Social Media Immediate Future

Social Media

So often in social media we are concerned with what is happening “in platform” that we forget the bigger picture. Over inflated company valuations that we are so familiar with nowadays are down to one thing – data. G+ is the 2nd biggest social network in the world due to…

Call them what you like, Generation Me, the Lost Generation but they remain top of the lust-list for advertisers and companies alike. This new sub-demographic spawned from Generation Y can be described as “the most sophisticated and therefore the most important media consumer that the planet has even known”, and…

My view of Facebook advertising has changed in 2014. I used to think of ads as a supplement to boost campaigns. Now, I’d describe advertising as an essential activity for any brand or business using Facebook for marketing. Without the investment, you will struggle to create any cut-through (so if…

What better way to network than virtually, especially when job searching? LinkedIn, you can call out to your connections to let them know you are job searching. You can be introduced to their connections, for maximum networking opportunities. As LinkedIn is a professional networking site, you can also…

It goes without saying that social plays a part in most of our everyday lives. Our focus, time and attention can only lie with a few of these networks, and those that struggle to remain on top are either forgotten or left to float like driftwood. You may have heard…

If you read my last blog post then you would have seen that I came to the conclusion that it is next to impossible to predict the future of social media. This has got me thinking about the aspects of social media that we take for granted, everyday things that…

It’s not like we haven’t been here before pondering this troublesome question… Social media ownership has been a much debated topic over the past few years and it remains extremely pertinent as social media marketing matures, platform demographics shift and customer behaviours evolve. Unfortunately there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach or…

OK, I’m no psychologist, so I would have to hazard a guess on the applications of Freud’s psychodynamic theory to social media – I’ll leave that to the psychologists amongst us! What I can tell you though, is that thought processes and emotions play an important role in social media…

Recruiters have taken social media by the horns and well and truly learnt its power to connect them with candidates in a totally new and exciting way. Although it is bringing much success for some, it’s not for all. 2014 will be the year that, finally, recruiters globally…

As usual predictions for 2014 abound. Rather than add to the melee with only our voice, we asked some of the most influential movers and shakers in digital to tell us what they thought would be big this year. Interestingly, even though we asked for opinions individually, the feedback revealed…

After the hustle and bustle of Christmas and New Year is it customary to sit down and reflect on the past year *yawn* and then (once you have woken up from your sleep) think about the year ahead. It is safe to say the social media industry dramatically changed and…

There’s no use denying it. We are well and truly in the social media age. An amazing 89% of all web users are on social media networks, and active internet users tend to spend around 16 minutes of every hour they’re online using social media. Despite the unquestionable prevalence…

If, like most, you are struggling to find new music and can’t bring yourself to thumb through endless blogs, magazines, buy redundant CDs, download or ‘torrent’ illegally or can’t even fathom what those big black discs Dad used to play are called, then you may want to try out some…

It’s that time of year when we dust off the crystal ball and try to predict and prepare for what 2014 holds for some of our favourite social networks. And here’s what Bakti expects to see this coming year! Facebook: I’ve seen A LOT of articles peppered around the net claiming…

So that was Christmas! We hope you had a good one. If you’re anything like us the trauma of finding out whether you can still fit into your work clothes this morning has been and gone (hopefully you can) and you’ve had a good catch up with everyone back in…

If you find a little time in-between now and the New Year, it’s a good opportunity to do a little social media housekeeping. Here are immediate future’s top 14 recommendations (seriously, we are doing our tidy up too!) that will improve your social footprint…

1 billion-plus unique users a month, 100 hours of video are uploaded every minute and over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month. I am of course talking about YouTube, the platform that uses video to inform and entertain the masses. And now…

If you’re thinking of entering your 2014 with, at the most, a vague idea of getting fit ranging from ‘moving around more’ to ‘smashing a whole triathlon’ and haven’t the slightest inclination on how to go about organising yourself, why not turn to the multitude of apps…

2013 is winding down. It was the year Twitter went public, Facebook launched Graph Search, Instagram allowed video, and so much more. Now 2014 looks set to be even more eventful! So, before you all dash off to the office party and frantically search for last minute presents, we’re sending…

Having a firm grasp of Facebook advertising mechanics is a must when it comes to social media marketing. Any creative campaign can be turbocharged by way of Facebook ads, assuming they are managed effectively and optimised in real-time. But Facebook doesn’t always make it easy for marketeers to get started,…

Writing a Christmas letter to Santa is not as easy as it sounds and it really could take you a while. What happens if you have forgotten something? Will he be able to read your hand-writing? Is the address written correctly? There are just too many things to worry about.

