B2B social media Immediate Future

B2B social media

Let me be clear I am not suggesting plagiarism. There is enough of that in the creative industries as it is. Instead I believe, whilst we are locked behind screens and away from the serendipity of the water cooler ‘eureka’ moments, we need to work hard to find…

While there’s always more to learn about the largest social media channels that we’re pretty familiar with when is the last time you checked out what was happening on some of the smaller, or more niche channels? If you fancy watching our latest Serious Social about these three,…

It’s been a whopping ten years since Instagram launched and changed the face of social media. Feel old yet? WE DO! So, first things first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Instagram! From the selfie revolution to the rise of the influencer, IG has helped shaped the digital revolution and has…

Entrepreneurs rightly state that employees are our biggest and most valuable resource. Yet many businesses are not unlocking the potent potential presented by social media. As business leaders start to scale the upper echelons of industry, they understand the importance of having an inside-out voice. Thought leadership or opinion…

You know the question – anyone working in an agency that specialises in social media has heard it before. Do you have a quick social media guide I can send through the company? Or Is there a one-sheet with all of the image sizes for each platform? You…

Out of time to catch up on social media news? We’ve done the work for you with our Social Snapshot – collating the biggest news of the week: Oracle confirms Bytedance-TikTok partnership in US The big news this week is Oracle confirming it has secured a Bytedance-TikTok…

Our purpose at IF is to break the social boring – what does that take? Bravery. Courage. AND preparation. The campaigns you see out in social which tackle taboos or hit a topic head-on – and then succeed – they’ve taken time to prepare, to look at what…

Much like Vine before it, TikTok exploded onto the social media landscape – with an estimated 500 million users across the globe today. Naturally, a slice of that pie is up for grabs and Facebook jumped in with Instagram Reels in August (though some were seeing a different,…

Despite the success that B2C organisations have seen, B2B companies have been dragging their feet when it comes to Instagram. And we get it. Starting, managing, and maintaining an Instagram account takes a lot of resources. Not only does the messaging need to be on point, but the feed…

New features galore this week – join us as we go through all the tools you’ll be playing with in coming months with our Social Snapshot: Instagram has replaced Nametag Codes with QR Codes to quickly connect users Back in 2018, Instagram launched what it called ‘Nametag…

When it comes to creating content for your social channels, many marketers can get in a rut – producing the same content over and over and cross-channel posting. For some, this works. But for others, it may bore your followers and lack engagements. So, what can you…

Successful social media campaigns are achieved not by a single “viral” tweet, but by experience, understanding and preparation – there are SO many hurdles that social media marketers have to leap, and often because social is seen as “easy”. We’ve got news for you, it’s not!…

Twitter is rolling out new settings that will allow all users to control who can reply to Tweets. It’s a feature they tested earlier in the year, but now we’ll all be able to start limiting who replies to our content. So, what does this actually mean? We…

OMG! Have you seen the latest lockdown content from Nike? Wow! Now this is the content we need to entertain us. https://twitter.com/Nike/status/1288845608694902786?s=20 I know Nike have deep pockets, but you don’t need to have big budgets to create attention grabbing content on social. We’ve been saying since the…

The B2B landscape is an interesting one. There’s a common misconception that B2B organisations are low on usable content, but it’s simply not true. The landscape is actually flush with more information and eye-catching, challenging content than perhaps a lot of businesses realise. What do I have right now? Think…

No time to go through all the social media news of the past week? Don’t worry – we’ve collated it all for your easy perusal. Take a look: Facebook’s Q2 results beat estimates Facebook has beat its Q2 estimates, reaching $18.69 billion in revenue and 2.7…

Call-out or cancel culture has been around for some years now. But like many things in marketing, it’s accelerated in importance over the last few months. Brand values have moved centre stage and what you stand for matters more than ever. The impact of #cancel is seen whether…

Increasing engagement on social media can sometimes be difficult – just because one thing works for one company, doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll work for yours. With over 3.6 billion people using social media worldwide and algorithms constantly changing, companies need to be smart. But what counts as engagement? Engagement…

There’s no doubt that 2020 so far has been a little tiring for marketers. With limited resource and time during the workday, let alone the demands of working from home, some social media marketers might be looking for a little help with content planning. It’s not just about finding a…

Last week, Facebook released a video on making creative impacts with text, timing and format. While focused largely on Facebook, the video has some general tips that are crucial for everyday social marketers looking to have their knowledge or current methods vindicated, and those that are trying to…

Ah, content planning – the bane of many digital marketers! As CJ rightly pointed out in his last blog and podcast (check it out), you might *think* you don’t have enough content to run on social media. And if you think that, you might fall…

Myths are part of historic fabric. From the existence of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, to the Beast of Bodmin Moor, myths or legend are folklore in Britain. Some to stories have transcended continents too – the story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men making it all the…

A few months ago we wrote about Fleets, Twitter’s answer to ‘Stories’ – which is Instagram’s answer to Snapchat! Whilst Fleets still haven’t rolled out to everyone, they are now working on creating a ