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KIMP’s Picks 6th October: Weekly Highlights In Design, Marketing, AI, & More

And just like that, another week flies by. So, what did you miss from the world of marketing this past week? What’s the hot new AI update everyone is talking about? How are the social media algorithms changing? We know you have a million questions on your mind. And we have got all the answers right here.  

KIMP's Picks 6th October

The KIMP’s Picks 6th October edition brings to you a brief roundup of some of the trending discussions and hidden gems on social media. Design, marketing, AI, and everything else that intrigues marketers and entrepreneurs! 

Ready to explore some share-worthy content from social media? Let’s go! 

In the Marketing Realm

Gmail’s new rules to fight spam 

Renowned social media strategist Matt Navarra shared valuable insights regarding Gmail’s new requirements for newsletter creators in a recent post.

To sum up, Gmail is set to introduce stringent rules starting from February 2024, impacting bulk senders (those who send more than 5,000 messages to Gmail addresses in one day). These rules include email authentication practices like DKIM / DMARC, enabling easy unsubscription with one-click options, and maintaining a spam rate threshold of 0.3%.

The key takeaway here is that email marketers and newsletter creators need to prepare for these changes to ensure their emails reach Gmail recipients effectively while complying with these new regulations.

Hacking social media engagement 

Hootsuite, a prominent name in social media management, offered valuable insights into understanding social media engagement benchmarks in their recent post.

In this post, Hootsuite stresses that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of what constitutes the “right” number of engagements on a social media post. They provide industry-specific average engagement rates based on their Analytics, helping users gain a clearer understanding of their performance.

So, if you are a marketer struggling to understand your social media engagement, use these industry benchmarks as a reference to assess your social media performance.

Netflix’s nostalgic campaign to bid adieu to its DVD rentals

It’s Nice That brings all the latest trends in designing for commercial purposes. On their X page, they shared the below post highlighting Netflix’s recent campaign to bid adieu to its DVD rental service. 

This sentimental campaign celebrates Netflix’s origins as a mail-based DVD rental business. To evoke a sense of nostalgia and to connect with its loyal customers, the ad features loading menus, scratched discs, and the iconic red envelopes that were synonymous with Netflix in its early days. In addition to the ad, Netflix even introduced a Netflix DVD Sleeping Bag in their online shop. 

Leveraging micro-segmentation for holiday marketing 

Looking for advertising and marketing news? Then Ad Age brings all the instant updates. In the below post, they featured an insightful article that talks about the need for micro-segmentation to ace the game of holiday marketing. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, this post gives a lot of useful tips to get the ball rolling. 

Is influencer marketing dead? 

Inc. Magazine shared a perspective-challenging post on its X page. It delves into the possibility of influencer marketing fading away and giving way to creator marketing. 

The post discusses the shift from influencer marketing to creator marketing. To sum up it emphasizes that creator marketing relies on individual creativity and trust-building rather than scripted content. Therefore, the post encourages brands to embrace the creator economy, as content creators with massive online followings are landing significant deals. Furthermore, the post highlights the importance of balancing technology with authenticity.

In the Content Marketing Realm 

Spotify is exploring new content realms 

The popular online magazine Fast Company shared the below post about Spotify’s venture into audiobooks. 

To sum up, Spotify is planning to include Audiobooks in its Premium subscription. Since the audiobook market has been growing steadily, Spotify aims to leverage this new format for monetization.

Spotify’s move into audiobooks demonstrates the company’s commitment to diversifying its content offerings beyond music and podcasts.

Tapping into click-based SEO signals 

Globally acclaimed SEO software provider Moz shared the below resourceful post on click-based signals for SEO. 

The post discusses the importance of click-based engagement signals in SEO and explores the concepts of “First,” “Long,” and “Last” clicks. Additionally, it highlights how Google uses engagement metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), long clicks, and last clicks to evaluate search results. To sum up, the post emphasizes the significance of providing a quality user experience to improve these metrics and, in turn, SEO rankings.

In the Design Realm 

Canva’s Magic Studio is here 

The much-awaited announcement from Canva is here. They unveiled Magic Studio, which brings all of the AI features on Canva to one place. The below video that Canva shared gives a sneak peek into the many possibilities with Magic Studio. 

