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KIMP’s Picks 22nd September: Weekly Highlights In Design, Marketing, AI, & More

Welcome to our Friday rendezvous with social media. So many big announcements – so many cool marketing insights – that was one overwhelming week for marketers and business owners around the world. Wondering what to take and what to leave behind as you wait for another exciting week ahead? Well, we have curated the perfect list for you. 

Yes, we’re back with the KIMP’s Picks 22nd September edition. And this time we have handpicked some of the best news and tips that the worlds of marketing, AI, and design have to offer. 

Without further ado, let’s go! 

In the Marketing Realm 

Meta’s new tools for holiday marketing 

The holiday season is just around the corner. In our previous KIMP’s Picks edition, we spoke about Google’s Performance Max best practices for the holiday season. Now it’s Meta’s turn to embrace the holiday shopping trends. Social Media Today, an online powerhouse of information on all the latest social media news shared the below post about Meta’s new updates for the holiday season. 

According to the article shared, Meta is reportedly adding a time-based budget scheduling option that would let advertisers increase their ads during peak shopping seasons automatically. Additionally, Meta advertisers can also now explore Promotional Ads, Reminder Ads, and Shops Ads so as to boost conversions for businesses and enhance the shopping experience for customers. 

Instagram dominates the influencer marketing game 

Influencer marketing is a trend brands cannot ignore. According to a forecast by Insider Intelligence, influencer marketing is set to see significant spending growth in the United States. The below post shares a summary of the observations. 

Based on the above forecast, Instagram is at the forefront, with projections indicating that influencer marketing spending on the platform will surpass $2 billion by 2024. So, if you are still contemplating on where to spend your influencer marketing budget, Instagram is a great place to start with. 

Identifying trends worth chasing 

In his insightful post, Michael A. Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner, raises essential questions that often confuse marketers and entrepreneurs: “When is a trend truly a trend”. He warns of the perils of rushing into the latest buzz and then goes on to explain the rewards of cautious trend analysis.

Michael A. Stelzner discusses the seriousness of analyzing trends with examples like Clubhouse, NFTs, and Snapchat, where influencers and critics initially championed the platforms, yet they failed to sustain their initial hype. The lesson? An experimental approach is a much better way to deal with trends rather than diving in headfirst. 

Why, even the new social media platform that broke historic records in terms of app downloads and usage only to see a steady decline within weeks (yes, we’re talking about Threads) is a good example of this. So, tread carefully in the world of trends; don’t bet the farm too soon

Comprehending the GenZ persona

Knowing your target audience persona and tuning your content and campaigns for them is the only way to maximize your returns. Talk about audience personas, there are a lot of speculations about the GenZ persona. But, how much of it is really true? The post shared by Ad Age answers this question. 

The highlighted article tells why marketers and brands should stay away from one-dimensional perspectives of audience groups like the GenZ for example. Against the stereotypes associated with this persona, it is often a rollercoaster ride of self-discovery and transformation. 

The post also gives quick tips to help marketers keep up. It talks about understanding the GenZers’ 3 main states namely contentment, aspiration, and reflection. In short, the post summarizes the need for staying away from static categorizations and looking at the dynamics of their target audience personas better. 

Looking for more quick insights about GenZ marketing? Check out our blog here.

Hispanic marketing myths 

The below post was shared by renowned marketing communications network, DDB Worldwide Communications. It busts the common marketing myths associated with the marketing efforts for Hispanic Month. 

In the featured short video, Isaac Mizrahi, CEO of Alma Agency, sheds light on four common myths surrounding marketing to US Hispanics. He talks about the need for an adaptive approach to creativity and marketing instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. He also goes on to quickly remind the viewers that Hispanic marketing consists of many other components in addition to Hispanic addition. 

The insights shared in the video are a great starting point for brands working on their Hispanic marketing campaigns for the coming weeks. 

Interactive outdoor advertising 

Some outdoor ads you simply walk past and there are others that make you stop and take a second look. There’s a 3rd category of ads that you don’t just look at but interact with. One such is the below campaign that Ads Of The World spotlighted.

Titled, “The Ads That You Can Kick,” this campaign was to promote the New Heineken Experience Silver brand. The promoted shoes crafted by Dominic Ciambrone, are a limited edition wherein there are only 32 pairs available in the world with just one pair in Thailand. As a hunt for the Cinderella for these sneakers, the campaign requires customers to kick the ad, snap a picture, and share it on social media. This interaction gives them a chance to win these iconic sneakers.  

That’s quite a creative campaign, don’t you agree? 

In the Content Marketing Realm 

The secret to hacking the Instagram Reels algorithm 

Wondering how to boost your social media content strategies? Let’s look at one of the most popular post types – Instagram Reels. 

