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It’s International 🧢 👒 🎩 Hat Day, Reader! What’s on your noggin?

In today’s edition:

• Today's 👉 Tip of the Day is for AI

• YouTube ads that 🎯 qualify viewers

• All public Instagram Reels are ⤵️ downloadable

• Snapchat tests an 🚫 ad-free feed

• 👆 Custom feed controls for TikTok

• X/Twitter brings back 🔗 links in headlines

Having trouble getting the social content you need out of your AI? Fine-tuning your directions can help.

Tips for AI Prompt Engineering

Telling an AI what you want is called giving it a “prompt.” And “prompt engineering” is the art of phrasing your requests so you get the most effective, useful, or creative results.

Here are a few tips to get the social content you want from your AI tools:

• Start with a general prompt to test what the AI gives you, then gradually make it more descriptive to refine the results.

• Suggest a reading level or target audience to adjust the tone of the text. 

• If you don’t want the copy to be too structured or conventional, try adding the phrase “in a casual tone” or “in a conversational tone” to your prompt.

• For social content, you can ask the AI to suggest emojis and GIFs. It won’t actually return a GIF but it will tell you what to look for on Giphy or another resource.

Remember, the more details you give about the purpose and audience of the content, the better the AI will be able to guess the context and style you want.

Today's tip is inspired by Paul Roetzer, a featured speaker at Social Media Marketing World.

What makes YouTube so competitive? It's a magic formula of social media plus search. Users go there to share, discuss, and be entertained… and to learn, discover, and research. YouTube users are uniquely purposeful. They use the platform with clear search intent, even its social features. They're looking for answers and solutions.

Wondering how to create YouTube advertising content that qualifies those viewers before they click through to your website?

Create a Perfect User Journey on YouTube

The most effective video ads strategy in 2023 is to nurture your leads on the platform for as long as possible. Then, when you do get those few, expensive clicks, they're guaranteed to convert into sales. 

Do Your Keyword Research on YouTube

The most effective keyword research tool for YouTube is YouTube itself.

Type a seed keyword or short-tail phrase of eight words or less into the YouTube search bar, then look at the first few results. Make notes about which keywords or phrases, title formats, thumbnails, and visual trends are most popular.

Use this information to come up with a video title, based on your original seed keyword, as well as a video thumbnail and outline.

Thousands of words have been written about how to design the most effective YouTube thumbnail. In the end, it comes down to just a few basic points.

• Use a candid shot from the video, showing a human face. The thumbnail should never be staged or faceless.

• Add some color, graphics, and maybe even some text or emojis to catch viewers' attention and show your expertise. Specific numbers and charts can be powerful. Just don't overcrowd the image.

• Make the thumbnail specific to your topic. Don't use vague phrases or stock images that will leave viewers wondering what your video is about.

Once you have the right keywords, title, and thumbnail, all that's left to do is create the YouTube video itself designed for maximum retention.

Pro Tip: Remember to use the keywords you found in your YouTube search results to target your ad content users will see your ads when they search with these keywords.

Create a 10-Minute YouTube Ad in 7 Steps

You're not trying to create 30 seconds of easy entertainment with a logo at the end. You’re creating a video that guides users through the buyer's journey, all before they even leave YouTube. The ADUCATE framework walks you through it.

Attention. Use the video keywords and titles in the first three seconds. Don't waste any time introducing yourself, explaining what you're going to talk about, or showing a logo. You'll lose viewers immediately. Just get straight into the value.

Demonstration. This is the biggest part of your video outline. Break down your product, service, course content, or coaching approach. Tell people why your offer is valuable or important; what they need to know about it; and how they can use it. Then clinch the deal by talking about what if. What will your offer do for them? What will they achieve or not achieve, by making a purchase?

Unique. Next, talk about what makes you or your brand unique. If you don't appear unique, then viewers have no reason to choose you over the competition. This is a good time to talk about your motivation, purpose, values, and viewpoint. As well as building authority, you'll also lay the foundation for an emotional connection with your audience.

Customer. Your ads aren't just to attract viewers. They're also intended to qualify your leads. Your targets are people who understand your offer, want it, and are ready to take action to get it. The most effective way to filter your leads with YouTube content is to say so upfront. Use phrases like "These are the people I want to work with…" You can also speak to people who are not as far along in the buyer's journey by sharing your own business story so they can relate.

Adapt. Vulnerability is an important part of emotional connection. So you'll need to share some of the lows from your story if you want to relate to viewers. Talk about your prototypes, test runs, mistakes, and struggles. Be real about any initial drawbacks of your product. 

Trust. Once you've shared some vulnerability, you can establish trust. Start by explaining how you fixed the problems that you just described. Bring in social proof such as press, reviews, testimonials, and awards to show that you overcame the challenges successfully.

Exit. Finally, tell people what you want them to do next: subscribe, watch another video, or maybe even click that link. Remind them what your ideal customer looks like and sweeten the deal with any bonuses, offers, or guarantees. 

Once you're used to outlining videos with the ADUCATE framework, you'll be able to spend most of your time on the Attention and Demonstration phases. You can get from Unique to Exit in as little as two minutes!

The result will be engaging, expert videos with a high retention rate. And when you do get clicks, they'll convert into sales. Video ads may be changing, but with this YouTube ad strategy, your business can handle it.

Today's advice is provided with insights from Tom Breeze.

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🗞 Instagram Enables Global Reels Downloads: Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that as of this week the platform globally allows users to download public Reels videos to their devices, no longer limiting saves to the app. Downloaded Reels will feature an Instagram watermark with the account name, similar to TikTok. Users can tap the share button on any Reel and select "download" to save a copy. Accounts can disable the download feature for their content within privacy settings. However, licensed audio will be removed from downloaded Reels, with only original audio tracks included. The rollout marks an expansion of Instagram Reels capabilities as it continues to take on TikTok. Source: TechCrunch

🗞 Snapchat Testing Paid Ad-Free Subscription: Snapchat has started testing a new premium subscription plan called Snapchat+ in Australia that offers an ad-free experience for AUD $10.50 per month. While sponsored places and AI responses may still be present, the tier removes ads from Stories and Lenses. Snapchat+ also provides lower-priced monthly and annual plans that retain full advertising. The ad-free option, which can be canceled anytime, is currently only available in Australia as Snapchat evaluates demand and potential impact on ad revenue. Expansion plans for the Snapchat+ paid tier to other countries remain unclear. Source: Search Engine Land

🗞 TikTok Adds Custom Feed Option: A setting within the "For You" page enables users to provide written guidance on the types of content they want to see more or less of in their feed. Users can enter simple text prompts like "show me more cooking videos" and TikTok will adjust recommendations accordingly, even allowing requests for certain types of content for set periods of time. This conversational approach to customizing one's feed aligns with the interface of ChatGPT and other AI tools, moving away from reliance on opaque user engagement metrics. The new feature provides more transparency and control to shape a preferred TikTok experience. Source: Social Media Today

🗞 X/Twitter to Resume Displaying Link Headlines: Twitter CEO Elon Musk stated that the platform will soon reinstate the practice of showing headlines for linked articles in preview cards, after removing them in October for "improved aesthetics." Musk did not provide an exact timeline for the change but said an upcoming update will display titles in the upper portion of URL Cards to provide context. The change reverses a previous decision to require users to click into links to view the accompanying headline. While likely welcomed by publishers, the addition of headlines may undermine recent workaround formats that integrated custom headlines into share card images or tweets. Source: TechCrunch

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Did You Know?

A group of sea otters resting in the water is called a raft.