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KIMP’s Picks 29th November: Weekly Highlights In Design, Marketing, AI, & More

Social media never sleeps. Wink and you miss all the big updates! But that’s why you have KIMP’s Picks. This is our weekly roundup of the must-see posts across social media. From the biggest updates in the AI segment to marketing inspiration and crucial social media moments – we have them all right here. So you do not have to worry about tiring your thumb scrolling endlessly for an end-of-the-week catch-up. 

Are you ready for this week’s social media recap? Let’s go! 

In the Marketing Realm

The importance of Holiday marketing 

Let’s begin our list with one of the most important topics of discussion since the holiday season is just around the corner. The post here from Statista summarizes the significance of the holiday season in the American retail industry. 

So, if you are wondering if holiday marketing is crucial for your business this infographic is for you. The infographic gives a sneak peek into the categories where most shopping happens in the months of November and December. 

On the whole, the post indicates a surge in shopping during holidays signaling the need for marketers to strengthen their holiday marketing strategies. 

Google’s Wicked Easter Egg on Search 

One of the most interesting features used by Google to make the experience more exciting for customers is the Easter Eggs on the Search page. 

Considering the growing popularity of the Wicked movie, Google has introduced the next Search Easter Egg. This one is a celebration of the movie with some gravity-defying effects and enchanting sound effects too. 

The post here gives a preview of this. 

Simplify Search campaigns 

Brands strive to enhance their Search performance because search engines are where most people discover brands, products, and ideas. So, the post here from Google talks about some useful tips for brands to follow in order to craft better Search campaigns. In particular, this one talks about using AI to achieve this. 

Google Search ads are entering a new era with the advent of AI. Traditionally, marketers managed highly segmented campaigns, optimizing every element from keywords to bids. However, with the introduction of AI tools like Smart Bidding things have changed. 

Accordingly, through this post, Google recommends simplifying campaign structures. They recommend using centralized, theme-based ad groups for clear insights and better optimization.

The post also highlights the need to align the keywords chosen for the campaign with the theme. 

Leveraging influencers in B2B marketing 

Social Media Today, a leading authority when it comes to social media news, recently shared a post summarizing some insights that LinkedIn shared. This is about the importance of influencer marketing in B2B marketing. 

With the creator economy expected to reach half a trillion dollars by 2027, the potential for B2B companies to leverage influencers is massive. Additionally, LinkedIn, traditionally a hub for job updates, is now also a vibrant space where professionals, especially Gen Z, share insights and career advice.

Therefore, LinkedIn is also now a popular platform for B2B marketers to launch their influencer campaigns and thus build trust and improve engagement. 

In the Content Marketing Realm 

AI-driven strategies to enhance content creation 

Adobe Express recently shared an insightful discussion that ventures into some useful strategies for influencers to leverage AI in content creation. 

The post highlights the fact that integrating AI into the content creation workflow is the way forward. And then talks about some ways in which influencers are embracing this technology. It talks about using AI to come up with content ideas and automating a host of other tasks. This allows influencers to focus on the more creative aspects and thus save time and energy. 

Evidently, brands can also tap into all these applications of AI in content creation. This helps them improve their content marketing strategies on the whole. 

Moz discusses Search Intent 

Search Intent is one of the most crucial factors for brands to consider in order to create better content. Content that resonates with their customers. In a recent post, Moz, a popular marketing software provider, discussed Search Intent. 

From introducing the concept to exploring the different types of Search Intent, the post delves deep into the idea to help marketers and entrepreneurs create better content. On the whole, this article discusses how by aligning content with user intent, marketers can improve SEO, engage users more effectively, and increase conversion rates.

In the Design Realm

Zoom rebrands as an AI-first work platform 

Zoom is shifting its focus beyond video conferencing with a bold rebranding effort. The rebranding here is to indicate the brand’s transformation into an “AI-first work platform for human connection.” Zoom became a household name during the pandemic with its video conferencing software. And now they are aiming to offer more comprehensive tools for workplace collaboration.

To capture this transformation and evolution of the brand, they announced a rebrand. However, there are no major changes in the brand design. The change is all about the brand name. As part of the rebranding, Zoom has removed the “Video” from their official name, now operating as “Zoom Communications, Inc.” 

