As you can see, the technology is not perfect… yet. Considering what this demonstration would have cost in video and audio production alone compared to the $100 and one hour I gave myself, the output is impressive.
Needless to say, AI is here and disruption will be felt across nearly every industry, especially in the professional and creative service industries. Today we’re going to talk about the state of the AI landscape through the lens of the tools that are most relevant to the communications specialists in this room.
It is fair to assume to AI is going to perform a lot of time-consuming tasks for you including:
Copywriting
Presentation creation
Photo and video production
Graphic design
…to name but a few.
In the (near) future, I believe there will be two types of people. 1) Those who get replaced by AI
2) Those who successfully learn how to use these AI tools effectively
…hopefully, we are all in the latter group.
To show the sheer size of the AI boom, this slide gives a snapshot of the AI startups in Israel alone across the last 12 months. There are literally hundreds of new platforms, built on various AI technologies, starting up every month.
Even though I just demonstrated several new AI platforms that can do some pretty cool things, I want one of the main takeaways from today to be: You don’t need to trawl the internet to find these platforms (there are literally 100s of new websites emerging every week, each with new and exciting applications of AI).
The big tech companies are investing billions of dollars into AI so the platforms you already use and are familiar with will figure this all out for you, for a price of course.
Today I want to briefly outline what Microsoft, Meta & Adobe have planned for the next 12 months.
Microsoft is arguably set to win the AI arms race given its intimate relationship with OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT – the fastest-growing consumer application in history.
I’ll say that again – the fastest-growing consumer product in history acquiring 100 million monthly active users in 2 months. For comparison, to achieve this milestone it took TikTok 9 months, Instagram 30 months and Uber 70 months.
The company has already invested $10 billion USD into OpenAI with another $1 billion pledged for this financial year.
Microsoft has managed to get the jump on all of the other big tech companies, having already integrated AI into their suite of products such as:
– AI search responses in the Bing Search Engine
– AI code writer and debugger in the software development platform, GitHub, to make coding accessible to all users regardless of dev capabilities.
– Most importantly to this room, Microsoft 365 CoPilot is embedded into Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and more, making it a companion that works alongside users in apps they already use every day.
Right now, you can utilise Microsoft CoPilot to assist with copywriting, analyse data or write Excel formulas or summarise your unread emails without leaving the professional tools you likely already have installed on your device.
Meta, the holding company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is investing $33 billion USD in AI technologies this year. You can expect to start seeing
AI “agents” for WhatsApp and Messenger. These are chatbots that can have conversations with users and help them with tasks or queries
Generative AI photo editing on Instagram & Facebook. This would allow users to edit their photos using text commands and then share them on their Stories
AI Ad tools in Meta Business Manager such as ‘Advatge+’ and ‘AI Sandbox’ which can generate text variations, background generation and image outcropping not to mention performance optimisation
As you can see above, Meta are already assisting in creating multiple ad verations in respects to copy, imagery and structure which will then be automatically optimised and split tested.
Adobe has announced its first foray into the AI space with its product Firefly. Firefly and Generative Fill currently allow text to visual prompts that can quickly add, remove, or extend content within design, images and videos.
Businesses can also build Firefly into their own ecosystem by training the AI model with their own branded company assets, which will allow Firefly to replicate the brand’s style when generating images and copy.
The Midjourney competitor has generated over 1 billion images in the 3 months since conception and is currently being rolled out across both graphic design and video editing programs.
As you can see above, users can now manipulate colour, grading and editing using text prompts for video and photography within the likes of Photoshop and Premier Pro.
So it all seems pretty doom and gloom for us mere humans, right?
It’s fair to assume that the big tech platforms will figure out the AI integrations that you will need to supercharge your profession. With the click of a button, you can turn an idea into a high-quality creative execution and distribute it across the internet.
Publishers will be able to create 10s of thousands of articles per minute that will be automatically created into ai-generated avatar videos including stock footage and amplify via social media.
Digital advertisers will be to able to create millions of ads in seconds each with endless image, video, caption, headline permutations and targeting options that are automatically optimised to create the best cost per conversion for clients.
But what will become important in a digital sea of endless ai generated content? What will be the role of humans in the digital communications world?
In a world that will be saturated in AI-generated content, meaningful human output that connects will be the premium output.
The core purpose of the communications industry is to evoke connection and emotion between humans, not robots or computer programs. We will never be more perfect than an AI program but to be human is to be imperfect. It’s our flaws, mistakes and ideas that make us human.
But what does it mean to be human? We are imperfect, messy, emotional, reactive, irrational, vulnerable, sometimes empathetic… and all together a little bit crazy.
But that’s what makes us beautiful.