In summary, Canva’s Magic Studio comes with a host of features like Magic Design, Magic Switch, Magic Media, Magic Expand, Magic Grab, Magic Edit and so much more. 

Want to leverage all the cool AI features on Canva but finding it overwhelming to keep up? Leave it to the KIMP team. 

Creative print ads from Netflix 

Famous Campaigns inspires designers and marketers by featuring creative ads from around the world. They share the below post on their X page featuring a recent creative print ad campaign from Netflix. 

Netflix, in collaboration with creative agency Jellyfish France, has launched a clever print ad campaign to promote the final season of the show “Lupin.” The campaign mimics luxury brand advertisements, including Rolex, Chanel, Hermès, Cartier, Celine, and Tiffany & Co., retaining their logos and aesthetics.

The ad shows how subtle design details can help you create stunning ads. In this case, the tan lines on the models indicate that these ads are not regular promotions from the respective brands. And this element of intrigue encourages users to pay close attention to the ad and find out what is being promoted. 

Brand identity inspiration courtesy First Choice UK 

Creative Review is a magazine filled with inspiration and insights for creatives. In the below post, they threw the spotlight on the recent rebranding of the popular British travel agency, First Choice. 

First Choice, a UK travel agency, has undergone an extreme rebrand, unveiling a new logo and brand assets. The rebrand aims to make travel agencies seem warmer and classier and to appeal to younger customers.

The new visual identity features icons representing various holiday options. Additionally, the brand is also switching to a customized typeface with an organic feel. The idea of this project is to address the ‘Fear of Better Options’ (FOBO) by encouraging people to be “proudly picky”. And the new identity captures that beautifully. 

Connected packaging design 

Inside Packaging & Packaging Gateway is an online publication that shares all the trends and inspirational designs from the world of packaging design. They shared the below post featuring a connected packaging design, perfect for the digital era. 

The post discusses a new packaging design that Appetite Creative created for the CPG brand, Gulf Union Foods. QR codes on the new packaging design link to games and shareable selfies, providing engagement and insights. It’s a creative way to connect with consumers and foster brand loyalty.

Google’s new typeface for AR interfaces 

When selecting typefaces for AR interfaces, Google recommends paying attention to factors like counters, font weight, stroke contrast, width, x-height, joints/intersections, stroke endings, and letter spacing. Google featured a new font that meets these requirements and therefore feels suitable for AR interfaces. So, if you are working on your UI design and looking for a new font to try, this is a good one to add to your list. 

In the AI Realm 

Bard comes to Google Assistant 

In the KIMP’s Picks 22nd September edition, we spoke about Amazon’s plans to bring generative AI capabilities to Alexa. So, yes we have reached that time when virtual assistants are likely to get smarter. Next in line is Google Assistant. The popular technology website The Verge shared the below post where the video highlights upcoming Bard features on Google Assistant. The post highlights the announcement made at Made by Google a couple of days ago. 

Meta Connect recap 

Meta is another company that has been leaping ahead in the generative AI realm. Meta Connect 2023, held recently, introduced a lot of cool updates from the company. The below video that Meta shared gives a snapshot of all the important updates from Meta Connect. 

From AI Studio to, a conversational interface to get help from Meta’s AI and Meta’s decision to prioritize safety and responsibility in AI applications, the video summarizes all the critical details that people have been raving about from the Meta Connect event. 

Spotify’s bringing AI playlists to the app

Chris Messina, the inventor of the hashtag, shares insights on generating “AI Playlists” on Spotify using custom prompts. He shared the below snapshots on his Threads page hinting at the integration of AI-driven playlist recommendations into Spotify. When this happens, Spotify users would be able to create custom playlists using text prompts much like other generative AI tools. 

Post by @chris
View on Threads
Microsoft Copilot comes to OneDrive 

Again going back to our September 22nd edition of the KIMP’s Picks, we spoke about Microsoft introducing its new AI assistant, Copilot at the Microsoft Event. Following this announcement, Microsoft has now brought this AI assistant to OneDrive. 

From searching to organizing files, Copilot is all set to enhance the OneDrive experience. 

Bing Chat to get better with DALL-E 3

Search Engine Journal is one of the best resources for all the latest news and insights about search, SEO, and more. They share the below post on their page discussing the arrival of DALL-E 3 on Bing Chat. 

