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KIMP’s Picks 12th January: Weekly Highlights In Design, Marketing, AI, & More

It’s Friday! Time to buckle up for another exciting round of KIMP’s Picks – your go-to source of weekly highlights from social media. From discussions on hot topics to insightful threads on burning questions, algorithm updates from social media giants, and campaign inspiration from around the world, KIMP’s Picks brings to you some of the most share-worthy posts every week. 

In the KIMP’s Picks 12th January edition, we’ve rounded up some of the noteworthy posts that will keep you in the loop. Whether you are a marketer or creative or an entrepreneur looking for a quick end-of-the-week inspiration from social media, this blog is all set to put an end to your endless scrolling and divert your attention to the posts that matter! 

Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Without further ado, let’s dive in for some fresh insights. 

In the Marketing Realm 

YouTube and the big games! 

The NFL season was over recently and the Super Bowl season is just around the corner. While these big TV moments are a big deal for fans, for advertisers, they are an even bigger deal! Because advertising during these peak moments makes a lasting impact! So, YouTube recently shared a post that highlights how this video-sharing social media platform has altered advertising. The insights shared in this post are useful for advertisers busy preparing for the Super Bowl season. 

According to YouTube, the platform helps boost ad visibility as well as improves the reach, especially among Gen Z and young millennials. Since we live in an era of connected television, these are useful details for advertisers to evaluate. 

A lesson in moment marketing 

Consumer Technology Association’s CES is the rage now – the one thing that the entire tech world seems to be raving about. And with AI being the most prominent technological happening of 2023, this year’s CES has been about AI for most parts. Amidst this, Tropicana has come up with a brilliant moment marketing campaign and rebranded themselves temporarily! 

By removing the “A” and “I” from their logo and adding the tagline “100% OJ 0% AI” the brand has made its message loud and clear. And to ensure that they do not miss out on their identity similar to their previous rebranding mistake, they have preserved the rest of the design and have just played with the brand name. 

This campaign is an example of how a bit of creativity and the right timing can make your brand a popular topic of discussion on social media! 

Where your ad appears matters! 

So we’ve been talking about ads to inspire your next campaign. But an even bigger consideration is the channel or platform where your ad appears. Because the context can make or break the effectiveness of your message delivery. 

The below insightful post from Marketing Week, a leading marketing news website, discusses the need for customizing ads based on the context. It also delves into discussing how analyzing where your ad appears can improve the cost-effectiveness of your ads. 

About scaling your Google Ads for lead gen 

If you actively use Googe Ads then the below post from Search Engine Land is a good read. The post dives into the topic of scaling low-expense profitable ads to grow a business. 

From targeting new locations to expanding the keywords, building dedicated landing pages, and qualifying the leads the post talks about 9 useful tips that brands can use to change their perspectives on their Google Ads. 

In the Content Marketing Realm 

Have you heard about Zero click content?

In the competitive digital marketing landscape where all the talks are about getting clicks, have you heard about the concept of zero-click content? The below post shared by Buffer discusses this term reportedly coined by Amanda Natividad, VP of Marketing at SparkToro. It’s quite an intriguing perspective and we thought you would like it! 

As you probably guessed from the name, this term refers to the type of content where users can instantly grab the message or information without having to click and navigate away from the current post or screen. We know how recently platforms like X are recommending users to create long-form posts rather than posts with links. This growing trend of platforms prioritizing content that does not include a link to an external source emphasizes the need for prioritizing zero-click content in your strategy. Hence, the below post is definitely a worthy read. 

The social media content types to understand 

So, what are the different types of content that you need to create for social media? Search Engine Journal, a leading source of search and marketing-related news shared the below insightful discussion on social media content types. 

The post details some of the most crucial types of content that brands can create for their social media pages in order to boost engagement and conversions too. 

Short-form and long-form videos, live streams, user-generated content, and a variety of other content types are discussed here. This post is therefore a good start if you are working on your social media content calendar for the coming months. 

Music as a marketing tool

When we discuss content types for brands to expand their digital presence we often think of media like images and videos. But there’s one other type that marketers have recently been paying attention to and that’s music. Music in advertising is not a new concept after all! We’ve seen brands establish their brand identities through signature jingles. 

But with the current boom of TikTok, music has changed, and connecting with users through music is different. So the below post from Digiday discusses the tips and precautions for brands and marketers choosing to tread this path. 

In the Design Realm 

A quick Canva hack 

Do you use Canva in your design workflow? Then you might like this quick hack shared by Canva. There have been a lot of new features introduced on the platform recently including Canva Magic Studio, their resourceful AI suite. 

So, this quick video preview is sure to inspire you to explore all the new features and create better designs every time. The video gives a sneak peek of the recently introduced Grab Text feature. This allows you to select text from any design and edit the text or translate it. 

Looking to work with professionals to simplify your Canva design workflow? Get a KIMP for Canva subscription! 

Adobe After Effects updates 

This next post is for motion graphics designers and marketers who use Adobe After Effects for their motion graphics projects. Adobe shared the below video to give a preview of some of the most useful Adobe After Effects updates. 

The video particularly delves into the ability to import 3D models and edit them by adding custom lighting and shadow effects among other edits. 

The UI design rulebook for beginners 

Not all applications that are visually appealing are easy to use. Not all apps that are easy to use engage the users effectively. What if you could design an app that does all of these? That calls for exceptional UI design. It calls for a UI design that prioritizes all the essential elements of a beautiful and functional design namely empathy, layout, essentialism, guidance, aesthetics, novelty, consistency, and engagement. These are the essential elements that the below post discusses. Additionally, the post also breaks down these elements into simple approachable rules so that you can create unforgettable user interfaces. 