Social Media Examiner, a popular media company sharing updates and insights on social media and marketing shared the below insightful post about Instagram Reels ranking. 

The post goes on to highlight 4 key ranking factors for Instagram Reels. According to the tips shared, the algorithm looks at your interests based on posts you interact with, prior interactions with the respective account, popularity of the particular video, and engagement and other metrics of the respective account. 

Equipped with these insights tackle your Reels game like a pro. 

Google’s Search dominance 

When creating content for your business and when looking at the SEO part of it, is Google the most crucial search engine you prioritize? You’re not alone. The below data shared by Statista shows the clear dominance of Google in the Search realm. 

The above infographic gives a snapshot of the market share of Google in the U.S. market in particular. Accordingly, it is 79% on desktop and about 95% on mobile devices. So when it comes to optimizing your content for search, optimizing it for Google Search is definitely on priority. 

Talking about SEO, the next post shares some useful tips based on sites with the most valuable SEO traffic. 

Unlocking valuable SEO insights 

In the below post, Ross Hudgens, Founder and CEO of Siege Media, shares his observations and tips based on sites with the most valuable SEO traffic. 

From leveraging brand equity to prioritizing noun compounds, creating content for long-tail keywords and E.E.A.T, his post delves into a lot of aspects. 

The post does change your perspective on SEO and the ranking factors discussed commonly. 

Google’s tips on content creation 

Google Search Central shared the below post emphasizing some of the updated policies and some old ones that define the kind of content does ranks well in search. 

The core idea is to create people-specific content rather than prioritizing the algorithm. Some of the most important points highlighted in the post are the “who, how, and why” of content creation. 

It’s good to review Google’s tips on content creation considering that a lot has changed with the abundance of AI-generated content floating on the internet. Google continues to reiterate the need for evaluating your content’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). 

Timeless blog post ideas 

Social media expert Neal Schaffer shared the below post detailing some valuable ideas for creating blog posts. If you find yourself hunting for blog ideas all the time, then this post can help you get the ball rolling. 

From content focused on SEO to those that are meant to boost engagement, posts covering the latest trends, and guest posts – the featured article discusses a lot of various angles for generating new content ideas.  

In the Design Realm 

Brand identity design inspiration 

For creatives and marketers looking for design inspiration, The Brand Identity has plenty of useful resources. They shared the below post shining the light on a new and vibrant brand identity design created for Bloom, a career development app.

At the crux of the branding design lies a dynamic wordmark logo featuring a unique squarish typeface. The overall playful theme of the identity design is to resonate with the gamified career coaching experience that the app offers. 

The theme and the details show how creating designs that reflect the brand’s unique personality can create a charming brand identity. 

Did you notice the subtle rebranding of Facebook? 

On one side, people are still trying to accept the rebranded X (formerly Twitter). Now another social media platform is undergoing changes too – Facebook. But the stark difference here is the subtlety in this rebranding. Renowned social media expert Matt Navarra shared the below thread discussing the silent and subtle changes that Facebook has brought into its interface and brand. 

Along with the bright and bolder blue for the logo, a few more different blues have been added to the brand’s palette. 

According to Facebook, the idea behind the rebranding is to boost the signature elements of the app and introduce a wider range of colors for accessibility and aesthetics. 

The fact that Facebook did not undergo a drastic makeover like Twitter (we mean X), comes as a relief indeed. 

The fun and creative identity designed for the Louis Vuitton Foundation’s family festival

It’s Nice That brings a lot of cool design inspiration for branding and marketing designs. Their below post highlights the refreshing new design created for the Louis Vuitton Foundation’s family festival. 

Keeping the family audience, particularly young kids in mind, the designs feature lively, nature-inspired characters that resemble colorful insects. The designs go beyond posters and banners; they capture the essence of the event itself. The idea is to create designs that the children attending the event remember easily. 

As you can see, the best source of inspiration for your designs can be your target audience. 

Playful packaging design inspiration 

Dieline, the online packaging community regularly shares content to inspire brands and creatives looking for packaging design inspiration. The below post is one such. It discusses the super-creative and playful packaging created for a pet brand. 

Bold cat illustrations and cheerful color palettes together create eye-catching packaging that will get the product flying off the shelves in no time. 

For more insights about the power of illustrations in packaging, check out our blog here. 

In the AI Realm 

The much-awaited Bard updates are here 

Google recently announced the much-awaited updates for Bard – its integration with the most popular Google apps like Gmail, Google Maps, Google Drive, YouTube, and more. This comes as a huge leap for Google’s generative AI tool, Bard. In fact, it is one of the biggest distinguishers that give Bard a competitive edge over ChatGPT. Another useful update is the option to double-check the content generated on Bard. 

