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AI Overviews are gaining popularity and impacting brand visibility. Learn how to research and track your AI Overview visibility with Semrush. View the full article

Black Friday 2025 was a bit of a head-scratcher. Year on year, spend rose, impressions fell, but clicks and engagement stayed strong. The data (so far): Source: Optmyzr-connected Google Ads accounts (5,000+ ecommerce, 16,000 lead gen advertisers active both years). Conversion value and ROAS are still coming in — we’ll update when the full picture is ready. Two big takeaways: Visibility got pricier. Spend up ~17% across ecommerce and lead gen. Impressions fell year over year. Translation: advertisers paid more to reach roughly the same audience. Engagement held steady. Clicks and CTR up across the board. Lead gen saw slightly lower CPCs and a noticeable lift in clicks. Attention is still there — people are clicking. What this could mean for Q4 and Q1 2026: Costs likely stay high. Black Friday is already competitive; if reach got more expensive here, the trend probably continues through early 2026. Clicks aren’t the bottleneck. The bigger question is what happens after the click — returns, conversions, and overall efficiency matter more than raw traffic. Post-click experience matters. Landing pages, offers, checkout flows, and lead follow-ups will determine success when clicks don’t immediately convert. Why we care. Black Friday 2025 shows a clear trend: reaching audiences is getting more expensive, even as engagement remains strong. This means that while clicks are easier to get, converting them into revenue or leads will require smarter post-click strategies — optimizing landing pages, offers, and follow-ups is now more critical than ever. Ignoring these shifts could lead to higher spend with lower returns. Bottom line. Advertisers paid more to stay visible during Black Friday 2025, but attention remained strong. The challenge for the rest of Q4 and Q1 isn’t getting traffic — it’s turning that traffic into results efficiently. Dig Deeper. Black Friday year on year PPC performance snapshot View the full article

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are four updates from past letter-writers. There will be more posts than usual this week, so keep checking back throughout the day. 1. Adjusting to not having work friends now that I’m everyone’s manager (#2 at the link) I wrote about six months ago about loneliness at work after being promoted to location manager. On the whole, I’m feeling a great deal more comfortable! Some of my staff were promoted or otherwise moved to different jobs, so the current mix of people has known me mostly as Boss. I’ve been very intentional about being friendly with staff, and the new faces who weren’t my coworkers before have made it much easier to be Friendly Boss to everyone equally. I’ve also been able to start cultivating more communication with managers at other locations, which has helped. My most senior report is doing great at taking on leadership and being in charge when I am gone, which I think has mitigated a lot of stress that I didn’t realize I was feeling as well. As for making other adult friends with little kids, thanks to everyone for your advice! Some of it I’ve tried out (with limited success; terminal introvert, here), some of it will probably come in handy in the future. My spouse stays home with the kids, so we don’t have daycare friends to get together with. I know I didn’t make it clear in my original letter, but I do have a long-standing hobby group once a week. I was having some trouble getting close to people there but didn’t have the bandwidth to join anything else. Since then, I’ve been more strategic in how I try to connect with the others in that group and in my religious gathering, and it’s becoming easier to connect in both places. So I might have to be resigned to a new type of relationship with people at work, but I don’t need to be resigned to loneliness! 2. My team doesn’t want to work for a client whose politics they disagree with Well, the big project we were kicking off at the time is nearing its end, so still TBD on whether or not we survive. :) But as you recommended, I discussed it with upper management and our two highest executives/owners shared how they are both personally active in helping immigrants, which was good for boosting morale among my team. The client’s social media related to that has quieted down, thank goodness, and they didn’t try to discuss any of that side of their organization within the scope of our project with them. We worked through some minor annoying requests like the usage of “Gulf of America,” but I am hopeful that the tide is starting to turn within our industry against the administration. None of our other clients have had any sort of requests along these lines, so that’s good! Our biggest problem is mass turnover among clients because their government jobs are so volatile right now that many are leaving for private sector work. Update to the update: I spoke too soon. After the final proofing stage, they are now requesting we swap out photos to include some of an elected official with members of ICE. I feel physically sick, and my team wants to push back. Again, it’s a huge project for us with a big financial impact, not to mention the time and resources we’ve put into it, considering I first wrote to you in February. 3. What if hiring a spouse is truly the best choice? In accord with your advice, our church board all agreed that we didn’t want to hire the minister’s partner as music director, but somehow the HR committee wound up letting her interview anyway. The minister had been so careful to stay out of it that she never even told her partner of the depth of concerns, so it all came as a surprise to the partner in the interview. Fortunately, the partner wound up getting a better offer and withdrew her application before we had to tell her we wouldn’t hire her. Unfortunately, the other best candidate also withdrew, so we had to start the search all over. Fortunately we did find and hire a wonderful candidate who had not applied in the first round. Unfortunately, the partner/applicant issue inflamed feelings among the choir, who were convinced that the minister had driven out the previous music director. (Not true, but it was a confidential HR issue so no one got the full picture.) Subsequent work with conflict consultants leads me to believe that music directors are often the focal point of bad blood in congregations. It’s a tricky in-between position, involving deep commitment and loyalty within the music program, and a leader whose skill and training is in music, not religion or management or ministerial presence. 4. I’m getting too many requests for practice exchange (#3 at the link) I wrote in after being inundated with requests for practice exchange visits. I took both your and the commenters‘ advice to heart and shared it with my team. A) I decided to point requesters to our university’s week for guests, where people can visit all the units at once. The next one is in 1.5 years‘ time, but it’s something to offer at least. I also send the recordings we already have. B) I suggested, like someone did in the comments, that my team prep a schedule and short talks we might trot out for every visitor. They thought it’s a good idea. C) I also took the advice to select with our own benefit in mind, so I’ve just been saying no. D) I also have been saying no a lot to zoom networking, and to some invites to give talks/workshops, unless it’s really high-profile or from universities we have pre-existing “diplomatic” elationships with, or I just really like the people. I manage a team of six now and serve a target population of 2000, so I feel they need to be my priority. The stuff I said yes to this year all had a big impact, so I’m very happy. Thanks to all who gave advice! The post updates: not having work friends as the boss, the controversial client, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

In a relatively mild oversight hearing in the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday morning, regulatory heads at the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, National Credit Union Administration and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. outlined plans for reduced capital requirements and debanking enforcement. View the full article

In the high-stakes premium travel race of 2025, every major credit card issuer is trying to claim the loyalty of affluent travelers—and airport lounges have become the most visible battleground. American Express is refreshing its Platinum Card and launching a new fast-format Sidecar lounge. Capital One’s Venture X card has become a darling among travelers, thanks to its hyperlocal boutique-style lounges. And Citi has returned to the ultra-premium arena with the $595 Strata Elite card. As for Chase? Fresh off raising its Sapphire Reserve annual fee to $795 and launching its Sapphire Reserve for Business card, the finance giant is now signaling that its lounges aren’t meant to be carbon copies of existing models. They’re meant to be destinations. That direction becomes unmistakable with the opening of the newest Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas. The two-story space arrives on Wednesday, December 3, with a marquee feature: Chase’s first-ever champagne parlor offering bar cart service, sparkling wine, mimosas, seasonal spritzes, and tray-passed bites. It’s theatrical, indulgent, and distinctly Vegas—an early clue to how Chase sees the next phase of luxury travel benefits. “We’re super excited about this lounge,” Dana Pouwels, head of airport lounge benefits at Chase, tells Fast Company. “A key focus for us with the Sapphire Lounge strategy is really bringing the best of the city into the lounge and really creating a destination that customers want to go to and visit different locations so they can learn something new.” In a year when premium cards are escalating their lounge and concierge offerings—and, in many cases, their fees—Chase’s champagne lounge doesn’t just offer bubbles. It offers brand differentiation. Why Las Vegas—and why now Las Vegas was Chase’s sixth-most booked domestic travel destination in 2025, and it plays an outsize role in Sapphire Reserve customer behavior. Other issuers have staked new ground in Vegas, too: American Express is preparing to open its Sidecar by the Centurion Lounge location there sometime in 2026. Capital One is adding another of its boutique-style lounges at LAS as part of its 2025 expansion. Chase’s stepping in with its own concept—rooted in “sense of place”—underscores the city’s growing importance as a travel loyalty battleground. “This lounge is really about capturing the vibrant energy of Las Vegas,” Pouwels says. “We went for bold, shimmering finishes . . . but then we paired that with desert-themed touches that celebrate the unique landscape of the region.” Chase uses each lounge to test new ideas, an approach that contrasts sharply with the uniformity seen in many airline-branded lounges. “A highlight, specifically for me, of this lounge is we are doing our first-ever champagne parlor . . . another fun way for us to do something unique and different on this lounge,” Pouwels says. This experimentation is part of Chase’s signature. Its Phoenix lounge introduced a pre-bookable Airstream kitchen. San Diego features hyperlocal seafood dishes. And Boston brought wellness treatments into the fold. “We test different concepts in each market . . . due to customer feedback,” Pouwels says. “That is a differentiating factor for us as we think about the lounge landscape overall.” Culinary partnerships as a national strategy In Vegas, that means chef David Chang’s Momofuku brand. “Momofuku has been part of the Las Vegas community for nearly a decade, and so they’re really the perfect partner for us here,” Pouwels says. “They’ll be bringing some favorites . . . like spicy cucumber salad, crispy nori potatoes, and then their famous pork bun.” Other markets showcase similarly intentional partnerships: Philadelphia: Middle Child Clubhouse dishes, Elixr Coffee, and a local craft beer garden celebrating the city’s brewing heritage. LaGuardia: Fairfax dishes and coffee from NYC’s famed Joe Coffee. San Diego: Oscar’s Mexican Seafood and Groundwork Coffee anchor a West Coast–inspired menu. This consistent commitment to locality differentiates Chase from other airline lounges and gives Sapphire Reserve a culinary identity distinct from the Platinum Card’s chef collective or Venture X’s local brewery collaborations. The fee hike—and what lounges have to do with it Chase’s decision to raise the Sapphire Reserve annual fee to $795 earlier this year puts it squarely in competition with the Amex Platinum ($895) and Citi Strata Elite ($595). Meanwhile, Capital One’s Venture X remains significantly lower, at $395, drawing attention from cost-conscious premium travelers. To justify a nearly $800 price tag, Chase’s lounges must deliver real, experiential value. “The lounge strategy is really based on creating experiences for our card members on the end-to-end travel journey,” Pouwels says. “The reason that we open lounges in the first place is really to make travel better for card members.” And even as some competitors are tightening guest access, Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Reserve for Business card members can bring two guests for free—a meaningful differentiator as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Amex adjust their policies to curb crowding. What sets a Sapphire Lounge apart from competitors? Pouwels frames it in terms of personalization and flexibility—two things travelers increasingly demand across card ecosystems. “We really think our lounges are differentiated, unique, personalized, and really focused on elevating that customer’s travel journey,” she says. Chase aims to meet travelers where they are: Guests with hours to spare can enjoy sit-down dining, wellness spaces, and private suites. Guests with mere minutes can benefit from grab-and-go options, specialty coffee, and quiet seating zones. “It doesn’t really matter whether you have 15 minutes or whether you have an hour—you still want a great lounge experience,” Pouwels says. A lounge as a loyalty engine In a year when premium cards are redefining what “luxury” means—whether it’s Amex’s chef-driven menus, Venture X’s locally brewed “perfect airport beers,” or Citi’s sweep of high-value lifestyle credits—the Las Vegas Sapphire Lounge shows how Chase plans to compete: through curated destination immersion. The champagne parlor is more than a novelty. It’s a glimpse of Chase’s long-term bet that the future of loyalty isn’t just about points—it’s about places. And if Chase’s evolving lounge strategy stays on this course, the airport might soon become travelers’ first taste of their destination—not just the place they pass through to reach it. View the full article

