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It’s Pie in the Face Day, Reader! Which would you choose: banana cream or lemon cream?

In today’s edition:

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

• ☺️ Communication tips for working with AI

• YouTube Shorts tools

• TikTok Studio launches

• 🗞️ Additional industry news from Threads, Claude, and more

Do your Instagram Reels need to deliver more results? Could your content mix use some grounding?

3 Types of Strategic Instagram Reels to Rotate

Drive Sales With Sell Shots: When creating a sell shot, be clear about what you're selling and why people should buy it—be clear about the value you're offering and include a strong call to action. Instead of just showing your product on a plain background, include multiple elements that might catch people's attention.

For example, if you're selling a coffee mug, you would show it being used in a beautiful location, like a park or beach. 

Sell shots are a great place to use transitions. For instance, you could show the mug being placed on a table, and it changes color when it touches the surface. This shot creates a visually interesting moment that captures attention while still showcasing your product.

Get More Shares, Saves, and Comments With Engagement Shots: Unlike sell shots, engagement shots aren't about selling directly. Instead, they focus on educating or entertaining your audience.

For example, an engagement shot might be a video teaching proper form for a specific exercise if you run a gym. If you sell coffee mugs, you might share a "life hack" about using the mug to organize office supplies. The idea is to create content people want to save for later or share with friends. 

Trends can be a great source of engagement content. By putting your spin on a popular trend, you can tap into your existing audience's interest.

Connect With Your Audience With Culture Shots: When people understand and respect your story, they're more likely to support you when you ask for a sale. This shot might involve telling your company's story, sharing behind-the-scenes content, or highlighting your company culture.

For example, if you're a founder of a coffee mug business, you might create a Reel that says, "Hi everybody. Today, I want to mix it up a little bit. I want to tell you how my family got into the coffee mug business. My grandfather was among the first people in Canada to bring coffee mugs from Europe."

Today's tip was inspired by Eden Hazan, a featured guest on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.

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Mastering AI Communication: The Foundation of Success

The most crucial skill in AI mastery is learning how to communicate effectively with these tools. 

This skill goes far beyond simple prompt engineering - it's about developing a comprehensive communication strategy that consistently delivers results.

Here are three expert tips to try today.

The Power of Role Definition in AI Projects

Every interaction with AI should begin with a clear definition of its role.

The role isn't just a formality - it fundamentally shapes how the AI approaches your request. 

"You should always be starting your conversation with telling the AI who it is in the context of this conversation," Leffer emphasizes.

The specific language you use matters more than you might think.

Through extensive A/B testing with multiple AI tools, Leffer has discovered that saying "You are" produces consistently better results than "Act as." The psychology behind this is fascinating. When you tell the AI to act as something, you're essentially asking it to pretend or mimic. But when you tell it that it is something, you establish a deeper framework for the interaction.

Consider these two approaches:

Wrong: Act like a social media expert and help me write a LinkedIn post about artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Right: You are the world's leading social media strategist with specialized expertise in LinkedIn B2B copywriting and deep knowledge of the healthcare technology sector. You have a proven track record of creating engaging content that strictly complies with healthcare regulations while driving meaningful engagement.

The difference might seem subtle, but the impact on output quality is significant. The second approach provides rich context that guides the AI's understanding and shapes its response.

The Surprising Impact of Politeness in AI Prompts

One of the most counterintuitive discoveries in AI communication is the importance of politeness. 

"There has been some really bad viral advice not to say please to the AI," Leffer reveals. That's awful advice. There are actually studies that have come out that it improves the quality of the response."

Being polite isn't just about adding pleasantries - it's about treating the AI as you would a knowledgeable colleague. The more human psychology you apply in your interactions with AI, the better your results will be. Examples include:

• Expressing appreciation for the AI's efforts

• Acknowledging the importance of the task

• Providing context about real-world impact

• Using please and thank you consistently

• Giving the AI time to think"through complex problems

The Art of Context Setting

Beyond politeness and role definition, providing rich context is essential for getting optimal results from AI tools. This isn't just about stating your immediate needs - it's about painting a complete picture that helps the AI understand the broader situation and objectives.

"You need to understand that things work in some contexts and not others," Leffer explains. "It depends what you're doing."

She's discovered that different psychological approaches work better for different types of tasks. For instance, telling the AI it's well-caffeinated can improve performance on analytical tasks but might hinder creativity.

When setting context, consider including:

Background Information: Our company is a B2B healthcare technology provider that helps hospitals streamline their patient intake processes. We're preparing content for a major product launch targeting hospital administrators and IT directors.

