Social Media Immediate Future

Social Media

It seems this month every marketer is either talking GDPR or about creating ‘relevant content’. It’s not a surprise as the two are interlinked. With brands needing customers to engage enough to sign-up for consent programmes, content has to be meaningful, to resonate and capture attention. The trouble is the…

Social platforms are giving away more knowledge than they previously let on! In this week’s Serious Social, we’re chatting about Instagram’s guide to Stories for businesses, which gives you advice on its prevalent feature. So, what else is out there? Well, they’ve sure kept it on the down-low, but…

Today’s connected world means that brands are positioned front and centre of their audiences and competitors alike. With so many platforms and channels at their disposal, it’s often difficult to know which one to leverage in order to garner customer loyalty and engender trust. Here’s where social media can help.

It’s a story that’s all too familiar to us all. Businesses led by leadership teams who have not immersed themselves within, or spent enough time understanding social media. But, despite knowing they should have a presence on social media, and probably be advertising on social too, they try to execute in…

71% of businesses advertise on social media. And even more businesses plan to start. Work and social media can go hand-in-hand if you take the right approach. In our most recent Serious Social, we spoke about how social media stands on legs of communication and networking.

Facebook never really had an issue with advertisers. While mainstream media highlighted how some have opted to pull spend, by and large, Facebook remains the juggernaut it is because of the truck loads of money pumped into the business by marketers. Additionally, Facebook never really had an issue with members.

According to a recent article, almost 50% of Instagram users research products on social media and over a third of the platform’s users have purchased a product online with their mobiles. That makes this segment 70% more likely to convert to the purchase phase than non-users. It…

It looks like Facebook-owned Instagram has a new little trick up its sleeve! As reported by TechCrunch, a bit of snooping inside Instagram’s Android app has revealed a string of code that mentions “music stickers”. Although one can only speculate (Facebook refused to comment on the subject),…

We’ve heard plenty about the Facebook platform this year. The F8 Conference was Facebook’s chance to bring it back and tell users, (and the world) what the future has in store. In light of recent news, data privacy and GDPR plays an enormous part! What will Facebook offer…

We’re serious about social media. That’s why data analytics and insights get us excited! For a while now, we’ve been drumming into everyone that Facebook and video content are harmonious. So, as we’re all using video, we bet you’re itching to know what Facebook have done with its…

Did you know that the first social media site was called “Six Degrees” and was founded in 1997? Many believe that it’s Facebook that has largely reshaped the way we connect and stay in touch with each other; however, this type of networking can be traced back…

On the 15th of April, Instagram, in conjunction with Dezeen at Milan Fashion Week, launched an initiative in the form of a specialised profile called @design. The premise behind the move is to showcase the work of Instagram’s design team, as well as that…

Many of its 44,000 Twitter followers were shocked at yesterday’s announcement that JD Wetherspoon will be closing all of its accounts across all social media platforms. The reasoning behind this bold decision however, remains relatively vague. Wetherspoon’s CEO, Tim Martin, listed a few reasons why he’s calling it quits –…

Instagram Stories have been going strong for a year and a half, gaining success and slowly reeling in the Snapchat Stories users. In this time, brands have been experimenting with the feature and use it in many different ways. A few companies are doing it differently – Bustle being one.

Facebook’s Paid Media proposition is changing. After the data breach, and with GDPR coming up, it’s clear why they’re doing it. But, if you use Facebook for advertising, you’ll want to know what’s changing and how. As a Facebook partner, we’ve got all the finer details. In this week’s…

In this week’s Serious Social, we’re updating you on the Instagram changes and the latest on Facebook’s fallout! Shoppable posts. What can they do for you? Online retailers won’t want to miss this – you can tag and link products in your Instagram photos! This is really streamlining the…

LinkedIn has been criticised for its lack of sponsored video support for quite some time now and most of us have almost given up on the idea that it will ever ACTUALLY happen. However, last October it began beta-testing video for sponsored content with more than 700 participating advertisers. The…

Earlier this year, Facebook announced a change to the platform’s algorithms, whereby local U.S. news and smaller publications would be given a boost as part of their broader effort to increase community engagement. Now, it has announced that it is expanding the News Feed change…

You’ll wanna jump back onto Twitter when you hear this. Twitter has dramatically changed its ad proposition in the last 18 months and it’s been a great success. For their platform, for our agency, and it can be a success for you too! In this week’s Serious Social…

