ICYMI: Instagram lets creators make AI bots
Remember last week’s ICYMI newsletter that listed a bunch of Reddit green flags? It led to several marketing pros proclaiming their love for the platform and the CEO of a social-centric marketing agency sharing this organic campaign they pulled off with the help of Redditors for Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries. And shout out to the influencers, marketers and journalists I spoke with this week at UCLA as part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program for professional and cultural exchanges. ⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY
💻 ROADMAP📲 Meta UpdatesInstagram announced creators can now build AI extensions of themselves to answer common DM questions and provide Story replies. It’s part of Meta’s AI Studio launch (US only for now) starting with Creator AI and AI Characters. Creators can turn auto-replies on and off through the Professional Dashboard and decide who their AI replies to. Plus Meta says responses from creator AIs are clearly labeled to provide full transparency. And it’s not just creators. Anyone can build an AI character for utility, fun or support based on their interests. Meta’s examples include AI bots that provide restaurant recommendations, positive affirmations, photography tips, fashion credits and more. Note: Brands still need to go through Meta’s business tools. My Take: If you’re already using a DM automation service like ManyChat, this is similar. The benefits of AI Studio are it’s free, seems relatively easy to set up — no coding required — and integrates within the Meta universe. Some people are concerned that the AI will be abused and audiences might not realize they’re chatting with an AI version of the creator. It’s possible. But I’ve seen the labeling and it’s pretty clear. Plus, transparency always benefits influencers. So, as long as responses continue to be clearly labeled I don’t think audiences will be surprised or feel tricked by automated messages — a service which already exists. Creators can create an AI directly in the Instagram app or on the AI Studio site.
📲 TikTok Updates
📲 Snapchat Updates
📲 Twitch Updates
🗂️ CASE STUDYAI As an Unbiased Decision MakerMade by Nacho, celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s cat food brand, was facing a familiar challenge: The brand’s engagement rate on Instagram was 0.78% but the community manager felt like they could do better. So, they turned to AI for answers. Dash Hudson’s Vision AI tool revealed a surprising audience preference: orange – the brand’s (and Nacho’s) signature color – outperformed the dark purple they were using in the Feed. It’s a relatively subtle visual change but after they started to change the content color cues, their engagement rate rose to 2.2%. As a data geek always on the lookout for actionable insights, Dash Hudson’s “Social Media Trends Report” delivers with platform benchmarks and real world case studies, like Made by Nacho’s. The report is full of useful insights you can use to demonstrate to your team how the future of marketing is the convergence of AI, creators and entertainment-focused content. *sponsored 👆🏻 CLICK THRU👟 Nike: An Epic Saga of Value Destruction We’re all reading this LinkedIn post, right?! A former senior brand director at Nike wrote a scathing takedown of leadership. He documented the recent shift from long-term brand marketing to performance marketing and programmatic advertising that sacrificed creativity for data driven predictions. I don’t know enough about the business to sound off but it’s a fascinating recap of everything that went wrong, leading to missed revenue goals, a 20% drop in shares last quarter, the biggest daily decline on record, and some seriously pissed off former employees. 🧒🏽 🧑🏻🦰 What advertisers need to know about the Kids Online Safety Act The Senate passed two bills that could affect how advertisers interact with children online, if they become law. COPPA 2.0 would effectively ban targeted advertising and collecting personal information on anyone under the age of 17. While KOSA would require tech companies to take “reasonable measures” to mitigate harms against minors. There is some valid controversy over what constitutes harmful content. But, if thoughtfully executed, could be helpful legislation given the mental health crisis among teens. 🎤 Senate lawmakers turn to online content creators to push legislation Lawmakers are acknowledging where people get their news. As such, Senate Democrats are trying to build relationships with creators to push their messaging, instead of relying on traditional media. The last time I visited the White House I said it was conceivable that at some point in the future there would be members of the White House press corps that publish exclusively to YouTube or Instagram or some as of yet unknown channel. It feels like that reality is getting closer everyday. 🏐 NBC bets on social media influencers to draw Gen Z to the Games It’s been interesting to watch coverage of the 27 influencers NBC brought to the Olympics. The “Paris Creator Collective” is made up of athletes, food, fashion and lifestyle creators who could bring Gen Z eyeballs to the summer games. But it’s more of an integrated effort (as every good campaign should be). NBC is combining its social efforts with traditional broadcast efforts. They’re also leaning on traditional celebrities. The most prominent being Snoop Dogg — everybody’s favorite uncle — who has been all over Paris as part of NBC’s coverage. And it seems to be working. Ratings for the opening weekend were up 79 percent over the same period for the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo. 🪩 🏢 🚕 EVENTSThere are some new additions to the ICYMI Events Database this week (it’s free to all subscribers):
📊 DATA DROP
👀 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
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