DALL-E 3 excels in understanding prompts, logical coherence, and artistic quality, enhancing the quality of AI-generated images. All of these mean that the users would soon be able to generate more realistic and detailed images on Bing Chat. 

Furthermore, Microsoft has implemented safety measures like digital watermarking and content moderation to ensure responsible usage. 

Social Media Feature Updates and Algorithm Changes

LinkedIn algorithm changes 

Social Media Examiner is a great place to look for marketing news and tips. On their LinkedIn page, they shared the below post highlighting some of the recent updates on LinkedIn. 

The discussed updates include the changing engagement tracking which would mean that you are more likely to see more posts from creators you regularly engage with. And comments on posts will also now have a role to play in how LinkedIn views and recommends a post. 

From a marketing perspective, this post underscores the importance of consistent engagement with your audience. Therefore, focus on building meaningful connections, and leverage community-oriented hashtags to enhance your brand’s presence on LinkedIn.

X Social Media files a lawsuit against X 

The news agency, Reuters, shared the below update discussing the recent lawsuits that X is facing. 

The post discusses the lawsuit filed by X Social Media on X Corp. As baffling as it might sound, the statement itself would have given you a hint about what the lawsuit is. The names indeed! The former is an ad agency, and the latter is the current version of Twitter. This lawsuit adds fuel to the fire surrounding the notorious rebranding of X. 

Posts with links do not appear the same anymore on X 

Did you notice that for all the links you share on X, the traditional thumbnail and headlines template is no longer visible? TechCrunch talks about this silent update to the X interface. 

In this recent update from X,  posts with links appear different. Links now show only an image with the domain name in the corner. Therefore, this can easily be missed. However, this alteration aligns with Elon Musk’s strategy to encourage users to share “long-form content” directly on X. The goal is to discourage customers from clicking away from the platform and thus retain them longer. 

A decline in referrals from Facebook and X 

Sara Fischer, Senior Social Media Reporter, Axios, a media and news company, shared the below observation about recent outgoing traffic from social media platforms Facebook and X. 

In our previous section, we spoke about platforms prioritizing ways to retain customers in the platform rather than clicking away. The data shared here proves that these platforms are indeed succeeding in their efforts to retain users within their ecosystems. While this might be beneficial for user engagement, it presents challenges for businesses and content creators reliant on social media for traffic.

As a result, it’s clear that businesses need to focus on diversifying traffic sources. Additionally, this could entail a renewed focus on SEO optimization, email marketing, and other channels as well. 

X ventures into live game streaming 

When you think of live game streaming, what platforms do you think of? Twitch, perhaps? But X is planning to challenge that with its new feature. The below post from Elon Musk hints at this shift coming to X. 

After all, the idea behind rebranding Twitter to X was to create an “everything app” and many of the new updates on X seem to be pointing toward this. The hiring feature, calling options for Premium users, and now this! We’re not sure where X is headed and how X will look and feel in a while but all we can say is that it’s evolving rapidly. And some users do miss the good old Twitter days! 

TikTok’s rumored ad-free subscription 

As if you have not heard about paid social media plans enough, there are new rumors about TikTok possibly bringing an ad-free version of the app as a paid subscription. Dexerto brings all the latest news in various segments. They shared the below post showing a snapshot of the 2 plans likely to be available on TikTok. What do you think of paid social media subscriptions? Would you be willing to pay extra to go ad-free on all your favorite social media platforms? 

Talking about ads, the next one is a post that talks about ads on Reddit. 

Updates to Reddit Ad Manager 

Search Engine Land, a renowned source of information on SEO, PPC, and all things search, shared the below post discussing some recent updates on Reddit’s Ad Manager. These updates include Improved Community Search, Targeting Suggestions, and Community Info. The goal of these changes is to bring more flexibility to advertisers and to improve the effectiveness of ads on Reddit. 

On a final note 

With that, we are signing off this week. We’ll be back again next week with a fresh set of updates from the world of social media. We hope these posts helped you travel back in time and explore everything trending and insightful discussed on social media. Stay tuned for more exciting updates coming your way! 

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Posted On

06 Oct, 2023

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