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AI adoption is no longer the challenge—trusted context is. Most organizations have AI tools, but many still rely on disconnected, stale, or unverified data, limiting the quality and trustworthiness of AI-generated outputs. Meltwater MCP brings trusted, real-time intelligence into AI assistants.

Your Best Context is Already in the Room

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics?
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.
Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.
Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

It’s hard to find a global brand who is truly transparent about its marketing strategy. Huawei is one of these brands. In a recent blog post by Joy Tan, Huawei’s president of global media and communications explained what made the company start an influencer marketing program and what she learned from running the program for a year:

Get started with the right pool of influencers

A bit of background. Huawei is a Chinese multinational communications company with a sales revenue of $60b. The company is the third biggest seller of smartphones after Samsung and Apple.

It’s a huge company but not as known brand as its competitors.

To learn more about the company positioning in the market, Huawei hired a research firm to analyze what people know about the brand. Part of the research was interviewing Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) from all around the world and hear what they think about the brand.

The research found that people were aware of Huawei, but not much about the company’s products and history. And so the company decided to tackle this problem by launching an influencer marketing program, or as they call it, a KOL program.

Huawei’s criteria for an influencer was a technology and business social media opinion leader with at least 30,000 followers. The company aimed to engage a maximum of 80 people. They spoke with influencers, had meetings with them, and even flew to meet them all over the world. The company invested good time and effort into creating and nurturing relationships with the opinion leaders they’ve identified.

If the number of 80 people seems relatively small, wait to hear what were Tan’s thoughts after a year. When the year ended, Tan has concluded that “it becomes challenging to do one-on-one influencer marketing with more than about 80 KOLs. In fact, if the KOLs are sufficiently engaged (which is a good thing), the ideal number might be closer to 50.”

During September 2016 Huawei hosted the Huawei Connect conference in Shanghai, China. The conference invited 20,000 people and showcased the latest technologies in various fields, like cloud computing, Internet of Things, big data.

To raise awareness for the event and to Huawei, the company invited tech influencers. They didn’t invite all of them, but just a selected group of influencers.

Among the people, there were these 11 leaders:

Inviting those influencers proved itself to be a smart move by Huawei. Let’s take a look at some of the social updates they shared during the event:

For Huawei, it was worthwhile to focus on these highly active and friendly influencers. Here is the social media outcome the group generated about Huawei Connect 2016:

16,900 total engagements: 7.2k on Twitter, 6.4 on Instagram, 3.6 on Facebook

Note that the True Reach of the influencers’ social updates is not just a simple measure of impressions (sum of their followers). This number is a calculated estimation of the people who actually saw the content on Twitter and Instagram. For a company that aims to raise brand awareness, that’s a huge win.

Based on the true reach of the content, the exposure was worth for the company about $128.9k (this ROI estimation is based on the average CPM in display advertising, with a 13x multiplier to match it with earned content compared to paid).

“For the first year of our KOL program (Key Opinion Leaders), I’ve been impressed with the quality of professionals Huawei has attracted, their high levels of engagement, and the passion they have for our brand,”

said Walter Jennings, Vice President, Corporate Communications at Huawei.

“We’re looking at long term relationships with each, yet we are thrilled with these immediate results.”

To sum up, having a personal connection with the KOLs, inviting them to China and giving them full creative freedom to share their experiences, proved itself as a great opportunity for the company to get effective exposure online.

After running the KOLs program for a year, Tan’s advice was to get started with a well-identified pool of influencers and invest the time and efforts on developing relationships with them. If you need any help finding influencers for your KOL program, and later measure the influencer program’s performance, try using Meltwater Influencer Marketing.

As can be seen from the company’s event, having the right pool of social leaders on your side can boost brand awareness with a great return on investment.

The Story of Huawei and 11 Influencers

Each year, fashion lovers from around the world descend on France’s capital city for a week of runway shows, celebrity sightings, and impeccably designed clothes. For consumers, it’s a time to preview the looks set to take over the rest of the year, but for retail brands, it’s a chance to build visibility and hype.

As Paris Fashion Week comes to a close, we’re using our consumer intelligence solution to analyze how some of the top brands connected with online audiences during the event. Here’s how one of the biggest weeks in fashion looked by the numbers.

This analysis is based on a Meltwater dashboard: Get free access to our Paris Fashion Week Insights Dashboard.

What Is Paris Fashion Week, And Why Does It Matter to Brands?

