Everyone is trying to be like TikTok by copying features and Google and Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) are no exception.
The Push Toward Short Form Video
Meta and Google Going All-In on Short Form – New clipping features let you take snippets of longer videos for Reels and Shorts.
YouTube, which Google-owned, has vertical screen short videos that play one after another called Shorts. Google just announced a feature within the YouTube app called “Edit into a Short” which lets you take your existing longer videos and clip them to a 60-second snippet in the Shorts Editor. From there you can add text or filters or other videos to complete your Short.
One really neat feature about this is that completed Shorts link to the full video. This is great for two reasons: this allows you to create a clear call to action and this is one way to create interest in the longer videos in your channel. It’s also a great way to repurpose and give some new life to existing evergreen videos you may have and introduce them to a new audience.
Instagram Videos – Any video under 15 minutes will be automatically classified as Reels.
Meta, which owns the Facebook and Instagram platforms, recently announced a similar feature for Reels. They also announced that any new Instagram videos you post that are under 15 minutes will be automatically classified as Reels.
AI Controlled Content
Speaking of Meta, they’re in the news for a couple of things recently. First, they posted their first ever revenue decline last quarter. Also, some new changes have many users up in arms.
Have you noticed in your Facebook or Instagram feed lately that you’re seeing a lot of posts and videos from people who you don’t follow or aren’t friends with? It’s not your imagination. Meta is using artificial intelligence to determine what it thinks you’d like to see and showing you more content from people you don’t know or follow. This algorithm is very similar to the TikTok recommendation engine, and we know Meta is all in on trying to be like TikTok.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “Social feeds are going from being driven primarily by the people and accounts you follow to increasingly also being driven by AI recommending content that you’ll find interesting from across Facebook and Instagram, even if you don’t follow those creators.” He also said that right now, about 15% of the content in our Facebook feeds are served by Meta’s AI. That number is even a little bit higher on Instagram. By the end of the year they expect those numbers to double.
AI Controlled Content – Mark Zuckerberg announced social feeds will be driven more from AI, so you’ll see less content from friends and more based on what the algorithm thinks you might like
This is not great news for local businesses who want to get their message out to local followers. Of course, ads are still an option, but this will impact organic visibility even further. This change isn’t just impacting local businesses, even the Kardashian sisters petitioned for Instagram to “Stop trying to be like TikTok. I just want to see cute photos of my friends.”
So what should local businesses be doing? We always say don’t build on rented land, and social media is rented land. It’s time to get serious about growing your email list. You’ll also want to use more video content to attract people to your message. Remember, the goal is to convert paid traffic and earned traffic into owned traffic – people you can build a relationship with directly.
Links in this episode:
YouTube’s making it easier for creators to turn longer content into Shorts
If you think Instagram is bad now, you won’t like Zuckerberg’s plans
Instagram to walk back full-screen home feed and temporarily reduce recommended posts
