Mondays can feel overwhelming, Reader, but don’t worry... we’ve got your social media marketing and AI updates covered. Here’s a quick rundown to help you start the week strong.

In today’s edition:

• Are your Meta ads results misleading you

• The Instagram posting strategy that won't have you overthinking

• LinkedIn Updates: Comment analytics, newsletter metrics, predictive audiences, and more

• ChatGPT and Google Collab: How to do your own data analysis

• 🗞️ Industry news from LinkedIn, Reddit, and more

Is Meta Ads Manager Making Ad Results Look Better Than They Are?

Ever wondered if those amazing Meta ad results are too good to be true? Jon Loomer's latest guide tackles the uncomfortable question many marketers avoid: are your results inflated?

While we all love seeing impressive numbers, inflated results can hide serious problems. You might be burning money on low-quality leads or false conversions that make your reports look great but deliver zero actual value.

Loomer breaks down how to spot inflation across different campaign types - from sales and leads to top-of-funnel metrics like link clicks. He provides practical troubleshooting steps, including:

• Checking if conversion events fire at the right moment

• Using attribution comparison to see what's really working

• Spotting algorithmic exploitation of age groups, countries, or placements

Better to know now than waste your budget on metrics that don't matter. Read more here.

Tired of Instagram Grid Anxiety? This Simple Pattern Changes Everything

Ever find yourself staring at your phone for 20 minutes, debating which photo to post next? You're not alone.

While everyone's stressing about the "perfect" Instagram aesthetic, Lucas O'Keefe has a crazy-simple strategy that gives you personal connection, algorithm-boosting power, and value-packed engagement.

Your grid will automatically look balanced and professional without the overthinking headache. Read more here.

This Really Is Your Last Chance…

Social Media Marketing World is the best place to learn the latest marketing strategies. It’s taking place just 6 days from now (Mar 30 - Apr 1) in sunny San Diego. 

If you want to attend, it’s now or never. 

"We left with so many ideas… We are all fired up and ready to go!" said attendees Rusty and Teresa Andrews.

We have options for recordings and streaming if you can't attend in person.

I’m ready to make 2025 my best year ever!

Discover LinkedIn's latest analytic features, including metrics for newsletter open rates and post comments, and find out how to customize your LinkedIn feed to show the posts you really want to see. We also talked about some exciting new offerings for people creating content for LinkedIn.

Plus, we explore what's happening with data-scraping tools on the platform and how their removal is shaking things up for some businesses.

Meet People Who Can Help You

As marketers, sometimes we need someone to talk to, someone who understands our struggles and can nudge us in the right direction. If you attend Social Media Marketing World next week, you will find a lot of people like that–marketers who are happy to share what's working and what's not. 

We've also designed a great place that makes this possible. We call them Table Talks. When you attend, you will find dozens of networking tables dedicated to a wide range of topics.

I’m ready to connect with other marketers.

No Data Scientist? No Problem: AI-Powered Business Insights Are Easily Within Your Reach

Ever feel like you're sitting on a goldmine of business data but can't extract its value? In his episode of Leveraging AI, Isar Meitis shows how to transform raw data into actionable insights—without a data science degree.

Discover how to create comprehensive business reports in minutes instead of days using ChatGPT. Learn to transform screenshots into analyzable tables, combine siloed data from different departments, and generate visualization-rich reports that reveal hidden patterns in your numbers.

You'll also see how Google Colab can pull external data through APIs and create interactive maps, perfect for making location-based business decisions.

Whether you're tracking customer profitability, analyzing financials, or planning market expansion, these tips and tools democratize data analysis that once required specialized teams. Watch more here.

Use Calendly in LinkedIn Custom Button: This integration allows custom button users to create or link a Calendly account, enabling viewers to schedule meetings directly on LinkedIn without leaving the platform. Source: LinkedIn

LinkedIn Introduces Custom Date Range for Analytics: This feature allows users to track performance metrics during specific time periods of their choosing. Users are no longer restricted to preset timeframes and can instead select custom date ranges that align with their goals. This functionality applies to tracking both impressions and engagements on user content. Source: LinkedIn

Meta Announces AI-Powered Business Tools & Ads: Meta is expanding access to omnichannel ads that drive online and in-store sales. This summer, Meta will introduce a simplified checkout experience for Shops ads that directs people to complete purchases on advertisers' websites after building their cart. Meta now allows advertisers to combine Partnership ads with Advantage+ catalog ads, bringing creator content to this experience. A new optimization feature will show additional products from catalogs when promoting preferred items. This spring, Meta will begin testing ads in Facebook notifications, giving advertisers a new way to engage people and drive product discovery and reconsideration. Meta will introduce the ability for advertisers to request emails before sharing promo codes in promotion ads. Site links will soon be available globally on Instagram, allowing marketers to highlight multiple landing pages in a single ad. Source: Meta

Reddit Replaces Private Messages (PMs) with Reddit Chat and Inbox Notifications: The transition will begin in late March and roll out in phases over three months. Existing PMs will remain accessible as a read-only archive on the updated reddit.com website. Reddit Chat will offer enhanced features, including pinned chats, unread filters, a spam folder, and more sender context when accepting invites. Mod Mail will remain unchanged, but Mod Mail messages will now be delivered to recipients as chat messages instead of PMs. PM APIs will remain active for 99% of requests, allowing developers to continue using PM API endpoints without code changes. Admin notifications that don't support replies will appear as inbox notifications, with user-configurable preferences in settings. Source: Reddit

Did You Know?

Bluebells have been used historically for various purposes. Their sticky sap was used for bookbinding and attaching feathers to arrows, while their bulbs provided starch for stiffening collars during the Elizabethan era.