One of the Big Four fashion weeks — along with those in Milan, London, and New York — Paris Fashion Week (PFW) has been a must-attend industry event for the world’s top designers and fashion houses since 1973. Occurring twice a year, it consists of dozens of runway shows where brands debut their collections for the coming seasons. And off the runway, it’s an occasion for fashionistas, both famous and not, to go all out with their street style looks.

This year’s PFW ran from February 26 through March 5, and featured womenswear collections for the autumn/winter 2024-2025 season from top luxury brands, including Christian Dior, Off-White, Loewe, Yves Saint Laurent, Hermés, and Miu Miu. As usual, several high-profile attendees were showing off their cutting-edge looks in the front rows, like Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman, and Kim Kardashian.

Though PFW is most geared toward luxury brands, buyers, and retailers, it’s also where the rest of the world gets a first peek at new styles, trends, and ways of telling brand stories. Marketers looking to connect with fashion-forward consumers stand to learn a lot about growing brand awareness from this much-talked-about event.

So with that, let’s dig into the numbers.

Our analysis found that from February 26 through March 5, there were more than 882,000 online posts about PFW. Those posts reached a potential audience of more than 3.2 billion people and generated more than 35.2 million engagement actions.

PFW posts on Instagram racked up 18.6 million engagement actions, compared to 13.5 million engagement actions with PFW posts on X.

Instagram was the top platform in terms of engagement actions, and it’s not hard to see why. The visuals of PFW are what draws audiences in, both by documenting the event and letting fashion enthusiasts at home take part via their favorite celebrities and influencers. When we break those posts and engagement actions down by day, the importance of fashion-adjacent influencers becomes especially apparent.

February 28 saw the highest number of engagement actions. March 3 saw the highest volume of posts.

Wednesday, February 28, and Thursday, February 29, were peak days for engagement, which was largely driven by content from off the runway. Filipino model and former Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach was the top author driving PFW content engagement — the second-most engaged post for all of PFW was her Instagram shots showing off a Balmain look. 

This Instagram post by model and influencer Pia Wurtzbach generated more than 291,000 engagement actions, including 720 comments.

Though she didn’t walk in the runway shows, her posts were valuable assets for the designers featured as well as PFW in general. Her success in driving engagement and impressions (more than 14.8 million) shows just how important mega-influencers and brand ambassadors have become for luxury retail events and activations.

Through her content showing luxury fashion in action, she was able to tap into the aspirational appeal of PFW in a way that runway show photos can’t.

Influencer and K-Pop content dominates this collection of the most engaging pictures and videos from PFW.

That may be why, of the 32 most engaging pictures and videos from PFW, only four show images from the runways themselves. The rest feature influencers and celebrities, particularly K-Pop stars with huge fan followings.

Tip: Take a look at the top global fashion influencers, the top sustainable fashion influencers, and the top beauty influencers to inspire you.

As the chart above shows, March 3 saw the highest volume of posts. This was largely due to the mobilization of K-pop fans on X (formerly Twitter), as revealed by our emerging mentions and hashtags clouds.

Stray Kids, Alexander McQueen, and Louis Vuitton were the most mentioned social handles during PFW.

For all of PFW, @Stray_Kids, the official X handle for the K-Pop group by the same name was mentioned most, followed by the handles for fashion houses Alexander McQueen and Louis Vuitton. Meanwhile, handles and hashtags related to individual Stray Kids members I.N. and Felix were also among the most popular.

Hashtags mentioning Stray Kids member I.N. were among the most used during PFW.

Plus, when we look at engagement by platform for each day, March 3 was the first day Twitter engagement actions outnumbered those on Instagram.

Instagram was the top source of PFW engagement online until March 3, when X took the lead.

So what happened on X on Sunday, March 3? K-pop fans, that’s what. Accounts dedicated to the genre, and the group Stray Kids in particular, posted high volumes of content about I.N. and Felix’s attendance at PFW, as well as the designer looks they wore.

This X post featuring I.N. at the Alexander McQueen show garnered nearly 8,000 engagement actions, including more than 5,630 likes. 

While K-pop fans may have flocked to X to see pictures of their favorite group members, they were exposed to luxury fashion content at the same time.

This X post and video about Felix’s arrival in Paris ahead of the Louis Vuitton show garnered more than 28,000 engagement actions, including more than 21,300 likes.