Specific Constraints: All content must comply with HIPAA regulations and maintain a professional, authoritative tone while still being accessible to non-technical decision-makers.

Clear Objectives: The goal is to generate interest in our new platform by highlighting its ROI potential and ease of implementation, ultimately driving demo requests from qualified prospects.

Today's advice provided with insights Nicole Leffer, a featured guest on the AI Explored podcast.

Connect Claude to Data Sources: Anthropic has released the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This open-source standard allows AI assistants to connect directly with various data sources and business tools. MCP provides a universal protocol for AI-data connections, replacing the need for multiple custom integrations, and includes SDKs, local server support in Claude Desktop apps, and an open-source repository of pre-built servers for popular platforms like Google Drive, Slack, and GitHub. Developers can use MCP immediately through the Claude Desktop app, with expanded deployment options for Claude for Work customers coming soon. Source: Anthropic

Zoom Rebrand: Zoom is repositioning itself as an AI-focused technology company that extends beyond its well-known video conferencing platform. The company now emphasizes its role in providing comprehensive solutions for hybrid work environments, with AI technology at the core of its business strategy to facilitate smooth collaboration. Source: Zoom

Instagram DM Features: The platform is adding 17 new sticker packs containing over 300 stickers and the ability to favorite and reuse stickers from chats, including those created with cutouts. Users can now create custom nicknames for themselves and their friends within DM conversations. These nicknames only appear in direct messages and don't affect usernames elsewhere on Instagram. Users maintain control over who can change their nicknames, with the default setting allowing changes from followed accounts. A new location-sharing feature will enable users to share their live location for up to one hour or pin specific locations on a map. This feature is designed to coordinate meetups and is only available in select countries. The location sharing is restricted to private DM conversations, cannot be forwarded to other chats, and includes safety features like automatic one-hour expiration and visible sharing indicators. Source: Instagram

Threads UX Experiments: Threads is testing new enhancements to its search functionality that will allow users to filter posts by specific date ranges and search within individual user accounts. For users in the United States, Threads is expanding its Trending Now feature to include more trending topics. Additionally, the platform is implementing AI technology to provide automated summaries of trending discussions. Source: @Mosseri via Threads In addition, the platform is also testing the option to let you choose the For You, following, or a custom feed as your default. Source: @Zuck via Threads

Video on Threads: Threads confirmed it now supports landscape video. Source: @Threads via Threads

TikTok Studio: TikTok launched the desktop platform to replace Creator Center Beta. This hub centralizes various creator tools, including analytics, creative resources, monetization options, and educational materials. Desktop users can access 'Unlimited Sounds' to protect their one-minute videos from being muted, with no restrictions on how long the feature can be used. Source: Lindsey Gamble via Threads

YouTube Shorts and Feature Updates: YouTube has completed rolling out updates allowing Shorts videos between 1 to 3 minutes to appear across the subscriptions tab, Channel pages, and YouTube Studio. These videos will now appear on the Shorts shelf on the subscriptions page and in the Shorts tab on channel pages and YouTube Studio. Creators who prefer their uploads to be considered long-form content can upload videos in a wider aspect ratio, like 16:9, instead of the Shorts format. YouTube is also introducing new features for sharing and publishing videos from other apps on Android and iOS, giving creators direct access to Shorts creation tools. Creators can trim videos, add captions, adjust visibility settings, set location, and enhance their videos before publishing, just as they can when creating directly in the YouTube app. YouTube has launched an improvement to quiz posts that allows creators to add images to multiple-choice answers, initially available on Android devices but visible to viewers on all platforms where Community posts are available. A new text transform tool helps creators rephrase and customize their post text, along with Dream Screen, which enables image generation based on prompts. YouTube is expanding access to BrandConnect, a self-service platform connecting creators with brand deal opportunities, by adding a dedicated tab in Studio under the earn section for all eligible creators. A pilot program called Open Call is being tested through December, allowing advertisers to request custom ad content from creators, with opportunities including creative prompts, brand information, and payment for selected content. YouTube is introducing a new "Captured with a Camera" disclosure in the expanded description box for content filmed using special technology that verifies videos through C2PA 2.1 or higher standards. The "Captured with a Camera" feature is separate from existing altered and synthetic labels and will be relevant to a small number of creators interested in validating their content's authenticity. Source: YouTube

Did You Know?

In early Hollywood, a "pie à la mode" wasn't pie with ice cream. It meant a pie thrown with a specific underhand technique for maximum face-coverage.