The company has also introduced new products like Zoom Docs and Zoom AI Companion 2.0. Accordingly, they have retained their logo and colors for easier brand recognition. This rebranding project highlights the need for brands to preserve the core elements of their identity when rebranding in order to ensure that their customers still recognize them. 

Google is testing some new fonts for the Search page 

Google is reportedly experimenting with large and thick fonts in its search results. These fonts are not only different in terms of appearance but also in terms of the overall tone of the page. 

No doubt, delicate fonts appear refined. However, the new thick font choice makes the search snippets stand out more, grabbing users’ attention. Search Engine Roundtable shared a post recently discussing this possible update coming to the Search page. 

Google’s move here highlights the importance of using contrast effectively to establish a hierarchy and improve the clarity of your message. It also reiterates the importance of prioritizing functionality over aesthetics. 

Canva’s “Design Against Dull” campaign in the UK 

Canva has unveiled its latest brand campaign in the UK brand campaign titled “Design Against Dull.” 

This initiative aims to inspire creativity in the workplace and address productivity challenges faced by teams. The campaign will reportedly run until December 1. 

For the campaign, Canva is reaching out to the professionals in UK through multiple platforms, including digital media, out-of-home installations, and podcasts. Canva’s in-house creative team produced many of the campaign assets using their own platform, reinforcing the brand’s versatility and accessibility. The vibrant designs of the campaign capture the creativity that Canva nurtures.

In the AI Realm 

Amazon leverages the power of AI to enhance the Prime Video experience 

Amazon Prime Video is one of the leading OTT platforms today. And now Amazon is enhancing the video streaming experience on the platform with plenty of new AI-powered features. These include updates to enhance accessibility, personalization, and engagement. 

To begin with, there is the Dialogue Boost feature to intuitively enhance the audio in places where the dialogue is difficult to hear. In addition to this, there are also accessibility-focused features like Audio Description to provide users with visual impairments with brief narrations of the visual elements in the video. 

Another key feature is the AI-powered personalization of the content recommendation option on the platform. Netflix has always been known for its clever content recommendation engine and now Amazon is joining the league too. 

Finally, there are X-Ray Recaps that give recaps and summaries of episodes to help users recall where they are before catching up on a new episode. One other feature that focuses on niche audiences is the feature for sports fans, NFL fans in particular. Titled Thursday Night Football (TNF), this option incorporates AI-driven features like Defensive Alerts to track key players and predict game-changing moments. 

Anthropic introduces Custom Styles in Claude

Anthropic has unveiled a new feature for Claude – Custom Styles. This feature allows users to personalize the AI assistant’s responses to align with their unique workflows and communication preferences. 

Whether you’re drafting technical documents, creating marketing content, or managing project requirements, Claude can now adapt its tone and structure to better serve your needs. 

By selecting from pre-built styles or creating custom ones, users can tailor the nuances of the responses like preferred tone, structure, and level of detail. 

Therefore, brands and content creators using Claude to create their content and copy can now ensure consistency in tone. 

Claude will now support Google Docs integration 

The recent few weeks have established that Anthropic is steadily expanding the capabilities of their AI assistant Claude. To further make prompting easier and to allow users to use Claude in more applications, they have now announced the option to include Google Docs in prompts. 

To do this, all that the user has to do is paste a link to the Doc or attach it along with the prompt. Claude can then analyze the Doc and provide summaries or answer specific questions from it. 

Stability AI expands Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large with new ControlNets

Stability AI recently announced three powerful ControlNets – Blur, Canny, and Depth, for Stable Diffusion 3.5 Large. These ControlNets have been designed to offer users enhanced control and versatility in AI-driven image generation. 

These tools are designed to streamline workflows for creators and developers alike, whether they are crafting detailed visuals or producing structured designs.

These options are reportedly coming soon to model Stability AI models. 

NVIDIA’s Fugatto marks a new era in sound generation 

NVIDIA has unveiled their newest product in the world of AI. Fugatto (Foundational Generative Audio Transformer Opus 1) is designed to be a wholesome suite for sound generation. 

Yes, generative audio is not new and yet currently there are not many tools that can tackle holistic sound generative processes. Some can create music and some can edit them while others can generate or modify the voice. However, NVIDIA aims to bring all that to one place with Fugatto. 

