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If you're like many marketers, last year was very challenging, but this year doesn't.
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Have to be that way.
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Napoleon Hill said, the starting point of all achievement is desire.
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If you want to improve your know how, your results and your career prospects, then Social Media Marketing World is your solution. It's the place where smart marketers go.
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To get new ideas and strategies that actually work. Get your tickets at social media marketing.
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World.Info and secure your future.
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I hope to see you there. Welcome to the Social Media Marketing Talk show, your guide to the ever changing world of social media.
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On today's show, we're going to explore Instagram updates marketers need to be aware of. It has been a wild few weeks at Meta, to say the least. Instagram announced their priorities for 2025. Always good when we can align our marketing goals with with what their goals are. Longer reels and a new way to edit them. And would you buy followers if Instagram was selling them? Probably the most bizarre story of the week. That's all coming up right now. My name is Jerry Potter, host of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a Social Media examiner production where we break down all the latest social media news and what it means for marketers like you. Today I'm joined by Chelsea Pites. Chelsea teaches sales professionals how to leverage social media and technology to build a powerful personal brand and develop content that generates real leads. She's also host of the Chelsea Chelsea Pytes podcast and her most recent book is called what to Post. Chelsea, welcome to the show.
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Oh, I'm so excited. Are we doing a three hour show today with all the updates on Instagram?
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We're gonna focus on the most important stuff. And let's start with Adam Masseria, head of Instagram. What he said that the app's top priorities are this year so we can sort of align our own goals with them as much as possible.
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Absolutely. Every year Mr. Mosseri has come on and said, hey, these are our goals and what we're focusing on as a company. And I would say the last couple of they've been pretty similar. So he talked about connection and creativity and I think the creativity piece is going to give sort of that subtle foreshadowing to a couple of things that we're also going to be talking about today, mainly AI and their new editing app that is going to be coming out soon. We don't know exactly when, but you and I have both just signed up for it.
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Well, I remember when Cap Cut first came out and people were like, why would TikTok make an editing app. But I think, you know, for all of these platforms, they're trying to show the best content to each person in every moment of their day, that they actually have the app open. And so if they have a million pieces of content to choose from, great. If they've got a billion, even better. So I think that's why we're seeing them invest in all these ways to make content to make it easier. Now, the one thing I feel like I've noticed over the years, though, and sometimes I'll talk to my clients about this, is the feed is so good at showing you good content that is so easy to be intimidated. When you see this other stuff coming up, you go, well, I can't. I can't do that. So what do you say to some of your clients when you're, you know, because I'm sure you've seen that, where they feel too intimidated because I can't make a video with 18,000 jump cuts and music and all of that.
A
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if you see this too, but I have been seeing this and it's probably just because I've been hoping for it and manifesting it into fruition. But I see we're returning back to the I'm talking to you on FaceTime or Instagram story, like, kind of reels, which I love. After I bought all of the things and learned all of the cap cut stuff and got all of the high equipment, I'm like, I'm just gonna use my phone and talk to it like I'm talking to you. So I do like that it's feeling a little bit more, I should, dare I say, authentic. Not that there's anything wrong with high quality, crispy video and having a studio and all of those cool edits coming in. But you're right, it can feel a bit overwhelming. People might think, how can I compare to something that looks like this is professionally made? So, yeah, there's a lot more creativity, I think, in editing. Hopefully that's going to be coming to Instagram. Also on this conversation, as you talked about messaging capabilities and also updating some of those things, and something that I just recently saw you and I talked about, you don't have yet is the Friends Reels feed, which basically is like, you can actually see now. Here's a feed of reels that your friends have liked or engaged with. And this for a second brought me back. Do you remember back in the old days of Instagram where I can't remember, it was like friends. It was like friends activity. Like, you could see who your friend followed and. And then they took that away. I think that was kind of a good thing because I was like, well, that's kind of odd, you know, you know, interesting, odd, creepy, convenient. I mean, I could see maybe what all of my friends were engaging with and who they were following and what they were watching. So I don't know. This is a little bit of a nod to that. But they didn't really say how or what in the messaging capabilities are going to be coming out. But the Friends tab is actually here. You don't have it, but I have it. And so when you go to the regular Reels feed, it's going to show up in the right hand corner. It's three little circles usually, and you'll recognize your friends. And then you can click on it and it will bring you into a new feed where you can look at content that your friends have engaged with.
