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It’s National Talk in an Elevator Day, Reader... No thank you, please.

In today’s edition:

• 🏜️ Today's Tip of the Day is for thumbnail design

• 📸 🤳 How to acquire valuable UGC

• Bing tests new AI search experience

• X launches new Grok features

• 🗞️ Additional industry news from Adobe, Threads, TikTok, and more

Want to improve the click-through rate on your videos or podcasts? If you set and forget your thumbnail, you might be missing out on important data that can dramatically improve performance.

Let Retention Guide New Thumbnail Designs

After your episode has been up for a week, take a look at your retention graphs to see the places where audience interest peaks. 

Pull quotes of no more than eight words from these sections and use them on new thumbnail designs.  

When you’re ready, run A/B tests to determine which thumbnails perform better.

Today's advice is provided with insights from Mike Russell, a featured guest on the AI Explored podcast.

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UGC Strategy for Improving Visibility and Sales

Wish you could easily get great content for your social platforms? Wondering how to leverage user-generated content (UGC) in your marketing? 

The advantages of UGC extend beyond just building trust. It can significantly reduce the content creation burden on marketing teams, allowing them to focus on strategy and curation rather than constant production. This is particularly valuable for smaller businesses or those in niche markets where professional content creation might be challenging or expensive.

UGC also provides invaluable market insights. By analyzing the content users create, brands can better understand how their products are being used, what features are most appreciated, and what pain points might still exist. This information can inform product development, marketing strategies, and customer service improvements.

As a bonus, UGC can enhance SEO efforts. User-created content often includes natural, conversational language that potential customers might use in searches, helping to improve a brand's visibility in search engine results. It also grows the volume of content associated with a brand, potentially improving its overall online presence.

UGC is particularly powerful because it represents authentic experiences and opinions from real users. Unlike traditional marketing materials, UGC often captures genuine moments of product use in everyday life, providing potential customers with relatable and trustworthy content.

The authenticity of UGC can be especially impactful in industries where trust is paramount, such as healthcare, finance, or high-end consumer goods. For instance, a skincare brand might benefit from users sharing before-and-after photos or detailed reviews of their experience with a product over time. This kind of content can address potential customers' concerns and showcase real results in a way that branded content often struggles to achieve.

Sound good? Let's get started…

Put Permissions in Place

Before using UGC, consider the legal aspects, particularly intellectual property rights. Ensure you have clear policies and user agreements that outline how you intend to use submitted content.

3 Practical Tips for Acquiring Strategic UGC in Your Marketing

Brands can employ creative strategies beyond basic contests and hashtags to stimulate UGC creation. For instance, creating "unboxing experiences" with visually appealing packaging and unexpected extras can encourage customers to share their initial reactions on social media. Some companies include small, branded props or accessories with their products specifically designed for social media photo ops.

Interactive elements can also improve UGC. For example, a coffee brand might include a QR code on its packaging that, when scanned, opens a mobile app, allowing customers to record and share their morning coffee ritual. This not only encourages content creation but also provides the brand with valuable data on customer habits and preferences.

Collaborations with UGC creators can be taken further by involving them in brand ambassador programs, product development, or limited edition releases. This generates content and creates a sense of exclusivity and insider access that can be highly appealing to audiences.

Implementing UGC in Your Marketing

Now, you have to decide where and how to use your content. 

Consider how you can integrate UGC into the entire customer journey, from awareness to post-purchase support. For example, you could incorporate user-submitted questions and answers into product pages, or customer success stories could be featured in email marketing campaigns to re-engage past purchasers.

To maximize the impact of UGC, consider creating dedicated spaces for it on your website or app. This could be a community forum, a customer photo gallery, or a section for user-submitted tips and tricks. This not only showcases the content but also creates a destination for potential customers to explore real user experiences.

Pro Tip: Analytics plays a crucial role in a successful UGC strategy. Tracking metrics such as engagement rates, conversion impact, and sentiment analysis of UGC can help refine your approach over time.

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

Bing Tests New Gen AI Search Experience: Microsoft’s Bing is testing a new generative search experience that combines AI language models with traditional search results. This feature creates an AI-generated layout that includes answer summaries, source citations, and related sections alongside standard results. Source: Search Engine Land

Adobe Adds New Gen AI Features: Adobe is adding new generative AI features to Illustrator and Photoshop. Illustrator's updates, powered by the latest Firefly Vector AI model, include Generative Shape Fill, improved Text to Pattern, and Style Reference tools. Photoshop updates include upgrades to its Generate Image feature, Enhance Detail for Generative Fill, and a new Selection Brush tool. Source: The Verge

Threads Tests ‘Your Feeds’: Threads is testing a new feature called "Your feeds" for iOS users. This feature will enable users to access personalized content streams directly from the app's homepage. Specifically, users will be able to view custom feeds such as "Liked posts" or "Saved posts" without navigating away from the main screen. Source: Radu Oncescu via Threads

Threads Updates Images: Threads is rolling out an update that removes the borders and rounded corners of photos when users pinch the images to zoom. Source: @mosseri via Threads

TikTok’s Custom Thumbnails: TikTok has added a new feature allowing creators to upload custom thumbnail images for their videos. Users can now choose a specific video frame or upload their own image as a thumbnail during the upload process. Source: Social Media Today

TikTok Launches TikTok Shop in Spain and Ireland: TikTok plans to launch TikTok Shop in Spain and Ireland as early as October. Source: MSN

X’s New Grok Features: X is introducing new features for its AI chatbot, Grok, which is available to Premium subscribers on the web platform. One new capability allows users to hover over an account, prompting Grok to summarize that account. Users can also highlight any text on the platform and ask Grok for information or analysis about the selected content. Source: Miguel Bollar via X

YouTube Updates: YouTube creators can now see personalized content in the Inspiration Tab in Japanese, Korean, or Hindi. Additionally, creators can now save music directly from their Shorts feed to any of their playlists. Finally, YouTube has added new creator resources to the YouTube Help Center under the “Creator tips” tab. Source: YouTube

Did You Know?

Bluetooth tech was named after 9th-century king Harald Bluetooth. The logo we all recognize is a combination of runes for his initials.