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It’s Treat Yo' Self Day, Reader! Want a blow-up 🦖 dinosaur costume? Go get it! Want to eat 🧇 waffles for lunch? Do it! It’s all about you, today!

In today’s edition:

• Today's 👉 Tip of the Day is about 🍎 iOS 17 privacy updates

• UGC in Facebook ads that convert 🛍

• Facebook ads ☎️ calling

• One tap 👆 Reels sharing to Instagram

• 🔘 Post to TikTok from 3rd party platforms

In June 2023, Apple announced new privacy features that would appear with the rollout of its iOS 17 update. Two features immediately caught the attention of marketers when the update was released on September 18, 2023: Link Tracking Protection and Private Browsing.

Link Tracking Protection (LTP): The Facts

Per Apple, “Some websites add extra information to their URLs in order to track users across other websites. Now this information will be removed from the links users share in Messages and Mail, and the links will still work as expected. This information will also be removed from links in Safari Private Browsing.”

Don’t Panic 

LTP will not remove UTM parameters from your URLs. Your links will continue to deliver traffic to the destinations you originally intended.

LTP will strip tracking parameters such as the Facebook Click Identifier (FBCLID) and Google Click Identifier (GCLID) from URLs. This means you’re no longer able to track the activity of individual users who open links in Safari Private Browsing or Apple’s Messages and Mail.

If a large segment of your customers are Apple users, you can track and measure ad attribution via Private Click Measurement.

When seeking out UGC, it's tempting to only leverage your happiest, most vocal customers. However, just because someone loves your product doesn't mean they can create great marketing content.

By tapping into a pool of creators who truly know your niche, you get passion, production prowess, and a potential audience all in one. Focus your efforts on cultivating win-win partnerships with relevant creators who can inject authenticity while also effectively communicating your brand story.

Before you reach out to a single creator, do your homework on your brand and creators. This upfront research will pay huge dividends by ensuring the content you produce matches your campaign goals.

Conduct Extensive Creative Strategy Research

Here are three research activities that should form the foundation of your UGC video ad strategy:

Mine Customer Reviews: Comb through online reviews, social conversations, survey data, and other sources to uncover your ideal customer's pain points and desires. Identify the precise language they use to describe their motivations and goals. This will come in handy when writing creative briefs for your creators.

Study Competitors' Ad Creative: Head to the Facebook Ad Library or TikTok’s Top Ads section to see what ads your competitors are running on Facebook and Instagram. Analyze and look for trends in concepts, creators, hooks, and video styles that could inform your own UGC strategy.

Conduct a Brand Reputation Analysis: Google your brand name and related keywords to assess your reputation across forums, reviews, press articles, Reddit, and other corners of the web. Make note of the sentiment, common questions, misconceptions, praise, and critiques. This 360 view will reveal how your brand is perceived and where there are gaps you can fill with thoughtful content.

Craft Highly Detailed Creative Briefs 

With your research insights in hand, you're ready to brief creators on the exact type of content you need them to produce. Avoid vague, generic briefs - get highly specific in order to get ads that hit the mark.

Include the following details in your creative briefs:

• Example Scripts: Provide 2-3 sample scripts with different hooks that align with your campaign goals. Outline your ideal narrative arc.

• Shot Lists: List the exact angles and framing you want for b-roll footage. Identify ideal use cases and scenarios to depict. 

• Guidelines: Give clear directives on preferred wardrobe styles, ideal lighting, backgrounds, logos to avoid, etc.

• Deadlines: Be clear on your schedule and expected turnaround time. Rush fees may apply for expedited timelines.

• References: Share links to relevant ads or content that exemplify your desired look and feel.

• Creative Assets: Provide logos, graphics, images, or other building blocks for creators to incorporate.

• Contact Info: Provide email/phone contacts for creators to get real-time feedback.

By providing this level of detail upfront, you'll have a much easier time reviewing and selecting from the content your creators submit.

Give Each Creator a Customized Brief

Avoid the rookie mistake of handing the same generic brief to all the creators you’re working with. Instead, look at each creator’s existing content and aesthetic. Tailor each brief to play into their strengths, whether that's data-driven analysis, quirky humor, DIY tutorials, or inspirational storytelling.

Then, give them reasonable creative license to inject their authentic self into the content. As long as they communicate your core product benefits and solutions, let their voice shine through.

You'll end up with a content library full of diverse, engaging videos instead of repetitive ads that all feel the same.

Today's advice provided with insights from Dara Denney, a featured speaker at Social Media Marketing World.

Engage With the Top Experts

When you attend Social Media Marketing World, you'll experience pro trainers who really care about you having a transformation. We seek out speakers who are willing to be available to you throughout the entire conference. None of them will disappear behind a curtain, never to be seen again! That means you can come up to them—any time—and get your questions answered.

Isn't it time for you to see what you've been missing?

See our speaker lineup here.

🗞 Facebook's Click-to-Message + Call Prompt ads: The new ad format lets brands prompt users to call them directly, via a voice call, right from the ad itself. Source: Meta

🗞 Sharing to Reels: Instagram has opened its Sharing to Reels integration to all developers so they can add a one-tap Reels button to let users instantly share short videos to Instagram Reels. Users can also customize shared videos with Reels editing tools like audio, stickers, and effects before posting. Source: Meta

🗞 TikTok Launches Direct Post: This feature allows creators to seamlessly post video content from third-party platforms to TikTok with one click. Creators can set captions, manage audience settings, and schedule posts, without leaving the partner platform. Source: TikTok

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