Levi Sanford

🚨 Weekly Video Marketing Brief for Small Business Owners 🚨The video marketing landscape is changing fast. Here’s what’s new this week and what it means for you 👇🏾 🔹 YouTube Shorts adds “Extend with AI.” Creators can now auto-generate extra segments for existing Shorts and stitch them to music. 👉🏾 Why it matters: Instead of starting from scratch, you can remix your best clips into longer videos, test different endings, or try new CTAs all in minutes. 🔹 Meta launches “Vibes.” A new AI-generated video feed inside Meta AI that spits out fully AI-made videos, sharable to Instagram & Facebook. 👉🏾 Why it matters: While it’s early, if Vibes takes off, it could become a new placement for ads or organic reach. Early adopters often win the most attention. 🔹 Instagram hits 3B MAUs. Instagram is testing ways to make Reels and DMs more prominent while giving users more feed control. 👉🏾 Why it matters: With that kind of audience, Reels remain a no-brainer. Prioritize short-form vertical content — it’s where the eyeballs are. 🔹 Descript updates plans + adds “Turn into Video.” New features let you animate still photos in the Scene editor, but some legacy plans are losing access to premium models. 👉🏾 Why it matters: Cool creative upgrades, but watch your subscription costs. Review who really needs the premium features and avoid paying twice for overlapping tools. 🔹 Meta expands Reels/Threads ads. More brands can now test “trending ads” on Reels and new formats on Threads, with early results showing better brand recall. 👉🏾 Why it matters: Even with a small daily budget ($10–$25), these placements can get you steady awareness without breaking the bank. 💡 What this means for small business owners (do this): ✅ Remix & extend content. Use Shorts’ “Extend with AI” to turn your best-performing clips into 2–3 variations weekly. Small tweaks = new reach opportunities. ✅ Prioritize Reels. Post 4–7x/week, grab attention in the first 2 seconds, and put your offer/testimonial upfront. Layer in low-budget ads to keep reach consistent. ✅ Audit your tools. If you’re using Descript, review your plan. Features are shifting, and you don’t want surprise cost creep eating into your budget. ✅ Stay compliant on TikTok. Updated guidelines (Sept 13) require clear disclosures for AI-assisted or branded content. Better safe than flagged. This is the first (and maybe only one???) of my weekly updates to keep small business owners on top of video marketing trends. Was this helpful?? Should I do this again next week? Let me know below! #VideoMarketing #SmallBusinessGrowth #ContentStrategy #YouTubeShorts #InstagramReels #AIMarketing #CreatorEconomy

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A lot of agency owners spend the year trying to squeeze their numbers higher. The problem is timing. By the time most agencies are ready, buyers have checked out. The strongest buying window is early in the year, not after you think everything is perfect. Selling an agency is not a quick decision. It takes months to do properly. If your numbers are already solid, waiting rarely helps. Timing the market matters more than chasing one more quarter.

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The 3 most important things every $5M founder needs to ditch in 2026 to scale. At this level, growth doesn’t come from doing more... ... It comes from removing what no longer creates leverage. (despite what your task manager would like you to believe). Here are three things to leave behind as you ramp up 2026: 1️⃣ Trying to be everything to everyone (also known as “being forgettable to anyone who matters”) If your positioning isn’t precise, your growth will stall no matter how strong your execution is. Get back to the basics. What's the very specific problem you solve and for who? The fastest-growing businesses are painfully clear about: • Who they serve • Why they’re different • Why they are the obvious choice Clarity beats volume every time. 2️⃣ Discounting — in price or posture Discounting doesn’t drive growth. It erodes trust both internally and externally. Strong companies scale on conviction, outcomes, and confidence. Not concessions. 3️⃣ Operating when your highest value is strategic Founders who stay in execution eventually become the constraint. (Yes — even the “but I’m really good at it” ones.) Scale happens when you step out of day-to-day operations and focus on: • Strategic oversight • Client relationships • High-leverage decisions The pattern is consistent across every $5M+ business I’ve seen scale well: Simplify before you add. Remove before you optimize. If you removed just one thing as we launch into 2026, what would create the most leverage?

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AI Invisibility = Missed Wins  Most startups are invisible to ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Not because they don’t have great products. But because they’re still thinking in Google SEO while AI search is quietly eating their lunch. 🚫 AI ranks content differently from search engines. 🚫 Most brands have no idea how to show up in AI results. 🚫 Competitors who get there first will own the space. The good news? Wellows' Kiva’s LLM Visibility feature make it simple to: ✅ Structure your content so AI can find and cite you. ✅ See exactly what AI platforms value in tone, format, and keywords. ✅ Track your AI search visibility over time… automatically. ✅ Humanize robotic text so it still feels like you. If you’ve been experimenting with AI but haven’t thought about how your brand actually shows up inside it - this is the sign you’ve been waiting for. Don’t wait until your competitors are the only ones AI recommends. Your next customer could be asking LLM a question right now. Make sure the answer is you. 🔗 Explore KIVA here: https://lnkd.in/gdV79TJS Repost this if you want your brand to be the one AI assistants recommend first. Created in partnership with Kiva.