A few days ago, I read an interesting article in Social Media Today, which got me thinking about word-of-mouth marketing via social media. Social has had an enormous impact in transforming the way we talk about and endorse products/services to friends and family. But social should not…

Happy #xmasjumper day everyone. In the IF offices this week we have already seen some fairly horrific Christmas jumpers and no doubt it’s similar in offices all over the land… According to Topsy, recently acquired by Apple, there have…

…who is the fairest of them all? That’s the answer that celebrities are trying to discover in the new craze that is sweeping through Hollywood. Celebs love a ‘selfie’. And a ‘belfie’ [whatever that is]. But what they love more is themselves. That’s why the new ‘Twitter…

As the end of 2013 draws in, many brands are on a last minute drive to turbocharge their social media activity, capitalising in on the festive season to spark growth. Christmas presents fantastic opportunities for creative campaigns and competitions, sure fire ways to drive new fans and followers. With this…

As we approach the end of 2013, there have been endless articles on LinkedIn, Twitter, etc… listing the greatest social media meltdowns of 2013. Although they provide some valuable lessons on techniques to avoid in your social strategy, they also scaremonger a little. And the downside…

I don’t know if it is just me, but Christmas feels like it is FAST approaching. Excitement has been building since November and we are in full flow now. Christmas songs have been released, trees are up and some of us have already been social shopping. Once all your…

This week it was announced that Apple has purchased social data analytics firm Topsy. A bit of a strange move on the surface, but when you consider that Topsy Labs is one of few companies that have real-time access to the Twitter “firehose”, it may not be so strange. The…

Which social media site do you find is the best for breaking news? Twitter does tend to dominate this area, as it has that real-time analysis and opinion that other social networks cannot match. However, Facebook has updated its News Feed algorithm to get a piece of the action. Instead…

Whilst many of us are counting down the time until we can spend a much needed respite with family and friends, overeating and overspending, there is also a significant amount of us who worry about something much more pressing. Dating. The annual onslaught of advertising and happy couples leave many…

Social media is an exciting, yet demanding arena of work to be in. I suppose that’s what makes it good fun. The skills and capabilities required for social media excellence are sometimes chopped up and divvied out to specialists within large agencies. For others, agency and in-house folk alike, all…

© Snapchat. Logo What is Snapchat? Snapchat is an application that allows users to take pictures or capture videos, with the option to add captions or doodles, to then send to friends. The catch is that the sender sets a time-limit before the picture or video disappears. Can…

© Pinterest. Logo. It has become almost a British tradition that towards the end of November we start to worry about Christmas. Whether it be organising the turkey or decorating the Christmas tree, the whole ordeal can sometimes be a little overwhelming. Ultimately, the largest stress of all is…

© fanfreluche_designs “Chanel fdc postage stamps”. Photo. Attribution 2.0 Generic There has been a boom in the use of social media by the luxury fashion market over the past few years, with almost all well known brands from…

I have recently returned from a blissful week in the Mexican sunshine, lazing on white sandy beaches, drinking margaritas and of course, eating out lots *feeling smug*. Of course, like most holidaymakers, we logged onto trusty TripAdvisor to do our detective work into where we should go for the…

With every company, there are always multiple areas to focus on and different products to promote. But how do you ensure that when promoting online on sites such as LinkedIn, your focus is evident and not just a jumbled-up mess of completely different areas? If this is a…

Sounds like common sense? You’d be surprised! With 66% of companies using Facebook to recruit, should you really be posting profanities on your Facebook page? NO is the answer. As a candidate, either looking for your first step into the professional world, or as an experienced professional, your social media…

Is Vine suitable for B2B brands? This is a good question, which I hear being raised over and over again. “Shouldn’t only food brands and celebrities use Vine?” – some may ask. A little investigation I did this morning reveals that, B2B brands can be equally creative Vine makers, and…

As most of us know, it’s been pretty hard to ignore, Twitter began trading in the New York Stock Exchange last week, November 7th, with an initial value of $26. Moving from being a private company into a public one has left people feeling divided about the topic. Some consider…

