A monthly round up of the platform updates, marketing trends and things I've noticed that I think are worth knowing about as a small business owner. ☕
October has been a busy one and I can't quite believe we're heading into November already. With only a few working weeks left before Christmas, I'm starting to think about getting everything organised before the end of the year, both for my own business and my clients.
This month, there are a couple of interesting updates from Instagram and Google worth sharing. I've also been thinking about consistency, why not every piece of content needs to do the same job and how to make the most of these last few weeks without putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.
🤳Instagram Edits introduces carousel creation
If you've been using Instagram's Edits app to create Reels, there's another feature worth knowing about.
In October, Instagram introduced carousel creation within Edits, allowing users to bring together photographs and videos into multi-slide posts.
It's another step towards making Edits a more complete content creation tool, rather than somewhere you go purely to edit video.
For small businesses creating their own social media content, particularly those working mainly from their phones, this could make putting posts together a little easier.
Think a collection of photographs from a recent event, a behind-the-scenes look at your business, a product showcase or a series of useful tips.
Carousels are a brilliant format for telling a story or explaining something in a little more detail without expecting someone to watch a video.
My takeaway
If you're already using Edits, it's worth having a play with the carousel feature. But if you've got a good system in Canva or another app, there's no need to change it just because something new has launched.
📍Google is making website links more visible in AI Search
Google announced further changes to its AI powered search experience in October, including improvements to how website links appear within AI generated answers.
The aim is to make it easier for people to explore the websites and original sources behind the information they're seeing. I think that's an interesting development for small businesses.
As AI becomes a bigger part of how people search for information, there's understandably been a lot of discussion about what that means for website traffic.
If someone can get an answer directly from Google, will they still visit your website?
We don't know exactly how these changes will affect traffic yet, but it's encouraging to see Google continuing to work on how websites are represented within AI Search.
For businesses offering services, whether you're a therapist, photographer, designer or wellness practitioner, your website still has an important job to do.
It needs to clearly explain what you offer, answer the questions potential clients might have and make it easy for someone to take the next step.
My takeaway
Rather than worrying about trying to optimise your website for every new AI development, concentrate on making your content genuinely useful. Clear service pages, helpful blogs and answers to common customer questions are a sensible place to start.
I've also written a separate guide on how to show up in Google's AI Search results if you'd like to understand this in a little more detail.
💭 Two things I've been noticing
1. Not every piece of content needs to do the same job
I think it's easy to get caught up in which content format is supposedly performing best at any given time.
One week everyone is talking about Reels, the next it's carousels, then apparently we should all be posting more Stories, but different types of content are useful for different reasons.
A Reel might be brilliant for showing the atmosphere at an event or giving people a glimpse behind the scenes.
A carousel might be better for explaining your process, sharing a collection of photographs or breaking down something your audience wants to understand.
Stories can be a great way to stay visible, share smaller moments and start conversations.
Sometimes a straightforward photograph with a good caption is all you need.
Rather than choosing a format because it's currently popular, I'd start by thinking about what you're actually trying to communicate.
The best format is the one that helps you get your message across.
2. Consistency doesn't mean posting every day
One thing I keep coming back to is how important consistency is in marketing, but I don't think that has to mean posting every day or constantly creating something new.
For one business, consistency might look like 12 social media posts a month. For another, it might be four.
It could be a weekly email, one newsletter a month or publishing a new blog every few weeks.
There's no magic number, what matters is finding a rhythm that works for your business, one you can realistically maintain alongside everything else you've got going on.
Because ultimately, you want to have a consistent presence in the places your potential customers are looking for you.
I'd much rather see a business publishing four useful, well thought out posts every month than aiming for 20, managing it for two weeks and then disappearing for the next six.
And with Christmas approaching, I think this is particularly relevant.
You don't need to suddenly double your content because it's the end of the year. You need a realistic plan for what you can manage, including when you're planning to take some time off.
Consistency should be sustainable, not another thing you're constantly struggling to keep up with.
One thing I'd ignore: the pressure to completely reinvent your marketing for 2027
We're getting to that point in the year when the conversation starts turning towards next year's goals, new strategies and everything businesses should apparently be doing differently.
But I don't think every business needs to start January with a completely new marketing plan.
If something has been working for you this year, keep doing it.
If you've found a manageable rhythm with your social media, emails or blogs, build on that rather than deciding you suddenly need to double your output.
And if there are things you want to change, you don't necessarily need to tackle them all before Christmas.
Use these last few working weeks to think about what's worth continuing, what could be improved and what can wait until January.
A new year can be a good opportunity to make changes, but it doesn't mean everything you've been doing suddenly needs replacing.
My biggest takeaway from October
Good marketing isn't about doing the most.
It's about consistently doing the things that matter to your business, in a way you can actually maintain.
That might mean trying a useful new feature, improving your website or simply getting better organised with the content you're already creating.
You don't need to do everything. You need to focus on what makes sense for your business and the people you're trying to reach.
What I'll be focusing on in November
With only around six or seven working weeks left before many businesses start winding down for Christmas, now is a good time to get a few things organised.
✔️Get ahead with December content
✔️Make sure customers have the information they need
✔️Start thinking about January
But having a few priorities in mind, knowing what content you'll need and identifying anything you'd like to improve will make getting back into things much easier after the break.
And if your marketing is feeling a little all over the place heading into the end of the year, a Social Brew is a good opportunity to talk things through and work out what deserves your attention next.