Over the last week, we’ve heard a lot about the data breach between Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. 300,000 users shared their data and, as a result, 50 million users had their data taken without their express consent. Mark Zuckerberg has finally made his statement. You can see it …

Since its recent algorithm change, Instagram now rewards posts with high engagement. Your reach is based on how much interaction your posts are getting. Anything from video views to comments and shares, if your post receives high engagement, it tells Instagram that your content is quality and worthy…

After 9 months of beta testing, YouTube have finally launched their new Studio interface. Equipped with three new metrics and better insights, you’ll now have access to an improved understanding of how each of your videos is performing. The new dashboard shows you personalised news and information for your…

The past few years have been a roller-coaster ride for Twitter. Success stories broadcasting their flotation and rise to $69 a share (in January 2014) were followed by column inches informing us of declining revenues, their share price crashing to $14 (in May 2016), ensuing staff cutbacks and comprehensive restructuring…

Wanna know how to thrive on Facebook in 2018? Here’s what Facebook’s second algorithm change means for brands. It focuses on prioritising content from friends and family, so it’s no surprise that has sparked huge concern, interest and conversation for brands. Publishers, marketers and news outlets will have lower…

Off the back of International Women’s Day yesterday, we thought we’d keep the ball rolling by highlighting an interesting, and timeous, initiative by Facebook. The Women in Gaming website has been created by the social media giant to encourage collaboration, story-sharing and connection with women in the…

Facebook and Instagram are increasingly being used in the consumer holiday planning process. According to a recent survey commissioned by Facebook, 68% of Millennials found ideas and inspiration for their most recent trip on Facebook, and the same goes for 60% on Instagram. Travel advertisers on Facebook won’t have to…

Knowing when to post on your social channels is a constant challenge. It depends on many factors – first and foremost, your audience. Which time zone and countries are they in? What does a normal day look like for them? Are they mobile users or desktop users?…

It’s the new social media app being touted as the next Instagram, and celebrities and influencers alike are flocking to give it a try. The platform was actually started years ago and positioned itself as a competitor to the other social giants in the space; i.e. Facebook,…

Whether you allow your child access to social media or not is a particularly controversial topic which doesn’t have an easy answer. One thing remains clear, children will access the platform with or without your consent. After consultations with parents and national associations, Facebook recognised this and has developed an…

According to reports, Twitter Inc. has shown the most profit since it’s market launch in 2013. The platform’s prioritisation of video, as well as a new software algorithm, have both contributed to increased time spent on Twitter by users while also encouraging…

There’s that supercilious phrase, “if you ‘assume’, you make an ASS out of U and ME”. Bloomin’ awful expression, but it did pop into my head when I read this summary of research on MarketingProfs. It takes a look at how marketers get it wrong when they…

Anniversaries are a great opportunity to celebrate the high points from the last year. They also give brands an opportunity to devise a social campaign to make strengthen their brand messaging and appeal to a particular audience. For optimum success, they’re best celebrated alongside a news story, launches, initiatives, products,…

With digital ad spend growing year-on-year, 2017 was the year that overall digital ad spend finally surpassed TV spend. Total global digital ad spend came to a whopping $209 billion, which is a huge 41% of the entire market. TV is now trailing behind with a $178…

While social media companies are often dragged over the coals as a result of how they handle their platform content, their responsibility to protect vulnerable individuals or how they contribute to the countries they operate in through taxes, there doesn’t seem to be much commentary yet on their suitability as…

Snapchat have now made it possible to create your own AR lens. By launching a new desktop app that can be used on both Mac and Windows, Snapchat intend to make it easy to create AR objects and experiences on top of the geo-filters we all love! Snapchat have come a…

Do you remember when Facebook was still competing with other social networks like MySpace and Friendster? Back then, any cute feature that was a fun way to interact with other on the platform could give a network an edge over the competition. The ‘poke’ was a nice way to let…

So, a six-year-old can now be on Social Media? Yes, you read that right! Facebook have released an App that targets parents with children younger than 13. This is Facebook’s first product aimed at children and they are not the first to focus on this large, untapped audience. Whilst it…

Facebook is an incredible platform for raising awareness of causes and being a means for people to donate to those causes. We often hear heart-warming news about stories spreading across social and raising enough money for life-saving operations, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and reuniting families. Yesterday was #GivingTuesday and Facebook upped their…

The battle of good over evil has been fought since the beginning of time. It’s a war that will continue, a never-ending arms race where one side gains dominance with a new weapon until the other side nullifies the advantage and turns the tide. While nefarious forces have been blamed…

