What caught my eye in July: social media and marketing updates

☕ A monthly round up of the platform updates, marketing trends and things I've noticed that I think are genuinely worth knowing about as a small business owner.

Every month there are dozens of updates across Instagram, LinkedIn, Google and TikTok. Some genuinely change the way we market our businesses, while others make a lot of noise without really changing very much at all.

I spend a lot of my time keeping up with what's changing in digital marketing, so I thought it would be useful to start sharing the things that have actually caught my attention each month. Not every update, just the ones I think are worth knowing about, along with a couple of things I've been noticing and one piece of marketing advice I'd happily ignore.

So, here's what stood out in July.

📱 Platform update 1: LinkedIn is putting more focus on authentic content

One of the biggest conversations this month came from LinkedIn introducing a way for users to report posts that appear to be heavily AI generated or low quality.

That doesn't mean AI is suddenly off limits. I use AI myself to help organise ideas, brainstorm and speed up parts of my workflow and I think it can be incredibly useful when it's used well.

What this update tells me is that platforms are becoming much better at recognising content that feels generic, which makes having a recognisable voice even more important. The businesses that will stand out are the ones using these tools without losing the personality, experience and opinions that make their content theirs.

My takeaway

Use AI to support your content, but don't let it replace your personality.

📍 Platform update 2: Your Google Business Profile still deserves attention

Google Business Profile made the headlines this month for a couple of reasons, including reports of review display issues and renewed discussion around how changing your business address can temporarily affect local visibility while Google processes the update.

Neither is a reason to panic, but they are a useful reminder that your Google Business Profile isn't something you create once and forget about.

For local businesses especially, it's an important part of your wider online presence and something that's worth checking regularly alongside your website and social media.

My takeaway

Spend ten minutes checking your address, opening hours, reviews and photos. It's a small job that can make a real difference to your local visibility.

📸 Platform update 3: Instagram continues to reward valuable content

Instagram has continued reinforcing something we've been hearing for a while: shares and saves are important signals.

It makes sense when you think about how people actually use the platform. Liking a post takes a split second, but sending something to a friend usually means it was useful, relatable or interesting enough to make you think of someone else. Saving it suggests you want to come back to it later.

For businesses, that's a much more useful way to think about engagement than simply trying to collect likes.

My takeaway

Think about what would make someone want to save your post or send it to somebody else. Answering a useful question, solving a problem or sharing an opinion people relate to can give your content much more staying power.

💭 Two things I've been noticing

1. More business owners are asking better questions

Not that long ago, one of the questions I heard most often was, "How do I get more followers?"

Lately, I'm hearing a different question: "How do I get more enquiries?"

I love that shift because follower numbers have never told the whole story. A business with 10,000 followers isn't automatically doing better than one with 800, especially if those 800 people are much more likely to become clients or customers.

The goal is to become more visible to the right audience and give those people a reason to trust you, remember you and eventually choose you.

2. Personality is becoming a competitive advantage again

As AI becomes part of more people's marketing toolkit, something interesting is happening. Businesses with genuine personality are becoming easier to spot.

The posts I remember aren't necessarily the most polished ones. They're often the ones where I can hear the person behind the words, whether they're sharing a story, giving an opinion, talking about something they've learnt or simply explaining something in their own way.

AI can absolutely help us create better marketing, but it can't replace your experience, perspective or personality. And as more generic content appears online, I think those things are only going to become more valuable.

One thing I'd ignore

Every month there seems to be another expert telling business owners they need to post three Reels a day, publish every single day or dramatically increase their content output if they want to grow.

Personally, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Consistency matters, but consistency doesn't have to mean posting constantly. I'd much rather see a business publish one genuinely useful post every week than seven posts created simply to tick a box.

Your audience probably isn't keeping a spreadsheet of how many times you posted this week. They're much more likely to remember whether something you shared was useful, interesting or made them think.

My biggest takeaway from July

If I could leave you with one thought this month, it would be to stop trying to keep up with every single platform update.

Algorithms will continue to change and new features will come and go, but the foundations of good marketing don't change anywhere near as quickly.

Understand who you're trying to reach. Create content that is genuinely useful to them. Make sure your website, social media and Google presence are all telling the same story. Then focus your energy on doing those things consistently rather than chasing every new update.

Helpful marketing rarely goes out of fashion, and that's where I'd be investing my time.

What I'll be focusing on in August

As we head into a new month, there are three things I'll be encouraging my clients to focus on:

✔️ Creating content that answers real customer questions.

✔️ Making sure websites, social media and Google Business Profiles support each other rather than treating them as completely separate parts of your marketing.

✔️ Spending less time worrying about algorithms and more time understanding the people you're actually trying to reach.

Sometimes the simplest strategy is still the best one.

I'm already looking forward to seeing what catches my eye in August.

If you've got lots of marketing ideas but no clear order, a Social Brew can help you work out what deserves your attention and turn it into a simple plan.