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It’s 🥨 National Pretzel Day, Reader! Do you like them soft or crispy?

In today’s edition:

• Today's 👉 Tip of the Day is for Instagram

• Driving 🧨 tangible business results with video

• TikTok responds to potential 🚫 US ban

• Meta reports 🤖 AI stats for Q1

• 📣 Additional industry news from Reddit and more

Do you spend valuable time creating Instagram Reels and Carousels only to be disappointed by how they look after you upload them on your mobile device? Could low-quality resolution be impacting your performance?

No one likes looking at a fuzzy video, image, or graphic. Uploading your content at the highest quality can improve the performance of your Instagram marketing assets.

Check Your Instagram Settings

Open your Instagram app and navigate to “Data usage and media quality.” If “Upload at highest quality” is turned off, turn it on! This option is usually automatically off because when you upload high-quality video, it uses more mobile data, but when it comes to using core feed features, like Reels and Carousels for marketing, quality is key.

Next, open your camera settings to ensure you are also filming in 4K.

Now, your Instagram content is ready for a close-up!

Today's tip is inspired by Jade Beason, a featured guest on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.

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Optimizing Video for Business Results

Are your videos underperforming? Do they fail to move the needle for your business?

Driving action with your video is the ultimate measure of your success. It's what turns passive views into tangible business results. So, optimize ruthlessly for that action. Make it the focal point of your video and reinforce it at every touchpoint.

Drive a Feeling, Action, or Behavior With Your Video

If your video doesn't motivate the viewer to take a meaningful next step, it will not deliver results for your business. You need to be intentional about the action you want people to take.

Action could be experiencing a feeling. For example, if you're a nonprofit organization, your video might aim to evoke empathy and inspiration.

The action could also be a thought, like seeing your product as a solution to their problem. If you sell a productivity tool, your video might highlight the pain points of a disorganized workflow and position your tool as the answer.

Or the action could be a direct behavior, like clicking through to your website or making a purchase. This is the most tangible type of action, often the ultimate goal for businesses.

Create Your CTA

As you define the action for your video, be clear on whether you want the call to action (CTA) to be soft or hard.

A soft CTA is a low-barrier action that signals interest. It is about building engagement and capturing leads. Soft CTAs are a good fit for top-of-funnel videos where the viewer may not be ready to buy. You might ask the viewer to like the video, leave a comment, subscribe to your channel, follow you on social media, or sign up for your newsletter.

A hard CTA, on the other hand, is much more direct. Hard CTAs are appropriate for bottom-of-funnel videos when you've primed the viewer to act. The key is ensuring your video content has built enough knowledge, likes, and trust to earn that level of commitment. It's about driving a specific, high-commitment action. Hard CTAs include things like "buy now," "call today for a no-cost consultation," "click here to get 50% off," "sign up for our paid membership," or "donate to our cause."

3 Ways to Optimize Your Video for Driving Action

Once you've defined the action for your video, you can optimize it in a few key ways:

What You Say: The words you use, especially at the end of the video, are crucial for driving action. Verbally tell people precisely what you want them to do next. Make the ask crystal clear and actionable. For example, instead of a vague "Check out our website," say, "Click the link in the description to get your no-cost trial now!" Use strong, direct language that compels people to act.

Video Elements: Reinforce your CTA with visual cues within the video itself to help the action stand out and give people an extra nudge. This could include:

• Text overlays that reiterate the next step 

• Arrows or other graphics that point to key information

• Clickable links in the video player 

• End screens that display your website URL or special offer

• Verbal and text-based reminders to comment, like, and subscribe

Surrounding Elements: Think beyond the video player and use all the real estate you have to drive action. Depending on the platform, you might have:

• Video titles and descriptions 

• Buttons or forms beneath the player

• Comment sections

• Pop-ups or email captures

• Related recommended videos

For example, pin a comment with your unique offer link or add an eye-catching button below the video.

The key is to align everything toward that end action. Think through the entire user experience and remove any friction. If you want people to sign up for your webinar, make that the only CTA. Don't clutter the experience with mixed messages or competing offers.

Today's advice is provided with insights from Ben Amos, a featured guest on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.

🗞 Meta’s AI Stats for Q1: In its Platforms' Q1 2024 earnings call, Meta reports how AI is improving its app engagement, leading to more ad views and delivering more value to advertisers. The company reports that the AI recommendation system delivers 30% of posts on Facebook's feed, a 2X surge over the last two years. Additionally, for the first time, more than 50% of the content on Instagram is now AI-recommended. The revenue generated through Meta's two end-to-end AI-powered advertising tools, Advantage+ Shopping and Advantage+ App Campaigns, has more than doubled since the previous year. Source: Meta 

🗞 Reddit’s User Updates: Reddit has unveiled updates to its iOS and Android apps to enhance the user experience and provide faster access to conversations. The changes include instant comment loading for quicker discussion access and a direct shortcut to comments while keeping the post context accessible through a stickied context bar. Users can look at media with a single tap before diving into the comments. Furthermore, Reddit has introduced consistent navigation across all post types, featuring a unified media player, immersive transitions, and intuitive gestures, such as swiping up for conversations and left for new content. Source: Reddit

🗞 Threads Surpasses X in Daily Active Users: According to Apptopia, a third-party app data provider, Meta's Threads app is experiencing a steady growth in daily active users (DAUs) and has surpassed X in daily actives in the United States. As reported by Business Insider, Threads averaged an estimated 28 million DAUs in April, meaning that these users opened the app at least once within 24 hours. X has averaged 22 million DAUs, which is 21% lower than Threads' user engagement. Source: Social Media Today

🗞 Potential TikTok Ban Moves Forward: President Joe Biden has signed a $95 billion national security package that includes a provision that could potentially ban TikTok in the US. The legislation gives TikTok's Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, 9–12 months to sell the app or face a nationwide prohibition. This timeline ensures that TikTok, which has 170 million American users, will remain active throughout the 2024 election campaign, allowing candidates to reach predominantly younger voters on the platform. Source: NBC News 

🗞 TikTok’s Response to Legislation: TikTok has announced its intention to challenge the recently enacted law that could potentially ban the app in the US, calling it "unconstitutional." The company emphasizes that it has invested billions of dollars to ensure the safety of US user data and maintain the platform's integrity without outside influence and manipulation.TikTok warns that the ban would have severe consequences, devastating seven million businesses and silencing 170 million American users. Source: TikTok

Did You Know?

Newfoundland dogs have webbed feet.