Creepy AI, Simplicity Wins, and Unlocking Your LinkedIn Potential! 🤖✨

I'm Lizz Venanzi, Senior Online Marketing Manager at Sparq, a trusted marketing agency in Pittsburgh.

Here's a quick overview of what you can expect from The Slowdown each week:

👀 The Lowdown: A concise summary of essential information.

💥 The Showdown: Exploring creative ideas that inspire.

☕ The Slowdown: Practical and thought-provoking ways to apply what you've learned.

The past week was eventful, so let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

The Lowdown.

Fifteen minutes for one TikTok? 🕒💥

TikTok's video length has evolved from 15 to 60 seconds, then to 3 and 5 minutes. In 2022, the 10-minute limit appeared but vanished from the app interface this year, though 10-minute uploads remained possible.

Now, TikTok is testing a new feature that allows users to upload videos up to 15 minutes long. This decision aligns with TikTok's drive to keep users engaged within the app for longer periods.

It's also worth noting that Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, already expanded its video upload limit to a whopping 30 minutes per clip last year. The move appears to have received positive feedback, which could be the influence behind TikTok's test.

While this is an exciting development, the big question remains - will TikTok users embrace longer videos in their feeds?

I'm already spending way too much time on the platform as is. 🥹

LinkedIn's Collaborative Articles feature is leveling up.

Since its March launch, LinkedIn Collaborative Articles has seen over a million expert contributions, enticing professionals with the Community Top Voice badge.

The recent updates highlight contributors at the top of posts and enhance the in-feed display, making it more contributor-focused.

LinkedIn now allows full in-feed emoji reactions, streamlining content interaction. Improved notifications help users find relevant posts, and better AI prompts promise engaging content.

Users can select preferred skills to contribute to, and the "Top Voice" badge has become a coveted symbol of authority. These updates are set to boost user participation further.

On top of the exciting new updates to collaborative articles, LinkedIn is increasing the visibility of your contributions and badges through higher reach in feed, in search, and in notifications. Woo woo!

Creepy or cool? Meta's AI celebrity bots.

Not even one month ago, the upcoming release of Meta's new AI chatbots was in the news. And now, it's here. Dun dun.

Zach, an AI-powered bot with Mr. Beast's likeness, is one of several celebrity bots created by Meta, along with Paris Hilton, Tom Brady, and Snoop Dogg.

These bots serve as conversation partners with distinct specializations. Zach, for instance, is a comedian.

While the content featuring celebrity likenesses consists of real videos where each celeb plays a human version of their bot, the chat features and messages from these accounts are generated by AI.

The move aims to engage younger users on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which are more popular with older demographics.

Creators who lent their likenesses to Meta were reportedly paid up to $5 million.

Concerns about user privacy and the implications of using celebrities' likenesses have already been raised.

The move comes during a time when the entertainment industry is dealing with challenges related to AI and automation, with questions about the protection of human actors and writers in the industry.

Although it's premature to assess the enduring effects of Meta's AI bot experiment, it undeniably signifies another uncharted chapter in the realm of technology and social media.

Will you engage with the celebrity AIs?

The Showdown.

Sometimes, simple is best.

In the marketing world, there's often a perception that every campaign, whether on a grand scale or tailored for social media, must be groundbreaking and entirely unique to grab attention.

However, the truth is that when you truly understand your audience, simplicity can be remarkably effective.

Frozen potato brand Ore-Ida, owned by Kraft Heinz, has launched its first ad campaign in five years to refresh its image with consumers.

The "Deliciously Predictable" campaign features revamped packaging and creative-centered on the "excitement of certainty."

And we could all use some certainty right about now.

Musical video ads complement the packaging using whimsical, fairy tale-style visuals to convey messaging about consistency in an otherwise uncertain world.

The new packaging will be available in April 2024, emphasizing the crispiness of products like french fries.

This revamp is part of Kraft Heinz's broader effort to rejuvenate its legacy packaged foods lineup.

Simple, effective, and now I'm hungry for fries.

The Slowdown.

Earn that Community Top Voice badge!

LinkedIn is cool now, so if you're reading this and feeling uncool, surprise! You're up with the times.

Engagement on the platform is up, and LinkedIn continues to invest in in-platform features to keep users engaged and connected to their network.

Let's hone in on the LinkedIn Collaborative Articles from this week's Lowdown.

Collaborative articles on LinkedIn are a unique blend of AI-generated prompts and contributions from the LinkedIn community.

The articles are conversation starters the LinkedIn editorial team handpicks to bring valuable insights, perspectives, and experiences that community members share.

LinkedIn states that to become a contributor, you must follow certain criteria:

LinkedIn identifies members who are likely to be experts in a certain topic based on their work experience, skills proficiency, and prior engagement on the platform. They must also meet high trust and quality standards by adhering to LinkedIn’s User Agreement and Professional Community Policies, and their contributions must remain relevant, original, and additive.

If you have access to contribute, do it.

If you don't, engage with them anyway.

You can engage with collaborative articles by sharing them, commenting on insights (make sure your comment adds value), and interacting with relevant topics.

Find more information about collaborative articles and how to contribute.

Two things that will always incentivize me:

1) The opportunity for more organic reach and engagement. Whether you can contribute or not, you can gain more organic engagement by interacting with this feature.

2) The possibility of getting a badge. (the only reason I wanted to be a Girl Scout, but I never was, so the desire wasn't fulfilled).

Join me in contributing to conversations! You can find articles to contribute to here.

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Happy almost Halloween! The Sparq Halloween party is this Thursday, and the theme is "brands." I'll drop a few pics in next week's Slowdown just for you.