LinkedIn Will Now Tell You What Your Posts Are Actually Driving 📈

TODAY’S EDITION

• LinkedIn will now show how your posts contribute to profile views, followers, and clicks.

• YouTube is rolling out Google Lens integration to let viewers search for objects they see in Shorts.

• Instagram is beginning to let some users rearrange posts on their profile with a new Edit Grid feature.

• Instagram’s video editing app, Edits, is reportedly getting a teleprompter feature soon.

• Spotify has added new podcast discovery and engagement tools as it continues competing with YouTube.

• Awin celebrated 25 years with its ThinkTank event — my three key takeaways.

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LinkedIn Adds New Post-Level Analytics to Show Creators What Outcomes Their Content Drives

LinkedIn launched new post-level analytics that show how many people viewed your profile or followed you as a result of a specific post. Premium subscribers also get data on clicks to their Custom CTA button, including repeat clicks.

At the same time, LinkedIn quietly removed the option to add hyperlinks to profiles. This initially caused some confusion about the CTA metrics, but that’s since been clarified.

Why It Matters: These updates give creators a clearer picture of what content drives outcomes, whether it's profile views, follower growth, or clicks to websites, newsletters, scheduling links, and more. By spotting trends across posts, creators can better optimize their content and use these insights to strengthen pitches to brand partners.

More Analytics, Deeper Understanding: This builds on LinkedIn’s addition of Average Watch Time for video posts, giving creators more visibility into how long people are watching their videos. As LinkedIn continues to lean into video and creator-led advertising, expect even more analytics features before the end of 2025.

Spotify Rolls Out New Tools to Supercharge Podcast Discovery & Engagement

Spotify is rolling out several new features for podcasts on mobile. Here’s what’s coming:

• Recommendations: Users will see personalized podcast suggestions. Some recommendations will include notes explaining why they were selected.

• Following Feed: A dedicated feed will display the latest episodes from all the shows a user follows.

• In This Episode: Creators can link directly to other Spotify content mentioned in their episodes, such as podcasts, audiobooks, playlists, and more.

• Comments: Threaded replies to create richer and more interactive conversations.

Why It Matters: Spotify is making it easier for users to discover new shows and stay connected with their favorite podcast creators, while also giving creators better tools to engage their listeners.

The In This Episode feature stands out because creators can amplify their other content and content from guests, they have across Spotify’s expanding ecosystem, which now includes newer formats like audiobooks and courses.

Podcast Showdown: Spotify and YouTube remain locked in a heated battle for podcasting dominance, leaning heavily on new features lately. Spotify introduced play counts for podcasts, an update that drew mixed reactions from creators. Meanwhile, YouTube launched a Weekly Top Podcast Shows chart and refreshed its Podcasts homepage in the US.

Awin Celebrates 25 Years With Global ThinkTank Event: 3 Takeaways

Affiliate platform Awin recently marked its 25th anniversary with a special edition of its Global ThinkTank event in Vilamoura, Portugal. Typically regional in focus, this year’s event brought Awin’s global network together in one place. The result was greater alignment, new ideas, and meaningful conversations.

The multi-day event featured product announcements, keynotes, breakout sessions, networking, and memorable social gatherings.

Attendees included leading brands like Nike, SharkNinja, HelloFresh, and Samsung, along with agencies, platforms, and media such as CreatorIQ, Acceleration Partners, Klarna, Hello Partner, Affiliate Summit East, and MarTech Record.

Here are three key takeaways from the event:

1. Relationships Are the Foundation

In the Influencing the Influencers session I participated in, we explored how brands can build long-term affiliate partnerships with creators. This is becoming increasingly important as influencer and affiliate marketing continue to converge.

I shared how brands benefit when they think of creators as a distinct consumer segment. This shift in mindset often leads to deeper and more strategic partnerships, rather than one-off content deals.

Mike Balducci from CreatorIQ and Francesca Dakin from Gifta offered examples of programs that scale while keeping a personal touch. Dakin pointed out that personalized experiences, such as thoughtful unboxing moments and live briefing calls, often drive higher completion rates and stronger performance.