ChatGPT is currently down for many users of the popular OpenAI service. When you try to ask ChatGPT a question, you likely won’t get a response. OpenAI confirmed the issue on its status page saying, “We’re currently experiencing issues.” OpenAI added, “We have identified that users are experiencing elevated errors for the impacted services. We are working on implementing a mitigation.” What it looks like. Many are seeing just a black dot as a response to their questions within the ChatGPT interface: Offline for many. The OpenAI status screen shows the uptime by service: Downdetector shows the service has been reported as offline by thousands of users: The issue started at about 2:30 pm ET and is still down after almost 30 minutes right now. Why we care. If you are using ChatGPT for your own tasks, marketing, SEO, PPC or just to send a client an email, it might not work properly for you. I am sure OpenAI is doing its best to get it up and running again. Coming back. About 30 minutes after the outage, it seems to be coming back for some users. I tested it and at 3pm ET it does seem to be working again. View the full article

Michael Dell, along with his wife Susan, announced on Tuesday they are donating $6.25 billion to so-called “The President accounts”—a program that gives $1,000 of “free money” from the federal government to children in the U.S. born on, or after, January 1, 2025 through the end of 2028, while The President is in office. The Dells’ contribution will allocate about $250 per child, to 25 million children. The accounts are basically long-term savings vehicles. Parents will be able to contribute to the accounts starting in July 2026, according to USA TODAY. That money will be invested into stock market mutual or index funds. Here’s what to know. Who is eligible for a ‘The President account’? Accounts are available to all children in the U.S. under age 18 with a Social Security number, and will be managed and activated through the U.S. Treasury, according to the factsheet for Invest America. The contributions come as part of The President’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which was signed into law this past summer. The $250 Dell Foundation contribution is separate, and will go to children born from 2016 through 2024 in ZIP codes where the median household incomes are below $150,000 per year, according to The New York Times. What are the contribution rules? Parents “and community” (such as employers) can collectively contribute up to $5,000 per year to a Invest America account. There is no cap or limit for philanthropists, charitable organizations, or state or local government contributions. At what age can the money be withdrawn? Can it go toward college? Starting at age 18, a child with one of these accounts can use a portion of the savings for education or job training; starting a business; or buying a first home. Note: The accounts automatically convert into traditional IRA, or Individual Retirement Accounts, at age 18, allowing any unused funds to continue to grow. (A traditional IRA is a tax-advantaged personal savings plan where contributions may be tax deductible.) How can parents open an account? Learn more about the The President Accounts at the website for investment firm Charles Schwab, which notes, “at this time, it isn’t clear who will open the account or where it will be held.” View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. If you know a runner, I have the perfect gift recommendation for you. If you are a runner, I know what you should tell your mom you want for Christmas. And even if there isn’t a gifting holiday in your immediate future, you should still know the Good News about water-resistant running shoes. They’re out there, they might be on sale right now, and they will change your life if you run in snowy conditions—or if you would if you had the right shoes. Nike Pegasus Trail 4 Gore-TEX Women's Waterproof Trail Running Shoes (FN7102-010, Black/Light Magenta/Pink Foam/Chlorophyll) Size 9 $184.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $184.99 at Amazon As a lifelong on-and-off runner, I will say that running in the spring is a lot more fun if you don't have a long off-season every winter. So rather than from starting from scratch every year, it pays to keep putting in the miles through the cold and the rain and the snow. Maybe you don't run quite as often, and maybe you spend a little more time on the treadmill, but don't completely give up. I've written before about what to wear to run in the cold, focusing on things like jackets, gloves, and layering pieces. But I used to always forget about shoes. Whether it's snowy in your area or just rainy, keeping your feet warm and dry is a game-changer. Around this time last year, my birthday was coming up and I had no idea what to tell my mom I wanted. (She kept asking.) I was giving the matter some thought while I was jogging at the local track, in a drizzling near-freezing rain, and my toes were going squish with every step. I suddenly remembered that Gore-Tex shoes exist. I had owned a pair years ago and loved them, but never replaced them when they wore out. They felt like too much of a luxury somehow. Most runners get through wet weather in regular shoes and wool socks, so why not make do? I’ll tell you why not: Wool socks can keep your feet warm, but they don’t keep them dry. If you’ve traveled to a park to get your run in, you’re driving home with soaking wet feet. You’ll come home, wring out your socks, and have to air out your shoes and hope they’re mostly dry by the time you go for your next run. Putting on wet shoes is about as much fun as putting on a wet bathing suit. Returning home from a drizzly run with dry feet is, by contrast, one of this cruel world’s great creature comforts. What weather are water-resistant shoes good for?Water-resistant shoes are great in drizzling rain, or in snowy conditions. In regular shoes, your body heat tends to melt any snow that contacts your shoes, making your feet wet even on a below-freezing day. Water-resistant shoes are great for when it’s snowing, when there’s a small amount of snow on the ground, or when it’s raining. This covers pretty much all of the weather I’m likely to consider running-friendly in a Pennsylvania winter. What don’t water-resistant shoes do?Water-resistant is not waterproof, though. In Gore-Tex and similar materials, you cannot step into an ankle-deep puddle and expect to stay dry. A heavy enough downpour will probably eventually work its way through or around the material. Note that water-resistant shoe material doesn’t stop snow or rain from getting into the top of the shoe. For trudging through deep snow, you probably want to attach a gaiter (or buy a shoe that comes with built-in gaiters). And if you run in a variety of wintry conditions, you may want more traction on the bottom of the shoe as well. You can buy shoes with spikes built in, or add your own. What are the best water-resistant running shoes?I know you’re dying to see mine, so here they are: the Nike InfinityRN Gore-Tex. (Mine are white.) I've only put about 200 miles on them since last year, since I wear other shoes in dry weather. That means that they're still in good condition to last another year. Nike InfinityRN 4 Gore-Tex Women's Waterproof Running Shoes $168.90 at Amazon $189.00 Save $20.10 Shop Now Shop Now $168.90 at Amazon $189.00 Save $20.10 Based on reviews, forum posts, and other things I’ve heard runners say about their favorite weatherproof shoes, I’ve collected some other excellent models to consider. For each, I’m linking one model, but click around to see its other colors, sizes, and men’s/women’s versions. Nike Pegasus Trail 5 Gore-Tex Saucony Peregrine Ice+3 Hoka Clifton 9 GTX TS Puma Deviate Nitro 3 Winterized Brooks Ghost 16 GTX Brooks Men's Ghost 16 GTX Waterproof Neutral Running Shoe - Black/Mandarin Red/Green - 13 Medium $109.95 at Amazon $169.95 Save $60.00 Shop Now Shop Now $109.95 at Amazon $169.95 Save $60.00 Note that Gore-Tex is a name brand of breathable, water-resistant fabric, but other brands exist (for example, Saucony has their own, which they call Runshield). Gore-Tex is often abbreviated “GTX” in shoe model names, so consider looking for that when searching for shoes. And a bonus on many of these shoes is that they include high-traction outsoles to reduce the chances of slipping on wet surfaces. View the full article

Apple’s AI boss, John Giannandrea, is stepping down after seven years on the job. Apple’s stock price got a slight boost on the news, as some investors saw Apple signaling a new urgency to bring AI to its devices. Following a transition period, Giannandrea will “retire” next spring, Apple said in a press release Monday. Most of Giannandrea’s AI group will now be tucked into Craig Fedherigi’s software development group, which owns development of the various operating systems in Apple devices. While the reasons for Giannandrea’s departure are no doubt complicated, it’s a wonder he lasted so long. For years, he’s been linked to Apple’s failure to seize on generative AI to improve its Siri voice assistant and make the iPhone and other iDevices smarter and more personalized. He may have made errors in judgement. Reports said he waffled several times on the preferred architecture for Siri — on how much of the assistant’s AI processing should run on the device versus a server in the cloud. But it’s also possible that his plans for integrating AI into Apple products encountered friction from other Apple leaders, or were hampered by fears among the leadership team that generative AI would compromise user privacy or create new legal exposure. At any rate, by 2024 Apple’s leadership — including Tim Cook — had lost confidence that Giannandrea’s group could turn AI research into useful (and safe) AI features and products. Before coming to Apple, Giannandrea had been prolific as the head of search and AI at Google. Under his leadership, the search giant began relying on AI to refine its understanding of certain user-preferred search terms, in hopes of returning more relevant and useful results. He was at the helm of Google’s AI efforts when its researchers invented the transformer language model architecture that sparked the generative AI boom and new apps like ChatGPT. Apple poached Giannandrea in 2018 to inject new life into its floundering AI efforts. This gave Apple the time and leadership it needed to develop its own models and inject its devices and services with new intelligence. Apple combined the Siri and AI/machine learning groups and put them under Giannandrea’s control, creating a single point of accountability for infusing the company’s operating systems, services, and developer tools with AI. Giannandrea’s work during his first years at Apple was kept largely under wraps by the company. Fast Company, which had been granted meetings with the company’s AI group, was repeatedly denied access to Giannandrea. As the starting gun of the generative AI revolution sounded with the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, Apple stayed largely silent and remained so even as its peers raced to develop their own large AI models and apps. Then in June 2024, Apple announced at its developer conference that it would bring “Apple Intelligence” features to its devices, enabling them to offer intuitive and proactive help based on the user’s personal data. It also announced plans to use generative AI to create a smarter “next-gen Siri.” For a time, hope was restored that Apple would catch up with the AI revolution. But neither Apple Intelligence nor next-gen Siri have shown up. (Apple now says they’ll arrive in 2026.) In lieu of its own AI, Apple tried to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Siri, but the user experience is clunky. In March, Apple announced it would be taking Siri out of Giannandrea’s control and placing it inside Fedherighi’s software group. Just six weeks later, Apple removed its robotics research group (which it hoped would lay the groundwork for future Apple home devices) from Giannandrea’s AI group. Apple believes Amar Subramanya, the Microsoft executive they’ve tapped to replace Giannandrea, can and will get things back on track. A 16-year veteran of Google, Subramanya led engineering for the company’s Gemini Assistant. He has an impressive resume, and very likely a price tag to match. His hire, along with Giannandrea’s departure, should be read as Apple’s acknowledgment of falling behind its peers in AI — and a signal that it intends to catch up. Interestingly, it was Giannandrea’s departure that got top billing in the press release Apple put out Monday, not the arrival of a new AI chief in Subramanya. Apple stock got a slight bump on the announcement, closing up $4.25 (1.52%) at $283.10. Giannandrea’s departure is very much about what kind of tech company Apple wants to be in the long term. Does it want to develop and control its own AI models, or pay to rely on big AI models like Google’s Gemini? Apple has distinct advantages with its sticky and trusting relationship with users, and control over both its software and hardware, including the chips inside the devices. It’s in a unique position to leverage smaller, more specialized AI models running on those chips to deeply understand and effectively assist users. Whatever the move, you can expect to see a lot more focus and pressure within Apple to realize new AI features and a smarter Siri in iDevices. View the full article

