The Weekly Cull - The Latest in Marketing for Photographers

Let's get straight to it with what is new in the world of Social Media Marketing this week. Most of this stuff isn't directly related to a small photography studio but as I say, it is good to have an overview of what is going on so that when it trickles down and impacts your business, you aren't surprised.

X

In the branding change heard around the world last week we are done with the birds and have entered into the era of the "X".  With this change he made sure that everyone was talking about him and his product for several days.  What many felt was the downfall of X, actually was a boost that it needed.  On July 28th there was a reported 541.5M active used on the platform.  Will this hold?  Probably not, but it did give Elon the boost he needed to think that was a good business move.  

META

I love this next update.  Meta is working on adding the following to images that are create by its AI software.  "Image Generated by Meta AI" tags could start appearing so people know what is real and what is not.  

THREADS

Did we call it last week? As of July 31st, users have gone down by half.  Is the honeymoon already over?  It might be but that isn't stopping them from adding some features that you might be interested in.

- They added a ForYou Feed.  Just like TikTok.  This fee is supposed to show you what you are interested in.

- Automatic translation.  Posts will automatically be translated from the original language into the preferred language of the user reading it.

- Have private account, you can now accept followers in bulk vs. individually

GOOGLE

If you are using Google Ads and using the "Similar Audience" feature in your targeting, that feature went away three days ago.  Be sure and check your ads to make sure they are doing what you need them to do with their "Optimized Targeting" and "Audience Expansion" features. 

AI 

Have you heard about FraudGPT?  Well this is the dark side of AI and tech.  FraudGPT is kind of like ChatGPT's evil twin.  What does this program do?  Well it's main objective is to con people out of things like credit card info, leave viruses on your computer, and create other hacking tools.  

This is being promoted as a one stop shop for everything hackers need.  

So watch those emails carefully.  NEVER give out personal information unless you know for fact you are giving it to a trusted source.  And continue to have that conversation with your parents as they age because things could get scary out there when it comes to scams that prey on our most vulnerable and their bank accounts.

YOUTUBE

Are you repurposing your Reels and TikToks into Youtube shorts?  You might want to consider doing that.  Youtube has added a ton of editing features to their shorts that might help you create short form video content that can help boost your business.