In a separate session titled Affiliate Marketing: A View From the C-Suite, which focused on securing executive buy-in, Acceleration Partners CEO Matt Wool explained that relationships are what set affiliate marketing apart. While competitors might spend more on Meta or Google ads, building trust and credibility with affiliates takes time. That investment is difficult for others to replicate.

Why It Matters: Whether you are working with creators, affiliates, or publishers, and whether your campaigns are small or large, strong relationships lead to long-term success. The approach may vary depending on the partner, but the outcome remains the same: sustainable growth built on trust.

2. You Need a Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Strategy

Search is evolving quickly. AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity are changing how people discover content. Google’s wide rollout of AI Overviews means that appearing in large language model (LLM) results is becoming just as important and soon may be more important than ranking in traditional search.

Lily Ray, VP of SEO Strategy & Research at Amsive, explained why brands need to invest in original, expert-driven content, especially across social platforms. She also noted that brands can guide LLMs by creating useful content, such as FAQ and appearing on podcasts. These touchpoints help build authority and improve visibility within generative AI results.

Why It Matters: Traditional SEO strategies are no longer enough. As generative AI becomes the primary method of search for many users, brands must have a clear content strategy to remain discoverable. For brands and creators, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Those who fail to adapt may lose traffic and visibility, while those who evolve early can gain an edge in a new and growing channel.

3. Stand Out by Being Different

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman at Ogilvy UK, closed the event with a keynote titled How to Be Uncomparably Good. He argued that many companies lose their edge by copying competitors instead of focusing on what makes them truly unique.

One example he shared was DoubleTree Hotels. They are not known for their luxury rooms, but rather for something simple and memorable: warm cookies at check-in. That unexpected, emotional detail is what guests remember.

Why It Matters: In a performance-focused environment, emotional brand moments often get overlooked. But these are the very things that create customer loyalty, word of mouth, and long-term impact. Whether you are a tech platform, a brand, a publisher, or an individual creator, leaning into what makes you different can be one of the most powerful ways to grow.

NEWS, TRENDS & INSIGHTS

Meta

• Instagram now supports 3:4 aspect ratio photos, which is the native format for many smartphone cameras. When users upload photos in this ratio, they will appear as originally shot.

• Instagram announced several updates to Direct Messaging, including transcriptions for voice messages, the ability to send longer voice messages, and an option to follow everyone in a group chat with a single tap.

• Instagram launched an Expander feature in Stories. Powered by Meta AI, it lets users expand photos to fit full-screen in Stories.

• Instagram opened up Share Access to more users. This lets users give others access to their account to do tasks like posting content and responding to comments, without sharing their passwords.

• Instagram is giving creators with 100K+ followers enhanced comment-sorting tools. They can sort comments by Top Comments, Newest, or Follower Count, and filter by People You Follow, Verified, or Subscribers.

• Instagram is rolling out the ability for users to edit their profile grid. Using the Edit Grid option, users can rearrange the order of posts on their grid.

• Instagram’s video editing app, Edits, received new updates. It now offers 44 video effects and 40 filter options. Additionally, a new in-app teleprompter feature is coming soon.

YouTube

• YouTube is testing a Google Lens integration for Shorts. Mobile viewers will be able to use a Lens option to draw, highlight, or tap on anything they’re watching on the screen, such as a landmark, and search it via Google Lens. This will provide visual matches and related information.

• YouTube launched Side-by-Side ads for mid-roll ads on live streams. Available on desktop and TV screens, these ads run next to a muted live stream within the video player.

• YouTube is testing a leaderboard for live streams to showcase the most engaged viewers. Viewers earn points based on their interactions during a live stream, and the top three on the leaderboard will receive badges.

Pinterest

• Pinterest inked a new partnership with the WNBA’s New York Liberty. The collaboration will include exclusive content, in-game experiences, and community outreach. With high interest in WNBA-related searches on Pinterest, this marks the platform’s first-ever sports partnership.

Twitch

• Twitch announced dual-format streaming and vertical viewing. Creators will soon be able to stream in both horizontal and vertical layouts simultaneously, and what viewers see will depend on whether they are viewing from desktop or mobile.

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