Microsoft announces its new AI Copilot 

In the below post, Microsft introduced to the world its latest AI tool, Copilot, touted to be an everyday companion. 

Like Siri for iPhones and Google Assistant for Android devices, Microsoft Copilot is all set to act as your virtual assistant on your desktop. The tool is to be released soon for Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365. This comes in addition to the numerous AI feature updates coming to Bing Chat and some intuitive Windows 11 updates. 

Stability AI adds AI-audio generation through Stable Audio 

In the realm of generative AI, Stability AI is one of the leaders. Their latest new generative AI tool is Stable Audio which brings the power of generating music with the help of AI. 

Initially, the product is to be launched as a web interface where you can generate both sound effects and music in both the free and Pro versions. The former lets you download tracks up to 45 seconds long and the latter up to 90 seconds long. 

Alexa is all set to get smarter with Generative AI 

Alexa is already one of the most popular virtual assistants. From turning on the lights to making purchases, Alexa can do several things. However, not all of Alexa’s responses are smart and relevant. To tackle this, Amazon is all set to bring the power of generative AI to Alexa. 

Digital Trends talks about this upcoming change in the below post. 

Reportedly the news came from Amazon in its fall 2023 devices event. These updates are likely to increase the reliability and ease of using Alexa. 

OpenAI announces DALL·E 3

DALL.E 2 revolutionized the AI art generation sector. And now OpenAI has announced the next iteration of this spectacular AI tool. 

If you have been struggling to get AI to understand the nuances in your prompt and create usable designs, then DALL.E 3 is likely to solve most of these issues. Another exciting news is that this upgrade scheduled for October is to come to ChatGPT as well (Plus and Enterprise customers). OpenAI shared the below video giving a preview of what this would look like and it’s quite impressive! 

Social Media Feature Updates and Algorithm Changes

Exciting announcements made at Made on YouTube 

Google shared the below post giving a snapshot of the most exciting updates coming to YouTube, as announced at the Made on YouTube event. 

These updates include the Dream Screen tool for Shorts. It is a generative AI tool to generate images and backgrounds for Shorts. Another useful update is the all-new video editing app called YouTube Create. The video below gives a glimpse of these upcoming updates on YouTube. 

Business Chats are all set to get better on WhatsApp 

Will Cathcart, head of WhatsApp spoke about some features being tested on the app. According to his post, chats with business accounts on WhatsApp are getting major updates. Based on these in-chat experience upgrades, users might be able to book their appointments or even purchase tickets directly within the app without exiting the interface. 

Multiple personal profiles on Facebook 

Facebook announced that users can now create and maintain multiple personal profiles from one login. If you wish to separate your profile for family and friends from the profile to follow your interests and businesses you like, then this will be a useful update for you. 

Currently, according to Facebook, a single user can create up to 4 personal profiles and easily switch between them. 

Effectiveness of long-form posts on X 

Among the many updates that have been coming to X, one of the notable ones has been the increase in the character limit for posts for X Premium subscribers. These long-form posts have repeatedly been a big hit on the platform. Elon Musk announced that this type of post format on X garners around 3 billion daily views. 

Bidding farewell to Circles

While a lot of new upgrades are coming to X, some old ones are leaving the platform too. And one among them is Circles. X News Daily, a one-stop destination for all X-related updates spoke about this in the below post. 

Circles is X’s way of letting you create small spaces where you can share your thoughts and Tweets with a select few people. This is similar to the Close Friends feature on Instagram. Based on the announcement, Circles will be leaving X by the end of October. 

Meta’s paid verification coming to Business accounts 

Social media platforms are getting more serious about paid subscriptions. Meta is also strengthening its subscription by bringing this option to Business Account. Earlier, only individual creators had the option for paid verification and now even business accounts will be able to leverage these benefits. Technology website, The Verge spoke about this upcoming update in the below post. 

On another note, the cost of verification for the Business accounts will reportedly be about double the price of that for individual creator accounts. 

Google search results on TikTok

TikTok has been busy exploring various options to bring more value to users. This includes the platform’s experiment with introducing Wikipedia entries in the search results on the platform. And now there is news that Google search results might also be soon displayed on the platform as well. TechCrunch shared the below post discussing this move from TikTok. 

The upgrades discussed in the above post show TikTok’s move toward making the platform a space where users can easily find information and answers. 

To Wrap Up 

From exciting updates to our favorite social media platforms to useful AI tools, a lot was discussed on social media this past week. We hope you found this summary of the updates from this past week useful. We’ll be back soon with another round-up of trending and insightful social media posts discussing AI, marketing, and more. Until then it’s the KIMP team signing off! 

Posted On

22 Sep, 2023

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