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Definitely makes me, like, rethink what I watch sometimes. I think part of me, just because, you know, I don't think they want us to open the app and be like, oh, gosh, I can't watch this because I don't want anyone else to know that I'm into this weird hobby or whatever it might be. So hopefully it's just likes and comments and things like that, not just they watch this four times or, you know, that kind of.
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I like it because I do want to see what my friends are seeing. So, you know, if I have a dear friend like my. Of course it's showing me my best friend in the physical world's content that she's engaging with. And it actually has helped me find some really inspirational motivational creators. Oh, I didn't even know these people existed. And I know that if she likes it because she's probably going to send it to me anyway, that I will like it too. So I definitely can see the positive.
B
Yeah, some discovery. That's great. All right. Longer reels on Instagram in the US Anyway, we'll talk about that here in just a second. You know, it is tricky, and we do our best here on this show to keep you completely up to date with what's working now. But if you really want to go deep and set yourself up for a full year of success in your marketing results. We're only a couple and a half months away from social media Marketing world in San Diego. Thousands of marketers traveling to San Diego because marketing is rapidly changing. Right as we're talking about here. Stay ahead of the curve by discovering emerging trends, shifts in user behavior, the latest strategies, tactics and tools, all from experienced marketers who are excited to help you succeed. And you can share ideas and gain insights from other marketers who get you. Okay, sometimes the people around us don't get what we do. Leave with friends, partnerships, collaborations, even new clients. We're starting March 30th. Will you be there? Just go to Social Mediamarketing World to get your ticket today. Again, Social Mediamarketing.World to grab your ticket. So three minute reels all of a sudden has rolled out to users in the United States. So talk to us about this, Chelsea.
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Yeah, you know we've talked about this on the show. They've been testing this since March of 2024. So for you and I were like, oh yeah, haven't they rolled that out already? I never had the three minute reels when it was being tested. So I know that there's a lot of content creators on different apps that have longer content, longer story times, longer educational tutorial, types of videos. And so it makes sense that if Instagram wants to attract more creators over to their platform that they would lengthen that. Now the big thing, the big deal for me at least was they said that they were not going to recommend longer reels to the non followers. And you might remember that they held some summit and they showed somebody had posted a screenshot of their actual slide, Instagram's actual slide that said, hey, these things are hurting your reach and anything over 90 seconds, 90 second reels or longer, they were saying, hey, if you want to get more reach and seen by non followers. So they're shifting that as well. Thank goodness. Because I actually like watching longer form content on other platforms and I would like watching that on Instagram as well. But I also want the benefit of having that content be shared with people that don't follow me yet. So they are going to allow that to be something that's coming out. I haven't tried the three minute reels yet personally, but I'm going to. So I do like this for more in depth content and storytelling and let's be honest, they probably can do more monetization or some kind of ad situation and a longer form content versus a 30 second reel. So it's going to be easier for them to do that.
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Yeah. All right. And you know, we mentioned one of the priorities for Instagram is creativity. And they announced all of a sudden as cap cut TikTok's editing app went dark for a matter of hours that there's a new Instagram editing app. So I know it's not out yet. What do we know about it and what do you think the advantages are versus just editing in Instagram, as a lot of people do.
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Right. So as somebody who edits in Instagram who also uses Cap Cut, I feel like I have a good comparison there. For some things I like to use Cap Cut and usually if it's I'm doing something that's a little bit more in depth with some kind of creat edit. There are still some limitations. You can't really easily zoom in and there's a lot of, you know, templates that are over on capcut. But I had to go through all of the details in the App Store. One, you can't actually get access to the app and they're not telling anybody when it's coming out yet. It just says you'll be notified when this drops. But when you go to the App Store, we had to type it in kind of specifically. I noticed that it's the word edits with a comma and Instagram app. So we were able to find it that way. And then you'll see the little get icon. I'm on iPhone. If you have a Droid, it probably looks a little bit different in the Google Play store, but nonetheless you can go there. You can actually click the button as if you were going to download and you'll get a message that says, you know, we'll let you know as soon as this is available. You can actually see a couple of screenshots of what you're going to be able to do in there. But I did a little digging in the details and I thought this was interesting. It says that it's going to give you the opportunity to capture high quality clips up to 10 minutes long. Interesting, because right now we only have three minute reels. So I was like, wait, is this another subtle foreshadow? I mean, yes, yeah.