We’re putting our money where our mouth is at Social Meteor & Perth is OK! and leading into the ‘Human As A Premium’ concept. This can be seen through: – Incorporating first-hand stories and personal opinions in articles written by real locals – Utilising slang, emojis and relevant lingo for social audiences – Preferring less polished photos and videos that look like they’ve been created by a human – Leaning into “lo-fi” iPhone shot and edited video featuring real people in paid social and organic posts – Going “all in” on TikTok, Instagram Reels & YouTube Shorts
In short, we’re endeavouring to create connection, for humans by humans, through digital platforms.
Have you ever asked yourself, “Does the time I post on social media really matter?”
The simple answer – yes. Although, you may be itching to bring your content live, the time of day that you post can have a significant waiting on your engagement, traffic and chance of gaining new followers. While countless studies have been conducted to find a universal “prime time,” it’s more important to understand your own audience and how to effectively and actively engage.
1. Know Your Unique Audience
There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to scheduling posts. You need to consider your audience and the different cities, time zones and lifestyles they lead. For example, if you are targeting young professionals, a great time could be the morning or evening commute at approximately 7am or 5pm. If you want to engage with stay at home Mum’s or university students during the day could be best.
2. Check Your Insights
You can rest assured that Facebook and Instagram have all the data you need to determine a bang on posting time. If you’re on Facebook, simply open your Facebook Page and click “Insights.” On the left you will find different sections of your page insights and graphs and charts will be visible on the right.
One of the most helpful things to look at is “Your 5 Most Recent Posts” section and see what times your followers are online. It’s important to note that while they may be online, they may not be engaging. Go to “Posts” from Page Insights and scroll down to “All Posts Published.” Here you will find when your followers are most likely to react, comment and share content – bingo.
Instagram operates in a very similar format. Click the hamburger button in the top right corner, click “Insights” and then head to “Followers” to access the location, age, gender and most active times of your audience. If you’re wanting to just check out the posts specifically, just click ‘Content You Shared’ and you can easily check out posts from the designated time frame and metric.
3. Unlock Your Potential
Did you know that you can also access insights from your potential Facebook audience?
Facebook Audience Insights was designed to help plan and optimise your campaigns and track interactions with your potential audiences age, gender and location. Just click “See All Insights” and scroll down to find where your audience is live. This is particularly helpful if you’re marketing a product or service to particular countries or regions.
4. Trial and Error
Who doesn’t love a good spreadsheet?
We recommend picking five times to post through the week and recording the results manually in a spreadsheet. Note the day, time, comments and likes for the first week. Then slightly adjust them for week 2 and 3 to see if there has been a difference. I.e. If you post Monday at 5pm first round, try 6pm next round. It may take a few weeks but it will provide a lot of clarity. It is important to note that other factors may come into play when recording insights; type of content your posting, major events, Facebook and Instagram updates etc.
Another experiment to conduct is off-peak posting because remember, you’re competing with a ridiculous amount of content.
“On average, there are 1500 stories that could appear in a person’s New Feed each time they log on…for people with a lot of friends and Page likes, as many as 15000 potential stories could appear any time.”
Facebook’s VP of Advertising Technology Brian Boland
5. Things To Consider
Is it a long weekend? Is it school holidays? There are many factors to take into consideration when scheduling a post and whether your followers will be active and engaged. If there is a notable event on, a great way to capture the attention of your audience and potential audience is to engage with the topic.
Whether it’s politics, sporting events, a trending meme, popular song, you have a higher chance of being noticed if you add to the dialogue. A great example is the campaign by Nike during the George Floyd upheaval in 2020. They flipped their famous motto around to say “For Once, Just Don’t Do It.”
It was a simple black social tile with quotations that went viral and while it may seem like a ‘risky’ move to weigh in on the Black Lives Movement, the campaign had a 98% positive response rate. It even led to the domino effect of other brands following suit including a repost by Adidas. Just because there are global issues outside of your brand, doesn’t mean you don’t have the opportunity to engage with them.
6. Schedule, Schedule, Schedule
No one wants to be setting reminders to post content. Let an app handle it for you. Some of our favourites include Creator Studio (within Facebook and Instagram business), Planoly, Later and Buffer. Ultimately it’s important to see what works for you.
Takeaway
There’s no universal prime time, find out what works for you
Get to know your audience by understanding your social insights
Start experimenting with spreadsheets and “off-peak” posting
Schedule your posts using applications so that you can free up your time
Don’t be afraid to engage in big issues or relevant discussions
Is it all too much?
Let Social Meteor show you how to Own Your Space and take care of your socials. Send an enquiry here.