Brand identity design inspiration 

Good brand identity design is one that embodies the unique personality of the brand and accurately captures the signature traits. The Brand Identity, an online source of branding inspiration from around the world shared the below post highlighting a brand identity design project that accurately captures this idea of creating an identity that resonates with a brand’s personality. 

The design is for a skincare brand Moksi specializing in products compatible with cancer treatments. The gentle nature of the products is the USP here and that’s the trait that needs to be highlighted to build credibility. Hence the brand identity created for this brand is soft, supple, and elegantly minimalistic. Moreover, the serif fonts add a touch of sophistication and credibility to the design. 

The art of embracing storytelling in packaging design 

Packaging protects your product no doubt. But when crafted well, packaging can be used effectively as a silent yet impactful ambassador of your brand. It can be a vital tangible marketing asset. Incorporating storytelling is one way to do that. And if you are looking for inspiration, start with the below design featured by Packaging Of The World. The packaging uses abstract illustrations of women to complement the theme with an inherent story in the most elegant manner. 

In the AI Realm 

OpenAI’s GPT store is live 

OpenAI’s announcement of the option to create custom GPTs was a big hit and reportedly there are around 3M GPTs currently created by users around the world. OpenAI was working on creating a streamlined store for these GPTs and this is one of the most anticipated updates in the world of AI. On January 10th, OpenAI announced that the store is now live. 

This store is a collection of all the popular custom GPTs created by ChatGPT users. There is also a dedicated section for featured GPTs while the others are segregated based on categories like Writing, Productivity, and others. Have you explored the GPT store yet? 

Midjourney adds V6 Alpha updates 

In December, Midjourney announced the V6 version of its generative AI model. Weeks after this announcement, they have made some crucial updates so as to improve the model. These updates are meant to bring an overall improvement in the quality of this model including prompt adherence, coherence, text rendering, and image quality. 

Walmart introduces AI to enhance the experience for associates and shoppers 

Walmart in partnership with Microsoft recently unveiled a host of new generative AI features to enhance the experience for shoppers and associates. This includes the introduction of a more intuitive search that allows customers to quickly and easily find what they are looking for. With this AI-powered search, customers can find optimized recommendations based on their requirements. 

The below post from Microsoft outlines the beginning of these AI refinements in Walmart’s processes. 

Create music on Alexa devices 

Popular AI music platform Splash recently announced that its AI-based music creation option will be available on Alexa-enabled devices. This useful Alexa skill is meant to bring AI-powered music creation capabilities to users. This can be done using simple voice commands. Additionally, users can also add AI voices or their own vocals to create the song. 

Volkswagen is bringing ChatGPT to its cars 

Another big news announced at CES, in the AI realm, is that Volkswagen is working on introducing ChatGPT into the voice assistants in its cars. This will help drivers to get instant answers to their queries or even control various features using voice commands. 

While generative AI in many forms is being tested and implemented by auto manufacturers around the world, Volkswagen is one of the pioneers in bringing ChatGPT to the user-facing interface in cars. 

Meta’s new audio generation tool 

Another big text-to-sound model is from Meta. In the below post, Meta introduced its audio generation tool, Audiobox. If you are someone constantly on the lookout for sound effects and voices to enhance your videos then this generative AI tool from Meta is definitely something to explore. 

Currently, the platform also has plenty of audio demos to inspire you and to educate you about the capabilities of the model. 

Social Media Feature Updates and Algorithm Changes

Create stickers from photos on WhatsApp for iOS 

The year 2023 saw a lot of interesting updates on WhatsApp and a lot of them have changed the dynamics of the platform. From AI stickers to Broadcast Channels and a host of new features for Business Accounts, there have been several changes on the platform.

Another quick update introduced recently is the custom stickers feature. This lets users create custom stickers from their photos and is currently available on iOS. To do this, users can simply separate and grab the subject from the background in any photo and add text to customize it and send it as a new sticker. 

Snapchat gets new Parental Controls 

It’s been months since Snapchat introduced its My AI chat feature. This AI chatbot is designed to have human-like conversations with users and answer their queries. Like most generative AI models this one is designed to learn from the interactions and get to understand the user better so as to provide more customized responses. 

The impact of this chatbot on young users has been a long-debated topic. According to the below post shared by popular technology news provided TechCrunch, Snapchat is finally bringing parental controls to restrict young users from accessing My AI. This much-awaited update is meant to age-gate the use of this chatbot. 

New features on LinkedIn company pages 

Social Media Examiner spoke about an update that LinkedIn has announced for Company pages on the platform. This update adds a Featured section to the Company pages. This is very much like the Featured section on individual profiles and is meant to give a glimpse of the company. The post also goes on to demonstrate how to add the details to feature on the Company page. 

X Premium subscribers might soon be able to access more exclusive features 

X has been pushing its paid plans quite actively these past few months. There have been a lot of new features introduced exclusively to Premium subscribers. From limiting ads to restricting who can send messages, Premium subscribers can use X differently. 

Social Media Today shared the below post discussing another big update that’s possibly coming to Premium accounts on X. According to the post, X is working on restricting some video content to Premium subscribers. Seemingly, more and more restrictions are coming to the free users as a measure to encourage more users to choose Premium plans. 

On a Final Note 

That brings us to the close of this week’s KIMP’s Picks. From the announcements at CES 2024 to major updates to social media platforms, there has been a lot of exciting news floating on social media. Hope these quick previews inspired you and gave you the brief recap you required. We’ll be back soon with another interesting round-up of handpicked posts from social media. Adios! 

Posted On

12 Jan, 2024

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