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But when you record a three minute video, sometimes there's 30 minutes of footage ahead of time, right? True.
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But I just thought that I'm like, interesting. I'm like, so the next thing is probably 10 minute reels too, which is not going to be surprising. It says easily share in 1080p. So clearly that's a little hint to people that are wondering what kind of quality they're looking for. And that. And I wrote this in all caps. Generate captions automatically. Finally, it's 2025. Where can we get the button that just puts it on automatically? They are going to have a live insights dashboard. And this is interesting. It says they're also going to show skip rate, so meaning people decide to skip through or skip over your reel. So I thought, oh, interesting. Yeah. I'm intrigued to see what happens with this.
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This is all going to be in the editing app, not in Instagram.
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In the editing app. And I kind of, in my mind, I'm thinking, is this kind of like igtv? Remember it start? It was like a separate app, but it connected to Instagram. And you like logging with Instagram. I understand that's what's going to happen. Based on my reading of the description, it sounds like it's a separate app, but you log in probably with Instagram and somehow ask if you wanted to connect. And then I think you can just post it directly from that. So that would be nice too.
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Yeah. The other thing I saw that jumped out was they said it'll have an inspiration tab in the editing app, which is nice. Nice because then if you're just stuck on ideas, you can open up, film it in there, you know, get some ideas, film it, edit it all in one place. And obviously there'll be an easy share to Instagram option. And I did see something that said next month, as far as dates go. So I assume we'll see it sometime in February.
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We should note with an asterisk. And I'm sorry, again, we are just the messengers, we are not the creators. But it says that it's currently available for pre order on iOS and then it says with an Android version in development, no details on when that's going to be coming out.
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I'm sorry, YouTube's editing app was the opposite because YouTube obviously owns Google and Android. So this is, you know, as an iPhone user, I'm like, okay, it's our turn. All right. So probably the story that has people the most upset this week are changes to the way that profiles look on Instagram. And Chelsea and I were talking before the show about seeing some of the frustration in a lot of groups around this. So explain to us exactly what's going on and what you've seen around this, Chelsea.
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Absolutely. And I can understand the frustration. There are many different industries and just individual users who are highly focused on the aesthetics of their brand and of their content and spend a lot of time and money creating that content to fit or suit that sort of square template. And so surprise, they decided that we're going to go more of a rectangle, similar to some other apps that you might have seen all of a sudden. It went overnight and it went kind of out in waves because it took me a while to get it. I knew friends who had gotten it. And then one day I woke up and I was like, oh my gosh, look, it's there now. I had already been creating all of my content in the 1080 by. Was it 1350 by 10?
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1350? Yeah, yeah.
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That kind of larger rectangle size, 4 by 5 ratio. Yeah, I had been doing that because as we know, that will show larger in the feed and take up more space than just the traditional square size. So I was pretty lucky, I guess, because mine had already sort of been created for that. Now, of course there are going to be ways that you can manually go in and edit and kind of rearrange that. But again, even though there's an option for that, man, it's kind of a bummer. You're like, now I'm going to have to go through all of this and like redo each one. So a lot of upset in that rollout. But I am excited for the possibility that's coming where you're going to be able to rearrange, drop and drag your content on your grid. And I think it's brilliant if people.
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Are checking their own stuff because I've been posting taller content for, I don't know, I feel like four years now. So I didn't even notice when I looked at my profile. But essentially, if you have square content, then it's showing with bars at the top and the bottom. Right.
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Or it might just be off. I saw somebody that had, like, if you have a pattern or something like that, or a picture that's maybe broken up into things, it looked a little bit off. So, yeah, it's, you know, and I understand, you know, artists and lifestyle, you know, photography, photographers definitely put a lot of time and effort into a look, an aesthetic, and to have it change is not something that they were probably expecting one day.
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Yeah, well, and I think for, for our audience that manages brand accounts for other companies and maybe you do it all from a third party tool, make sure, just pop in, take a look. Because obviously if you can be ahead of it before the client notices and goes, what's going on here? That's always good. So, all right, Instagram did make an announcement about the stuff that will kill your reach on Instagram. And, you know, I think these are all things we've heard before, except I also think they're worth revisiting because I know sometimes for me, I hear something, I'm like, well, I don't do that. And then I hear it again a year later, and I go, oh, I've been doing that. You know, like, I do that now. So what are the reach killers, as we'll call them, Chelsea?
