ICYMI: Everything You Need to Know From Canva Create 2025
Spreadsheets are getting a glow up?!
At $250 per ticket, Canva Create is one of the most affordable marketing-related conferences you can attend — plus I got to see Rachel Karten speak (I’m just as big a fan as everyone else) and meet some amazing folks who read ICYMI (that never stops being cool!). Full breakdown below 🔽
⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY
Adam Mosseri said smaller creators are underpaid — and he’s aiming to fix that
Meta is reportedly developing an Instagram app for your iPad
Piper Sandler Survey: Instagram remains the most used social media app with teens
Replies account for almost half of the views on Threads
YouTube shared Shorts tips for getting started
China: Any TikTok buyer must be approved by the Chinese government
Canva hosted a live event to announce their latest product updates (spreadsheets! code! multiple size designs!)
Report: Influencers and creators are playing a crucial role in IRL events
💻 ROADMAP
📲 Meta Updates
Meta is reportedly developing a version of Instagram for your iPad.
Instagram rolled out new restrictions for its Teen Accounts — meaning teens under 16 won’t be able to livestream or get raunchy pics in their DMs without parental permission.
Spotted: Instagram is testing “locked” posts that ask you to “Enter secret code” to reveal the content. (I was undecided on this one but thanks to Allie Mason for getting me excited about the product reveal potential.)
Spotted: Instagram offers a monthly summary of your account performance, showing recommended times when followers are active and viewing trends.
Spotted: Threads offers a weekly performance recap listing your activity, views, replies and new followers.
Sports-related creators on Threads have grown their follower community by nearly 1M in the last 2 months, faster than other categories of influential creators, according to Meta.
Replies account for almost half of the views on Threads, as people spend time reading replies on posts they find interesting, according to Meta. Case in point: Seth Rogen joined Threads JUST to respond to someone speculating about a scene in his new Apple TV show.
📲 TikTok Updates
TikTok launched an expanded Creator Incentive Program for select creators producing content in film and TV, auto, learning, and sports
📲 YouTube Updates
YouTube shared tips for getting started with Shorts — pointing out that tutorials, comedic skits, behind-the-scenes glimpses, trending challenges, and musical snippets are all popular options.
YouTube announced its support of the NO FAKES Act of 2025 that provides clear legal frameworks to address issues of unauthorized digital replicas and protect individuals' rights.
📲 LinkedIn Updates
Spotted: LinkedIn allows you to select a target audience for organic posts on your business profile — this may or may not be new but enough people said they had no idea it seemed worth pointing out.
LinkedIn shared video tips for advertisers, among them: think mobile-first, vertical videos; add captions/subtitle; use visually engaging thumbnails with color or bold fonts to grab attention.
🎟️ Inside Canva Create’s LA Summit
If you weren’t able to make Canva’s live event in LA, here’s a breakdown:
What happened:
Canva Create is the company’s second-annual IRL conference, held at Hollywood Park. The creative festival — attended by 4,100 fans — featured keynotes, product launches, workshops, swag and plenty of content opportunities.
The vibe of the event was “we are all creators” — but make it corporate. There was a LinkedIn Content Studio, where they announced new Canva video templates for the platform, shared branded swag and offered work-friendly selfie stations. Plus a roster of B2B creators and marketers roamed the campus, including Jayde Powell, Brandon Smithwrick, JT Barnett, Timm Chiusano, and Brendan Gahan.
And while Canva never skips a confetti cannon during keynotes, even the sessions had a business-first tone, with panels like The Systems That Drive Great Brands and CMOs Unplugged: Tune in to the Future of Marketing.
Who was there:
Canva’s co-founders Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams, along with a mix of Canva experts, traditional talent such as actress Cynthia Erivo and recording artist Jon Batiste, Anthropic’s co-founder Daniela Amodei and brand reps from LinkedIn, Reddit, Docusign, Slack, Mailchimp, Mattel, Coca-Cola and more.
Product Updates Announced:
Building on last year’s pivot from individuals to organizations, the launches announced this year were focused on the future of work and creative collaboration.
Visual Suite 2.0: A collaborative space for building full campaigns from brainstorm to posting — multiple formats in one design!
Design with Data
Canva Sheets: Aesthetic spreadsheets with integrated data, text, and visual assets — no formulas required
Magic Studio at Scale: Templates populated with data inputs
Magic Charts: Converts raw data into animated visualizations and infographics
Design with Canva AI: Images, documents and graphics generated by voice or text prompts
Canva Code: Code-less tools to create interactive experiences, like study guides, fitness trackers, landing pages and more
Canva's crowd was hyped for every update, but the new code options and the spreadsheet glow up got the loudest cheers — yes, spreadsheets. This the timeline we’re in.
Panel Takeaways:
AI should spark innovation, not just save time. “We don’t want to use AI as the compromise tool,” said Pratik Thakar, Global VP and Head of GenAI at Coca-Cola. “We’re putting more emphasis on how to create something new with AI — things we otherwise couldn’t make.”
Brand marketing is blurring with pop culture. “We look at ourselves as an entertainment company as well as a beverage company,” said Dan Murphy, SVP Marketing at Liquid Death. As for their “risky” content? “We’re not doing anything above PG-13. The far riskier thing is putting out boring content that doesn’t move the needle.”