The U.S. stock market is holding relatively steady on Tuesday as both bond yields and bitcoin stabilize. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, coming off its first loss in six days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 115 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:02 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher. MongoDB helped lead the market and jumped 23.4% after the database company delivered stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. United Natural Foods also climbed after reporting a stronger profit than expected, and it rose 7.3%. They helped offset a 4% drop for Signet Jewelers, which gave a forecast for revenue in the holiday shopping season that fell short of analysts’ expectations. The jeweler said it’s expecting “a measured consumer environment.” Another potential warning about U.S. shoppers’ strength came from the chief financial officer of Procter & Gamble, the giant behind Tide detergent, Ivory soap and Oral-B toothbrushes. Andre Schulten said the landscape for U.S. consumers is “volatile” at the moment, though still within the company’s expectations. Procter & Gamble fell 2.3%. The U.S. economy has been holding up overall, but that’s masking sharp divisions beneath the surface. Lower-income households are struggling with inflation that’s still higher than anyone would like. Richer households, meanwhile, are benefiting from a stock market that’s within 1% of its all-time high set in late October. In the bond market, Treasury yields were calming following their jumps the day before. The 10-year yield was holding at 4.09%, where it was late Monday, while the two-year yield eased to 3.52% from 3.54%. Higher yields can drag prices lower for all kinds of investments, and those seen as the most expensive can take the biggest hit. Bitcoin, which tumbled below $85,000 on Monday as bond yields worldwide marched higher, pulled back above $91,000. That helped stocks of several crypto-related companies bounce back from sharp slides on Monday. Strategy climbed 6.9% and more than made up for Monday’s loss. Coinbase Global gained 3.3%, and Robinhood Markets rose 3.6% to recover much of their drops from the day before. Monday’s climb in yields came after the Bank of Japan hinted that it may raise interest rates there soon. But hopes are still high that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate when it meets in Washington next week. What comes after that for the Fed, though, is uncertain. The Fed has already cut its overnight interest rate twice this year in hopes of shoring up a slowing job market. But lower rates can fan inflation higher, and inflation has stubbornly remained above the Fed’s 2% target. Complicating things is the U.S. government’s earlier shutdown, which delayed reports on the job market and other areas of the economy. Investment giant Vanguard said its data suggest the U.S. labor market “remains stable but is still soft compared with last year.” Overall, hiring numbers are slower on a month-to-month basis. But fewer workers are going after job openings because of weaker immigration and an uptick in retirements, according to Adam Schickling, a senior U.S. economist at Vanguard. That in turn means hiring doesn’t need to be as strong in the past to keep the unemployment rate steady. In stock markets abroad, indexes moved modestly across much of Europe and Asia. South Korea’s Kospi was an outlier and jumped 1.9% for one of the world’s bigger moves. Tech stocks helped lead the way, including rises of 2.6% for Samsung Electronics and 3.7% for chip company SK Hynix. —Stan Choe, AP business writer AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. It's Cyber Monday, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before the sales are over. Some Cyber Monday deals are still live, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before the sales are over. Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date on the best sales we find. Browse our editors’ picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more. Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox. Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices and inventory are always subject to change. I am a major proponent of airstylers, those powerful all-in-one tools that use air to dry, smooth, straighten, volumize, and even curl your hair, reducing the time and energy it takes to look presentable after a shower. In the past, I've hyped up the beloved Dyson Airwrap, but recently, I've actually been using the Shark FlexStyle instead. Forget the Dyson hype—this thing is fantastic, and right now, it's also a lot cheaper. The Shark FlexStyle is still on sale for Cyber Week, knocked down to $200 from the usual $350. If you're looking for a tool that can do it all but you don't have an unlimited budget, this might be the one for you, and it won't even feel like a compromise. The Shark FlexStyle is a steal right nowRight now, you can get the FlexStyle, which is essentially a large wand that shoots air out of five different attachments, for $199.99 instead of $349.99, its lowest price ever according to price trackers. For comparison, the base model of Dyson's Airwrap is also on sale—for $500. In short, this is the best deal you're going to get on an airstyler, and this one is also perfectly comparable to pricier models and brands. Shark HD430 FlexStyle Air Styling & Drying System (Straight & Wavy Hair) $199.00 at Amazon $349.99 Save $150.99 Get Deal Get Deal $199.00 at Amazon $349.99 Save $150.99 Here's what you get with the FlexStyle: Two 1.25" curling barrels (one clockwise and the other counterclockwise); an oval brush attachment; a paddle brush attachment; and, a hair dryer attachment. It also has four heat and three airflow settings, plus a unique feature that allows you to rotate the top half, so the device forms a right angle (like a traditional blow dryer) or remains straight (like a standard curling iron). Why I love the FlexStyle (even compared to my Dyson)A few weeks ago, my Airwrap went on the fritz. I haven't had a chance to bring it in to be serviced yet, but it's four years old and was already a refurbished model when I got it, so its time may have come. The thing about this machine is that its time seems to come frequently: At Thanksgiving, I was bemoaning my Airwrap's fate and two other women at the table piped up to say they're dealing with the same thing—theirs too just aren't functioning properly anymore. Given the top-of-the-line version is $750, replacing mine wasn't in the cards. Instead, I decided to give the FlexStyle a shot, and it has been at work in my apartment for the past week. Surprisingly, I found it works exactly like my Airwrap, save for a few key differences. First, it's more powerful than my four-year-old Dyson, though to be fair I can't exactly compare it to a brand-new model. Second, the rotating head make the process of drying my hair a lot faster—the first night, I did standard ringlet curls with the 1.25" barrels but did not set them, hoping to see how they held up all on their own. They maintained their original shape for about a day, which is more mileage than I was getting out of my Airwrap and better than I expected for curls I did not set. Credit: Lindsey Ellefson Since then, I've tested the different attachments. I used the round brush for a traditional blowout that stayed frizz-free for over a day (granted, with help from products like Color Wow and K18), and I curled the ends of my hair under with the barrels and then set them for hold and volume. This is where I was truly impressed: The swiveling top made that style significantly easier to achieve than I'm used to with the Dyson. I am happily on day two of that style, with no issues to report. A cheaper but worthy Dyson alternativeIn my opinion, you do not need to pay $750 for an airstyler. You do not even need to pay $500. And with the current deal on the FlexStyle, you do not even need to pay $350. This thing works well, produces styles that can last (though you still have to use products and set the curls, since it's not running on magic and wishes), and is lightweight and simple to use. Consider it highly recommended. What stores have the best sales on Cyber Week?Nowadays, both large retailers and small businesses compete for Cyber Week shoppers, so you can expect practically every store to run sales through and beyond Monday, December 1, 2025. The “best” sales depend on your needs, but in general, the biggest discounts tend to come from larger retailers that can afford lower prices: think places like Amazon, Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot. You can find all the best sales from major retailers on our live blog. Are Cyber Week deals worth it?In short, yes, Cyber Week still offers discounts that can be rare throughout the rest of the year. If there’s something you want to buy, or you’re shopping for gifts, it’s a good time to look for discounts on what you need, especially tech sales, home improvement supplies, and fitness tech. Of course, if you need to save money, the best way to save is to not buy anything. Are Cyber Week deals better than Black Friday?Black Friday used to be bigger for major retailers and more expensive tech and appliances, while Cyber Monday was for cheaper tech and gave smaller businesses a chance to compete online. Nowadays, though, the distinction is almost meaningless. Every major retailer will offer sales on both days, and the smart move is to know what you want, use price trackers or refer to guides like our live blog that use price trackers for you, and don’t stress over finding the perfect timing. View the full article