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Why your beautiful website is solving problems nobody has anymore. It converted worse than a Google Doc with a video link... My client spent $50k on an award-winning website design. 0.3% vs 8.7%. Same traffic. Same offer. Completely different approach. The $50k site had everything: - Parallax scrolling - Custom animations  - 47 pages of content - Interactive calculators - "Request a demo" behind three clicks The Google Doc had one thing: A video of Sarah getting results. The 2019 vs 2024 value exchange: 2019: "Show me your credentials first" 2024: "Show me someone like me winning" 2019: "I'll book a demo if impressed" 2024: "I'll watch if it's relevant" 2019: Hide the value until qualified 2024: Lead with transformation proof We tested this across 23 clients last quarter. Traditional "Request Demo" flow: 1.2% conversion "Watch Sarah Get Results" video: 8.9% conversion Same prospects. Different psychology. Why "Request a Demo" is killing your conversions: 1. **The commitment cliff** Demo = 30-60 minutes + sales pressure Video = 2 minutes + zero pressure 2. **The trust deficit** You're asking for time before proving value Modern buyers want proof before conversation 3. **The relevance question** "Demo" doesn't tell them if it's for them "Sarah's story" shows exactly who it's for The Value Before Contact Framework: Instead of: "Schedule a demo" Use: "Watch how we solved this" Instead of: Features → Benefits → Demo Use: Problem → Proof → Conversation Instead of: Hiding your best content Use: Leading with transformation stories Real client transformations: HR Software: Old: "Book a demo" after feature list New: "Watch how Melissa automated onboarding in 3 days" Result: 12x more qualified conversations Consulting firm: Old: "Free consultation" form with 15 fields New: "See how we doubled John's revenue (4-min video)" Result: 67% increase in engagement Marketing platform: Old: Interactive product tour → demo request New: "Sarah went from 2% to 11% conversion (here's how)" Result: Demo requests up 340% The psychology shift: Your beautiful website assumes visitors want to explore. They don't. They want to escape their problem. Your "Request a Demo" assumes they trust you. They don't. They trust people like them. Your hidden value assumes they'll work for it. They won't. They'll find someone who shows it. What we did differently: Killed the entire "Request a Demo" flow. Replaced with "Watch someone like you succeed." No forms. No gates. No friction. Just proof, delivered instantly. The uncomfortable truth: Your award-winning website is solving for beauty. Your customers are solving for outcomes. You're hiding value behind forms. They're finding competitors who don't. Stop making them request proof. Start showing transformation immediately. Because modern buyers don't want demos. They want to see themselves winning. And if you can't show that in 2 minutes? You've already lost them to someone who can.

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Tweaking headlines won’t fix high CPC. But our system will. We’ve used it to slash CPLs 2-5x without touching creatives. Here’s how it works… 1/  Most founders jump straight to changing things. ”We need new angles.” ”Maybe it’s a funnel problem.” ”Lets rework the VSL and lander.” They’re basically painting a car with a blown transmission. 2/ When clients come to us with high CPLs. They expect ad rewrites & funnel rebuilds, but that’s not where we start. First we pull ALL data from click to close. Bc that’s what’ll guide us to the actual problem. 3/ The goal isn’t to fix everything. All we want to do is ask one questions: ”Which metric is easiest to 2X before EOW?” 4/ One account was stuck at $390/call. Instead of messing with their ads, we dug into their funnel. Turned out their form had 11 questions with a 2% completion rate. 5/ So cut it down to 4 questions. App rate and book rate skyrocketed. And CPL dropped 50% in 7 days. 6/ What you should take from this is each metric has sub-metrics. If your show rate is tanked ask questions like: - Are emails hitting spam?  - Are setters sending the right assets?  - Are you warming up leads before the call? 7/ Don’t overcomplicate scaling. Just know WHERE the funnel is leaking and HOW to fix it. That’s it.

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Most agency content fails. For one simple reason. Founders talk about services. Not outcomes. “We help X with Y” sounds safe. And forgettable. Buyers don’t want capabilities. They want relief. They want to know what broke. What you fixed. And what changed after. Proof-driven stories do that. Specific problems. Clear results. No pitching required. Just evidence. Expertise isn’t claimed. It’s demonstrated. Show the before. Show the decision. Show the after. When buyers recognize the outcome. They lean in. That’s how you signal authority. Without selling. 🔁 Repost if this resonated. 👋 Follow me (Sanjay K.) for more personal branding insights.

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Building a business directly on affiliate links is akin to constructing your venture on rented land. This approach carries inherent risks, as the platform or program you rely on can change or disappear without warning, jeopardizing your entire operation. Consider building your own asset—a website, an email list—to create a more stable and sustainable foundation for your business. #AffiliateMarketing #DigitalBusiness #OnlineMarketing #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStrategy

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