Not to be outdone by updates from competitive platforms, Twitter announced its new custom timeline capabilities within TweetDeck. Now users can collect, organise and categorise related or relevant tweets into one new, seamless feed. In truth, it’s very much like Storify, which makes…

Twitter is a truly fascinating social platform. Launched merely 7 years ago the company is now valued at $24bn. Some argue this is an over-valuation (Twitter is yet to make a profit), however the numbers speak for themselves: 230+ million monthly active users 500…

In recent months we have found that social networks are becoming more and more competitive. They all have one eye on Google+ and they are all making regular updates or changes daily. Out of the big four social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn) Facebook believes that if the…

Sociology is the study of social change, how we live our everyday lives and how we interact with other human beings. The evolution of the internet has erupted a social shift in how we interact and communicate, with offline human behaviour being replicated through popular platforms such…

When you first learn there is a possible job opening, and your pipeline is not looking strong, what is your first action? Post the job to generate an influx of CVs or simply strategise and plan? “It depends on the role”, I hear you say… But I am not sure…

It’s that time of year again when we pack two nights of fun and festivity into one week – Halloween and Fireworks Night! These familiar friends are much welcome occurrences in the calendar, lifting our spirits as the temperature quickly cools and the nights draw in early. My Facebook and…

As a job seeker, you tend to use who you know and what you know when looking for a new job. Comfortable with Monster and Reed websites or even looking at the local papers or Post Office? Plenty of companies are still hell bent using traditional advertising methods. I am…

Since the interview aired on BBC Newsnight less than a week ago, social media commentary about the Brand v Paxman debate has exploded. On the official BBC Newsnight YouTube upload of the interview, there has already been 7,562,772 views: that’s a whopping 1,260,462 views per…

Monday morning. On my way to work. Arrived at the train station. Discovered the following: Yes, a storm has arrived in the UK and turned the daily routine for millions of people upside down. As I am writing, updates keep coming and the situation keeps developing. Social media (and open…

© Vine. Logo. © Instagram. Logo. As we know Vine and Instagram videos have been a great success and added something extra to the social media armoury. There is a lot said about Vine and Instagram but what are the most important figures that…

I have an addiction…and it’s everywhere! Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Pinterest, Google+, MySpace, YouTube, the list is endless. We just can’t walk away from social networking sites – no matter how hard we try. I have deleted my Facebook app on my iPhone, because it became unhealthy how my…

Last Thursday British Gas tweeted this: Our Customer Services Director Bert Pijls will be taking part in a Q&A about our price rise at 1-2pm. Tweet your questions using #AskBG! — British Gas (@BritishGas) October 17, 2013 The company already has a…

It is reported that on average only 16% of Facebook page posts reach fans – a somewhat disheartening statistic when community managers spend a great deal of time and creativity nurturing and managing their business’ Facebook page. It’s frustrating when they take stock and realise that such…

Marketers LOVE “big” words! You may find them throw words like demographics and segmentation around but without any real purpose. Understanding your customer demographic and being able to segment your audience is the foundation of marketing and is key to marketing success. So, in this case, these “big” words should…

The beauty industry has gone through an exciting transition over the past 10 years and with the rise of the internet and knowledge sharing, consumers are now empowered and are demanding ground-breaking technologies, ingredients and products – they know what they want and are more than willing to invest in…

We have had mixed news recently around online advertising, with some sites focusing more heavily on their advertising offering, whilst other businesses are popping up to block ads from customers devices… So you know what’s been happening recently, take a look at the latest developments here: Simplified Facebook Advertising…

If you want to create a following for your company of the most engaged community, get on Instagram. I understand the fear, posting pictures is for kids, what if I don’t know what pictures to put up, does it make my company look like they are having fun and not…

@HVSVN Hey so did you really buy a Promoted Tweet to complain about BA? — Todd Wasserman (@ToddWasserman) September 3, 2013 Today is the first day of National Customer Service Week, when raising awareness of customer service and the vital…

As social media, connectivity and the web in general continue to evolve and transform our lives, the crossover between social media and behavioural science is becoming ever more evident. Even though I’m not a psychologist, I found the article written by Sean D. Young on TechCrunch a couple…

© Kenichi Nobusue ”My social networks” Photo. Attribution 2.0 Generic There is no simple answer to running a successful business but those who do often rely on business instinct. It could be a sixth sense that leads you to success, but sometimes it’s best…