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Yes. And keep in mind, when they report these things, they don't give us a paragraph that goes under each one. So we don't really know. I'm sure there's probably some questions that pop up. Like, for example, it says things to avoid include a watermark. Well, what kind of watermark? We can assume it's the other app that they're competing with, but this one said engagement bait. And you and I have talked about this as being more of a Facebook thing, and I think it was around 2018, that long ago, that they really started talking about what that looks like. And that could be, like, certain calls to actions or quizzes and different headlines. It doesn't really say anything in detail other than engagement bait. So I'm not exactly sure what that's going to mean on Instagram.
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I did read a little bit more on that one because I was curious, because I've been like, teaching the engagement thing on Facebook for years. And it's essentially the same as Facebook in the sense that they don't want you to use things. Like, you don't say, like this video if you're a Leo and leave a comment if you're a Pisces or, you know, like, that's kind of the stuff that they talked about on Facebook a lot. But they also specifically said it's okay to say, share this with a friend who needs to hear this today. So asking somebody to share, because I know, especially on Facebook, you know, there was this stuff going around for years, like, don't tell people to share. Don't tell people to click the link. Don't like these words. They'll. They'll kill your reach. And so I think it's just important to clarify it. And of course, they could be saying this and it's not true as well. But sharing something for the sake of sharing is not engagement bait. Right. But sharing something to enter a contest or sharing something to show that you're a certain, I don't know, zodiac sign. That's engagement bait.
A
Yeah. So we'll see what. What happens with that. But again, they talked about reels over 90 seconds, so they're probably just, you know, there's lots of changes coming out. So they maybe have not kind of figured out exactly who that is. But from what we can understand, it does sound like the longer form content is not going to hurt your reach. And it says, obviously if you violate community guidelines and then posting content that you didn't make. Now the caveat here is you are encouraged to remix other people's content or if you have like a screenshot of someone or a stitch, if you will, and then your content is in there. So I'm not saying you shouldn't use other people's content to then give your own insights or opinion or your own analysis or here's what I think about this or your reply or your rebuttal, but it's really literally taking someone else's content and passing it off as your own.
B
Well, and the other part of that they said, you know, the way they worded it, they said only the first version of something that's uploaded will be promoted. So if you download somebody else's thing and then upload it, they're not going to promote it. But we've had this debate the last couple of years, like, should we repost our high performing stuff? And I'll tell you over on TikTok, I use an app where it'll recycle content sometimes and I don't usually do that, but I accidentally forgot to like have it turned off and I had the same TikTok video go up four times in like two weeks and the fourth time it performed. So yeah, and it took off and I was like, okay, well, that's, you know, stacks up with how weird this whole world is. But I wondered if that is them also coming out and saying, hey, if you put your same thing up again, we're not going to promote it again. I don't feel like that's the case if enough time has passed.
A
Yeah, I wouldn't feel like that's the case either. I really do think that it's perfectly fine for you to repackage, recycle or literally repost your own content. Hopefully if it's smart enough to know some of these other things, hopefully it's smart enough to know that it was actually your original content. But that does get in the back of my mind. And sometimes when I have like my caption bank that I've made over the last number of years, I'm still hesitant to just copy and paste the exact caption that I created myself several years ago. I'm like, well, maybe I just change it a little bit because of this reason. So who knows?
B
So it's obviously always been a bad idea to buy followers on Instagram, but what if Instagram was the one selling them? We'll talk about this story here in just a second. But speaking of paying and paid content, it's being reported that Instagram is projected to generate half of meta platforms US advertising revenue in the near future. Facebook has obviously always been the big dog there. So what do you make of that? Is, I guess as an Instagram specialist, this doesn't surprise you?
A
It doesn't surprise me. But again, do I spend the majority of my time on Instagram? Of course. Do I buy things on Instagram? Yes. Do they make it easy and enticing to buy things? Yes, they do. But it says that it generated 32.4 billion globally. So not just the US but globally. And that was in 2021, representing 27% of their total sales. And that went increasing to 30%. So they are forecast casting that it's going to exceed that. So there's a lot of money. There are people are doing a lot of ads on the meta platforms. No surprise there. And I wouldn't be surprised if we continue to see that rise over the number of years with the users increasing.
