’s recent push toward more visual ways of sharing Threads conversations and gives creators and brands another way to bring Threads content in front of their Instagram audiences. Social Media Today
TikTok Expands Agentic AI Across Commerce, Leads and Advertising: TikTok is rolling out a broad set of AI-powered advertising capabilities spanning the customer journey, from conversational shopping and lead generation to automated search campaigns and creative selection. New offerings include Buy Direct and Shopping Assistant for commerce, Agentic Leads for qualifying prospects, and TikTok Ad Network for extending campaigns beyond the platform. TikTok is also expanding its MCP integrations and enhancing GMV Max to optimize campaigns against a more complete view of seller costs, further embedding AI and automation into campaign execution and measurement. TikTok