The Google-owned platform, YouTube has announced plans to host its first ever music show, merging the online with the offline. Widely recognised mainstream artists, such as Lady Gaga and Arcade Fire, will perform alongside relatively unknown but internet famous artists, with creative direction from the talented Spike Jonzes, who is…

On Wednesday evening, I attended a Social Media Week session, ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’. Check out the snap of immediate future‘s Pete looking pretty and enjoying a beverage out of his #SMWLDN cup! As much as I enjoyed the case studies that the panel critiqued and applauded,…

What is Netflix? Netflix is the world’s leading internet TV Network with more than 37 million members in 40 countries watching more than one billion hours of TV programmes and films per month. Since Netflix launched in the UK it has received a mixed response. It has challenged the…

With London’s Social Media Week well under way, there has been engaging discussions about social media flying around all over the internet. Both individuals and companies have been getting involved in the action. Even Richard Branson has been offering his advice. We enjoyed watching…

They’re watching you! View your personal profile as your professional profile – what is visible to your friends is visible to employers, clients and anyone that has the potential to influence your career and salary. Understand how much people want to know about you It’s as easy as Googling your…

Hot on the heels of our inclusion in the Top 10 UK social media blogs by Cision UK, @iftweeter puts our team into the spotlight, starting with consultant @PeteKnott1. Find out what he thinks of social in a series of quick…

How important is social media when it comes to engaging with your customers? Well if it’s being discussed on the BBC’s One Show, it must be! In last night’s episode, the show delved into the increasing numbers of consumers taking to Twitter as a forum to complain and the effectiveness…

There is no secret that social media is a crowded space. Given the high content saturation on most topics you can think of, how do you identify people (and therefore content) that really matter? I’d suggest this free tool will be very helpful in your search for genuine thought leaders…

Social media is a proven way of raising awareness around products and services, providing customer service, and generating leads, but it is becoming increasingly essential for recruiting the best talent for your business. Instead of just finding those candidates that are actively looking for jobs, social media allows companies to…

At immediate future – we love LinkedIn and the opportunities that it provides for meaty social media marketing. In the last two years, the social network has really risen up as a star platform for lead generation with LinkedIn Groups and Company Pages being worked hard by…

When you have your pictures, links and posts ready, there is one thing that you need to ask yourself. When would be the best time to post? Brands are investing more time and resources into social media, but the timing of your posts are important, making sure that your content…

Activity in LinkedIn groups shows absolutely no signs of slowing, even with the platform’s emphasis on a content rich update feed. When Facebook made this move with their series of news feed updates, the groups eventually went, but it doesn’t look like they will be going any where fast on…

Direct sourcing of candidates using social media. Forget branding for a moment if you can, this is not about candidate attraction nor is it about creating a pipeline, this is about filling a role you needed to fill last week and how to do it using social media! So, your…

The saying goes: “good artists borrow, great artists steal”, and this seems to be the case with social media platforms and Facebook. Every other day reports come in that the platform has updated its user experience with elements taken from other social media platforms. It seems that the social media…

For a couple of days now I’ve been reading City AM‘s passionate reports on my way to work, about one of the latest scandals in London’s City. This time it is nothing to do with the usual hype around investment banks, bonuses, interest rates and share prices. It is the…

As social media carries on evolving at lightning speed, the knowledge and skill set divide continues to widen. To be able to fully unlock the power of social media for your business, you need to think beyond the team who manages your branded social media presence and look at the…

Fashion labels are among some of the best brands when it comes to utilising the power of social media. The richness and constant stream of visual content makes for a great partnership. Nowadays you would be hard-pressed to find a fashion label that is devoid of any social media presence.

If you are familiar with Google ZMOT or just generally observant, you will know that the path to purchase for a consumer has dramatically changed with the influence of social and mobile technology. However, consumers are people, people work in businesses, so of course there is a…

Facebook has announced that they will abandon third-party competition apps to run competitions and instead offer users the chance to run promotions themselves. The update should make page promotions marketer and competition entrant friendly. By having competitions run directly on their Page Timelines companies will be able to collate…

Students globally are social media nerds, they know all the acronyms and shortcuts to write blogs, postings and a whole lot more. So why are the youth of today so scared of virtual networking to further them in life? I spent a brief time working at Kingston University. I came…

Photography has become huge, with 10% of photos in the history of the world being taken in the last 12 months! But do you know how important photos are to your online presence? by klynnetrabue. Explore more infographics like this one on…

Despite the rising popularity of such LinkedIn features as the company page, the influencers section and the newsfeed, LinkedIn groups are one of the most popular features of the platform. Search for any industry, and you will find top groups with their membership in tens and even hundreds of thousands.

