Social Media Tips, Takes, and Tributes
Tip(s)
CFBR - Commenting for better reach
Man, LinkedIn users love to comment for better reach, don’t they?
Look, LinkedIn leadership has told us explicitly that this doesn’t actually help.
However, LinkedIn also reports how many views your comments get, now.
Anecdotally, my CFBR comments occasionally get a lot of bites (views).
Rishi Jobanputra, Director of Product Management at LinkedIn, says to just react or repost.
My recommendation - offer meatier commentary: “I know you do great work, I hope you find someone fantastic for this role!” - that kind of thing.
But… as always … live your truth.
And keep testing. :)
Instagram Stories have a layers function
I can’t help it. I’m watching you when you design your Instagram Stories. Too many people are still struggling in the old fashioned way of grabbing each element one-by-one to rearrange their order.
Remember how hard it used to be to put a pretty picture behind a post on Instagram Stories? You had to draft a Story, screenshot what a share looks like, share the post into a Story, put up a picture, put up the fake screenshot so it LOOKED clickable. People also used to drag the share all the way to the left to then grab it later.
Struggle no more: Just hold down on the element and pull up or down, it rearranges the order like a Photoshop layer.
Take(s)
Entitlement
A lot of creators and influencers are complaining loudly that they don’t have as much reach as they used to. That they have so many followers who aren’t seeing their content. These complaints are reaching followers (ironically) who then ask me about the state of things.
And trust me, I empathize. I work in this industry. I have for 15 years. I’ve made algorithm chasing into a career.
But…no one is guaranteed a platform.
The dialogue reminds me of that book “Who Moved My Cheese”. Lesson: You can be a mouse who complains that there’s no cheese where they’re used to be SO MUCH, or you can get moving and go find where the new cheese is.
Being a creator / influencer is one of the most accessible jobs on the planet. Creators are competing with, essentially, THE ENTIRE GLOBAL POPULATION. And now, they’re competing with AI. If that’s not a saturated job market, I don’t know what is.
Is it fair that someone has worked tirelessly to build an audience they can no longer reach? No. But that’s business, for ya. TikTok led the charge with a suggestive algorithm and, as a result, has a chokehold on usertime. Duh - other platforms followed.
Meanwhile, marketers have been telling creators (and clients) for years that you cannot build a castle on rented land. You’ve gotta diversify those revenue streams. Own your own lists.
Just look at musicians. Their cheese moved.
Lady Gaga acts, now
Ariana Grande acts, now
Heck, even Alix Earle is on Dancing with the Stars. Think that’s on accident?
Creators: study the business models you see out there. Merch. Skincare. Patreon. Substack. Group chats. Trips.
To survive in this business, keep innovating.
Tribute(s)
Mormons and Selling Rocks
Thanks to social listening, Anthropologie saw a video of a prank where creator Phoebe Adams pranked her boyfriend into thinking an Anthropologie was selling rocks. The Anthropologie team quickly jumped into action by collaborating with Adams and taking the trend even further with owned content.
This is reminiscent of the Stanley Cup craze of January 2024. That product’s success doesn’t get enough credit for its source: social and customer listening.
A timeline:
2016 — Stanley quietly launches the “Adventure Quencher.”
2019 — They discontinue it. Sales were flat.
Late 2020 — The Buy Guide reorder another 5,000. Gone in an hour.
2020 — Enter Terence Reilly, ex-Crocs CMO turned Stanley president. He knows how to turn “uncool” into cult status.
2021-2022 — Stanley officially brings the Quencher back, expands color drops, and leans hard into influencer culture.
2023 — TikTok + that car-fire cup video = chaos, waiting lists, resale markets, status symbol.
2024 — Reilly heads back to Crocs to lead its HeyDude brand. The meme lives on.
TLDR: 3 gals in Utah fall in love with a Stanley Tumbler (hello Mormon influence on popular culture!) They decide to pay to buy 5 freaking thousand of them. It sells well. Stanley listens. It blows up.
Announcement! I’m starting a podcast. I love giving book summaries and I love connecting the most far fledged topics back to marketing. Something I always say to clients is “capture the magic that’s already happening behind closed doors.” That’s my magic. I can’t wait to share. Coming soon. :)