In recent months, video content has bloomed. We’re seeing more of it than ever and it’s hugely successful as a content form across platforms. So, Facebook are rising up to the demand and success of video and taking on YouTube with their new Creator app. What can…

Over the last few years, video has shown its might in every way across social media platforms. No longer the preserve of costly and time-consuming production studios, the medium has been revolutionised by social media. Immediate, available and free, the reach of digitised video has meant a plethora of new…

It seems like new features are being added to social media platforms every day. People are spending more time on their mobile devices like phones and laptops, on social media, and less time reading the daily paper or watching the TV. Traditional news platforms are becoming less popular, and news…

Now that the festive season is upon us, the sound of a call centre will never be music to an irate consumer’s ears. Whether it be a product query, a refund or to simply ask a question, watching those seconds turn into minutes, into tens of minutes on your mobile…

At IF, it’s been slowly and now concretely drummed into us: Christmas is coming. If your clients aren’t ready yet, then you need to be. Internally, it means designing our Christmas card, sorting the festivities and most importantly, making sure we are effortlessly ready to deliver everything before 2017 magically…

If you still haven’t considered including Instagram as part of your Paid Ad spend, I’m hoping by the time you’ve finished reading this, you’ll change your mind. From its launch in October 2010, Instagram has become one of the most popular Social media channels with 800 million active users.

In the last few months, Facebook acknowledged that an organisation with ties to the Kremlin purchased $150,000 worth of Facebook advertising related to the election. These ads were seen by approximately 126 million people over a period of more than 2 years. A clever strategy was utilised…

At IF, we’re all about creating a meaningful connection between the Ad products of Social platforms and the marketing strategies of our clients. Ever since Snapchat went public, it’s been really interesting to see a delay in waiting for them to launch a decent, competitive Ad proposition. The evidence…

It’s 2017 and there are many wonderful things about the way the world is today versus where it was, even as recently as a few decades ago. And if you read The Better Angels of Our Nature, you start to feel really positive about mankind’s progress as…

In the first few years of this decade, it seemed that social commerce would transform the way we shop online. Yet whereas buying via social channels may have gained traction among the popular Asian social platforms like WeChat and LINE, in the West the online shopping experience is still firmly…

After a Google bid for Snap Inc. last year was rejected, it seems that the company has been busy creating an alternative to Snapchat Discovery. It is reported to be called Stamp. A mash up between ‘St’ and ‘AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages). Right now, all we have is leaked news.

The majority of those reading this post will be human and as such we all know that for the most part, we don’t like change of any form, in any way, by any amount. Social media platforms know that humans are full of contradictions. We complain about…

Looking for the latest sports game, music show or world event? YouTube’s Live feature never looked so good with video broadcasters connecting with fans during the moments that count! With YouTube new updates, video creators now have the opportunity to select the ultra-low latency option when broadcasting. The new feature…

In our ‘blink-and-you’ve-missed-it’ digital world, social media is leading the way in which most of us receive information. Instagram’s influence continues to grow. The platform topped 700 million monthly active users earlier this year and Instagram Stories reached 250 million daily active users just over a month ago. As we’ve been…

Ever heard the saying that quality is better than quantity? It hits the nail on the head when it comes to your social media community. There’s currently over 1 billion monthly active Facebook users ready to engage, endorse and buy your product. Leveraging the social media market is no longer…

The online consumption of Sports Online sports viewing has been growing significantly and as consumer attention gets scattered across multiple platforms and devices, it is interesting to understand what major marketing players are doing to follow suit. Trends A positive problem? Opportunities arise for advertisers as a need for engaging…

Lost for words? Using emojis in your marketing campaigns has now become the secret ingredient to success. Yes, we are now seeing emojis daily in all social media activity, it’s the talk of the town! Yet, only a few brands have yet successfully included emojis in their Facebook marketing campaigns.