Salesforce has unveiled powerful new tools designed to enhance the visibility and performance of AI agents, an advancement that holds significant implications for small businesses looking to optimize their operational efficiency and customer interactions. As the adoption of AI technologies surges, the ability to monitor and analyze agent behavior is becoming a critical requirement for organizations aiming to scale effectively. The post-deployment phase of AI agents often represents a challenge for businesses. After launching their first agents, organizations face the daunting task of ensuring these entities operate efficiently and effectively in real-world scenarios. Salesforce recognizes that without robust observability tools, businesses risk turning their AI agents into “black boxes,” where outcomes are visible, but the underlying decision-making processes remain opaque. This lack of clarity can hinder trust, slow down optimization processes, and complicate scaling efforts. Salesforce’s new observability features are designed to bridge these gaps by providing comprehensive monitoring and optimization capabilities. These tools fall into three core areas: analytics, optimization, and health monitoring. With this suite of capabilities, small business owners can gain deep insights into agent performance, which is crucial as AI begins to handle increasingly more complex tasks that directly impact customer experience and revenue. Agent Analytics is the first feature, offering businesses a detailed view of how each agent performs over time. This includes metrics on usage and effectiveness, KPI trends, and actionable insights that pinpoint areas needing improvement. For small businesses, this means enhanced decision-making backed by data-driven insights that promote continuous agent refinement. Furthermore, Agent Optimization enables businesses to see a step-by-step trace of every agent interaction. This visibility can identify performance gaps and facilitate a better understanding of why agents make specific choices. Such clarity is essential for addressing issues promptly and enhancing overall performance, ultimately reducing the time and resources spent on troubleshooting. Health Monitoring is the final pillar of Salesforce’s observability suite. It ensures that agents maintain operational reliability by continuously tracking performance metrics and alerting teams to potential issues before they escalate. For small businesses that may not have extensive IT resources, this proactive approach helps maintain customer service quality and operational efficiency during peak periods. As Adam Evans, EVP & GM of Salesforce AI, noted, “As AI adoption accelerates, the biggest enterprise challenge will no longer be about building an organization’s first agent; it will become how to best manage a fleet of agents that are making real-world business decisions.” This sentiment resonates particularly well with small business owners—understanding agent interactions and ensuring consistent performance is vital for trusting AI technologies. However, there are challenges to consider. The introduction of these observability tools requires that small business owners invest time and resources into understanding and implementing these technologies. Additionally, businesses must be prepared to adapt their operational models to fully leverage the insights provided by these tools. For companies still wary of AI’s implications, embracing such technologies may involve a cultural shift alongside technical integration. Pilot customers, including 1-800Accountant and Engine, have already seen transformative results from these observability tools. Ryan Teeples from 1-800Accountant highlighted the importance of visibility, stating, “With full visibility into every agent interaction, we can see exactly how our AI handles each request, step by step.” This granular oversight allows for improved service quality, particularly as AI begins to autonomously manage a significant volume of customer interactions. Engine’s VP, Demetri Salvaggio, echoed similar sentiments by noting how the observability tools have allowed for more accurate and efficient service delivery, helping the company confidently scale its operations without dramatically increasing headcount. As small businesses navigate the complexities of AI implementation, Salesforce’s new observability tools provide a pathway towards smarter operational practices. With analytics, optimization, and health monitoring at their disposal, organizations can be better equipped to harness the potential of AI while mitigating the risks associated with scaling these technologies. For more information on the new tools and their applications, visit the original press release at Salesforce. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Salesforce Enhances AI Reliability with New Observability Tools for Agents" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Salesforce has unveiled powerful new tools designed to enhance the visibility and performance of AI agents, an advancement that holds significant implications for small businesses looking to optimize their operational efficiency and customer interactions. As the adoption of AI technologies surges, the ability to monitor and analyze agent behavior is becoming a critical requirement for organizations aiming to scale effectively. The post-deployment phase of AI agents often represents a challenge for businesses. After launching their first agents, organizations face the daunting task of ensuring these entities operate efficiently and effectively in real-world scenarios. Salesforce recognizes that without robust observability tools, businesses risk turning their AI agents into “black boxes,” where outcomes are visible, but the underlying decision-making processes remain opaque. This lack of clarity can hinder trust, slow down optimization processes, and complicate scaling efforts. Salesforce’s new observability features are designed to bridge these gaps by providing comprehensive monitoring and optimization capabilities. These tools fall into three core areas: analytics, optimization, and health monitoring. With this suite of capabilities, small business owners can gain deep insights into agent performance, which is crucial as AI begins to handle increasingly more complex tasks that directly impact customer experience and revenue. Agent Analytics is the first feature, offering businesses a detailed view of how each agent performs over time. This includes metrics on usage and effectiveness, KPI trends, and actionable insights that pinpoint areas needing improvement. For small businesses, this means enhanced decision-making backed by data-driven insights that promote continuous agent refinement. Furthermore, Agent Optimization enables businesses to see a step-by-step trace of every agent interaction. This visibility can identify performance gaps and facilitate a better understanding of why agents make specific choices. Such clarity is essential for addressing issues promptly and enhancing overall performance, ultimately reducing the time and resources spent on troubleshooting. Health Monitoring is the final pillar of Salesforce’s observability suite. It ensures that agents maintain operational reliability by continuously tracking performance metrics and alerting teams to potential issues before they escalate. For small businesses that may not have extensive IT resources, this proactive approach helps maintain customer service quality and operational efficiency during peak periods. As Adam Evans, EVP & GM of Salesforce AI, noted, “As AI adoption accelerates, the biggest enterprise challenge will no longer be about building an organization’s first agent; it will become how to best manage a fleet of agents that are making real-world business decisions.” This sentiment resonates particularly well with small business owners—understanding agent interactions and ensuring consistent performance is vital for trusting AI technologies. However, there are challenges to consider. The introduction of these observability tools requires that small business owners invest time and resources into understanding and implementing these technologies. Additionally, businesses must be prepared to adapt their operational models to fully leverage the insights provided by these tools. For companies still wary of AI’s implications, embracing such technologies may involve a cultural shift alongside technical integration. Pilot customers, including 1-800Accountant and Engine, have already seen transformative results from these observability tools. Ryan Teeples from 1-800Accountant highlighted the importance of visibility, stating, “With full visibility into every agent interaction, we can see exactly how our AI handles each request, step by step.” This granular oversight allows for improved service quality, particularly as AI begins to autonomously manage a significant volume of customer interactions. Engine’s VP, Demetri Salvaggio, echoed similar sentiments by noting how the observability tools have allowed for more accurate and efficient service delivery, helping the company confidently scale its operations without dramatically increasing headcount. As small businesses navigate the complexities of AI implementation, Salesforce’s new observability tools provide a pathway towards smarter operational practices. With analytics, optimization, and health monitoring at their disposal, organizations can be better equipped to harness the potential of AI while mitigating the risks associated with scaling these technologies. For more information on the new tools and their applications, visit the original press release at Salesforce. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Salesforce Enhances AI Reliability with New Observability Tools for Agents" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Google is expanding its customer lifecycle capabilities in Google Analytics, launching new audience templates and dynamic remarketing features designed to make high-value targeting and re-engagement easier for advertisers. Driving the news. Google has introduced two new suggested audience templates in GA to help advertisers instantly build lifecycle segments: High-Value Purchasers — powered by purchase count or lifetime value, with Google adding a new LTV percentile field so marketers can isolate their top-tier customers. Disengaged Purchasers — defined by days since last purchase, giving Google a built-in way to help brands re-engage lapsed buyers. Google designed these templates to sync directly with Google Ads customer lifecycle goals, including high-value new customer acquisition and re-engagement modes. Google’s next move: dynamic remarketing inside GA. Google is also bringing display dynamic remarketing directly into Analytics, letting brands show personalized product-based ads to past site visitors without needing to build remarketing setups externally. Once advertisers implement Google’s recommended eCommerce event collection, Analytics will automatically share dynamic remarketing data with linked Google Ads accounts — as long as personalized advertising is enabled. Why we care. Google is making it much easier to target the customers who matter — high-value buyers and lapsed purchasers — without building complex audiences from scratch. These new templates and dynamic remarketing tools create faster, smarter ways to drive acquisition, retention, and repeat purchases directly from Google Analytics. Google is giving you more precise lifecycle targeting with less manual work, and that can translate directly into better performance and more profitable campaigns. The big picture. Google is tightening its ecosystem, giving advertisers more automated ways to identify, activate, and re-engage customers — all fueled by audience intelligence built inside Google Analytics. The bottom line. Google is doubling down on lifecycle marketing by turning Google Analytics into an even stronger audience engine for Google Ads. View the full article

Exit of Gerry McGovern comes just two weeks after arrival of new JLR chief executiveView the full article

Android 16 officially started rolling out back in June, with most of the Material 3 Expressive visual overhaul added in a major update in September. Now, the second big Android 16 update is here, ushering in a host of new features across notifications, customization, accessibility, and device restrictions. As is the norm, this update will arrive on Pixel devices first. For other Android devices, including those made by Samsung, it's up to each phone and tablet manufacturer to adjust the software update as needed and push it out to their users. Despite the limited rollout, Google says this marks a "new chapter" for Android releases, which, going forward, will be "more frequent" rather than once a year. In other words, we might be seeing Android 17 much sooner than expected. But we won't see it today. We're still in the Android 16 era, which is about to get the following new features and changes: More interface customization You now have more control over home screen icons. Credit: Google Customization has always been one of the strengths of Android, and this Android 16 update brings with it a bunch of features to help you change the interface in a more flexible and consistent way. Home screen icons can now have custom shapes, while themed icons are auto-applied across apps. Both of those changes should mean that when you play around with the visual look of Android, there isn't a jarring icon or two that stands out from the rest—everything should look more uniform. "Your phone should reflect your own unique aesthetic," Google says, and these tweaks should help. There's also an improvement to dark mode: Dark mode will now be applied across all apps, even those that haven't been coded to include a dark mode by their developer. Again, the end result should be a more consistent visual look, plus extra savings on battery life if more of the screen is dimmed more often. Improved parental controls More parental controls can now be managed on-device. Credit: Google If you have kids who use an Android device, you'll know the current parental controls are a little bit clunky, and mostly managed remotely. Going forward, more of these controls will be available on the actual devices your youngsters are using, which should mean they're easier to access and manage. The new on-board settings will be protected by a PIN, so your kids can't change them, and will cover screen time, downtime schedules, and app usage. You'll also be able to add more time for app and device usage from the phone or tablet that's being used, which is more convenient if you're actually with a child. Additionally, Google is making it easier to set up a Google Family Link from Android 16 phones and tablets, which is where the family connections and device rules are set to begin with. Other key parental controls, including protections over purchases and location tracking, are still managed remotely. AI in your notifications AI will group and summarize your notifications. Credit: Google Technically launched in last month's Pixel Drop, Android 16 now summarizes your notifications for you through the power of AI—something that tech companies are continuing to push, in an effort to save us all time and avoid notification fatigue, even if the results have been mixed so far. Why Google is announcing it alongside these other new features isn't clear, but it's a good reminder for any Pixel users who might be interested in trying it out. AI summaries are something Apple introduced for the iPhone, then partially pulled for certain apps, then brought back. According to Google, these AI summaries will give you "quick understanding and context at a glance"—so let's hope they understand what's important in your group chats and what isn't. On top of that, we're getting AI-powered notification organization too, with "lower-priority notifications" (which Google says include promotions and social alerts) silenced and grouped together so they're not so much of a distraction. As yet, it's not clear exactly how much control you'll get over how all this works. And even more updates You'll be able to mark your calls as urgent in the future. Credit: Google There are plenty of other minor updates rolling out to a broader selection of Android devices too, not just those running Android 16. They include more expressive closed captions; ease-of-use improvements to accessibility features, such as TalkBack (voice dictation) and Auto Click (using a mouse with Android); and pinned tabs in Chrome for Android. Emoji Kitchen is getting more features and more ways to combine emojis, Circle to Search is adding a scam detection feature (just point it towards a suspected scam message), and group chats in Google Messages will now come with options for reporting issues—chats can be easily left, blocked, and reported. We'll also soon be getting a beta version of a feature Google has named Call Reason, in the Phone app. This lets you mark your outgoing calls to saved contacts as urgent, which they'll see when you ring them (and might encourage them to pick up. For more details on this and everything else rolling out to Android from today, see the official blog post. View the full article