Users can conveniently combine audio and text inputs in their prompts to process and edit audio files. From generating original music to transforming voice and adding audio effects this tool can tackle a wide range of requirements. Therefore, its applications can also be in various industries like advertising, video game development, and more. 

Runway transforms image generation with their new model – Frames 

Just a few weeks ago, Runway made headlines with their new model called Act-One which helps generate expressive character animations by mimicking users’ expressions. Now the next big news is the launch of their new image generation model, Frames. 

Reportedly, this model is built to set a new benchmark for stylistic consistency and visual fidelity. Available as part of the Gen-3 Alpha and through the Runway API, Frames is designed to help creators bring unique worlds to life with precision and flexibility.

One of the main challenges creatives face when working with generative AI image generation models is the lack of consistency. Frames aims to tackle that by maintaining cohesive styles across projects. Reportedly, users will be able to fine-tune the results to align with their preferred styles. This can be particularly handy in areas that call for the creation of cohesive worlds based on unique visions. 

Video editing made better with Runway’s Expand Video 

Expanding images to desired aspect ratios is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing things an AI tool can do. And this feature has been there for a while now with most AI design tools offering some version of this. However, not many do this with videos. This is where Runway is stepping up the game with their new Expand Video feature. 

The Expand Video feature works very much like the expand image or outpaint feature on most tools. In short, you can expand the frame beyond the default boundaries while filling in the areas with visually cohesive elements. This helps creators customize their videos and repurpose them for various platforms and applications. 

Runway also suggests using this feature in more creative ways like creating pull-out reveals and other transitions. 

Grok can now process PDFs 

It’s been a few months since X AI announced Grok 1.5V, the Vision Preview model with multi-modal capabilities. And now they are expanding the functionalities of the AI tool even further with the introduction of the ability to process PDFs. 

According to the preview added in the below post, you can now easily upload PDF files with the attachment button and ask Grok to summarize the content. This can be a handy feature on those occasions when you need to process large documents and grasp the key information in them. 

Social Media Feature Updates and Algorithm Changes

Threads interface updates 

Adam Mosseri shared the below post on his Threads page announcing some minor navigation tweaks coming to the platform. 

Notably, you can now see all your Feeds conveniently appearing on the home screen. This makes navigation simpler. Moreover, they are also bringing swipe gestures for simple actions like following a profile. 

View on Threads
X revamps UX with custom gestures 

Similar to Threads X has also unveiled custom gestures to simplify user experience. Based on the update users can now enable swipe gestures in their account settings. 

Once enabled, you can swipe right to like a post and swipe left to reshare a post on the platform. While these features might not look like major upgrades or change the aesthetics of the interface drastically, they do enhance the experience in the long run.  

Instagram DMs get some fresh updates 

Meta has announced some fresh updates for DMs on Instagram. Focused on deepening friendships via DMs, these updates aim to make messaging more engaging and fun on the platform. 

Accordingly, you will now find cool new stickers for more expressive messaging. Moreover, you can now add custom nicknames for yourself or friends in chats. This is perfect for all those inside jokes or even to simplify usernames for easily finding your friends in DMs. Nicknames are visible only within DMs and can be updated at any time, with controls over who can change them.

Finally, you can also share live locations with your friends. The live location will be available for up to an hour. Or you can pin specific spots on the map in order to simplify coordination for meetups. Location sharing is private, secure, and can be stopped at any time. (This feature is currently available in select countries.) 

YouTube’s Inspiration Tab gets a boost 

YouTube’s AI-powered feature, the Inspiration Tab is a new addition to help creators brainstorm ideas. They recently announced some fresh updates coming to the Inspiration Tab. 

Based on these updates, creators will now see five different ideas custom-made for their channel. These are displayed on the Inspiration Tab along with thumbnails, a suggested title, and a short summary of the idea as well. 

The best part is that these ideas are crafted based on the existing content in your channel and their performance. 

To Conclude…

It’s been a busy week indeed. But this overwhelming bunch of updates shows how tough it can be to keep up with all the social media buzz. That’s why we curated the KIMP’s Picks. This weekly recap is to ensure that you do not have to spend a lot of time trying to stay in the loop. All you need in a brief few minutes and you are all caught up on a week’s worth of updates. Sounds good? Then stay tuned and we’ll be back next week with our next KIMP’s Picks edition. 

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Posted On

29 Nov, 2024

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