Our team recently attended Ideas Fest 2025 in Tring and came back buzzing with inspiration. With so much happening in the world of digital marketing, the event was a great chance to explore fresh perspectives and future-focused strategies. From emerging trends in AI-driven content to smarter approaches in performance marketing, the insights we discovered highlight just how fast the landscape is evolving.
In this newsletter, we’ve pulled together the latest updates and changes shaping the world of digital marketing, along with some exciting opportunities these new developments are creating.
Instagram Highlight Have Moved
Instagram has recently relocated story highlights from its prominent position below the bio to a new, dedicated tab alongside the Reels tab. This update highlights a more structured and permanent home on your profile, shifting user interaction from a passive glance to an intentional click. While they are no longer the first element visitors see, the new tab positions them as a core content destination.
For brands, this change reframes the role of highlights. The immediate focus now falls more heavily on your bio and grid to capture a visitor’s interest and encourage them to explore further. The highlights tab itself becomes a valuable resource for more engaged audiences seeking additional information. It functions as a curated library where you can house in-depth content, including testimonials, tutorials, product catalogues, and company news.
New AI Feed Coming to Meta
“Vibe” is a new TikTok-like, AI-curated video feed that is separate from the main Instagram feed, designed to help users discover new AI content. Second, Meta is testing an AI-driven feature that creates a “highlight reel” of video content from a user’s friends and followed accounts, summarising what they’ve missed. Finally, Meta has launched a standalone, dedicated “Meta AI” app for consumers, which functions similarly to ChatGPT, providing a direct portal to their AI assistant.
This update reinforces the idea that AI is becoming a primary interface for users. Marketers need to consider how their core information, like business details, services, and promotions, is structured and accessible, as users may increasingly rely on AI assistants to query this data rather than visiting profiles or websites directly. In short, these updates collectively mean that understanding and optimising for AI-driven discovery and interaction is no longer a future consideration but a present-day necessity for effective reach on Meta’s platforms.
Instagram Has Officially Hit 3 Billion Monthly Users
This matters to brands and marketers for several key reasons. First, with 3 billion users, Instagram remains a massive potential reach for any campaign. If content is relevant, the audience is there. Second, the UI changes and the topic-adjustment feature suggest Instagram is giving more control to users over content discovery. That could shift how content is surfaced (and what gets visibility), making it more important to optimise for topic signals and understand evolving user preferences. Check out our blog on how search capabilities are evolving and what role social media plays in this shift.
In short: to stay competitive, brands need to pay attention not just to reach but to the alignment of content themes, cues, and platform navigation.
Verification Checkmark for LinkedIn Company Pages
Now, brands enrolled in LinkedIn’s Premium Company Page plan will also be eligible to apply for the verification badge. The platform indicates that eligibility will be based on factors like meaningful engagement (regular posting, member responses) and existing commercial relationships with LinkedIn (e.g. using Ads, Jobs, or Premium subscriptions).
As more company pages become eligible, having that checkmark can help your brand stand out, reassure prospects, and combat impersonation or scepticism on the platform.
Boosting Posts On Twitter Is Now Available
How much will it cost to ‘boost’ a post?
- 11k – 27k impressions – $50
- 23k – 54k impressions – $100
- 116k – 272k impressions – $500
- 225k to 543k impressions – $1,000
X Premium users already receive a boost in their content as part of their plan, but this new option would incur an additional cost if brands wanted to utilise it.
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Facebook to Phase Out Community Chats
Launched in 2022, Community Chats were designed to let group members continue conversations in a dedicated chat space. But uptake has been weak: many group members preferred to keep their interactions within the Facebook groups themselves, rather than splitting conversations between Facebook and Messenger.
This is a reminder that adding a new channel or layer of communication isn’t guaranteed to succeed, even if it seems logical from a platform side. What matters more is user behaviour and preference. If your audience prefers to stay in-app, introducing offshoot chat channels could dilute engagement or fragment conversations.
Smarter Ad Spending with Meta’s New Tracking
Meta’s new update for Facebook and Instagram ads compares people who saw your ads to a similar group who didn’t. This helps it figure out the extra sales that happened only because of the ads. This “extra” result is called incremental lift.
What This Means for Brand Running Social Ads:
- You’ll Get More Honest Data: Your reports might show fewer total conversions than before, but the numbers will be more accurate. You’ll see which sales your ads actually drove.
You Can Spend Smarter: This helps you know if your ads are bringing in new customers or just reminding existing ones. This lets you invest your budget in the campaigns that are truly growing your business, giving you a better return on your money.
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