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All right, so we talked about the most anger inducing story earlier, but the oddest story I think that we have today is paid engagement packages from Instagram. Now some of this is like screenshot based. This isn't an official announcement from them, but it would certainly change the way that we look at everything. So first, what did you see in the story? Chelsea?
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Right. So when you go to the story, you are able to see that it was, I believe, a survey. Certain users were receiving a survey. So I don't even know if we could call it a test, but it's a survey and I've actually received surveys where it pops up and you can participate. But this survey was something along the lines of showing people a screenshot, like a chart, if you will. And this chart would have like two columns and it would basically say for $150 that may get you 600 new followers, 300 comments. And it would go through all like link clicks, everything. And they would give you two scenarios on one chart. And I believe they had three total charts. So they were kind of showing people, hey, here's a menu of stuff. If this is how much the price point was and what you got, would you be interested? So I think at this point they're just gauging interest. And it did say that it might be related to the paid meta verified packages which we've talked about for how they are now creating larger, more enterprise packages. Again, we don't know if this is coming out at all. It did make me go, huh, this is interesting. So I don't know what your thoughts were.
B
Yeah, the first thought is, hey, you know this thing we told you not to do? Well, we might offer it now, you know, that was my first thought. But here's what I think might be happening here is I wonder if this is a play for more revenue, not just because here's something else we're selling, not here's another offer. But right now most of the revenue at Meta comes from as like we just talked about, from businesses buying ads. Some people in the creator space buy ads, but to me, I almost saw it as a built in ROI to get creators to start buying ads. So in other words, one of the things they said was $150 for 2,000 DMs. And I was like, oh my God, that sounds like a nightmare.
A
I was like, whoa, that's a lot.
B
Yes, pay me if I'm gonna get 2,000 DMS. But you know, 150 for 600 followers. And I thought if it was sort of a, instead of impressions. Right. They would basically keep showing your content until you got that for that certain amount. But it might be a doorway in for people who don't traditionally advertise to start advertising or promoting or boosting.
A
Yeah. And I just wonder like, I want to know how they're doing it because, you know, you just mentioned, do they just keep showing it to like actual people who are in your are finding out or in your target? I don't know. I don't know. This will be interesting.
B
Yeah. Well, some more AI stuff coming to Instagram we'll talk about here in just a second. But real quick, I wanted to mention something that's been on Facebook that's been really helpful for some brands and marketers. It's now coming to Instagram. And that is where if you get a removal strike, you can get it removed from your account restrictions by taking a quick course. And when we talked about this for Facebook, we talked about how if you get a traffic ticket, then you've got a traffic school, at least here in the US Then you can get it removed from your record. So same type of thing. But they've said it's been really, really successful because basically, rather than people getting, you know, violating the policy over and over again, they take this quick course quiz, I presume, and then they can get that removed. So that is now coming to Instagram. All right, let's talk AI. So we talked about the AI, the edits App that's supposed to be coming out next month, but now they're talking about Instagram AI powered video editing. So what does this look like from what we know so far?
A
So this actually was really a bit surprising to me because it was so cool looking. And somewhere on Adam Mosari's grid, you'll be able to see where they turned him into this, like, felt puppet. And it was actually really cool. And they had the baby hippo that was trending that everybody was in love with. Like, and it, it looked really good. I was like, wow, this almost looks like Avatar or something. Really, really high quality. And you know, he was in it and it wasn't showing any, like, you know, when you're on the green screen, which obviously isn't the same as AI, but it just kind of looks a little bit off. But yeah, that was, at least on his example, happening. So they are planning on launching a feature this year that has these really comprehensive sort of video modifications from changing your background to changing what you're wearing or turning you into a cartoon character or something like that, with just a coup. Couple of prompts, text prompts that you're giving it, like, show me on Mount Everest or something like that. And then they showed these like, super dramatic changes on while Adam was talking. So that could be interesting. Yeah, you know, definitely a creative way to make content.
