Hello Marketers!! This Friday, we’re breaking down what’s actually working across the major platforms. Meta’s new WhatsApp approach is trying to be a real performance driver, Shopify’s latest launch opens a new path for product discovery, and Instagram’s current content patterns are clearer than ever. Plus, a few more stories worth your time below…

Instagram is heavily favoring human, story-driven content again. What’s working now is personal narration, real-life context, and formats that feel native: talking-head Reels, call-out content, POV storytelling, camera-roll carousels, and repeatable series that train followers to come back. The study sees clear patterns, topics tied to identity, hooks rooted in personal experience, and mid-reel retention tactics outperform polished how-to posts. Why it matters (POV): If your content reads like a blog post instead of a lived experience, it could get buried. Human context is the performance driver here.

It lets people manually add or remove interest topics to influence which Reels they see, with preview examples for each category. While it gives users more transparency and the feeling of control, Meta knows most people rarely use these settings, so engagement risk is low. The tool mostly functions as an optional reassurance rather than a true behavioral shift. Why it matters (POV): If even a small percentage of users actually tailor their interests, content relevance becomes more important. Accounts that nail category alignment will get disproportionate reach.

Meta’s latest WhatsApp best practices make one thing clear: conversational commerce is now a performance channel. In high-adoption markets (India, LATAM), Click-to-WhatsApp campaigns remain essential for instant sales; in the U.S. and Europe, marketers need to prepare for rising adoption. Automated WhatsApp Business AI now handles FAQs, product recommendations, discounting, and even helps boost conversion rates. Choosing the right objective matters - Leads → conversations; Sales → purchases tracked by pixel/CAPI. Why it matters (POV): This unlocks a new high-intent list channel with far higher engagement than email. However, the readiness and cultural nuances of the markets need to be considered. For example, WhatsApp isn’t widely popular in North America. Although it’s popular in Europe, people are less responsive to ads than in India or LATAM.

Learning periods happen when ad platforms like Google and Meta gather enough performance data after a change, such as updating budgets, bids, audiences, or creatives, to stabilize delivery. During this phase, the algorithm tests different user groups and bidding paths, which usually causes volatility in CPA, ROAS, and volume. The fastest way to exit learning is to minimize edits, increase conversion volume, and maintain consistent optimization signals, allowing the system to achieve reliable performance. Why it matters (POV): We need to let the model stabilize before making any decisions like turning off ads, unless the result is extremely bad beyond your benchmark. The more data the platform has, the faster and easier it is to exit the learning phase.

Users bounce between search, AI chat, social proof, product pages, and category research long before they ever click “convert,” meaning SEO, content, and early-funnel touchpoints drive far more influence than last-click reports show. There is hidden work: where journeys start, which channels assist, how AI summaries shape intent, and how organic drives return visits and refined queries that eventually convert in other channels. Why it matters (POV): If you’re still reporting performance on last-click, you’re underreporting the value of the channels that actually create demand. 

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The EU is preparing a Digital Fairness Act targeting misleading influencer marketing and manipulative personalization. 97% of influencers posted commercial content, but only 20% consistently disclosed ads, and many promoted risky products like junk food, alcohol, aesthetic procedures or crypto. Existing rules (UCPD, DSA) technically already apply, but the new act will close enforcement gaps, clarify legal responsibilities across creators, brands, and platforms, and introduce stronger protections for minors. Why it matters (POV): Influencer marketing is about to get regulated like a real advertising channel. Brands relying on creators from the EU will need tighter compliance. We need to treat influencers like regulated media partners.

It lets merchants display items from other Shopify stores directly inside their own site. If a shopper searches for something a store doesn’t carry, the system automatically fills the gap with relevant products from the network, and the shopper can buy everything in one unified cart without realizing they’re browsing cross-merchant inventory. Shopify optimizes purely for conversion and pays participating merchants a commission when their items sell through another storefront. Why it matters (POV): This will reshape cross-merchant discovery, increase AOV, and tighten customer retention, especially for niche stores that usually lose shoppers when they don’t stock a particular item.

AI Max is Google’s AI-driven Search upgrade that automatically expands queries, rewrites ad copy, and redirects users to optimized landing pages, and it’s currently the only route into paid placement inside AI Overviews and AI Mode. Buyers, however, report mixed results: some see broader reach, while many claim higher CPAs, irrelevant queries, and too much clean-up work to make the tool usable. Agencies are even disabling AI creative features to regain control. Why it matters (POV): Brands could test it early with controlled budgets, not for immediate ROAS, but to learn how AI search behaves before placements become fully competitive. 

This will let advertisers finally measure Connected TV the same way they measure search and social. The integration will plug tvScientific’s automated buying, AI optimization and attribution directly into Pinterest Performance+, creating a unified funnel where brands can run CTV and track real outcomes instead of relying on soft metrics or modeled lift. Why it matters (POV): Pinterest is trying to flip the script by turning TV into a real performance channel. If Pinterest pulls this off, CTV stops being “brand budget only” and becomes a scalable conversion engine for D2C brands.

TLDR: If you want customers to spend more, put your highest-value option in the middle. People instinctively see center-positioned products as the safest, most popular choice, a bias proven across multiple studies.

The Center-Stage Effect is a cognitive bias when products are presented side-by-side, consumers believe the middle choice is the “safe,” most chosen, and most socially approved option, leading to higher overall spend.

How to Implement:

Some examples here…

Turn your FAQs into Reels/Shorts, quick 10–15s videos answering your top 5 customer questions. This tends to perform well with many D2C brands because they mirror real buyer objections.

— Sam C.