A Pennsylvania police officer responding to a tip from the manager of a McDonald’s testified Tuesday about confronting Luigi Mangione during the intense manhunt last year for UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer. As soon as Mangione doffed his medical mask at the restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Officer Joseph Detwiler said, “I knew” he was the suspect whose face had been all over the news since the shooting five days earlier on a Manhattan sidewalk. “It’s him … I’m not kidding. He’s real nervous, and he didn’t talk too much,” Detwiler told a supervisor by phone from the restaurant parking lot moments after meeting Mangione, according to the officer’s body-camera video. It was played in court Tuesday, the second day of a hearing about evidence in the case. Mangione indeed said little initially to Detwiler and another officer, giving only what turned out to be a false name, home state and driver’s license. But Detwiler testified that he’d noticed the man’s fingers shaking as they interacted and officers patted him down. Over the ensuing minutes, Mangione placidly ate a hash brown as the officers waited for colleagues and claimed they were simply responding to loitering concerns at the eatery. “I was trying to keep him calm,” Detwiler told the court, adding that he at one point started whistling over the restaurant’s holiday-season music to “make him think that nothing was different about this call than any other call.” Lawyers for Mangione, 27, want to block prosecutors from showing or telling jurors at his eventual Manhattan trial about statements he allegedly made and items authorities said they seized from his backpack during his arrest. The objects include a 9 mm handgun that prosecutors say matches the one used in the killing and a notebook in which they say Mangione described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive. The defense contends the items should be excluded because police didn’t get a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack. They also want to suppress some statements Mangione made to law enforcement personnel, such as allegedly giving a false name, because officers started asking questions before telling him he had a right to remain silent. The laws concerning how police interact with potential suspects before reading their rights or obtaining search warrants are complex and often disputed in criminal cases. In Mangione’s case, crucial questions will include whether he believed he was free to leave at the point when he spoke to the arresting officers, and whether there were “exigent circumstances” that merited searching his backpack before getting a warrant. Detwiler testified that he never told Mangione he couldn’t leave, nor mentioned the New York shooting. Defense lawyers, however, have argued in court filings that officers “strategically” stood in a way that prevented him from leaving. Mangione, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Neither trial has been scheduled. Mangione’s lawyers want to bar evidence from both cases, but this week’s hearing pertains only to the state case. Manhattan prosecutors haven’t yet laid out their arguments for allowing the disputed evidence. Their federal counterparts have said in court filings that police were justified in searching the backpack to ensure there were no dangerous items and that Mangione’s statements to officers were voluntary and made before he was under arrest. Five witnesses testified on Monday, including a Pennsylvania prison officer who said Mangione told him that, when arrested, he had a backpack with foreign currency and a 3D-printed pistol. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind as the executive walked to a midtown Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference on Dec. 4, 2024. Prosecutors say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase insurance industry critics use to describe how companies avoid paying claims. Thompson, 50, worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021. He was married and had children who were in high school. —Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press View the full article

In its Android Security Bulletin for December, Google is pushing an especially large number of updates to address vulnerabilities across different components—and two of the flaws may have been exploited in the wild. The December patch covers 107 bugs across Android Kernel, System, and Framework as well as Qualcomm, MediaTek, Arm, Unisoc, and Imagination Technologies components. The high-severity vulnerabilities include denial of service, elevation of privilege, and information disclosure flaws. There are also a handful of bugs labeled as "critical." Two active exploitsTwo of the vulnerabilities addressed in the December update are zero-days, which are flaws that have been actively exploited or publicly disclosed before the developer makes a patch available. Google notes that both may be under "limited, targeted exploitation." CVE-2025-48633 is an information disclosure vulnerability, while CVE-2025-48572 is an elevation of privilege flaw. Both affect the Android Framework in versions 13 through 16. Google hasn't disclosed any additional information about the flaws and how they may have been exploited (or by whom). However, as Bleeping Computer reports, similar bugs have been targeted in the past by commercial spyware operations and nation-state campaigns. Ensure your Android device is up to dateYou should always implement security patches as soon as they're available, so if you see a notification to update, go ahead and follow the prompts to download and install it. You can also check for updates via a path like Settings > Security & privacy > System & updates > Security update. Note that this may be slightly different depending on your device, and you can always search "update" to locate it. This month's patches apply to Android Open Source Project (AOSP) versions 13, 14, 15, and 16 and are dated 2025-12-01 and 2025-12-05—the latter fixes all known issues. Pixel users (and the core AOSP code) receive patches from Google, and those on other Android devices from Huawei, LGE, Samsung, Motorola, and Nokia should see updates from their respective manufacturers around the same time. View the full article

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. There will be more posts than usual this week, so keep checking back throughout the day. Remember the letter-writer who felt guilty about retiring at such a hard moment for her colleagues? Here’s the update. First, I want to say whole-heartedly that I really valued all of the advice offered, and the various ways in which my anxiety about retiring was reframed helped me move forward and quiet the guilt I was feeling. Thank you all for all of the advice, and for taking the time and putting together your thoughts to offer it. I did retire. I fended off all urges to stay for just a little while longer (“just to get past this hard part”). I quieted pleas from colleagues who claimed they couldn’t possibly get along without me. I accepted accolades and parties, and crying and laughing when people said kind things or shared stories. (Apparently, I’m a hoot.) It was lovely. But I’ve been saying for years that I never want to be so indispensable to the organization that it would stumble even a bit if I left. (No person in a large organization should ever be that indispensable — that is incredibly fragile!) I was able to soothe my colleagues’ fears and did whatever I could to lift them up. I had more drop-in advice sessions and quickly scheduled coffees and meetings than ever before … which was fine, because I didn’t have much to do in that last month. Work had been passed on, and was already being managed very well. One of the practices I got into the habit of doing in those last few weeks was to write what I called “love letters” on behalf of my closest and most respected colleagues — generally people I had worked with often, on challenging puzzles or the Very Weird Situations that had grown to be my specialty. It was therapeutic to take time to write to them (and copy their supervisors), to name their strengths and share my confidence that they are great administrators, and thank them for specific contributions to work we had done together. I know one of those unsolicited messages made it into a promotion packet; others were included in annual performance feedback (and arguments for the modest pay increases we received). I received several letters from the supervisors (whom I also generally know) thanking me and wishing me well. Yay! I did this for a few reasons, but most importantly, I was mindful of the advice/commentary from AAM readers: my retirement would make way for talented people in the next generation to grow in their work. I was already mindful of that: my transition plan involved working with my colleagues and supervisor to study and reorganize my work and that created opportunities for promotion and growth for several colleagues. (All of which, as far as I know, are being remunerated.) I made myself available for questions, but my colleagues challenged themselves to work things out without ever having to call on me…and they didn’t. At all. “We’ve got this!” was their motto — and they did. I won’t lie and say that wasn’t bittersweet … but gee. They were having fun! I know it’s been hard for them, though. I’m very grateful that decisions about promotions and so on were made before I left, because immediately following, budget cuts were announced and my position will not be refilled. Some projects will slow down, but not cease entirely; others might get shuffled and changed (and my absence makes that easier). Friends still reach out on a new Teams channel, where we are sharing conversations about pets, crafts, hiking, and recipes. My life after my last day? Reading, napping, projects, longer dog walks, travel, consulting side-hustle … recalibrating my blood pressure and energy level, recognizing that life is different without constant work-related anxiety. Letting go of low-stakes irritations. No new projects, other than to ramp up efforts to fight fascism and read my way through the long lists of books banned or proposed for banning in schools (and attend discussions about that). I’m figuring it out, but not making commitments to any specific charitable organizations (seems like work) or seeking other employment (see above). I’ve got a great therapist, wonderful partner, and lovely friends, so I think I’ll get there. It’s still a bit amorphous, but I’m enjoying the change. The post update: I feel guilty about retiring at such a hard moment for my colleagues appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