As time spent social networking per day continues to climb (now standing at over two hours), networkers have been presented an ever-expanding choice of content to engage with. Cutting through this noise demands compelling content, and social’s ability to allow brands a way of associating themselves with…

Instagram is so close from becoming the ultimate marketing machine, there’s just one thing missing…web links. The social media platform has launched multiple updates over the last year and the latest takes a…

Reporting back to senior management with low conversion rates can become the bane of one’s life. And then to top it off, you are probably working extremely hard to persuade for more budget towards your social campaigns. It’s 2017, and you shouldn’t have to battle to prove the success rates…

Express yourselves! Say more with Twitter’s latest tweak We can all agree that saying everything we need to within the character limit on Twitter can become quite tedious and at times extremely frustrating! Yet somehow, being the super-species we are, we have adapted and now excelled at this. In 2006,…

Did you know that social media data can predict the weather? According to a study from Warwick Research, social photos and key words in posts can be used to predict extreme weather. Using these social sensors, alongside meteorological information, the social chatter improves forecasting with eye-witness details…

According to Statista, there are 3.17 billion people online of which, 2.3 billion are active social media users. Yes, you read that right. That figure alone can trigger businesses to invest in social media, with the aim of reaching their target markets. Businesses want to be able…

By now, you must have heard of Prisma, the app that lets you turn any picture into instant art. If you haven’t, here’s a few reasons why should find out: It was named best app in both the Apple and the Google play stores It’s time for you to either…

It’s safe to say that the use of visual content is going to stick and there is a wealth of data that can be used to support the benefits of this type of content. On average, visuals perform 4.4 x better than text-based content and as social media marketers, we…

How many times have you swayed away from social content, thinking, “What pile of absolute fluff?” That’s right- you are todays customer- a well-informed, savvy and socially aware individual who has access to vast sources of data which hold the truths & certainly the untruths of a brand. This could…

Sometimes social gets a bad rep. This is due to the lingering hangover our industry is still suffering from the bad old days of “social rockstars”, “ninjas” and “gurus” who sold vanity metrics at a premium and contributed very little to actual business objectives. The…

Digital marketing is all the rage this year with branding testing new and innovative ways to communicate with your targeted audience. Social media channels have released major updates to accommodate the way we interact, communicate and digest information. Let’s guide our potential customers on the yellow brick road to Oz…

I think about the future of social media often. I wonder where it’s all going. The pace of technological change is beginning to outstrip our capacity to make sense of the world around us and it’s only going to accelerate further. Tech begets tech. The devices we create help us…

“Don’t blog about Snapchat” was the recurring mantra / running joke in the IF office over the course of 2016. It was easier said than done because, of the Big 5 social channels, Snapchat dominated the news last year and likewise, the IF blog.

From the swampy depths of the primordial app soup, what was previously a deceptively simple single-cell organism has mutated into an entirely new beast and is now slouching toward social to be born. That’s right folks, PRISMA is going social. The hugely popular app, which uses neural network technology to turn…

Streaming video content from mobile devices to TVs has been around for many years and the big players such as YouTube have taken the lead. Facebook now wants a piece of the action with the inclusion of video streaming on your TV through popular devices such as Apple TV and…

The quality of Periscope’s live streams is about to skyrocket thanks to the launch of Periscope Producer. It’s a bold leap forward for the Twitter-owned live-streaming platform which, until now, broadcast content exclusively shot on mobile devices. Periscope Producer allows content creators to stream highly polished video…

Periscope announces a new partnership with its mother company Twitter. Starting this week, you have the option to provide a link to your Periscope profile on your Twitter page. The quick fix for avid Periscope broadcasters would be to provide your profile link within the website field on your Twitter…

A goldrush of sorts is happening in the tech world amidst rumours that Twitter could be up for sale and the list of potential suitors for the channel is growing by the day. It’s hard to tell at this point who the serious contenders are. However, this hasn’t stopped the…

Many would argue that YouTube has been a social network of sorts from the get-go. Users have the ability to subscribe to certain channels (ie. follow), like, unlike or comment on certain videos (ie. engage) and share those videos with a wider audience. However, the channel was…

There’s a story that Chip and Dan Heath tell in their book “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” that I think about often when creating B2B content for social. A Stanford University Graduate by the name of Elizabeth Newton ran a simple…

It would appear that Mark Zuckerberg is pulling out all the stops in an effort to combat the meteoric rise of Snapchat, first with Instagram Stories and now with a standalone iOS app, Lifestage. The USP employed to capture the hearts and minds of Gen Y is that the app…

I started working at immediate future in 2011. What a vastly time that was to be working in social media. Everyone, brand and agency was trying to figure out the landscape and how to tackle it. These were the days of Facebook pages with Like gates (yup, chasing Likes –…

Following hot on the heels of Twitter’s announcement that the platform was introducing #Stickers as “…a fun new way to add creativity to your photos and connect them to the world on Twitter”, the platform has now invited brands to join the party with “Promoted Stickers”.