B
Yeah, well, it's so interesting. Just where, you know, like, it used to be, Pixar didn't happen. And then it's a video or it didn't happen. And I feel like now we're just heading into the. It didn't happen. Like, nobody's going to believe anything anymore because the same thing on the Facebook side. These, this video gen they're doing is amazing. Where, you know, we've only seen demos, but you give it a picture of you and you're like, make me an astronaut. Make me a scientist in a lab. And it's video and it looks incredible. Not just like some of the initial parodies of still photos initially where it was kind of cartoony. So. And then Meta AI is now coming to Instagram where you'll be able to use voice commands to talk to meta. What are we seeing here?
A
I haven't really played around too much with Meta AI, but it's in my mind anyway. It was more advanced sort of way of thinking of a gift GPT. Like that's how I was using it, asking some questions and, and prompting it. But it says the features are going to include helping people find the right words in conversations by providing advice and suggestions when tagged in private group chats, photo editing capabilities to modify images, adding, removing changing elements, personalized themes and an image generation feature. And I have this called Imagine Me as that allows users to see themselves. I think mine, I don't remember if you saw this when I posted it, but I took a screenshot of it and I think it was like imagine me. And then it like filled in like a little fill in the blank and it would change it. And mine said, imagine me as a cheeseburger. That was so funny. And I was like, oh, okay, well, interesting. So I don't usually dive into the AI stuff because I'm just using it to, you know, create stories and video with just, just me. But I can imagine that there's some really, really creative creators out there who are going to be excited about the AI.
B
Yeah, without question. And another feature that is coming is scheduled dms or at least they're testing scheduled dms. Is this something you could see yourself using?
A
Yeah, I thought about it and I was thinking like this week I wanted to reach out to some people that were on a waiting list and I thought, oh, you know what, that actually could be helpful. You know, certainly would be helpful if you could upload more than one person at a time or do it manually kind of. I'm thinking like, you know how you can put the shortened phrases and so it saves you time when you've got your saved replies. So I could see that if you're scheduling something as a reminder, you have an event coming up, you have these things that people have signed up for. Certainly you'd probably be reaching them via email if they've signed up for something in your database. But I think that could be interesting. I suppose you could use it for if you knew something big was happening in their life and you wanted them to get a message from you and wake up and say, oh, happy birthday.
B
Oh yeah.
A
So yeah, you know, I'm not huge person of scheduling and over automating communication that's really, really impactful when you do it, you know, in a human way. But I could see some, some use.
B
Cases here in sales and marketing. I could totally see it where you'd schedule out your follow up messages or you send a piece. Like one way I would probably use it is, you know, if somebody, whether you use manychat or a bot where it automatically DMS them a piece of content or they ask for it and you manually send it to them. You know, I could see using it the next day or the day after saying, hey, did you get a chance to check that out? What did you think? You know, to kind of of bump it up in their, in their life again? I'll tell you one thing I do with email all the time is I will schedule emails because I don't want to end up in a back and forth conversation. So if an email comes in while I'm there, I'll schedule it for the next morning and then move on because I don't want to forget. So that's something I could see doing too.
A
Yeah, absolutely.
B
All right, and Instagram screenshot blocking is now live. It's coming out of testing, so you can now prevent people from taking screenshots of direct messages if you're using Vanish mode or View once. So just something to kind of be aware of. So lots of updates around Instagram and of course we're going to be going deep on all of it. Coming up at Social Media Marketing World, quick reminder to get all the information about an all access pass, a virtual ticket or our all new AI track ticket for social media marketing world today, just go to Social mediamarketing world. Again, Social mediamarketing World. Chelsea, other than at Social Media Marketing World, where's the best place to connect with you?
A
Best place to find me is at Instagram and I really appreciate everybody saying hello. They do come and they say, oh, I heard you with Jerry on the, on the live show. So thank you all for tuning in and listening and thank you for your messages as well. Best place to find me is Chelsea P E I TZ on Instagram and all of the socials.
B
Very nice. All right, if you want to add another podcast to your listening lineup, couple of you to check out the social media marketing podcast as well as the AI explored podcast. And until next time, may you be wise with your market marketing decisions. Thanks everyone. Bye.
A
The Social media marketing talk show is a social media examiner production. For more social media Insight, visit social mediaexaminer.com Sunny San Diego is calling. Grab your tickets to Social media Marketing.
B
World 2025 right now at social media.
A
Marketingworld.Info I can't wait to see you there.