Where would you ask a question or make a complaint about a brand? Via letter, phone call, email or social media? Customer service has rapidly progressed. Where once we would write a letter, walk it to the post office and expect a response within around 2 weeks, we now send…

You may have seen The Social Media Policy Workbook already. But if you haven’t, it’s a resource chock-full of checklists, tips and real life examples to help you create a robust social media policy that can stand up to scrutiny. Now we’ve gone one step further…

Yesterday LinkedIn announced a feature just launched on the social network, ‘University Pages’ – essentially data hubs relating to universities and their alumni, from all over the world. So far, the new feature has been released to a seed number of universities including University of Oxford…

Ever since Chris Messina introduced the system of hashtagging to mircoblogging site Twitter in 2007 its popularity has grown to the point that it has been adopted by competing social media networks and has found a place in pop culture, with TV shows and music videos…

© Maria Elena “Instagram Vs. Vine” Photo. Attribution 2.0 Generic The social media world has seen Instagram and Vine recreate an online version of the war of the roses with the apps fighting it out for the video app throne. Weeks…

Yesterday, Indiana introduced herself to our lovely readers and explained a little of what her role involves. Namely fulfilling immediate future’s recruitment needs, from internships to senior positions, and making sure that the workforce is getting enough TLC! But she is not the only…

I have recently started with immediate future as Head of Talent, recruiting the best talent in social media and keeping the great staff we have already happy in their workplace! On that note, if you work in social media marketing – at any level, or want to – we…

Any business, alert and looking to drive natural search is already running Google+ and Facebook accounts at the moment. Facebook because people are using it and Google+ because it is this persistent beast, which is ignoring popularity and instead providing fantastic ingredients for functionality and the ability to…

Today is the second post in my 3 post attempt to look at lesser-known social networks. As you may remember, in my previous post I assessed the usefulness of Plaxo, a cloud-based contact book. Today we will explore Viadeo. What is Viadeo? Everyone is talking about LinkedIn these days,…

Social media brings out the best and worst of social interactions. The anonymity and far-reaching nature of the web means that the internet provides us with the ability to say whatever we want, to and about whomever we want, whether messages of support and encouragement or words…

It feels like a while since I last blogged about social customer care, despite it being one of the areas of social media management and strategy that fascinates me the most. In my time spent working in social media, I’ve observed brands and businesses evolve their clunky social care processes,…

Are you struggling to find time to do everything you want to on social media? It’s not uncommon that in a busy day with meetings, planning and everything else, social media can sometimes slip down the list of things to do… However, luckily, there are ways to help. Why would…

Fresh from unravelling truth within the NHS, examining the issues of South African police and children in the Taliban, the current series of the award-winning Channel 4 documentary Dispatches turned its attention towards social media last night. In the programme, entitled ‘Celebs, Brands and Fake Fans’, the…

Going shopping with your friends on the weekend is one of the most sociable activities we can do. Shoppers enjoy “making a day of it” or even getting the (sometimes critical) feedback from our friends or family about how an item of clothing looks on. Who would have thought updating…

We all know visual content works best in social – in fact a social media post with a picture is worth 120% more engagement than a post without. But where on earth do you find these pictures? Take them yourself? Pay? Nicking them off Google is no…

The London 2012 Olympic Games started exactly one year ago last Saturday – an important milestone which sparked much commentary on social media platforms, as the UK jumped at the opportunity to reminisce. A search of UK only mentions of “Olympics” or “London 2012” on Twitter using Radian 6 shows…

Two weeks ago I wrote a blog entry, Why Summer is a Good Time to Reassess Your Social Media Presence, encouraging us, amongst other things, to use this quieter summer time to explore new social platforms. Out of curiosity I took my own advice and, having gained some inspiration…

From its inception in 2011 Google+ has been through a lot of teething problems and struggles. This year the platform seemed to gain more clout when it was announced that it was ranked as the world’s second-largest social network, at 190 million active users, with 100 brands…