Paul Pogba’s record breaking transfer to Manchester United sparked a frenzy on social media earlier this week, but not maybe for the reasons you would expect. Quite frankly, we were all bored of the story, the will-he, won’t-he tenterhooks feeling had warn off. It was inevitable. In fact, The Drum…

Twitter’s new marketing campaign opens its doors to non-users clearing the misconceptions they have with the brand and its purpose. CMO Leslie Berland announces the new campaign saying that it’s content and ads will spread awareness of what Twitter has to offer and invite non-users to give…

Aaahh, the coveted Twitter Blue Tick. Once a symbol of status and prestige, the Blue Tick signified that you had made it in social. The Twitter Gods had deemed your account worthy of the highest validation. To put it into perspective, of the 310 million monthly active users…

Live-streaming has been around for a long time, but the ease and availability of numerous tools such as Meerkat and Periscope have made it possible for anyone to “go live” and broadcast to the world. Years ago, marketers used to spend huge budgets on TV advertising, billboards, print media and…

Anyone who’s seen Peanuts knows the football gag. In it, Lucy challenges Charlie Brown to kick a football which she then moves just as he’s about to punt the life out if it. The joke ran yearly from 1951 to 1983 and yet every time Charlie B somehow…

If you haven’t worked out that the current Facebook hoax is just that – a hoax – then you might wanna take down the scaremongering posts that you shared. Yes, just like the celebrity death rumours that always do the rounds on social media, that 7-year old Facebook hoax is…

We presented at the B2B Summit recently, talking about paid social media. Interestingly, the question on everyone’s lips was; how much should social advertising cost? What are the benchmarks for investment and returns you can expect? Well, a Salesforce report (download) gives us some interesting paid social…

From the adorable To the daring From the weird To the wonderful There can be no doubt that the internet loves a good GIF. And that love affair is growing stronger by the day. From 2012…

News out last week says that social media apps are in decline. The research by SimilarWeb looked at social app usage in android across several countries to reveal users are losing interest. Then there is the PEW (USA) analysis that shows the growth of the big four…

There have been massive changes in the Twittersphere this month with the arrival of Twitter’s new block feature wiping out unwanted users and the character count updates. We all thought removing photos and usernames from the Twitter character count was the cherry on top, but recently Twitter announced a new…

It’s infographic time boys and girls! Hold on to your Snapchat Stat hats. It’s not all dog filters and rainbow lenses. Snapchat is the only channel offering something different in the world of mostly-broadcast, feed-centric social media; intimacy at scale. Here’s how it is reaching it’s audience plus all the…

Sharing your thoughts and expertise can go along way with driving conversation and proving you’re a valuable Twitter contact. Twitter chats may seem like the last thing on your to do list but it’s worth the time and tweets. Answering industry leading conversations and networking with like-minded professionals can set…

It’s official – Instagram has shaved, traded its fixie for an Audi A8, suited up and launched Business Tools. Considering the platform has over 200,000 advertisers and upwards of 400 million users, many would say this move was inevitable. Credit Suisse estimates that Instagram’s ad business brought in…

Over the years I’ve sat in many meetings hearing statements like: “We need an idea for social!” or “take the ad campaign and ‘socialise it’.” Then there’s this little belter: “We need a viral video!” Or my personal favourite: “that’s a nice idea, let’s shove it on social – that’ll…

Many digital marketers that I’ve spoken to recently are not active on Snapchat. Most have given it a go, but either their family and friends weren’t using the app, or their friends and family weren’t sharing the most engaging of content. Both are understandable reasons for not enjoying the experience,…

So last week immediate future turned 12 years old. That’s 12 years we’ve been working with brands in social media – it doesn’t seem possible does it? Surely social media didn’t exist back then? OK, it wasn’t called ‘social media’ in 2004. It was working with…

We’ve said it before, but nurturing a social media account is a lot like having a baby. They require constant attention in order to thrive and achieve greatness. Take your eyes off the prize and you run the risk of your precious campaign tugging the tablecloth and…

Following in the footsteps of Facebook, LinkedIn is now working on its own version of Instant Articles, a feature that makes it possible for publishers to host fast loading, immersive mobile content, accessible instantly within LinkedIn, rather than linking users back to their own site. According to…

In the past it was not uncommon for businesses to block access to social media sites from work machines in an attempt to curb frivolous use during office hours. Even in recent times social has been seen as a drain on employee productivity instead of the incredibly useful tool it…

I think I may be the only person getting excited about this, but in case you hadn’t heard, Periscope is now allowing users to doodle over their live streams. Officially it’s called “sketching” and is available to iOS users, after a pilot was launched just a month ago. The live…