Social snapshot: AI and video (again!)

Seems AI has dominated the conversation for such a long time now – so it was only a matter of time before the likes of Meta strutted their stuff in line other LLMs. The announcement of Llama 4 is set to revolutionise AI usage, as it boasts all of its ‘lamas’ are freely available and perfect for use on smartphones – some of you may have already seen the new Meta AI bot on WhatsApp and other elements of Meta.

Meta itself professes that Llama 4 is ‘a 17 billion active parameter model with 16 experts…is the best multimodal model in the world in its class.’

A bold statement – but we wonder when it’ll start properly moving in on its social platforms and the implications for that! Will it impact on the algorithms further? Will it be built into Facebook and Instagram applications to assist with content development?

Time will tell…

LinkedIn still pushing its video narrative

Seems only yesterday we were talking about LinkedIn trying to TikTok-ify itself with vertical short-form video intros last year. They’ve now gone a step further, looking to try and encourage members to do video reactions to trends in the app.

The idea behind this is to get people to contribute their own views on certain topics – and it feels quite similar to the constant ‘request for contribution’ elements to articles that have spammed everyone’s notifications for over a year now! Somewhat cynical perhaps, but LinkedIn clearly wants more engagement on its app. It still falls behind Meta and TikTok for daily usage – but its video usage has grown significantly over the last year or so. Maybe though, not quite at the rate it wants…

Some of you may even be seeing it happen more often in your LinkedIn feeds now – logging in and at the top of your feed seeing a video presented in a way you’ve not seen before. It’s still being rolled out by LinkedIn, but early take up is key. It’s only in the US for now.

If doing one of these videos, remember:

·      Early hook is key – make it impactful!

·      Use captions (please, for the love of God)

·      Sharp, crisp video

·      A bit raw and authentic is nice, but don’t leave dirty washing in the background

Drumroll…best times to post is out! (again)

At the end of March, Sprout Social shared its latest ‘Best times to post on social media in 2025’ report. Basically, if you’re posting organically – look at the days and times in these reports and you’ll know when best to post.

Now, as helpful as these guides are trying to be – we feel the complexities of algorithms and industries mean it’s hard to find a ‘one size fits all’ best posting time per platform. We also know that organic is being supressed across platforms – more than ever! So, the first 30 mins or so of posting are crucial – no engagement, no joy.

Our thoughts are:

·      Look at the data of your own organic content – what performs well?

·      Is there a pattern for when you post and what performs well? (remember, Meta suggests best posting times based on your audience activity)

·      Focus on clear call to actions

·      Use impactful visuals – animations/videos are likely to win attention compared to static

·      Clear copy – make the message standout within the first 50-100 characters

·      The above is more important than ever when we consider that social search is becoming more and more important – it’ll rival search engines in years to come!

YouTube inspiring users with its… ‘inspiration’ tab

Now, AI tools on social platforms isn’t a new thing – and the debate as to whether YouTube is a social platform is, ahem, not new either – BUT the developments in recent times on its platform do demonstrate its shift towards providing users with more assistance for creation.

Brainstorming elements, AI assistance for titles and descriptions – and a greater push towards the Repurpose.io partnership – which is looking like YouTube’s way of getting TikTok and Instagram users to ‘come on over!’ and user their Shorts, which are growing and growing in popularity.

Perhaps in the wake of TikTok uncertainty this makes a lot of sense – but given TikTok is probably staying as a US-owned business, we expect take up will be short and sweet.

That’s all for this week!

If you have any thoughts on the above or need some advice on taking them forwards…we’re right here. Get in touch.

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