ICYMI: The Apple iOS Update Just for Creators ❤️
Plus, chatting with LTK’s Amber Venz Box and Love Island’s Kaylor Martin at LTKCon
I spent the week at LTKCon — an invite-only event for LTK affiliate creators, talent managers, agents, brands and reality stars turned creator-entrepreneurs Kaylor Martin, Liv Walker and Ciara Miller. Plus, I joined LTK cofounder Amber Venz Box on stage for a fireside chat to get an early look at what’s next for the platform and how the latest iOS 26 update creates opportunities for creators, makers, and brands.
⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY
You can now post more than one Instagram Story a day without affecting your reach
YouTube’s multi-language audio feature is available to all creators
LinkedIn updated its insights to include Saves and Sends
Canva Data: Well-designed content is processed and remembered faster
LTKCon Report: I’m breaking down what I learned this week
Apple’s new Visual Intelligence (part of iOS 26) will bring up LTK creator content in search
LTK launched Brand Profiles and Leaderboards, free to enterprise and DTC brands
A Q&A with LTK cofounder Amber Venz Box with tips for aspiring founders and entrepreneurs
A Q&A with Love Island’s Kaylor Martin on her journey from reality star to creator
💻 ROADMAP
📲 Meta Updates
Adam Mosseri said they’ve “fixed” Instagram Stories so posting more than one Story a day will no longer decrease the reach of your Stories overall.
Instagram dropped a new Close Friends Only podcast episode with the cast of The Summer I Turned Pretty ahead of the finale September 17.
Spotted: a screenshot suggests that Instagram is working a test to add links to posts
📲 YouTube Updates
YouTube announced its multi-language audio feature is officially available to creators everywhere.
New research data revealed 74% of European students said that they watched videos on YouTube to learn something new for school — while 71% said they watched videos on YouTube to learn something new for fun outside of school.
📲 TikTok Updates
TikTok and Spotify partnered to launch the Big on BookTok hub that turns your BookTok wish list into a To Be Listened playlist on Spotify.
📲 LinkedIn Updates
LinkedIn announced two new metrics, Saves and Sends. Saves show you how many people bookmarked your post to revisit. Sends capture how many times your post got shared in a message on the platform.
📲 Pinterest Updates
Pinterest published a blog post to help brand marketers navigate the holiday season. According to their data, someone searches for a gift on the platform every six seconds between October and December.
📲 Roblox Updates
Roblox launched Roblox Moments, a scrollable video feed of user-generated gameplay moments.
📲 Amazon Updates
Spotted: Amazon is developing a pair of augmented-reality glasses for consumers
🗂️ LTKCON REPORT
Apple’s New Visual Intelligence Rewards Creators
Creator commerce just got a major vote of confidence from big tech.
Apple is integrating creator-led commerce app LTK into the iPhone’s new Apple Visual Intelligence camera experience to help influencers drive even more shoppable inspiration.
The timing of LTKCon — where the news was revealed — couldn’t have been more strategic. It ran parallel to Apple’s September 9th event which not only unveiled the iPhone 17 but also revealed this new iOS 26 integration with LTK.
Let me explain.
Starting Monday, September 15, when users take a screenshot with their iPhone, they can circle the item they want to search, and LTK will pop up in the UI with LTK Creator content as a search result. Other partners include Google, Pinterest, and Etsy.
It’s a signal that creator commerce is becoming core to how consumers discover and shop.
LTK itself has had a glow-up. Recently named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential Companies of 2025, the platform announced several updates aimed squarely at brands:
Brand Profiles: A curated hub where brands can showcase creator content featuring their products — think of it like a repost feed. Profiles launch next month with partners including Nordstrom, Sephora, Ulta, Abercrombie & Fitch, Quince, Reformation, Tuckernuck, and Dorsey.
Brand Leaderboards: For the first time, LTK’s brand platform is open to brands at no cost, part of an effort to woo more DTC brands and small businesses, alongside enterprise partners. As part of the new leaderboard, brands get access to analytics, creator content visibility, direct messaging, gifting and Quick Collab tools, and campaign postings to the LTK Marketplace.
