Meta’s platforms are where 70% of the world’s attention lives. Now, they’re doubling down with new ad formats, AI-powered insights, and tools to help brands cozy up to creators like never before.

Today, we're breaking down Meta's latest announcements, what they mean for your marketing strategy, and why your brand might finally get that viral moment it's been chasing. Plus, your weekly dose of social and digital marketing updates served hot by The Viral Venti from Akari & Co.

Social Media Marketing

Meta's Serving Up Ads Like Never Before

Remember when Meta was just Facebook and Instagram? Simpler times, right?

Well, buckle up, because Meta is expanding its ad empire, and it’s getting smarter, more integrated, and definitely more pervasive. They’re not just chasing eyeballs. They’re trying to catch them while they’re vibing with the latest trends and engaging with their favorite creators. It's a full-on content-targeting fiesta, and your brand is invited (with an ad budget, of course).

Key Details

• Reels Get Trendy (and Ad-Heavy): Meta is testing "Reels trending ads" that will pop up right after the most popular, creator-made Reels. Brands can even choose to appear next to top trending Reels in specific categories like beauty, sports, or whatever is hot.
  

• Partnership Ads Just Got a Makeover: Now you can run Partnership Ads with just one creator front and center. Boost live creator collabs and user-generated content on Facebook as official ads, giving authentic voices more screen time.
  

• Threads Jumps into the Ad Game (Finally): Threads is testing video ads finally. That means 16:9 or 1:1 creatives can now slip into the Threads feed, expanding your brand’s reach across yet another Meta platform.

Tools for Next-Gen Brand Builders

Meta isn’t just adding tools. It’s rewiring how content works across its ecosystem.

• Creator Matchmaking Made Smarter: Instagram's Creator Marketplace adds Trends to spotlight hot Reels topics and suggest relevant creators. A new API will help brands scale discovery and connect faster with top talent.
  

• AI-Powered Ad Creative Tools: AI recommends which branded content will perform best, and even generates “missing pixels” to expand videos for a full-screen feel.
  

• Expanded Access to Creator Data: Find creators by niche, hook rate, interaction quality, or even campaign history. Basically, it’s Tinder for brand partnerships, but with conversions.

The Bottom Line

There’s something for everyone, but you gotta know what to pile on your plate. Reels trending ads and the Creator Marketplace upgrades could supercharge your campaigns, especially if you lean into real-time trends and creator authenticity. But with great power comes great competition, so move fast, optimize smart, and don’t bet all your ad dollars on one platform. Meta’s throwing a party, but it’s up to you to bring the vibe.

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Social Media Trends

The Weekly Scroll 📱

Instagram/Facebook/Threads

🎙️ Instagram DMs Get a Voice Lift Instagram now transcribes voice messages and extends their length to 5 minutes. No more guessing games, read or listen at your leisure. 👉 Check it out

🌍 Instagram Reels Now Speak Your Language Instagram will now auto-translate text and captions on Reels. So whether it’s Spanish or French, expect fewer lost-in-translation moments. 👉 Try it out

🔗 Threads Cuts the Cord Threads is testing standalone sign-ups, so you no longer need an Instagram account to join. The app’s growing up and going solo. 👉 Explore Threads

TikTok

🎵 TikTok & SoundCloud: A Musical Duo TikTok users can now save songs directly to SoundCloud, making music discovery seamless. Your playlist just got a boost. 👉 SoundCloud Integration

🛠️ TikTok Enhances Accessibility TikTok introduces alt text, improved color contrast, and bold text options to make content more accessible for all users. Inclusivity takes center stage. 👉 Try new features

🚨 EU Scrutinizes TikTok's 'SkinnyTok' Content European regulators are examining TikTok's algorithm for promoting content that may encourage harmful eating habits among minors. 👉 Stay informed

YouTube

❓ YouTube Shorts Introduces Quiz Stickers YouTube Shorts now features interactive quiz stickers and expanded audio replies, boosting engagement and creativity. Test your audience's knowledge. 👉 Add a quiz

X / Twitter

📊 Grok AI Gets Creative X's Grok AI chatbot now supports chart creation and sketch inputs, making data visualization and idea sharing more interactive. Draw your thoughts. 👉 Try Grok

⚠️ X Faces Ongoing Outages Following a data center fire, X experiences extended service disruptions, affecting logins and direct messaging features. 👉 Check status

