KIMP’s Picks 24th July: Weekly Highlights In Design, Marketing, AI, & More
Hello there! Ready for your weekly dose of all things trending and the hidden gems on social media? We got you covered. The KIMP’s Picks 24th July edition is here.
This exciting weekly roundup is about all the happenings in the world of social media, marketing, AI, design, and more. From the hottest viral posts to the hidden treasures that deserve your undivided attention, we’ve curated a collection to keep you in the loop.
Ready to explore these awe-inspiring posts? Let’s go.
In the Marketing Realm
Twitter is now X
We wanted to start the list with the biggest news, something that everyone is discussing right now. Twitter is now officially rebranded as X. Linda Yaccarino, CEO of Twitter announced the same in the below post.
Ahead of this, Elon Musk had been teasing the announcement on his Twitter (now ‘X’) page.
From there the changes began to reflect on the platform slowly. This includes the update about the domain x.com directing to twitter.com. Then the official pages of Twitter (now ‘X’) and Elon Musk were updated. And within a few hours, the platform loading animations and other little details were updated to reflect X replacing the iconic blue bird.
RIPTwitter is among the trending topics right now on social media.
Will you miss the blue bird? Or do you like the “X” branding better?
TikTok partners with FIFA
The FIFA Women’s World Cup is here and it is already a trending topic on social media. In the midst of this TikTok has announced that it is partnering with FIFA
Marketing Dive, an online publication that brings the latest updates in the world of marketing spoke about this partnership in the below post.
As a part of this partnership, TikTok will be bringing bespoke content throughout the tournament. This includes live pre-match content, behind-the-scenes, match highlights, and more.
This partnership is a strong example of how brands can make the most of social media creator communities to get one step closer to their audiences.
Barbie is everywhere
If you logged into any of the social media platforms this past week, you’re sure to have come across at least one post about the Barbie movie 2023. The marketing team for the movie has been really busy these past few months. And the creative campaigns to promote the film have caught the eyes of every marketer in the world.
Not convinced of the magnitude of these campaigns? Then you might like this post from Semrush. The post takes a deep dive into the social media presence of the Barbie movie.
Small business marketing
Creating an online presence for a small business and getting it to the right audience might feel like a struggle to some. This is where Google Ads comes into the picture. And to further simplify advertising for small businesses, Google Ads has partnered with Wix to allow businesses to create ads directly from their Wix dashboards.
The below post on the Google Small Business page elaborates on this update and gives instructions on how to explore this new feature.
This integrated paid advertising solution has the potential to simplify paid advertising for small businesses working with limited resources and time.
Comparative advertising
Ad Age is a great place to find inspiration for your next campaign. In the below Tweet, Ad Age shared a creative comparative advertising campaign from Arby’s.
Comparative advertising is a tricky ordeal and that’s why several businesses stay away from it. But when planned right, it can grab eyeballs and media coverage too! That’s what happened with the Arby’s campaign. For this campaign, the brand chose to place outdoor ads with witty copies near the headquarters of its rivals, McDonald’s and Wendy’s.
Contextual campaign from Snapchat
TikTok is not the only platform that’s sharing some of the limelight that The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 is receiving. Snapchat has also joined the league. And for this, the platform is making the most of the one feature it is often lauded for, its AR filters. The below Tweet from AdWeek talks about the cool new AR filters released as a part of celebrating The FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Direct marketing spends are on the rise
In a world where customers are looking for more personalized marketing from brands, direct marketing strategies are picking up the pace. Marketing Week, a website focused on the marketing industry often shares insightful posts on its LinkedIn page.
The below post from Marketing Week highlights that the spending on direct marketing has hit a 17-year high. This includes both email and physical mail campaigns.
The above trend is proof that you need to have a hybrid marketing approach that combines old-school methods and modern marketing strategies in order to see results.
A drop in the Threads active users count
From the time of its launch, Meta’s Threads has been making headlines. It became one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. However, things drastically changed within a week.