“We have creators, we have consumers, and now our brands are able to be part of what is happening in this conversation,” said LTK cofounder Amber Venz Box of the move to create more transparency into the creators who drive sales and the channels to reach and work with them.
“From an Express perspective, we've leveraged UGC across a lot of our own channels,” said Lauren Foster, Director of Brand Strategy at Express. “And so this is another chance to curate content that we get from our LTK creators and give more life to the creator content.”
With Apple signaling that creator-led commerce is no longer niche, and brands getting access to added tools and data on the LTK platform, it’s a clear sign that this is not a side experiment, but the future of shopping.
“CMOs are 100 percent on board. Everyone knows they need a creator strategy,” said Kristi O’Brien, LTK’s Chief Revenue Officer. Brands no longer ask ‘Is it important or not important?’ It’s about measurement, according to O’Brien. It’s: ”How do we measure it and how do we stack rank it against our other investment opportunities from a marketing perspective?”
And with more visibility and more data, more budget follows — which is good for everyone.
🗒️ LTK: THE BASICS
If you’re not in fashion, home, lifestyle, fitness, travel or beauty you might be scratching your head right now. I got you. LTK is an influencer marketing platform and consumer app that connects creators with shoppers and brands.
According to company data, 40% of Gen Z and Millennial women in the U.S. use LTK. If you've ever seen a creator say "link in bio," there's a good chance they were using an LTK affiliate link.
LTKCon is an annual conference to celebrate LTK’s top creators and brands. It’s an over-the-top, branded event with keynotes, workshops and guest speakers (including yours truly).
Partners like Abercrombie and Quince hosted receptions (where I learned not enough of you follow creator Vidya Gopalan or you’d know what a caviar bump is) and the whole thing wrapped up with a sparkly awards ceremony.
AMBER VENZ BOX ADVICE FOR ENTREPRENEURS
I sat down backstage with LTK’s cofounder Amber Venz Box — head of a company that drives $6B+ annual retail sales — to get some advice for fellow creator economy founders and entrepreneurs.
ICYMI: What’s your advice for other women looking to launch businesses — how do you keep going when things get tough?
AVB: Despite the look of the up and to the right, it's much more like that book cover, The Messy Middle by Scott Belsky. It's this scribbly cover that looks much more like the LTK story that you don't get to see. I think that's probably every founder story.
What I've learned is that some chapters super suck. We were part of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. They had every penny of LTK’s money. Or it's the market dynamics. In 2017, we launched our app. In 2018, Meta pulled all of our API access. Those are not fun days. We had a retailer that actually withheld millions of dollars from us. They tried to blackmail us for data. I mean, wild stuff going on. Those are really crappy days, but I guess you have enough crappy days to realize that there will be chapters that follow that aren't crappy.
I talk all the time about being a futurist. Being a founder is literally just playing the dynamics of the industry. It is knowing how to ride the wave and not just try to paddle faster or against it.
ICYMI: How do you stay on top of it all?
AVB: The team’s bubbling it up. It's shareholder calls. And, honestly, if I don't have time to read it, I'll get on ChatGPT and say, "What were the core takeaways from this? What should I know as LTK? Are there any notable quotes that I should be aware of?" With podcasts, there are certain founders I’m trying to watch. If it’s Sam Altman, if it’s Mark Zuckerberg, I'm going to see the latest podcast, and can AI summarize it for me?
People tell you what they're doing. You just have to be watching. And then take them very seriously. When Adam Mosseri said, in January of 2024, the majority of content you see this year is going to be algorithmic... He was not kidding.
ICYMI: Somebody said, creators who think like founders win in the long run. What would you say?
AVB: You can be a great entertainer and be a shitty business person, just like you can be a great doctor and not know how to run an office. It's investing in yourself. It's paying attention. It's asking for feedback. It's not operating in a silo.
This industry is so dynamic. Fifteen years ago, I had a blog, and it was fun, and I loved doing it every day. But the solution wasn't to keep the blog, because no one goes to websites anymore — you can't rewind the tape.