Clock’s Ticking! Why Your Biz Needs TikTok
TikTok is the most downloaded app in the world right now. Hosting over 1.2 billion users who spend an average of 52 minutes per day scrolling, it makes sense that you consider whether it’s suitable for your business. According to the Social Media Examiner, only 5% of marketers are currently using the platform so it’s the perfect time to beat the crowd and board the TikTok train.
So, What’s TikTok?
TikTok is a video-sharing focused social networking service owned by Chinese company ByteDance. Originally known as musical.ly, the platform revolves around a variety of short-form videos ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes including genres like dance, comedy and education.
Videos can be grouped by hashtags, often corresponding to challenges, memes or current events. The accounts with the biggest following currently are @charlidamelio with 121 million followers, closely followed by @khady.lame and @addisomre.
Who Uses The App?
Available in 155 countries, it’s wrongly assumed to be exclusive for teens. It may surprise you that users in their 40s make up 17% of the database while 16-26 years old’s make up 41%. The gender split is relatively even with 53% of males and 47% females.
What Makes It Tick?
TikTok is powered by a unique algorithm, using AI and machine learning to create a “For You Page” (#FYP or content discovery feed.) While social media giants Facebook and Instagram build on connections between people you know in real life, it’s easy to scroll through TikTok for hours and not see anyone you know or follow.
TikTok determines your interests by meticulously tracking the type of videos you interact with whether it’s a like, comment or share. For example, the more videos of cats you engage with, the more videos of cats will appear in your FYP. Much like Amazon’s “frequently brought together” section, the app establishes relationships between different videos and the ‘type of users’ that interact with them. For example, if you interact with a lot of workout videos, the app will likely show you clips promoting activewear or protein powder that are watched by other users who view those clips.
Everyone’s experience is unique because of the platform’s ability to tailor content! You may see dance and comedy, while your friends will get food reviews and dogs and some users may receive a lot of educational clips or home improvement videos.
How To Nail It!
The key to creating quality TikTok videos for your business is to keep it is as natural and authentic as possible. Unlike Facebook and Instagram, users are fed content they have not necessarily opted to see. You want to make sure you’re not ‘invading’ their space with overly edited, high-resolution advertisements. Instead, the app favours raw, lower quality content due to its relatability factor.
Australian brands that are currently nailing it include ABC, Guardian, HiSmile and AFL. The @AFL takes you behind the scenes of the country’s most popular sport with face to camera videos from the players, comedic moments at training, TikTok challenges, heartfelt moment with fans, news style pieces and more.
Top Tips
👉 Average user opens the app 8+ times per day. Successful accounts make sure they have a variety of content for users to engage with daily. 👉 TikTok recommends posting approximately 5 videos per week with 3-5 relevant hashtags. Harness the power of sound and scroll through trending songs/audio tracks to increase your chance of reach. 👉First 1-2 seconds of your clip are vital for capturing your audience’s attention. It’s way too easy for them to scroll past your content. 👉 Videos ranging from 11-15 seconds are optimal but anything over 6 seconds is ideal. 👉 Choose a bright, colourful cover photo to attract attention. 👉 Keep content timely and relevant. 👉Consider ways to repurpose content.
Express their content and voice creatively, using it to reach new audiences, build brand affinity, and drive traffic platform
Tiktok spokespersoN
The Time Is Now
Getting on a platform early, typically makes it easier to gain leverage. Like Facebook and Instagram accounts in the early days, your business is more likely to be seen with a much higher engagement rate.
Get Advertising
When it comes to TikTok advertising, there are 2 ways to target views; Interest or Behavioural.
Interest Targeting is very similar to Facebook where you can select an audience with a particular interest you wish to see your content.
On the other hand, Behavioural Targeting allows you to target views based on their recent behaviour on the app spanning the last week to fortnight.
Ad products including in-feed, branded hashtags, top view ads, branded effects, and brand takeovers.
Don’t Try Too Hard
TikTok’s Global Head of Small Business Solutions Becca Sawyer says that the ads that perform best on the platform don’t feel like ads. Sawyer encourages brands to get comfortable with being real and authentic, embodying their motto “don’t make ads. Make TikToks.” The best way to be successful on TikTok is to show up, engage with the community and have fun.
A great example is Sour Patch Kids. Boasting over 1 million followers, it’s the platforms most-followed snack brand. They have formulated simple yet effective campaigns including a #SourPatchPrankFunk challenge around April Fool’s Day where the brand rewarded TikTokers with snacks and money for their pranks.
The Power Of Influence
Once you have established your brand you can allow influencers to do a lot of the work for you. IF you choose the right influencer for your brand.
A great example is activewear label Aerie collabing with 19-year-old influencer Hannah Schlenker. Her short video showcasing the brands latest products led to 700,000 searches on the Aerie website and a 200% increase in Google searches.