There have been reports that the active user count on Threads has almost halved over the week. Daily Loud is a great source of the hottest news on the internet. In the below Tweet Daily Loud highlighted that the active users count on Threads dropped to 23.6 million on July 14th after reaching 49 million on July 7th.
While the active users count has declined a little the number of users on the platform is still a good number considering that it has been hardly 2 weeks since its launch. Two things are clear from these stats –
- There is still some good opportunity for disruption through the platform. So brands do not have to give up all hope.
- However, it’s still too early to place all your bets on the platform. You cannot choose it as your prime area of focus for marketing just yet.
In the Content Marketing Realm
Coming up with content ideas
Finding content ideas to keep your audience engaged might feel like a challenge at times. And with so many competing brands talking about so many things it gets even more difficult to keep up. In the midst of this, one way to rise above the noise will be to come up with content that answers the common questions that your target customers have. How do you do that?
Social Media Examiner posted glimpses from the Social Media Marketing Podcast with Instagram Marketer Elise Darma. And this discussion brings to focus one of the ways to create content based on what customers are looking for. The discussion highlights how the “People Also Ask” section on the Google search results page is a great place to find the right keywords to create content around.
Content shelf life
When you post content discussing trending topics, have you wondered about its shelf life? This is similar to wondering whether your social media post will go viral days after you published it. Things that you post on the internet are always there – no doubts about that. But there are specific windows of opportunities within which your content needs to make a mark. It’s not that the content cannot drive beyond this window but rather, has a better chance of being ranked well if these timelines are well-utilized.
Content Marketing Institute, a leading authority in the content marketing realm, talks about the shelf life of content in the below post. According to the featured post, most news articles for example reach 80% of their page views within 24 hours of their publication. This statistic is particularly applicable to news articles. A somewhat similar trend can therefore be predicted for topical content that brands post.
In the Design Realm
Rebranding of the Natural History Museum
UK’s Natural History Museum unveiled its new brand identity recently close to its 150th anniversary. The brand identity has been revamped to reflect the all-new mission and vision of the brand.
Creative Review, a go-to magazine for design inspiration, spoke about this rebranding campaign in the below post.
.@pentagram and @nomad_studio__’s new look for the @NHM_London celebrates nature’s sounds and patterns https://t.co/xHwXyZaEGz pic.twitter.com/wIkjkD6tdV
— Creative Review (@CreativeReview) July 23, 2023
As you can see, the new identity is bolder and more in line with the contemporary approach of the brand. Additionally, the logo design, patterns, and colors infused into the designs follow “nature’s sounds and patterns” to align with what the brand stands for.
Brooklyn Public Library has a new mural
As another example of creatives and brands shifting towards bolder and more modern designs, Collage artist Jazz Grant created a statement mural at the Brooklyn Public Library incorporating some “never-seen-before” images of rapper Jay Z. Trending art pieces like this one are definitely worth looking out for because sometimes they end up influencing graphic design styles in the coming months.
For those times when you need a quick boost of creative inspiration, the “It’s Nice That” Twitter page is a great place to check out. And the below Tweet on the page talks about this Jay Z mural at Brooklyn Public Library.
Talking about creative inspiration, if you are looking for books to keep you motivated and to keep feeding you fresh perspectives, you will love this next post.
Books for designers
You cannot keep pouring out from your creativity cup. You need to refill it every now and then. And one way to do that is through books. So, if you think you have exhausted your creativity, the below book recommendations from The Brand Identity’s Twitter page is a good place to begin with. How many of these books have you read?
Canva’s Animate feature
Canva has simplified design for non-designers. And there are so many features that let you fully personalize your design to suit your requirements. In the below LinkedIn post, Canva gives a quick glance at the Animate feature you get to explore while customizing designs.
As you can see from the post, the possibilities are endless with Canva. And there is always something new to explore. Finding it overwhelming to keep up and make the most of Canva’s features? Choose a KIMP subscription exclusively for Canva designs.