As a founder, or as a creator, you have to play chess. You have to have long term thinking, and that's where I see creators make really bad choices. You can make a nice quick buck, but what did that cost you in time? Growth? Where were you headed?
ICYMI: We're going to be talking during a fireside chat. Do you have any tips before you go on stage?
AVB: I do a layered approach to how I think through my content. First, it's writing it. And then it's making the deck to go along with it. And then I record the speech. And then as I'm walking, as I'm in my car, I'm just playing it over and over. Then I start to understand: the organization was wrong. Then I'm going in and changing it, and then I test myself. I start running the slides, and I'm like, "Do I know what I'm saying? Does it feel like it's there?" Even before I went on this morning, I had my keynote out and was reviewing some of the key points that I wanted to make.
Ultimately, I think what makes me successful is, I wrote the content; I know the content; I lived the content. It's not saying the right or perfect phrase, it's saying the phrase that you’re going to get what I mean. I try to be really direct. I'm gonna teach you everything that you need to know. Rather than memorizing certain words, it's just conceptually, “What do I need you to know?” And that’s what I'm going to share.
ICYMI: What’s your advice on wardrobe choices to wear on stage?
AVB: I love getting dressed. It's part of the storytelling. I need you to pay attention and any tool I have to get your attention while I speak — if it's looking good — then I will use that tool.
Tomorrow, we are announcing the Apple iOS stuff and I'm sitting down with you. I have an all black outfit. It still has a sheer bottom and it's a little bit more risque than the Goldman Sachs conference vibe, but it's also a little more sophisticated. It’s Apple vibes and tech forward.
KAYLOR MARTIN: FROM LOVE ISLAND STAR TO CREATOR
Love Island Season 6 star Kaylor Martin was a guest of honor at LTKCon where I got to ask her about the transition from reality star to creator — now with 2.5M followers across Instagram and TikTok — and what she plans to do next.
ICYMI: Let’s go back to last summer… you went into the villa with 5K followers. How many followers did you have when you got out and at what point did you realize being a creator is something you wanted to pursue?
Kaylor Martin: I was signed with an acting and modeling agency that I'm still with now, and I was like, “Hey, I'm just gonna let you know, I'm going to Love Island. I'm not sure if it will do anything for me. It may flop.” And my manager was like, “Yeah, I mean, reality? Love Island is not anything huge.”
Then I remember leaving the villa and calling her, and I was like, “I think the show was pretty big.” And she was like, “Yeah, we're gonna capitalize on this and run with it.” I left the villa with 500k followers, and I've accumulated half a million just in a year from posting and being consistent.
ICYMI: Going from Love Island to building your own brand online — you described yourself as “a little business woman” — what’s been the biggest learning curve adapting to becoming an influencer?
KM: I didn't realize that you can make so much money in this industry. Honestly, I left the villa being like, “This is fun. I'm gonna go on a brand trip. I'm gonna take the free vacations, get the free Botox.” And then slowly, I realized that this is actually a business, and I need to take this seriously. That was really challenging for me, because leaving the villa I was in this hiatus. I was having so much fun, and it took me a second to grasp this is going to be my career, and I need to really take this seriously.
So, just like at LTKCon, I've been learning from so many creators whenever I’m on brand trips, looking at their tactics, seeing how they use their tripods and plan out content. That has really helped me.
ICYMI: Is there a specific creator you look to for inspiration?
KM: I really appreciate the creators that are very honest, even honest about sexual things. I listen to Hallie Batchelder and how honest she is with her followers and even Tana Mongeau. Those are the creators that I like to see because my audience is very similar to theirs. They want you to be real, they want you to be honest. And you can swear, and you can talk about your hookups and your mess ups and all of that stuff. Ultimately, I look up to those creators, rather than the creators that are like, “Let's go to Pilates and organize my room.”
ICYMI: You just spent 3 days at LTKCon, what are you taking away from that?
KM: Overall, meeting the creators and listening to the creators that have started their own businesses. I love creating content and all of that… Do I want to be 45-years-old and making TikToks? No, I don't. So learning from people who have capitalized on their platform and created businesses is really inspiring.