According to the Telegraph, influencers with 2.5 million followers or more can charge approximately $600-1000 per post while influencers with 10-20k are usually happy to charge $100-200. This may be a much more viable option than using TikTok ads which start at a minimum of $50 per day.
Keep Your Biz Afloat
COVID had a huge impact on the phenomenal number of TikTok downloads. In a single quarter they achieved a world record of 315 million. The quick, fun, relatable and easily digestible content is the perfect remedy for a period of global uncertainty and fear.
TikTok has become a lifeline for businesses doing it tough, particularly the hospitality sector. A growing number of food-based accounts are showcasing takeaway food during lockdown, delivery services, gift ideas and more. By shining light on local business, they have helped many spots keep operating during the pandemic.
Takeaways
👉TikTok is the most downloaded app in the world at the moment. 👉 The platform feeds you content based on a unique algorithm, using AI and machine learning to create a For You Page (FYP.) 👉TikTok favours raw, authentic, fun and relatable content with optimal videos being 11-15 seconds. 👉 Beat your competitors and get on the platform now. Harness the high engagement rate and post as often as you can. Experiment! 👉Consider TikTok advertising and find appropriate influencers to communicate your brand story.
Need some help making your business Tik? Head to our Social Meteor contact page to chat to us today!
Instagram Reel Algorithm Unwrapped
It’s time to cut some cake and wish Instagram a Happy Birthday because this week marks 365 days of Instagram reels.
Wednesday August 4th the platform posted an early gift to celebrate, revealing the secrets behind their algorithm via their @creators account.
@creators boasts almost 6 million followers and showcases the most notable accounts on the platform. It actively encouragers users to hop on board reel trends providing instructions, audio and hot tips to creating ‘viral’ videos.
The Algorithm
Applauded for their transparency, Instagram announced they were “pulling back the curtain to show how the ranking algorithm works.”
In order to determine which reels to show you, they consider how likely you are to:
1) Watch a reel to its conclusion 2) Give it a like 3) Comment saying it was funny or entertaining 4) Go to the audio page to use it to make your own reel
Instagram Loves Engagement
The more likely you are to create your own reel as a result of engaging with an original, the more likely you will see that same type of content on your explore page. Encouraging creators to promote audio based trends is just another way the platform is mimicking the viral nature of TikTok.
Instagram also shared the four most important signals that can boost reel reach:
Which reels you have engaged with including likes and commenting
Your history of interacting the person who posted the reel
Information about the reels such as the audio track and video understanding based on pixels and whole frames as well as popularity
Information about the person who posted and how others interacted with them
The platforms looks at the specific details of the previous clips you have engaged with like the audio history and video understanding based on pixels and whole frames. Sharing Facebook’s forever improving AI system, it can identify what is shown in each clip so if you’re watching a lot of reels about cats, you can expect to see more cats in your feed too.
The Big No-No
It’s important to note that Instagram has given a few types of content a big red cross including:
1) Low resolution videos or watermarked reels 2) Politically focused reels 3) Reels that are made by political figures, parties or government officials or on their behalf
It also limits the reach of clips that have been re-shared from TikTok to avoid content cross over. It can easily filter these clips through TikTok un-removable watermark.
The move to give political content the flick has some users concerned about the implications on freedom of speech. Is Instagram just trying to avoid the same political turmoil TikTok faced in 2020 between United States and China?
The Three E’s
Regardless, the platform is keeping it about the three Es Entertaining content Engaging users Encouraging view response
Making a viral reel is not nearly as easy as it sounds and unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all method. That’s why Instagram is giving creators one more reason to start putting their reel skills to the test.
Instagram’s “bonuses” feature is set to drop any day now with creators being paid for the reels they create. Before you get too excited, the feature will not be available to regular users and Instagram is yet to reveal the criteria to access the option. We’re going to take a guess and say that it will be those who have a decent upload volume or audience engagement metrics.
How do you check your metrics? Well Instagram finally made reel and Instagram live data available via insights so you can check out your plays, accounts reaches, likes, comments, saves and shares.
“We know that understanding more about how content is being distributed is important, so we’ve built new breakdowns that provide transparency into which types of accounts you’re reaching and which content formats are the most effective at driving reach,” says Instagram.
Takeaways
👉 Instagram revealed reel algorithm same week as their reel anniversary 👉Engagement history plays a huge role in determining what you see on your personal Instagram reel explore page 👉The platform is mimicking TikTok by encouraging viral audio based content 👉Instagram has banned all political based reels 👉Instagram “bonuses” feature set to drop soon where creators will be paid for the reels they create
Want to find out how TikTok and Instagram Reel strategies can work for your business? Head to our Social Meteor contact page to chat to us today!
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