Like Pia Wurtzbach, neither I.N. nor Felix walked in PFW, but their attendance at the McQueen show and planned attendance at the Louis Vuitton show were integral to driving visibility for both brands. Their association with the pop stars could help drive brand loyalty among fans.

Though influencers and celebrities off the runways are of huge importance to brands, they aren’t the end all be all of brand performance. Our analysis of posts about the brands themselves shows that Dior came out on top in terms of engagement and reach, even though Louis Vuitton generated the highest volume of content.

Content about Dior outshone all other brands in terms of engagement actions and estimated reach.

Meanwhile, Loewe potentially reached the widest audience of all on the last day of PFW, despite only having the sixth-highest volume of content. On March 5, model Emily Ratajkowski posted a "get ready with me" Instagram video about getting dressed to attend the Loewe show that happened on March 1.

Emily Ratajkowski's Instagram post showing viewers how she got ready for the Loewe runway show generated more than 106,000 engagement actions and 670 million impressions, and potentially reached more than 100 million people.

Loewe was also a big winner in terms of passive awareness.

Content featuring the Dior and Loewe logos had the highest number of engagement actions.

As our logo recognition analysis found, content featuring the Loewe logo had the second-highest number of engagement. It also scored higher than Dior and Louis Vuitton in terms of positive sentiment.

Tip: Learn more about image recognition and take a look at image recognition software.

Loewe content had more positive sentiment than Dior or Louis Vuitton.

All in all, though Loewe didn’t dominate the conversation to the extent that Dior and Louis Vuitton did, the attention it garner boosted its visibility in the right direction.

Here are some lessons marketers in retail and other segments can take from PFW ‘24:

Harness the power of influencers: They have the power to let audiences experience luxury events and products that audiences otherwise wouldn’t be able to access. Look to them to make your unique brand story and identity come to life.

Examine fan communities: Brand ambassadors and influencers come with their own unique audiences. Analyze them to learn which partnerships and collaborations can boost your brand’s exposure.

Get your logo out there: Sometimes, a well-placed logo can do more for brand awareness than a tag in an Instagram caption. Consider passive brand awareness and the many ways you can wield it to build goodwill for your brand.

There are many more insights to explore! Fill out the form below to see how you can get data-driven insights like these tailored to your particular business needs with a demo of our consumer intelligence solution:

What Marketers Can Learn from Paris Fashion Week 2024

Let’s get right to it. We love a good influencer campaign. No matter the product or the industry, we’re always interested to see how brands are optimizing this exciting channel. Recently we looked at bed-in-a-box brand Tuft&Needle’s multi-persona campaign that emphasized the lifestyle values mattresses, and Diet Coke’s campaign which ignited a social conversation on social labels.

Next up ThredUp, an online consignment store revolutionizing the fashion industry.

ThredUp’s #secondhandfirst campaign is an amazing example of what we love most about influencer marketing. Not only did the brand work with fashion influencers, but they also partnered with environmental activists who help promote the positive impact of shopping second hand.

ThredUp’s unique campaign helps to convey a larger message about the ethical dilemma in the fashion industry, and the role fashion production plays in climate change. As more customers choose products based on brand accountability,  TredUp’s campaign is a sophisticated way to share brand values on a complex issue.

Mixing Activism With Influencer Marketing

ThredUp’s unique approach to influencer marketing echos the brand’s visionary platform (figuratively and literally). ThredUp is more than a market place, it is a digital consignment store promoting a sustainable fashion future. And, as fashion is the second most polluting industry, ThredUp’s mission has a global impact.

On ThredUp’s Business Instagram page they have 2 hashtags: #secondhandfirst and #chooseused. We decided to look at influencers who were leveraging the first hashtag… and there were many! So we selected 35. From sustainability, simply living, vegans, environmental activists, fashionistas, parents, and even travel bloggers, it’s clear that ThredUp’s appeal runneth over.

We are transforming the way people think about secondhand, and we have the capacity and the energy and the vision to make that a part of people’s lives for 20, 30, 50 years

Tip: We have compiled lists of global fashion influencers, sustainable fashion influencers, top sustainability influencers, top fashion influencers in Singapore, and South African fashion influencers to partner with.

Influencer: @lauren.engleke, the sustainable fashionista

10 years ago it would seem like an oxymoron to include vegan and fashion in the same sentence. Many brands had yet to embrace cruelty-free or sustainable materials, so the options were… let’s be honest, not that chic. Now, vegan is the new norm (thanks Ellen DeGeneres), and due to the undeniable environmental impact of fast-fashion, sustainability is en-vogue.

