What’s New in the Social Media World

Google's AI Overviews are eating your search clicks. AI Overviews now appear on around half of all searches and are cutting click-through by 34% to 61%, even when rankings hold. Your clients' #1 rankings send less traffic than they used to, so track clicks over position and diversify where new business finds you.

Disney handed TikTok creators its biggest IP. A new licensing deal lets creators legally use official Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and FX content in their videos, and half of surveyed viewers said they watched something after seeing it on TikTok. A rare window to build on beloved IP, and more proof creator-led content out-pulls polished ads.

Meta is killing the Messenger Stories ad placement on August 27. If you run Meta ads, that placement disappears in two weeks and budget auto-shifts elsewhere unless you say otherwise. Audit active campaigns now so spend doesn't quietly reallocate to a placement that underperforms, a five-minute check that protects client results.

👋 Hey there,

For three years we've all repeated the same line to clients: post video, or get buried.

So we did. We turned blog posts into Reels, we filmed talking heads, we learned to edit at 2am.

Here's the twist. Instagram just started paying for photos.

This month Meta expanded its Bonuses program to reward eligible creators for photo and carousel posts, not just Reels. The platform that trained us all to chase video is now putting money behind static content again, and static is the cheapest thing your team makes.

Here's how to rebalance without whiplash ⬇️

1. Audit your current mix

Pull the last 30 days for each client. What percent of posts are video versus static? Most agencies sit around 70/30 toward video right now. If Instagram is rewarding carousels, a 50/50 split is worth testing.

2. Turn one video idea into a carousel every week

You already script your Reels. Take next week's hook and build it as a six-slide carousel instead. Same idea, a fraction of the production time.

3. Make carousels saveable, not scroll-past

Carousels win on saves and shares, not just likes. Slide one is the promise, the middle slides deliver, the last slide asks for the save. Design for the bookmark.

4. Lead with the words

Static content is search copy now. The text on slide one and your caption's first line are what get your client found. Write them like headlines, not afterthoughts.

5. The owner’s angle

This is a margin story, not a trend story. A carousel costs a fraction of what a produced video costs in editor hours, and Instagram is now paying to distribute it. Shift even 20% of your output from video to static and you lower your cost per post while holding, or lifting, reach. Same retainer, produced cheaper, with better engagement. Model it across your whole book and the number gets serious fast.

Tool Watch 🔧

ElevenLabs. Turns a script into a natural-sounding voiceover in seconds, so you can add narration to Reels, TikToks, and client explainers without booking voice talent or recording a thing. The verdict: the quality is good enough to ship for most short-form and a real time-saver at volume, just give long scripts a listen for flat pacing or mispronounced brand names, and get client sign-off before you put a synthetic voice out on their behalf.

New to it? Here’s a guide to walk you through the setup.

AI Tip of the week

Turning a video script into a carousel by hand is the slow part. Here's a simple hack ⬇️

Paste this into your AI tool of choice:

Final Thoughts 📝

You were told video was the only way up.

It isn't anymore. The smartest move this week isn't more production, it's a better mix.

Cheaper to make. Rewarded by the algorithm. Easier for your team.

Talk next week 🤍

Additional Resources 🪄

If you want a couple of helpful things to read this week, these two are worth your time.

The Ultimate Guide to Content Scaling - the practitioner playbook for producing more without burning out your team, including where static content earns its place in the mix.

Agency Guide: How to Design a Social Media Workflow - build the repeatable system that lets you swap video for carousels without slowing anyone down.

Take what you need, bookmark what you don’t, and make your workflow a little easier this week.