Presented by

It’s Manatee Appreciation Day, Reader! Aren’t sea cows the cutest?

In today’s edition:

• Today's 👉 Tip of the Day is for marketing content

• Content that grows ♥️ 👍 engagement and reach

• Instagram 🎠 Carousel test

• LinkedIn Dynamic 🖱️ UTMs

• 📣 Additional industry news from Threads and more

Wondering how to sell more products or services? There are hundreds of cognitive biases that can impact consumer decisions. Is your content designed to address and overcome these obstacles?

Ambiguity bias refers to our tendency to favor options with known outcomes over less certain ones. As marketers, we often focus on the features and benefits of our products but neglect to explain what happens after the purchase. This leaves potential customers uncertain and more likely to choose a competitor with clearer expectations.

How to Overcome Ambiguity Bias

To counter ambiguity bias, walk customers through the post-purchase experience in detail. Specify what they will receive, when it will arrive, and what they should do next. 

Product-based businesses can create engaging content like unboxing videos. These videos show the tangible product and help customers envision themselves using it, making them feel excited and engaged. 

Service-based businesses can detail their onboarding process, providing a clear roadmap of what the first 30-60-90 days of working together will look like. This will help the customer feel prepared and confident, knowing what outcomes to expect at each milestone. 

The more certainty you can offer about the post-purchase experience, the more informed and secure buyers will feel.

Today's tip is inspired by Kenda Macdonald, a featured presenter in the Social Media Marketing Society.

Continuous Learning… Plus, People Who Care

When you join the Social Media Marketing Society, you'll receive training from trusted pros, covering everything from AI to organic social marketing. We curate top-of-class experts, many of whom are the same speakers who teach at our conference.

More than 100 high-quality marketing workshops are ready when you need them. But with membership in the Society, you'll receive so much more...

You'll get a community of marketers—many who are just like you—to help guide and support you. 

I want quality training—and a welcoming community.

How to Trigger Massive Reach on Social Media With AI

The key to creating engaging content is finding topics people have different opinions about. These topics don't have to be controversial or divisive. They can be about everyday, mundane things that people feel strongly about. For example, you could write about the metric system versus the imperial system or the naming conventions for spacecraft. 

The goal is to find topics that have two sides to the equation. This will create avenues for discussion and engagement. Ask yourself, "What are some relatively trivial topics my target audience strongly believes in?"Once you have a list of potential topics, you can create content around them.

Coming up with topics that have different opinions can be challenging. That's where artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT come in. To use AI effectively, start by creating a persona of your target audience. Include their hopes, dreams, fears, and decision-making criteria.

Once you have your persona, ask the AI to generate a list of mundane topics that your target audience might have strong opinions about. For example, you could ask, "What are some relatively trivial topics that marketers have different opinions about?" The AI might come back with topics like video versus the written word, short-form versus long-form video, audio versus video, or Instagram versus TikTok.

The AI will give you many ideas, and you can pick the ones that resonate. Remember, you don't have to use everything the AI suggests. The goal is to use AI to generate ideas and spark your creativity.

Write With Strong Opinions

Instead of using qualifying language like "some people believe" or "it's possible that," state your opinion as a fact. For example, instead of saying, "Some people believe that removing dates from blog posts can increase engagement," say, "Removing dates from blog posts increases engagement."

If you're worried about alienating disagreeing people, you can always include their perspectives in your content. Reach out to people with different opinions and ask them to contribute a quote or a paragraph. This will show you're open to other viewpoints, making your content more well-rounded.

Collaborate With Others

When you collaborate, you get access to different perspectives and ideas you might not have thought of on your own.

To collaborate with others, start by reaching out to people in your network. Ask them if they'd be willing to contribute their opinions on the topic you're writing about. You can also reach out to people you don't know yet, like industry experts or thought leaders.

When you ask people to collaborate with you, be specific about what you're looking for. Tell them the topic you're writing about, the format of the content (e.g., a blog post, a video, a podcast), and how long you need their contribution to be. Make it as easy as possible for them to say yes.

Once you have your collaborators lined up, include their opinions in your content. Include direct quotes from them in your blog post or article, interview them on your podcast or video series, or have them contribute a paragraph or section to your content.

Remember, the goal is to start a conversation and make your content more engaging. Don't be afraid to include opinions that disagree with your own. This will show that you're open-minded and willing to consider different viewpoints.

Publish on Social Media Platforms

Once you've created your content, it's time to publish it on social media. The best platforms for this type of content are the ones that allow for long-form content, like LinkedIn, Facebook, and X/Twitter.

Engaging with the comments and conversations on your social media posts is also important. Respond to comments, ask follow-up questions, and keep the conversation going. This will show that you're invested in the topic and willing to engage with your audience.

Today's advice is provided with insights from Andy Crestodina.

Your Weekly Cup of Social Media News

Social media marketing is constantly changing. What works today may not work next week. Fortunately, the Social Media Marketing Talk Show can help.

Each week, host Jerry Potter covers the latest news across all of the social platforms. Tune in and find out what’s happening now in social marketing. You'll gain insights you can put to work right away to give your social media marketing an extra boost.  

I’m ready for the latest social media news.

🗞 Instagram Carousel Content Mentioning in Comments: Instagram is testing a new feature that allows users to reference specific content within Carousel posts when leaving comments. This enhancement aims to improve user engagement and facilitate more precise discussions around multi-media posts. To mention a particular photo or video in a Carousel, users simply need to type "@" followed by the number indicating the position of the desired content within the Carousel. For example, "@2" refers to the post's second item. After specifying the content, users can type their comment as usual. Once a user posts their comment, Instagram will display a Carousel icon alongside the referenced photo or video number. This visual cue easily allows other users to identify the specific content discussed in the comment. Source: LindseyGamble

🗞 Dynamic UTMs on LinkedIn: Marketers can now automatically add UTM parameters to their LinkedIn campaigns, eliminating the need for manual creation. To use Dynamic UTMs, marketers only need to add a Dynamic UTM parameter to their campaign once. The system automatically populates the account, campaign, and/or creative name into the destination URL. Analytics tools can easily pick up this information, enabling marketers to analyze results more efficiently. Source: LinkedIn

🗞 GIFs on Threads: The platform now supports native GIF search and GIF posting via the app's desktop version. Source: Social Media Today

🗞 YouTube Video Management: YouTube’s Product Lead for home page and recommendation warns channel owners against deleting videos from their library in favor of unlisting videos. The platform’s Creator Liaison further amplified the advice, giving it added weight. Source: Search Engine Journal

Did You Know?

Manatees cruise along at an average speed of 5 mph.