Enter Lauren Engelke, a fashion influencer and podcast host who shares her sustainable looks with her 14K followers on Instagram. Lauren has a 4,142 True Reach, which is extremely high for her following, meaning her audience is extremely interested in her content. Previous collaborations have included Zara, Nike, Lululemon, and Stichfix, giving her serious fashion influencer cred.

Influencer: @tayloridso, the second-hand advocate

Taylor is a US-based recycled clothing advocate who runs her own fashion repository and blog ThredsOfTay where she resells her clothing in an attempt to minimize her closet and live more sustainably. Taylor has 4.5K Instagram followers with 4,420 True Reach, and an average of 650 engagements per post, both extremely high metrics compared to other influencers with a similar audience.

Taylor mainly shares fashion-focused content with her audience, 96% of whom are women. In early 2019, she took a vow to only show second-hand, and to cut off all fast-fashion brands, making her the perfect advocate for ThredUp.

Sustainability and fashion. As mentioned early, we randomly selected 35 influencers who have leveraged the #secondhandfirst hashtag to see how the brand has benefited from the influencers promoting their values.

As of September 29, 2019, these 35 influencers shared 328 posts with the hashtag #secondhandfirst or tagging @ThredUp generating 680K engagements, and an EMV of $2.5M. The EMV is extremely impressive as this is only 35 influencers. The ROI of all influencers leveraging both of the brand’s hashtags should be substantially larger.

ThredUp #secondhandfirst Campaign Success (as of Oct. 2, 2019)

Are your campaigns feeling a little outdated? Meltwater's Influencer Marketing platform helps you discover the best influencers for your brand and manage all stages of your campaign.

Get a free influencer marketing product tour or book a personal meeting:

Influencer Marketing Goes Green: #SecondHandFirst With ThredUp

Working in influencer marketing means having to stay on top of the latest social media trends, and short-form video content is one of the hottest trends in the industry. While TikTok was the short-form video trendsetter, other platforms are quickly following suit. Instagram Reels made a splash last year, and now YouTube is the next platform to release a similar feature: Shorts! 

It’s critical to know how new products work and exist in the social media ecosystem, as they will certainly play a role in your social media strategy. Here’s everything you need to know about YouTube Shorts!

Start Using Shorts In Your Influencer Strategy

YouTube Shorts are exactly what they sound like, short YouTube videos. However, unlike the traditional YouTube approach of longer videos that are mainly viewed on desktop, this is a mobile-first product. Straight from a mobile device users can access the YouTube shorts creation tool, and make awesome 60-second videos.

YouTube Shorts

Shorts offer some benefits for marketing. Not only is the turnaround quick, but it’s more cost-effective, and brands have been quick to take note. This is a great feature for brands who have already found success with short-form content, and are looking to diversify their platforms to engage with new audiences. And, in case you’re skeptical, YouTube shorts have already amassed 5 trillion (yes, trillion) views.

As mentioned before, this is a mobile-first tool. To view a YouTube Short, open your YouTube App. At the bottom of the homepage, you will see a Shorts icon:

Then you will be directed to the Shorts viewing feature, which has a very similar interface to Instagram Reels and TikTok. To view more content you simply swipe up, and if you enjoy something give it a like.

Did Luka Just Make This Pass Curve? | #Shorts

You’ll also notice that many YouShorts use the hashtag #shorts. If you’re new to the feature, try clicking on the hashtag to see how creators and brands are promoting the feature.

YouTube Shorts are a great feature for connecting with a new audience. While other platforms might be oversaturated, YouTube Shorts are new and ripe with opportunities. We have already seen how some brands and influencers are leveraging the feature. 

This feature is great for brands and influencers alike. It’s a great platform for influencers that have seen success on TikTok and Reels but looking to stand out in a less saturated market, and great for brands that want to easily and quickly engage with an audience.

The content of a Short is very similar to that of a TikTok or a Reel. More importantly, it’s very different from a traditional YouTube video. If you’re used to YouTube in your influencer strategy, that’s great! But, we recommend approaching shorts with an open mind, and leaving your preconceived notions of how to use YouTube at the door.

Influencers Using Shorts: @thattallfamily

That Tall Family is a family of, you guessed it, extremely Tall People. They currently have 97K Youtube Subscribers, 64K Instagram followers, and 721.6K TikTok fans. With TikTok being their leading platform, it’s obvious that Short-Form content is their bread and butter. So, it’s no surprise they have begun leveraging the new Short Feature.