ICYMI: How much do you and the other islanders-turned-creators trade tips?
KM: We all have different brands… Actually, Kendall (Washington) will call me, “Kaylor. I need help with content ideas. I'm not sure what to do.” And I'll be like, “These sounds are trending right now, or this, that and the third.” Ultimately, I think consuming helps me create. I always say to my boyfriend, “Babe, I need to sit and watch and scroll TikTok. This is my job, to consume and be creative.” I have to be able to see what other people are doing in their ideas, because they help me spark my own.
ICYMI: What kinds of products do best with your audience when it comes to affiliate sales?
KM: I’m leaning into what my followers know me for. My eyes and my crying. I need to come out with a tissue brand. Yeah, my lashes and my eyeliner, because it didn't move whenever I was crying and shedding those tears in the villa. And my lip liner, because I would kiss a lot of men, and we would have all these challenges, and it wouldn't move or smudge. So those are definitely the most sold products on my LTK.
ICYMI: Right now, you’re blending affiliate marketing, brand sponsorships, and TV roles — do you have a sense of what you’d like to do next?
KM: I am so tired of reality shows. They're so toxic. They are fun but I actually grew up taking acting classes as a child. My mom was taking me to New York every two weeks from Philly for acting and modeling classes. And I was a musical kid, so I've always wanted to pursue acting. I really need to get the ball rolling sooner than later on that.
ICYMI: Have you given this season’s new Islanders any advice about becoming a creator?
KM: I got to meet Hannah (Fields) from Love Island and Chelley (Bissainthe) this past weekend. And I've been in DM with Iris (Kendall) and Amaya (Espinal). And it's really awesome that their season did as well, even better, honestly, than ours.
The advice I would give them: I see some of them not posting, which is totally fine. You take the route you want… But I regret not posting at least three times a day on TikTok.
I was in the villa for three months. When I left, I was ready to get drinks and eat Chick-fil-A. I really wish that I had accumulated TikToks. If you are making at least three videos a day, and you stay consistent, you are building that community right off the jump, which I feel like I missed out on.
ICYMI: It must have helped to have someone posting for you while you were in?
KM: Yes. I had my two best friends on my social media. I had them in my email. I had them log into my email, my Instagram, my Snapchat, my TikTok. While I was in Fiji, I took a bunch of TikTok drafts and I would send them to them. I said, “Let's say an episode goes down where I get eff’d over or whatnot, post the video where I'm like, “F**k you, I don't really care about you.” And they would. They strategized that perfectly.
ICYMI: Is it a huge miss not to have someone posting on your behalf while you’re in the villa?
KM: I think it's really important. Kendall was just in Fiji for the last two months for Love Island Games. And while he was there, he’s FaceTiming me. He's like, “I'm so bored.” I'm like, “Kendall! This is a great opportunity for you to accumulate drafts. ‘This is what I'm eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner while I'm here in quarantine.’” People want to see that. They want to see the behind the scenes more than anything on Love Island. I literally was like, “Do a day of my life stuck in a hotel in Fiji, only able to leave my room for an hour. Vlog. You'll gate keep those drafts until the next season comes out, and then as the season airs, you have that content to post.”
👀 ICYMI: JUST THE HEADLINES
High-quality visuals encode memory 74% faster, which means well-designed content is processed and remembered faster - Canva: The State of Visual Communication
Former Meta employees say they saw child abuse in VR before company blocked research - NBC News
Alphabet, Meta, OpenAI, xAI and Snap face FTC probe over AI chatbot safety for kids - CNBC
Snap is doubling down on creator and celebrity content - Digiday
Inside ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ marketing playbook—lessons for brands -AdAge
A Gen Alpha podcast you’ve probably never heard of beat Joe Rogan - Like & Subscribe
87,000 fans flocked to Sephora for this Gen Alpha creators brand launch - The Art of Influence
The ‘Great Lock-In’ is more than a Gen Z TikTok trend—it’s a rejection of millennials’ ‘soft life’ - Fortune