In the AI Realm
Maybelline and Teams team up
As days go by, we see brands finding creative ways to incorporate AI into their marketing and business processes. One such creative application is the recent collaboration between Microsoft Teams and Maybelline. Together the duo has come up with virtual make-up filters powered by Modiface AI that allow Teams users to quickly apply touch-ups virtually before those surprise Teams calls.
Microsoft shared the same on its Microsoft Teams page on Twitter.
We’re collaborating with Maybelline to bring you the first-ever virtual makeup for Teams! You can choose from 12 filters that allow you to easily change your look throughout the day: https://t.co/lWxQPhf7Sg pic.twitter.com/XmDEAjPJsT
— Microsoft Teams (@MicrosoftTeams) July 19, 2023
Apple is working on a ChatGPT rival
In the world of tech, Apple has a special place for itself. And now the brand is venturing into the AI realm and is supposedly working on a ChatGPT rival. Predicted to go by the name “Apple GPT” this AI chatbot from Apple will be a huge step in the generative AI segment.
The below post on the LinkedIn page of Tech Crunch, a leading source of technology news delves into the speculations surrounding Apple GPT.
More than 40 new languages added to Bard
Google’s Bard has been a strong ChatGPT contender, a popular name in the world of generative AI. Google has been regularly adding new features to the tool and the recent upgrade includes the addition of more than 40 new languages. Google spoke about this update in the below LinkedIn post.
All the announcements from Open AI
There have been a bunch of new announcements from Open AI with respect to its tools and policies. Let’s look at the ones that caught our attention:
After the ChatGPT iOS app has been successfully running for the past few days, the ChatGPT Android app is now available.
Leading AI laboratories including Open AI are taking a step forward in working toward safer and more responsible use of AI technology.
While these 2 updates are good, the most exciting among the updates from this past week has been the introduction of Custom Instructions on ChatGPT. This will be a handy feature for long-term interactions with ChatGPT like when you use the tool while working on your novel, or to personalize the writing style, and so on. The below Tweet from OpenAI briefly touches upon this update.
Social Media Feature Updates and Algorithm Changes
FAQs on Twitter ad revenue sharing
In the KIMP’s Picks 17th July edition we had spoken about Twitter announcing the ad revenue sharing option for creators. Now that several creators have started using them, if you have queries on how to begin and where, the below post delves into the commonly asked questions on this topic.
The Tweet was shared by the Twitter Daily News page, the most reliable space to look out for all Twitter-related updates.
Instagram Reels templates are now even better
The Verge, a leading tech-news website shared the below Tweet on its Twitter page. The Tweet highlights the updates introduced in Instagram templates and the featured post elaborates on what these updates are about and how creators and brands can make the most of them.
In addition to using the existing templates, users can also copy-paste specific elements like transitions and text within the video. There are several more such changes coming to Reels in the near future.
A better way to manage your YouTube channel
Managing and promoting a YouTube channel is no easy job. If your channel has grown and if you have multiple people managing the content, then the update that YouTube announced in the below Tweet is sure to interest you.
Based on the Tweet, you can now play with the permissions for your manager and editor on your YouTube channel. They can be given permission to upload a Short, or a community post, manage playlists or even post comments.
All your Facebook Videos in one place
In the below Tweet, Facebook highlighted how all the videos on Facebook are now in the same place. Earlier, Instagram bid adieu to IGTV for long-form videos and brought all kinds of videos to one place. And now Facebook’s step is mainly to make it easier for users to find content. It is to give users the pleasure of endless vertical scrolling no matter the type of video they are watching.
On a final note
That’s all we have for the KIMP’s Picks 24th July edition. Yes, there’s a lot to catch up on. And at the pace that things are progressing, it can be quite tough keeping up with everything that people are talking about. Don’t worry. We’ll be back next week with a round-up of everything that’s going to be trending in the coming week. Until we meet again, stay inspired!