In today’s digital environment, crafting effective social media marketing posts is vital for success. You need to understand your audience, define clear goals, and choose the right platform for your content. Attention-grabbing headlines and engaging copy will draw your audience in, whereas strategic use of visuals can improve your message. Moreover, optimizing posting times and incorporating calls-to-action will drive interaction. To achieve the best results, it’s important to analyze your performance metrics regularly. What strategies will you implement first? Key Takeaways Understand your audience by creating detailed buyer personas and tailoring messages to their demographics and preferences for better engagement. Choose the right platforms based on audience behavior, focusing on platforms that align with your content type for improved visibility. Craft compelling headlines that spark curiosity and clearly highlight benefits, using numbers and questions to engage readers effectively. Use clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that encourage immediate action and create urgency with phrases like “limited time offer” to boost engagement. Optimize hashtag strategies by using 3-5 relevant hashtags for visibility, and post during peak times identified through analytics for maximum impact. Know Your Audience Comprehending your audience is crucial for effective social media marketing, as it directly impacts how well your content resonates with them. Start by conducting thorough audience research to understand demographics, interests, and online behaviors. This information helps you create detailed buyer personas that represent your ideal customers. For example, consider age, gender, location, and preferences to tailor your messaging. Use surveys and feedback mechanisms to identify pain points and preferences, enabling you to create content that directly addresses their needs. Segment your audience based on specific characteristics to deliver targeted messaging across different platforms. By monitoring social media trends and discussions, you can adapt your content strategy and discover how can social media help a business grow, ensuring your social media marketing posts remain relevant. Define Your Goals To effectively guide your social media marketing efforts, it’s essential to establish clear objectives that align with your brand values. Setting specific, measurable goals helps you track success metrics like engagement rates and website visits, ensuring that each post supports your overall business aims. Establish Clear Objectives Establishing clear objectives for your social media marketing efforts is crucial, as it helps align your activities with broader marketing goals. When you define specific objectives, you improve the likelihood of achieving desired outcomes, such as increased engagement or brand awareness. Different content approaches should reflect these goals; for instance, promotional posts aimed at boosting sales require distinct messaging compared to those focused on community engagement. Setting measurable objectives allows you to track success effectively, enabling adjustments based on performance metrics like impressions and engagement rates. Measure Success Metrics Measuring success metrics is essential for comprehending the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts. Start by establishing specific, measurable goals, like increasing engagement by 20% or driving website traffic by 30%. To evaluate your posts, utilize key performance indicators (KPIs) such as impressions, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Conduct regular A/B testing on various post formats to identify which strategies yield the best engagement. Implement monthly performance reviews to assess how well your posts meet your goals, allowing for data-driven adjustments. Moreover, use analytics tools to gather insights on audience behavior and preferences, helping you refine your content and guarantee it aligns with your marketing objectives. This systematic approach will improve your social media strategy effectively. Align With Brand Values Aligning your social media strategy with your brand values is crucial for maintaining a consistent and authentic presence online. To achieve this, consider the following steps: Define Your Brand Values: Clearly outline what your brand stands for and guarantee each post reflects these principles. Set Measurable Goals: Establish objectives that resonate with your values, like increasing community engagement or promoting sustainability. Use a Consistent Brand Voice: Create a cohesive narrative that reinforces your identity and builds audience trust. Evaluate and Adjust: Regularly assess audience feedback and performance metrics to keep your content aligned with your values and objectives. Choose the Right Platform How do you choose the right social media platform for your marketing efforts? Start by grasping that different platforms cater to various audiences and content types. For visually appealing content, Instagram is your best bet, whereas Twitter excels with concise messaging. LinkedIn, in contrast, is perfect for longer, professional insights. It’s more effective to focus on a few platforms rather than spreading yourself too thin across many; this approach improves engagement and brand visibility. Evaluate platform-specific trends and user engagement levels to optimize your content strategy, as certain platforms yield better results for specific campaigns. Finally, continuously monitor audience activity to adapt your strategy, ensuring your content remains relevant and impactful. Craft an Attention-Grabbing Headline What makes a headline truly attention-grabbing? It’s all about crafting concise and compelling headlines that spark curiosity as well as aligning with your brand voice. Here are some tips to enhance your headlines: Use Numbers: Incorporate statistics or lists to create a sense of structure and urgency. Highlight Benefits: Clearly state what readers will gain by engaging with your content. Ask Questions: Pose intriguing questions that encourage users to think and click for answers. Experiment with Styles: Try different formats like provocative statements or questions to see what resonates. Aim for headlines between 10 to 20 words, and don’t forget to use A/B testing to refine your approach based on performance metrics. Engaging headlines lead to better interactions! Write Engaging Copy Engaging copy is essential for capturing your audience’s attention and driving interactions on social media. Aim for captions around 150 characters or 15 words to maximize clicks. Craft attention-grabbing headlines that promise clear benefits, use numbers, and convey urgency, ideally between 10 and 20 words. Incorporate clear calls to action, encouraging your audience to comment, share, or engage more deeply with your content. Emojis can improve relatability; use them purposefully to align with your brand voice and audience demographics. Finally, don’t hesitate to experiment with different styles of copy, such as posing questions or creating lists, to discover what resonates best with your audience, in the end boosting your engagement rates considerably. Utilize Hashtags Strategically To maximize your social media impact, it’s essential to research trending hashtags before incorporating them into your posts. As you use 3-5 relevant hashtags on Instagram can improve your reach, limiting your hashtags to 1-2 on Twitter often yields better engagement because of character limitations. Research Trending Hashtags As social media platforms continue to evolve, researching trending hashtags remains essential for maximizing your content’s visibility and engagement. Posts that include at least one hashtag see 12.6% more engagement than those without. To make the most of hashtags, consider the following tips: Use tools like Hashtagify or RiteTag to find popular and relevant hashtags for your niche. Experiment with a mix of broad and niche hashtags; 3-5 hashtags typically perform best on Instagram. Regularly monitor hashtag performance and adjust your strategy based on analytics. Engage with currently popular hashtags in your industry to improve brand relevance and promote community interaction. Limit Hashtag Usage Limiting hashtag usage is vital for enhancing your social media strategy and ensuring your posts resonate with your audience. On platforms like Instagram, aim for 3-5 relevant hashtags to boost visibility without overwhelming viewers. For X/Twitter, using just 1-2 hashtags can increase engagement while keeping your message concise. Remember, each platform has unique dynamics; what works on Instagram mightn’t be effective on TikTok. Researching and incorporating trending hashtags can greatly improve discoverability, particularly on visual platforms. Nevertheless, avoid excessive hashtags since too many can make your posts appear spammy, reducing user trust and engagement. Customizing your hashtag strategy for each platform is key to maximizing your outreach and connecting effectively with your audience. Incorporate Emojis and Symbols Incorporating emojis and symbols into your social media posts can greatly boost engagement and communication clarity. They add a visual element that resonates with your audience, increasing interaction by up to 48%. Here are some key points to reflect on: Emotional Connection: Emojis help convey emotions and tone, making your message clearer. Higher Click-Through Rates: Posts with emojis can increase responses by 25%, encouraging more clicks. Brand Personality: Emojis act as visual cues that improve your brand’s personality, with 64% of consumers preferring brands that use them. Consistency Matters: Verify emojis align with your brand voice and are relevant to avoid misinterpretation. Encourage Interaction With a Call-To-Action (CTA) To boost engagement on your social media posts, use clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide your audience on what to do next. Incorporating urgency and exclusivity, like “Limited Time Offer!” or “Don’t Miss Out!”, can prompt quicker responses from users. Remember to position your CTAs prominently for maximum visibility, ensuring they effectively drive the desired action. Clear Action Directions When you want to drive engagement on social media, a clear call-to-action (CTA) is essential. Posts with CTAs can see up to 1.5 times more clicks than those without. To maximize effectiveness, consider these tips: Use action-oriented language: Phrases like “Sign up,” “Discover,” or “Join us” encourage immediate action. Incorporate CTAs in visuals: Including CTAs in images can boost engagement rates by up to 80%. Align CTAs with your goals: Use specific phrases like “Shop now” for sales or “Learn more” for informative content. Experiment with A/B testing: Test different CTAs to find which resonate best with your audience, improving conversion rates considerably. Urgency and Exclusivity Creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity in your social media posts can greatly improve audience engagement. Use phrases like “limited time offer” or “while supplies last” to encourage immediate action, as these can boost engagement by up to 30%. Furthermore, incorporating exclusive language such as “members only” or “first 50 customers” cultivates a feeling of scarcity, greatly enhancing click-through rates. Always include a clear call-to-action (CTA) like “Shop Now” or “Comment Below,” which can lead to 3-4 times higher engagement rates. Experiment with different CTAs through A/B testing to find what resonates best with your audience. Finally, pair urgency and exclusivity with compelling visuals, as they can drive 94% more views, making your posts even more effective. Optimize Posting Times How can you guarantee your social media posts reach the widest audience possible? By enhancing your posting times. Analyzing when your audience is most active can greatly boost your engagement rates. Here are some tips to help you find those ideal times: Study platform-specific peak times: For example, Instagram users are active on Wednesdays at 11 AM and Fridays from 10-11 AM, whereas Twitter peaks during lunch hours on weekdays. Utilize tools: Use platforms like Sprout’s Ideal Send Times to analyze historical engagement data. Monitor analytics: Regularly check your performance to adjust your posting schedule accordingly. Be consistent: Post during identified peak times to build audience expectations and maintain engagement. Analyze and Iterate To maximize the effectiveness of your social media strategy, regularly analyzing and iterating on your content is essential. Start by monitoring post performance through analytics tools to see what resonates with your audience. Utilize A/B testing to compare different versions of posts and identify elements that drive engagement. Track key metrics monthly, adjusting your strategy based on audience feedback and interaction trends. Here’s a visual representation of ideas to reflect on: Strategy Action Monitor Performance Use analytics tools to track engagement A/B Testing Experiment with post variations Adjust Content Calendar Refine based on audience trends Frequently Asked Questions What Is the 5 5 5 Rule on Social Media? The 5 5 5 rule in social media marketing emphasizes a balanced approach to content sharing. For every five posts you create, share five pieces of content from other sources and five original posts. This strategy helps maintain audience engagement by mixing promotional, educational, and entertaining content. It prevents fatigue from repetitive self-promotion and nurtures community trust, ensuring your followers receive diverse information during the process of increasing your brand’s discoverability. What Are the 7 C’s of Social Media? The 7 C’s of social media are vital principles for effective engagement. First, Clarity guarantees your message is easily understood. Next, Consistency helps build recognition through uniform tone and style. Creativity encourages unique content that captures attention. Community focuses on nurturing relationships with followers. Conversation promotes two-way communication, enhancing interaction. Finally, Conversion aims to turn engagement into desired actions, such as sales or subscriptions. Together, these principles create a strong social media presence. What Is the 30 30 30 Rule for Social Media? The 30 30 30 Rule for social media suggests dividing your content into three categories: 30% promotional, 30% informational, and 30% entertaining. This strategy guarantees your audience receives a balanced mix that keeps them engaged. The remaining 10% can focus on personal or behind-the-scenes posts to improve authenticity. What Are the 7 P’s of Social Media Marketing? The 7 P’s of social media marketing are vital for crafting an effective strategy. First, consider your Product—what features and benefits you highlight. Next, think about Price—how you communicate pricing and promotions. Then, evaluate Place—selecting the right platforms for your audience. Promotion follows, involving tactics to improve engagement. Don’t forget People, focusing on your target demographic, Process, the methods behind your strategy, and Physical evidence, showcasing brand credibility. Conclusion In summary, effectively crafting social media marketing posts requires a strategic approach. By comprehending your audience, choosing the right platform, and creating engaging content, you can considerably improve your online presence. Incorporating visuals, optimizing posting times, and encouraging interaction through CTAs are vital for maximizing engagement. Regularly analyzing performance metrics allows you to refine your strategy, ensuring continuous improvement. By applying these tips, you’ll be well-equipped to create impactful posts that resonate with your audience. Image via Google Gemini This article, "10 Must-Use Tips for Crafting Social Media Marketing Posts" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

