Social media marketing

Social media marketing

Why it matters: It's a cliché, but it's still true: People trust people. And employees who perform these jobs day in and day out have the real stories, expertise and insight to make content stand out. Even if your organization isn't quite ready to encourage employees to post on their personal accounts about work, it's still worthwhile to identify a group of workers with winning personalities, interesting jobs and some camera skills to take footage for you to then process and post on your brand pages.

"Well, friends. I did it. I've now had my highest-income month of my life again." So begins a TikTok video by content creator Chelsea Langenstam detailing her "$56,244 income month" breakdown, along with deductibles, as a solopreneur. Langenstam then outlines her various income streams: budget templates, brand deals, referral fees. "I don't share to brag," she says in the video, currently sitting at over 100,000 views. "I share because I want to show you what's possible in real time."

It's hard to overstate how important speed and experimentation are to finding marketing success. And that's not just good advice for brand-building on TikTok, either. These days, if you're fundamentally too slow and too scared, you'll find yourself always playing catch up, basically setting your marketing budget on fire. But with the right mindset, you'll not only earn success with TikTok audiences but also on whatever big platform comes next.

The reality is people are talking about your brand and your industry - whether you're in the (digital) room or not. They're swapping product recommendations via Instagram Stories or sharing feedback using TikTok comments. Paying attention to your direct mentions and tags is great - necessary, even - but it's not enough if you want to hear more unfiltered thoughts directly from your audience. That's where social listening comes in.

While it works with videos that are longer than a minute, TikTok suggests it's useful for long podcast recordings or videos captured throughout an entire day by a wearable camera. You select what parts of the video you want turned into shorter clips and Smart Split will handle the rest including choosing the length, generating captions, and even reframing content vertically.

The Mandai Wildlife Reserve, a tourist park in Singapore, posted a video late last year that became a viral hit: two of its millennial-age employees, wearing staff uniforms, described the park using Generation Z lingo. "Pop off, queen," one of them dryly intones. "Slay," says another. "We let our Gen Z intern write the marketing script," was the video's headline -- which quickly became a meme across social media, with dozens of brands offering their own spin.

Trends can make or break a brand. One viral post can put a business in front of millions overnight. But as quickly as the views rise, they can fall. The real skill isn't going viral; it's staying relevant once the noise fades. The brands that last are the ones that see trends early, act fast, and know how to turn fleeting attention into lasting connections.

The spidonut first appeared innocently enough, as part of a rather generic Halloween menu rolloutlast October. "No tricks, just treats" the brand posted with a series of ghost emojis, promoting its spider confection on Instagram alongside a purple trick-or-treat tub of munchkins. (Honestly, it was meh at best.) The spider doughnut wasn't even new - since 2017 Dunkin's Halloween lineup has included a similar treat with an orange coat of frosting. But apparently the new purple hue unleashed some evil inside that munchkin center.

YouTube's rolling out Halloween-themed stickers for live-stream donations, AI-generated Q and A stickers, a new time limit option for Reels viewing, and more, in its latest feature update. First off, YouTube's added some new functionality for its live Q and A stickers, with creators now able to utilize AI-generated, pre-filled questions for their Q and A prompts. "This AI-powered, low-friction tool makes it easy to engage with an audience while still giving creators control over their final question and how the sticker appears."

When someone scrolls past your content without engaging, the algorithm remembers. "If they continue to not engage, they are less likely to be shown posts by the same author in the future," explained LinkedIn. This isn't personal. It's mathematical. The fix requires strategic thinking. Mix your content types weekly. Post a how-to guide Monday, share a client win Wednesday, drop industry insights Friday.

Instagram is experimenting with skippable ads in its Reels feature, offering users the ability to bypass promotional content mid-scroll. Over the past month, ADWEEK observed three instances of this new format, which includes a countdown timer in the top-right corner of the screen followed by an ad equipped with a "skip" button. Meta confirmed the test, stating it aims to evaluate whether the format enhances business discovery, though unlike YouTube, it does not intend to share ad revenue with creators.

Currently, users who click links on X are taken to an in-app browser that takes up the full screen. Under the update, which Bier shared in a demo video, clicking on a link instead collapses the post's engagement bar to the bottom of the screen, letting users comment, repost, like, or save from inside the story as they scroll and read.

The company has opened a waitlist for what it's calling the " handle marketplace," where it will sell abandoned and inactive usernames. But there's a slight catch: To make a bid for one, you'll likely need to be a Premium+ or Premium Business subscriber to the site. Some handles will be effectively free, included in the cost of the subscription. But for "rare" handles, X is warning users the price tag could be steep. "Rare handles," the company wrote in an FAQ about the marketplace, "may be priced anywhere from $2,500 to over seven figures, depending on demand and uniqueness." It's unclear if usernames X took away from active users (including @music and @sports) will be included in the sale.

We all just collectively decided that Group Seven were the cool people, the 'It' people, the baddies,

The pitch to writers and journalists boils down to this: Bier says that if people put links to outside sites - like something you've written - those posts can get more attention than they do right now. How that's going to be accomplished is a little technical, and also a little confusing. (I've asked Twitter/X for clarification but haven't heard back.)

At the time of writing, the warehouse grocery store chain had 81 million paid members globally. Some are more keen than others. To give you an idea: Married couple David and Susan Schwartz have written about their love for Costco in a self-published book, which documents their journey visiting more than 200 Costco locations around the world. That's the kind of love Costco inspires, with its low prices, in-house food court, and unique product offerings.

X is testing a change to the way it handles links on iOS so that the buttons to like, reply, and repost will always be visible. Normally, when you click a link on X the page opens up and completely covers the original post. Apparently, this leads to fewer people clicking like or otherwise engaging with the content. A good chunk of people probably just don't return to Twitter at all after following an external link.

What makes Reid a slam dunk for the role is her rare combination of real athletic experience and creative expertise. A professional basketball player, she most recently made her mark on the NBA's Digital and Social team, where she played a key role in shaping the league's on-site coverage strategy, traveling to major events to capture viral moments and produce real-time digital content across multiple platforms.

I still remember when social media first felt like magic, a place where creativity could travel the world in seconds. But as my audience grew, I also realized something else: the platforms owned the data, the content, and the rewards. That imbalance is what SocialFi is changing. And Growing. Per Micro Marketing Insights, the global SocialFi market is projected to exceed $10 billion by 2033.

If you've spent time on TikTok, odds are you've seen your fair share of fan edits - intricately crafted montages of film, TV or other clips that are set to popular music. Some are like highlight reels, others are like memes and still others are fantasy-based interpretations of popular media that stray far from the tone or text of the source material.

They are natural, organic conversations that are happening between real people about, you know, what's the right pair of running shoes to get, or, what restaurant are you going to, or whatever. It's a really unique place, because the most engaged audiences are already on Reddit talking about your business and your brands. So for comms people, that's a tailor-made opportunity.