Best bounce?

The Manhattan Wellness Group is a group of medical practitioners specializing in joint and body pain. This brand is a wonderful example of how important social media is for niche industries! Manhattan Wellness Group has 637K YouTube subscribers, who can watch videos of neck and back adjustments.

I’m a bit too queasy for this, but it’s definitely a great way to vet a doctor before making an appointment. 

lower back Crack & Neck cracking chiropractic adjustment

Once you've decided YouTube shorts is for you, follow these steps in order to optimize your strategy for success! 

Identify Video Trends: Follow other brands or creators that are already using Shorts, and identify short-form trends that are relevant for your brand. 

Adjust Your Content: If you've already found success on YouTube with long-form video content, review past successes and determine how they can be shortened.

Reformat Past Content: If you're on Reels or TikTok, trying slightly adjusting these videos for YouTube as your test the waters.

Use relevant #hashtags: When posting a Short, or a Short compilation, use the #short hashtag for optimal viewing.

If you’re ready to begin leveraging YouTube Shorts in your influencer marketing strategy, schedule a call with one of our influencer marketing experts. We’ll walk you through the process of finding, connecting, and collaborating with influencers, to ensure you produce winning influencer marketing campaigns.

YouTube Shorts: Everything You Need To Know

For most marketers, posting on Instagram, engaging influencers, and using Instagram Stories and Reels for their business has become almost as commonplace as scrolling and posting to their own social media feed. However, Instagram ads and promoted posts are an equally crucial component of Instagram marketing and often underutilized by companies.

With a potential advertising reach of more than 1.6 million users, Instagram seems like the perfect place to advertise for social media marketers. It helps with products discovery, brand equity, and growing followers. And, contrary to what some might expect, users are actually interested in brands and products on social media.

A frustrating facet of Instagram for many marketers is that brands can’t add clickable links to their captions. Even if you have a solid organic social strategy on Instagram, building engagement and gaining followers doesn’t always lead to measurable web or product page click-throughs. 

For brands that want to target specific audiences for a particular product or serve their products to users who are already looking for similar items, ads on Instagram are particularly useful. Marketers familiar with Facebook ads will be happy to know that they can make use of just as many tailored objectives and audiences in Instagram ads.

In this guide, we highlight the different ad formats marketers can make use of and how they can create Instagram ads.

Can (and should) have the same look and feel as regular posts, but may include a “Sponsored” tag and often have a call-to-action (CTA).

Each format supports various CTAs based on your advertising objectives. 

All ad formats lead to an in-app browser or app store.

These are the supported ad objectives for Instagram Ads:

<table class="table-primary alternate-color">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Objective</th>
<th>Feed</th>
<th>Stories</th>
<th>Explore</th>
<th>Explore Home</th>
<th>Reels</th>
<th>Shop</th>
<th>Search Results</th>
<th>Profile Feed</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Awareness</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Traffic</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Engagement</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Leads</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>App Promotion</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sales</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>Yes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
</tbody>
</table>


Instagram ads CTAs include but are not limited to:

Tip: If you run ads across both Instagram and Facebook and select the "No Button" option, no CTA will appear on Facebook but “Learn More” will still appear by default on Instagram. There, CTA buttons signal that your ad is clickable.

In 2016, Instagram released enhanced CTA features that respond based on how users interact with the ad. Instagram's algorithm detects if the user has shown interest in and around the ad and serves different versions of the same ad accordingly.

The CTA button is highlighted with a blue background when people hover on the advert for at least four seconds or tap on the profile name. 

The difference between ads shown to regular users versus interested users. On the left is the ad that hasn’t been engaged with, showing a blue CTA on a white background. On the right is the same ad after a user has engaged with it, showing a white CTA on a blue background.

In addition, Instagram users can also engage with a brand directly from the comments with an integrated CTA in the comments section.

Users can click on the brand’s CTA from the comments section of the ad.

Video ads have also become more intuitive. Users are taken to a destination URL when the ad has been unmuted. On the redirected page, the video continues to play on-screen while users navigate the site. They can also enter fullscreen or dismiss the video player if desired.

Instagram advertising comes in many forms, from feed posts and Instagram Stories to promotional posts specifically tailored for e-commerce. 

Here are the various ad types and specifications that social marketers should be aware of:

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