In today’s digital environment, crafting effective social media marketing posts is vital for success. You need to understand your audience, define clear goals, and choose the right platform for your content. Attention-grabbing headlines and engaging copy will draw your audience in, whereas strategic use of visuals can improve your message. Moreover, optimizing posting times and incorporating calls-to-action will drive interaction. To achieve the best results, it’s important to analyze your performance metrics regularly. What strategies will you implement first? Key Takeaways Understand your audience by creating detailed buyer personas and tailoring messages to their demographics and preferences for better engagement. Choose the right platforms based on audience behavior, focusing on platforms that align with your content type for improved visibility. Craft compelling headlines that spark curiosity and clearly highlight benefits, using numbers and questions to engage readers effectively. Use clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that encourage immediate action and create urgency with phrases like “limited time offer” to boost engagement. Optimize hashtag strategies by using 3-5 relevant hashtags for visibility, and post during peak times identified through analytics for maximum impact. Know Your Audience Comprehending your audience is crucial for effective social media marketing, as it directly impacts how well your content resonates with them. Start by conducting thorough audience research to understand demographics, interests, and online behaviors. This information helps you create detailed buyer personas that represent your ideal customers. For example, consider age, gender, location, and preferences to tailor your messaging. Use surveys and feedback mechanisms to identify pain points and preferences, enabling you to create content that directly addresses their needs. Segment your audience based on specific characteristics to deliver targeted messaging across different platforms. By monitoring social media trends and discussions, you can adapt your content strategy and discover how can social media help a business grow, ensuring your social media marketing posts remain relevant. Define Your Goals To effectively guide your social media marketing efforts, it’s essential to establish clear objectives that align with your brand values. Setting specific, measurable goals helps you track success metrics like engagement rates and website visits, ensuring that each post supports your overall business aims. Establish Clear Objectives Establishing clear objectives for your social media marketing efforts is crucial, as it helps align your activities with broader marketing goals. When you define specific objectives, you improve the likelihood of achieving desired outcomes, such as increased engagement or brand awareness. Different content approaches should reflect these goals; for instance, promotional posts aimed at boosting sales require distinct messaging compared to those focused on community engagement. Setting measurable objectives allows you to track success effectively, enabling adjustments based on performance metrics like impressions and engagement rates. Measure Success Metrics Measuring success metrics is essential for comprehending the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts. Start by establishing specific, measurable goals, like increasing engagement by 20% or driving website traffic by 30%. To evaluate your posts, utilize key performance indicators (KPIs) such as impressions, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Conduct regular A/B testing on various post formats to identify which strategies yield the best engagement. Implement monthly performance reviews to assess how well your posts meet your goals, allowing for data-driven adjustments. Moreover, use analytics tools to gather insights on audience behavior and preferences, helping you refine your content and guarantee it aligns with your marketing objectives. This systematic approach will improve your social media strategy effectively. Align With Brand Values Aligning your social media strategy with your brand values is crucial for maintaining a consistent and authentic presence online. To achieve this, consider the following steps: Define Your Brand Values: Clearly outline what your brand stands for and guarantee each post reflects these principles. Set Measurable Goals: Establish objectives that resonate with your values, like increasing community engagement or promoting sustainability. Use a Consistent Brand Voice: Create a cohesive narrative that reinforces your identity and builds audience trust. Evaluate and Adjust: Regularly assess audience feedback and performance metrics to keep your content aligned with your values and objectives. Choose the Right Platform How do you choose the right social media platform for your marketing efforts? Start by grasping that different platforms cater to various audiences and content types. For visually appealing content, Instagram is your best bet, whereas Twitter excels with concise messaging. LinkedIn, in contrast, is perfect for longer, professional insights. It’s more effective to focus on a few platforms rather than spreading yourself too thin across many; this approach improves engagement and brand visibility. Evaluate platform-specific trends and user engagement levels to optimize your content strategy, as certain platforms yield better results for specific campaigns. Finally, continuously monitor audience activity to adapt your strategy, ensuring your content remains relevant and impactful. Craft an Attention-Grabbing Headline What makes a headline truly attention-grabbing? It’s all about crafting concise and compelling headlines that spark curiosity as well as aligning with your brand voice. Here are some tips to enhance your headlines: Use Numbers: Incorporate statistics or lists to create a sense of structure and urgency. Highlight Benefits: Clearly state what readers will gain by engaging with your content. Ask Questions: Pose intriguing questions that encourage users to think and click for answers. Experiment with Styles: Try different formats like provocative statements or questions to see what resonates. Aim for headlines between 10 to 20 words, and don’t forget to use A/B testing to refine your approach based on performance metrics. Engaging headlines lead to better interactions! Write Engaging Copy Engaging copy is essential for capturing your audience’s attention and driving interactions on social media. Aim for captions around 150 characters or 15 words to maximize clicks. Craft attention-grabbing headlines that promise clear benefits, use numbers, and convey urgency, ideally between 10 and 20 words. Incorporate clear calls to action, encouraging your audience to comment, share, or engage more deeply with your content. Emojis can improve relatability; use them purposefully to align with your brand voice and audience demographics. Finally, don’t hesitate to experiment with different styles of copy, such as posing questions or creating lists, to discover what resonates best with your audience, in the end boosting your engagement rates considerably. Utilize Hashtags Strategically To maximize your social media impact, it’s essential to research trending hashtags before incorporating them into your posts. As you use 3-5 relevant hashtags on Instagram can improve your reach, limiting your hashtags to 1-2 on Twitter often yields better engagement because of character limitations. Research Trending Hashtags As social media platforms continue to evolve, researching trending hashtags remains essential for maximizing your content’s visibility and engagement. Posts that include at least one hashtag see 12.6% more engagement than those without. To make the most of hashtags, consider the following tips: Use tools like Hashtagify or RiteTag to find popular and relevant hashtags for your niche. Experiment with a mix of broad and niche hashtags; 3-5 hashtags typically perform best on Instagram. Regularly monitor hashtag performance and adjust your strategy based on analytics. Engage with currently popular hashtags in your industry to improve brand relevance and promote community interaction. Limit Hashtag Usage Limiting hashtag usage is vital for enhancing your social media strategy and ensuring your posts resonate with your audience. On platforms like Instagram, aim for 3-5 relevant hashtags to boost visibility without overwhelming viewers. For X/Twitter, using just 1-2 hashtags can increase engagement while keeping your message concise. Remember, each platform has unique dynamics; what works on Instagram mightn’t be effective on TikTok. Researching and incorporating trending hashtags can greatly improve discoverability, particularly on visual platforms. Nevertheless, avoid excessive hashtags since too many can make your posts appear spammy, reducing user trust and engagement. Customizing your hashtag strategy for each platform is key to maximizing your outreach and connecting effectively with your audience. Incorporate Emojis and Symbols Incorporating emojis and symbols into your social media posts can greatly boost engagement and communication clarity. They add a visual element that resonates with your audience, increasing interaction by up to 48%. Here are some key points to reflect on: Emotional Connection: Emojis help convey emotions and tone, making your message clearer. Higher Click-Through Rates: Posts with emojis can increase responses by 25%, encouraging more clicks. Brand Personality: Emojis act as visual cues that improve your brand’s personality, with 64% of consumers preferring brands that use them. Consistency Matters: Verify emojis align with your brand voice and are relevant to avoid misinterpretation. Encourage Interaction With a Call-To-Action (CTA) To boost engagement on your social media posts, use clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide your audience on what to do next. Incorporating urgency and exclusivity, like “Limited Time Offer!” or “Don’t Miss Out!”, can prompt quicker responses from users. Remember to position your CTAs prominently for maximum visibility, ensuring they effectively drive the desired action. Clear Action Directions When you want to drive engagement on social media, a clear call-to-action (CTA) is essential. Posts with CTAs can see up to 1.5 times more clicks than those without. To maximize effectiveness, consider these tips: Use action-oriented language: Phrases like “Sign up,” “Discover,” or “Join us” encourage immediate action. Incorporate CTAs in visuals: Including CTAs in images can boost engagement rates by up to 80%. Align CTAs with your goals: Use specific phrases like “Shop now” for sales or “Learn more” for informative content. Experiment with A/B testing: Test different CTAs to find which resonate best with your audience, improving conversion rates considerably. Urgency and Exclusivity Creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity in your social media posts can greatly improve audience engagement. Use phrases like “limited time offer” or “while supplies last” to encourage immediate action, as these can boost engagement by up to 30%. Furthermore, incorporating exclusive language such as “members only” or “first 50 customers” cultivates a feeling of scarcity, greatly enhancing click-through rates. Always include a clear call-to-action (CTA) like “Shop Now” or “Comment Below,” which can lead to 3-4 times higher engagement rates. Experiment with different CTAs through A/B testing to find what resonates best with your audience. Finally, pair urgency and exclusivity with compelling visuals, as they can drive 94% more views, making your posts even more effective. Optimize Posting Times How can you guarantee your social media posts reach the widest audience possible? By enhancing your posting times. Analyzing when your audience is most active can greatly boost your engagement rates. Here are some tips to help you find those ideal times: Study platform-specific peak times: For example, Instagram users are active on Wednesdays at 11 AM and Fridays from 10-11 AM, whereas Twitter peaks during lunch hours on weekdays. Utilize tools: Use platforms like Sprout’s Ideal Send Times to analyze historical engagement data. Monitor analytics: Regularly check your performance to adjust your posting schedule accordingly. Be consistent: Post during identified peak times to build audience expectations and maintain engagement. Analyze and Iterate To maximize the effectiveness of your social media strategy, regularly analyzing and iterating on your content is essential. Start by monitoring post performance through analytics tools to see what resonates with your audience. Utilize A/B testing to compare different versions of posts and identify elements that drive engagement. Track key metrics monthly, adjusting your strategy based on audience feedback and interaction trends. Here’s a visual representation of ideas to reflect on: Strategy Action Monitor Performance Use analytics tools to track engagement A/B Testing Experiment with post variations Adjust Content Calendar Refine based on audience trends Frequently Asked Questions What Is the 5 5 5 Rule on Social Media? The 5 5 5 rule in social media marketing emphasizes a balanced approach to content sharing. For every five posts you create, share five pieces of content from other sources and five original posts. This strategy helps maintain audience engagement by mixing promotional, educational, and entertaining content. It prevents fatigue from repetitive self-promotion and nurtures community trust, ensuring your followers receive diverse information during the process of increasing your brand’s discoverability. What Are the 7 C’s of Social Media? The 7 C’s of social media are vital principles for effective engagement. First, Clarity guarantees your message is easily understood. Next, Consistency helps build recognition through uniform tone and style. Creativity encourages unique content that captures attention. Community focuses on nurturing relationships with followers. Conversation promotes two-way communication, enhancing interaction. Finally, Conversion aims to turn engagement into desired actions, such as sales or subscriptions. Together, these principles create a strong social media presence. What Is the 30 30 30 Rule for Social Media? The 30 30 30 Rule for social media suggests dividing your content into three categories: 30% promotional, 30% informational, and 30% entertaining. This strategy guarantees your audience receives a balanced mix that keeps them engaged. The remaining 10% can focus on personal or behind-the-scenes posts to improve authenticity. What Are the 7 P’s of Social Media Marketing? The 7 P’s of social media marketing are vital for crafting an effective strategy. First, consider your Product—what features and benefits you highlight. Next, think about Price—how you communicate pricing and promotions. Then, evaluate Place—selecting the right platforms for your audience. Promotion follows, involving tactics to improve engagement. Don’t forget People, focusing on your target demographic, Process, the methods behind your strategy, and Physical evidence, showcasing brand credibility. Conclusion In summary, effectively crafting social media marketing posts requires a strategic approach. By comprehending your audience, choosing the right platform, and creating engaging content, you can considerably improve your online presence. Incorporating visuals, optimizing posting times, and encouraging interaction through CTAs are vital for maximizing engagement. Regularly analyzing performance metrics allows you to refine your strategy, ensuring continuous improvement. By applying these tips, you’ll be well-equipped to create impactful posts that resonate with your audience. Image via Google Gemini This article, "10 Must-Use Tips for Crafting Social Media Marketing Posts" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