Social Media Marketing Talk Show: Instagram Updates - Reels Features, Profile Grid Changes, and More
Hosted by Michael Stelzner, Social Media Examiner
Episode Release Date: January 27, 2025
In this episode of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, host Jerry Potter delves into the latest updates from Instagram, unpacking new features and changes that marketers need to be aware of. Joining him is Chelsea Pites, a renowned expert in leveraging social media for personal branding and lead generation. Together, they explore Instagram's strategic shifts for 2025, focusing on Reels enhancements, profile grid modifications, and the integration of advanced AI tools.
The discussion kicks off with an overview of Instagram’s announced priorities for 2025, as conveyed by Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s head. Both Jerry and Chelsea emphasize the significance of aligning marketing strategies with these priorities.
Connection and Creativity:
Mosseri underscores the importance of fostering deeper connections and enhancing creative capabilities on the platform. Chelsea highlights the forthcoming AI-powered editing app, which aligns with Instagram's focus on creativity.
Notable Quote:
"He talked about connection and creativity and I think the creativity piece is going to give sort of that subtle foreshadowing to a couple of things," Chelsea Pites explains (02:24).
One of the standout updates is the extension of Reels from their previous limit to three minutes, now available to users in the United States. This change caters to creators who produce longer, more in-depth content, such as educational tutorials and storytelling.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"They are shifting that as well. Thank goodness. Because I actually like watching longer form content on other platforms and I would like watching that on Instagram as well," Chelsea Pites remarks (06:55).
Instagram has revamped its profile grid, transitioning from the traditional square format to a rectangular 4:5 aspect ratio. This change has elicited mixed reactions, particularly from creators and brands who meticulously curated their aesthetics around the square layout.
Implications:
Notable Quote:
"It can feel a bit overwhelming. People might think, how can I compare to something that looks like this is professionally made," Chelsea Pites shares her concerns about the aesthetic shift (13:04).
The episode delves into Instagram’s updated guidelines aimed at maximizing content reach. Key among these updates are the discouragement of watermarks and engagement bait.
Highlights:
Notable Quote:
"Engagement bait. And you and I have talked about this as being more of a Facebook thing," Chelsea Pites explains, drawing parallels between Facebook and Instagram’s policies (15:07).
Instagram is projected to account for half of Meta Platforms' US advertising revenue in the near future, reflecting the platform’s growing importance in digital advertising strategies.
Insights:
Notable Quote:
"They are forecast casting that it's going to exceed that. So there's a lot of money," Chelsea Pites notes regarding Instagram’s financial trajectory (19:09).
A surprising topic discussed is the emergence of paid engagement packages on Instagram. While not officially confirmed, screenshots suggest Instagram may offer services that boost follower counts and engagement metrics for a fee.
Considerations:
Notable Quote:
"It's being reported that Instagram is projected to generate half of meta platforms US advertising revenue in the near future," Chelsea Pites anticipates Instagram’s moves in monetization (19:09).
Instagram is embracing artificial intelligence to revolutionize content creation and user interaction. The upcoming AI-powered editing app promises a suite of tools that simplify complex edits and introduce creative possibilities.
Features:
Notable Quote:
"They are planning on launching a feature this year that has these really comprehensive sort of video modifications," Chelsea Pites expresses excitement about the AI tools (23:14).
Instagram is testing scheduled direct messages (DMs), enabling users to automate message delivery for reminders, follow-ups, or personalized greetings. Additionally, the platform introduces screenshot blocking for certain DM modes, enhancing privacy.
Use Cases:
Notable Quote:
"I was thinking like this week I wanted to reach out to some people that were on a waiting list and I thought, oh, you know what, that actually could be helpful," Chelsea Pites considers the practical applications of scheduled DMs (26:09).
As the episode wraps up, Jerry and Chelsea promote the upcoming Social Media Marketing World event in San Diego, encouraging listeners to attend for deeper insights and networking opportunities. Chelsea also shares her social media handles for further connection.
Final Thought:
"Until next time, may you be wise with your market marketing decisions," Jerry Potter signs off, emphasizing strategic thinking in marketing (28:37).
Listeners are encouraged to stay ahead of these updates by attending Social Media Marketing World and following industry experts like Chelsea Pites for ongoing strategies and insights.
Connect with Chelsea Pites:
For more insights and information, visit SocialMediaExaminer.com/liveshow.