Let creators create. Linqia’s Keith Bendes says the goal is to maximize organic engagement — and then optimize for paid. “I’m going to get the rights to your content. Then I might incorporate best practices in paid media, like brand presence in the first few seconds, shorter clips, more cuts, and shorter copy.”
There’s value to “fun” KPIs. Social strategist and Link In Bio author Rachel Karten sets a personal benchmark: having Cava be the first brand a creator partners with. “It means a lot to that creator and gives them proof of concept [for future partnerships].” It’s not a standard metric, but it’s a meaningful way to connect with creators and their receptive audiences.
*If you missed it, some of the sessions were recorded and shared here after the event.
☕️ Adam Mosseri Just Spilled — Here’s What You Need to Know
Adam Mosseri recently appeared on a podcast with self-described Instagram growth coach, Brock Johnson. I listened and took notes so you don’t have to.
Big takeaways:
a focus on smaller creators (you’re underpaid, said Mosseri!)
an improvement on surfacing trends and improved content search
Instagram is pushing the Feed as the public space for creators to shine, while describing DMs and Stories as for your friends
Watch for these things:
Recommended search in comments based on the context of what’s being talked about that might be different than the meme or Reel shared.
Blends is a feed that lets you share your AI-recommended Reels with friends through one-on-one and group chats.
Mosseri’s key quotes:
On Instagram’s room for improvement:
“I want to help small creators break out”
“I want us to reward original creators”
“I want us to be better at trends, it still takes too long for things to pop on Instagram.”
On how people share: “There are more photos and videos shared in DMs than Stories and there are way more photos and videos shared to Stories than Feed.”
On improved search: “We're trying to do better at having content from creators on Instagram surface in search results for Google and other search providers… We're also starting to invest more in search on Instagram — frankly what we call content search search, it's not very good on Instagram.”
On content recommendations: “If you write really aggressive content — there might be nothing wrong with that, maybe you are advocating for a cause and you're mad and you have a right to be… we won't recommend it. If you post something that is like like borderline nudity… the chances are you're not going to have that content recommended.”
On engaging when your post goes up: “If you're active in a way that is getting people to engage more with your content then, yes, that would help.”
On declining reach: “If there's 10% more content… that doesn't mean there's 10% more things consumed. There's probably 1 or 2% more things consumed so that means that there can be more competition. There are people growing and there are people shrinking.”
On aggregator accounts: “Ideally the person who came up with the thing and made the thing gets more views than the person who found your thing. So we're trying to do more and more to find the original content creator when we can and swap that person into that spot.”
On content formats: “If you're new to Instagram or you haven't been using it as much, I think it's important to understand that it's not just about short form video. You can do Stories that show behind the scenes of how you make your Reels… you can create a channel and really create a deep relationship with your most passionate followers and message them directly.”
On Partner Ads and creator payments: “How much you are actually helping the advertiser is going to be much better quantified and that is I think going to be really good for the small creators because when an advertiser doesn't have measurement, they go on their gut. They go with the big name… I think the biggest creators are probably overpaid and everybody else, particularly the smaller creators, are underpaid.”
🆉 The Z List
A running list of Gen Z preferences — based on Piper Sandler’s Taking Stock With Teens Spring 2025 survey:
Instagram remains the most used social media app, with 87% of teens using monthly. TikTok was flat at 79%, while Snapchat improved to 72%.
88% of teens own an iPhone, with 25% of teens expected to upgrade to an iPhone 17 this fall/winter (up from 22% in fall 2024).
Roblox active usage slowed to 42% from 46% in fall 2024. 17% of teens have never played Roblox, in-line with fall 2024.
👀 ICYMI: JUST THE HEADLINES
Morning Brew’s new employee-turned-creator contract has social media managers re-examining their compensation package -The Publish Press
Snap and Roblox announce their support of the anti-deepfake Take It Down Act -Mashable
Influencers and creators are no longer confined to the realm of social media feeds; they’re stepping into the entertainment world, playing a crucial role in IRL events -Sprout Social (I’m in this!)
Best Buy will let creators put together curated product collections and earn commission on those sales -Adweek
Mariah Carey’s kid reacted like a typical teen when she made a cameo appearance on his Twitch stream -PopCrave
The same children who were fodder for family influencers have become uneasy fodder for streaming documentaries -NYT
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kid Influencing premiered this week -Netflix
Case to monitor: Skincare creator Arielle Lorre had her likeness stolen by a company to create AI-generated ads for their product -Arielle Lorre
Fashion and beauty brands are paralyzed — the potential TikTok ban has them in a holding pattern -Glossy
China says any TikTok deal has to comply with Chinese law -Reuters
The U.S. says it is now monitoring immigrants' social media -NPR
🚕 UPCOMING EVENTS
📌 Social Media Week, New York | May 12-14
📌 The Information’s Future of Influence, Los Angeles | June 3
📌 VidCon, Anaheim CA | June 18-21
See more upcoming conferences in the 2025 ICYMI Marketing Event Database
So good to see you!!