When I switched to a Mac about a decade ago, I immediately fell in love with my MacBook's menu bar, and especially the various icons in its top-right corner. I've always enjoyed keeping useful menu bar apps there, such as clipboard managers, app launchers, or apps that update other apps. But unfortunately, if you've installed more than a few third-party apps on your MacBook, your menu bar might be pretty cluttered. It's nothing a quick clean-up can't fix, though, and now macOS ships with a few ways to help fix your messy menu bar. Remove apps from the menu bar Credit: Pranay Parab Just as you'd remove unwanted items from your desk, you should periodically declutter the menu bar by removing apps that don't need to be there. This doesn't uninstall those apps, but it does free up some space in your menu bar. I do this for menu bar icons I never end up clicking. macOS 26 Tahoe has an easy way to remove apps from the menu bar. Follow these steps to do it: Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your Mac's screen. Go to System Settings > Menu Bar. In the right pane, navigate to the section called Allow in the Menu Bar. You'll see a list of apps that have a menu bar icon. You can uncheck any app you want to remove. Some apps also offer a way to remove their icons from the menu bar. Try checking your apps' settings to see if they let you remove their menu bar icons. Note that removing a menu bar icon for an app can sometimes cause the app to become "headless," which means that it'll be running in the background but its icon won't show up in either the menu bar or the dock. This is fine for apps that you only need to configure once, but it can become a problem if you want to use the app regularly. In such cases, you can use a Spotlight search (Cmd + Space, or the magnifying glass icon in the menu bar) or alternatives such as Alfred or Raycast to search for the app's name and open it. Remove system controls from the menu bar Credit: Pranay Parab I'm sure you've noticed that the menu bar has more than just app icons. It's also home to the clock, wifi, volume controls, and more. You can easily add or remove these controls from the menu bar, as long as you're running macOS Tahoe. Here's how: Go to System Settings > Menu Bar. Head over to the Menu Bar Controls section. Uncheck any control you want to remove from the menu bar. You cannot entirely remove the clock from the menu bar, but you can click Clock Options… and switch to Analog to make its icon a lot smaller. Drag and drop icons to rearrange the menu bar Credit: Pranay Parab You also have the option of dragging and dropping your app icons around the menu bar, or using drag-and-drop to remove them from the menu bar. Just hold the Command key and drag any menu bar icon to a different position within the menu bar to rearrange it. To remove icons from the menu bar using drag-and-drop, hold Command and drag-and-drop them outside the menu bar. Use a menu bar manager app Credit: Pranay Parab To tame the chaos at the top of your Mac's screen, I strongly recommend using a menu bar manager app. These apps will automatically show or hide menu bar icons based on triggers (eg: the battery icon will only show up when your MacBook's charge is below 25%), or add a second row of icons that's visible only when you click the menu bar. You'll need to try a couple of menu bar managers to decide which one works best for you. I've been using Barbee for some time, and its my current favorite. View the full article

Students applying to college know they can’t—or at least shouldn’t—use AI chatbots to write their essays and personal statements. So it might come as a surprise that some schools are now using artificial intelligence to read them. AI tools are now being incorporated into how student applications are screened and analyzed, admissions directors say. It can be a delicate topic, and not all colleges are eager to talk about it, but higher education is among the many industries where artificial intelligence is rapidly taking on tasks once reserved for humans. In some cases, schools are quietly slipping AI into their evaluation process, experts say. Others are touting the technology’s potential to speed up their review of applications, cut processing times, and even perform some tasks better than humans. “Humans get tired; some days are better than others. The AI does not get tired. It doesn’t get grumpy. It doesn’t have a bad day. The AI is consistent,” says Juan Espinoza, vice provost for enrollment management at Virginia Tech. This fall, Virginia Tech is debuting an AI-powered essay reader. The college expects it will be able to inform students of admissions decisions a month sooner than usual, in late January, because of the tool’s help sorting tens of thousands of applications. Colleges stress they are not relying on AI to make admissions decisions, using it primarily to review transcripts and eliminate data-entry tasks. But artificial intelligence also is playing a role in evaluating students. Some highly selective schools are adopting AI tools to vet the increasingly curated application packages that some students develop with the help of high-priced admissions consultants. The California Institute of Technology is launching an AI tool this fall to look for “authenticity” in students who submit research projects with their applications, admissions director Ashley Pallie said. Students upload their research to an AI chatbot that interviews them about it on video, which is then reviewed by Caltech faculty. “It’s a gauge of authenticity. Can you claim this research intellectually? Is there a level of joy around your project? That passion is important to us,” Pallie said. The prevalence of AI usage is difficult to gauge because it is such a new trend, said Ruby Bhattacharya, chair of the admission practices committee at the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). NACAC updated its ethics guide this fall to add a section on artificial intelligence. It urges colleges to ensure the way they use it “aligns with our shared values of transparency, integrity, fairness and respect for student dignity.” Some schools have faced blowback over using AI The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) faced a barrage of negative feedback from applicants, parents, and students after its student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, reported in January the school was using AI to evaluate the grammar and writing style of applicants’ essays. The university declined to comment for this article and referred to its admissions website, which it updated after the criticism. “UNC uses AI programs to provide data points about students’ common application essay and their school transcripts,” the website says. Every application “is evaluated comprehensively by extensively trained human application evaluators.” At Virginia Tech, Espinoza said he has been contacted by several colleges that are interested in the new technology but wary of backlash. “The feedback from a lot of colleagues is, ‘You roll this out, we’re watching you, and we’ll see how everyone’s reacting,’” he said. He stressed the AI reader his school spent three years developing is being used only to confirm human readers’ essay scores. Until this fall, each of the four short-answer essays Virginia Tech applicants submit was read and scored by two people. Under the new system, one of those readers is the AI model, which has been trained on past applicant essays and the rubric for scoring, Espinoza said. A second person will step in if the AI and human reader disagree by more than 2 points on a 12-point scoring scale. Like many colleges, Virginia Tech has seen a huge increase in applications since making SATs optional. Last year, it received a record 57,622 applications for its 7,000-seat freshman class. Even with 200 essay readers, the school has struggled to keep up and found itself notifying students later and later. The AI tool can scan about 250,000 essays in under an hour, compared with a human reader who averages two minutes per essay. Based on last year’s application pool, “We’re saving at least 8,000 hours,” Espinoza said. Colleges see benefits of AI tools for applicants The messaging is sensitive for colleges, many of which now have students certify that they have not used AI unethically for essays and other parts of the application. But schools say AI tools can help admissions offices eliminate errors in tasks like uploading transcripts and can simplify the process for students. Georgia Tech this fall is rolling out an AI tool to review the college transcripts of transfer students, replacing the need for staff to enter each course manually into a database. It will allow the school to inform applicants more quickly how many transfer credits they’ll receive, cutting down on uncertainty and wait times, said Richard Clark, the school’s executive director of enrollment management. “It’s one more layer of delay and stress and inevitable errors. AI is going to kill that, which I’m so excited about,” Clark said. The school hopes to expand the service soon to all high school transcripts. Georgia Tech also is testing out AI tools for other uses, including one that would identify low-income students who are eligible for federal Pell Grants but may not have realized it. Stony Brook University in New York is also using artificial intelligence to review applicants’ transcripts and testing AI tools for a variety of tasks, like summarizing student essays and letters of recommendation to highlight things an admissions officer should consider, said Richard Beatty, the school’s senior associate provost for enrollment management. “Maybe a student was fighting a disease sophomore year. Or maybe a parent passed away, or they’re taking care of siblings at home. All these things matter, and it allows the counselors to look at the transcript differently,” Beatty said. Colleges are interested in AI summaries of transcripts, extracurricular activities and letters of recommendation that tell human readers the students’ story in a more digestible way, said Emily Pacheco, founder of NACAC’s special interest group for AI and admission. “Humans and AI working together—that is the key right now. Every step along the way can be greatly improved: transcript reading, essay reviews, telling us things we might be missing about the students,” said Pacheco, a former assistant director of admission at Loyola University Chicago. “Ten years from now, all bets are off. I’m guessing AI will be admitting students.” ___ The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. —Jocelyn Gecker, AP education writer View the full article

President calls Jay Powell a ‘stubborn ox’ in latest attack on current US central bank chiefView the full article

Fatherhood used to be invisible in the conversation about entrepreneurship. The story was always the same: A founder celebrated for sacrifice, for grinding through the night, taming fortune one day at a time. The world championed the grind. But that archetype is now deeply outdated. The successful founder is no longer the one sleeping under their desk. That’s not simply dedication; it’s a symptom of poorly designed systems. If your company requires your constant, heroic presence, you haven’t built a business—you’ve built a cage. Today, elite performance is not measured by the hours you log, but by the resilience of the organization you leave behind. The best entrepreneurs build things that thrive when they are gone—say, to simply make breakfast or see a Little League game. The new true flex is to be out of office and unreachable. THE STRESS TEST Fatherhood is the ultimate stress test for an entrepreneur’s systems. This isn’t about the impossible concept of “balance.” That word implies separation. This is about deep integration. It’s about simply sitting on the floor with your child—the ability to be fully present for simple things. Being a father is not a distraction from ambition; it is a profound competitive advantage. The quiet moments demand tools like empathy and grace. These are the exact skills required to lead a high-trust, modern team. It forces you to operate from a position of systemic strength, not perpetual effort. The perspective is that days are long, but the years pass like a train in the night. This accelerated sense of time, which spans decades not quarters, is the masterclass both fatherhood and entrepreneurship teach. 3 PARALLELS FOR RAISING HUMANS AND A VISION The following three core disciplines run parallel between raising humans and scaling a vision. 1. Patience and long-term vision You must learn to ignore the immediate market tantrums, the noise of instant feedback, and the urge to sprint. You invest, guide, and trust the process. You build, break, and grow. 2. Nurture autonomy True leadership is not about commanding; it’s about creating an environment where others—your children, your employees—learn to lead themselves. Curiosity is the path to growth. We must empower self-sufficiency, giving room for the inevitable failure and iteration required for competence. 3. Active presence I recall a day fishing on the Harpeth River. The August downpour had left the water swollen, filled with snags and debris. Laughing turned to silence as each child found their hole. In that stillness, I learned more about patience and waiting for the right moment to guide than I did in any boardroom. The stakes were suddenly real. The humility to wait for the fish, and the willingness to let others find their footing, perfectly mirrored the trust I had to place in my leadership team during a turbulent launch. ACCEPTANCE The elite leader of the next decade is the one who accepts that life’s non-negotiable anchors—like family—force an excellence that the constant grind never could. Fatherhood demands you delegate ruthlessly and focus only on the high-leverage work. This forces a vision for the future and its unknowns that is built for endurance, not a flash. The most successful companies—like the most resilient families—are those built to last, not to sprint. They are sustained by presence, not absence. So I look to the horizon. We are ready for what comes next. Logan Mulvey is CEO of Cinq Music. View the full article