Other Platforms

🔊 WhatsApp Introduces Group Voice Chats WhatsApp rolls out voice chats for all group sizes, allowing seamless audio conversations without ringing everyone's phone. Talk when you want. 👉 Start a group voice chat

🔄 Discord Rethinks Conversations Discord plans to introduce forum-like features and AI summaries to make navigating conversations easier. Organized chats are coming. 👉 Stay updated

Digital Marketing Trends/Ads

Tour de Headlines

Meta

🧠 Meta Gets Green Light for EU AI Training Meta secures approval to use public Facebook and Instagram posts from EU users to train its AI models, with an opt-out option available. Privacy meets progress. 👉 Review your settings

🔁 Meta Introduces Dual-Path Lead Ads Advertisers can now direct users to either a website or instant forms, with Meta's algorithms choosing the most effective path for lead conversions. 👉 Optimize your Lead Ads

TikTok

🤖 TikTok Launches Seller Assistant AI TikTok introduces an AI chatbot to assist sellers with real-time advice and performance tips, enhancing the in-app shopping experience. 👉 Meet your assistant

Google / YouTube

🎯 Google Unveils AI-Powered Ad Tools At Marketing Live 2025, Google showcases new AI features for ad creation and measurement, aiming to streamline campaign performance. 👉 Explore the tools

📺 YouTube Highlights at Brandcast 2025 YouTube celebrates its 20th anniversary with new ad products like 'Peak Points' and 'Masthead on CTV', enhancing brand engagement opportunities. 👉 Discover more

X (Formerly Twitter)

Nada this week!

Other Platforms

📈 Reddit Rolls Out Pro Profile Tools Reddit launches new profile tools for businesses, enabling better community engagement and content management through Reddit Pro. 👉 Upgrade your profile

🛍️ Reddit Expands Dynamic Shopping Ads Reddit's Dynamic Product Ads are now available to all advertisers, offering personalized ad experiences by leveraging real-time product catalogs. 👉 Start advertising

Interesting Stats

Show these to execs when they question you

💰 Advertising Investment: Social media advertising expenditure is projected to reach $276.7 billion in 2025, with an annual growth rate of 9.37% through 2030.

📊 Platform Preferences: As of now, Facebook holds a dominant 69.5% share of the global social media market, followed by Twitter at 8.76% and Instagram at 8.08%.

♥️ Teens Love TikTok: A survey of 7,000 U.S. teens revealed that 47% consider TikTok their favorite social media app, up from 39% the previous year.

💸 Shopping Goes Social: In the United States, social commerce sales are projected to exceed $90 billion in 2025, up from nearly $64.8 billion in 2023.

🚀 Bluesky Takes Off: As of May 2025, the decentralized social platform Bluesky surpassed 35 million users, experiencing rapid growth and occasional server overloads due to high demand.

Recommendations/Resources

Tools & Apps We’re Loving Right Now 🛠️

Best AI Image Creator – Leonardo AI is blowing our minds. We’re ditching clunky design tools because this one’s got the magic touch.
👉 Give it a go

Best for Tracking TikTok Metrics & Competitor Benchmarking – TokBackup has become our secret weapon for TikTok insights. If you’re not using this, you’re flying blind.
👉 Explore TokBackup

See Competitor Ads in Real-Time – Meta Ads Library lets you spy on your competitors' strategies and campaigns. Lurking in here is basically a full-time job.
👉 Peek inside

Google Ads Campaign Insights – Google Ads Transparency Center lets you see where ad dollars are flowing. If you like data with a side of snooping, this tool’s for you.
👉 Go snoop

Best AI voiceovers - So, your talent flubbed a line, or you changed your script after recording? ElevenLabs lets you turn text into hyper-realistic voiceovers so seamless, no one will ever know.
👉 Fix it

Best AI Video Generation- HeyGen is this cool AI tool that lets you create videos with super realistic avatars that talk just by typing a script. It’s great if you hate being on camera or want to make content fast—plus, it can speak over 40 languages, so it’s perfect for reaching a global audience. Super easy, saves you time and money, and the results actually look professional.
👉 Try It

Ad Creative Analytics - Beautiful creative reporting to help your team generate more revenue from your paid social ads.

👉 Try it out

Shower Thought  🚿💭

Future archeologists (and treasure-hunters) will have intense love-hate relationships with landfills.