You’ll never scroll Instagram the same way again 😬

Hello there 👋,

Thanks for being here. It’s great to be back.

I just took off a week from the 9-5 grind and feel much better. I didn’t go on a trip or set myself up to work from somewhere warm as a part time digital nomad. I took a vacay, a content vacay.

How did it go? You may ask.

Turns out I needed sleep, for 3 whole days I chilled, I didn’t even make it to a St Patrick’s parade… (I know, poor form). All I wanted to do was rest. So, I watched the entire new season of Below Deck on Netflix (I love boats) and finally feel much more like myself again, even if a part of me felt like I was wasting time.

For the rest of the week, things went pretty slow too, but I did find out some epic bits I cannot wait to share with you.

Let’s jump right into it…

AI-Generated comments & DMs are coming to Instagram
(Facebook & WhatsApp too)

Meta AI has been live in the U.S. since 2023, but over here in Europe, privacy laws have held it back until now. You can get the AI assistant to chat, answer questions, and even generate images, though it looks like Europe won’t get the full version just yet. The chatbot version landed in a few EU countries last month with Meta planning to roll it out to all countries soon (Source: Tech Crunch).

But what does this mean for human connection on platforms like Instagram?

I’m all for lead-gen-style comments and DMs from the likes of the automation tool ManyChat as everyone knows by now that these are coming from your pet robot (and you inputted them anyway), but commenting with AI… While some will love it, I’m not a fan, innovation is great but let’s not lose the heart of what makes social media social.

If you’ve seen the AI generated comments on LinkedIn (and content, for that matter), you’ll know how actually awful and disengaging it is.

Personally, commenting is one of my favourite parts of social media, as I really enjoy talking to people. Granted, there’s some pitch slapping & ‘will you marry me’ DMs going on, but for the most part, it’s an epic way to actually connect with people you’d never get to talk to otherwise.

Think about it, you have direct access to your bullseye target customer, your peers and your fave influencers or for me, top marketers.

So, what does this mean for your content?
(even for your business content)

Here’s what we know:

• AI is going native, becoming a default feature.

• You’ll be competing with machine-generated answers.

• Text-to-video is coming fast. Meta is apparently investing big in turning search queries into Reels-style clips

• This could evolve into story prompts, ad templates, and the further rise of AI influencers 👀

Ideas to keep it real and still grow:

• Stand out by being more specific to your lived experiences, be more YOU.

• Going live more often, make it a content habit, answer in real-time.

• Start a broadcast channel and drop voice updates to build connection.

One thing I think will explode over the next year or more is in-person events meshing even further with all types of social. We’re going to have to prove we’re real people!

How do you feel about all of this? Drop me reply.

Navigating it all can feel like just one more thing to watch, to learn, to master, it can feel overwhelming.

Don’t let that bother you, AI is just a tool, just like the internet and we all still need real human connection.

Here’s a quick reminder as to why there’s no greater power than just simply being yourself:

• You are enough

• Your story matters

• You bring the magic, not AI

  (speaking to the past me and sometimes the present me too).

We got this 💪 Keep showing up anyway.

Here are two proven content ideas you can try on your Instagram

(with curated examples) to show the world you are indeed a human!

12 things I’m doing at [insert your age] (to avoid regret when I’m 85) by matthgrey

This one stopped the scroll for me.

Why it’s such an epic piece of content

• The hook is numerical and wildly specific creating emotional weight and structure.

• It reveals priorities, giving a peak into mindset, without the ‘should dos’.

• At the same time it gives actionable tips, if you don’t agree, you put your own in place.

• It taps into the more than 10 slide carousel feature creating greater dwell time, getting the algorithm to push it further to non-followers.

• The final mic-drop moment is the CTA, the whole story gets you to a ManyChat DM flow, and boom he has your email.

(There’s not a hashtag in sight, according to Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram they are a thing of the past, however, they still may serve influencers to be found for a niche by brands and for local SEO - time will tell).

How I do [something really hard] in [a tiny time frame] example by marvin_kehr

This is the content paradox hook, something big, hard to do, followed by something unbelievably simple and doable.

Why this one works

• It creates curiosity and releases that sweet dopamine hit

• It uses the ‘How I’ framework, making it undeniable your experience

• Followed by quick tips that are too quick to read on the reel

• You’ll have to go to the caption to get them driving more views

• Engagement CTA automation in place

• Once again zero hashtags

The point here is to learn from top creators and find, hooks, ideas and formats that already work.

Then use your unique voice, your ideal customer’s pain points, your insights, your frameworks, and your solutions and adapt them to your niche.

What about if we use AI to help with this?

Try this prompt in ChatGPT:

The next step is to add your take, just like with the creator examples.

Hit reply and share your results, here are some of mine:

If I were using this one, here’s how I’d change it for my niche of social media:

11 things I stopped chasing in my career (so I could finally build the one I wanted)

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9 things I stopped chasing on social media (so I could finally build my dream community)

My keywords are in the hook - now it’s my job to deliver on that promise in the body and end with an irresistible lead gen CTA.

CTA: Reply with “CAREER” and I’ll send you my worksheet for redefining success.

=

CTA: Reply with “STOP” and I’ll send you my checklist for debunking social media myths.

(I might have to post this! Would you download it?)

One skill for social media managers (or anyone creating content) is to be able to deconstruct viral content and use it as a base to jump off.

Then you could create your prompt from your own rationale and have a sea of proven ideas ready to be made your own in minutes.

Ok, that’s all for today.

Until next time, you’ll catch me on my socials.

Stay Remotely social 😉,

Nikki 💅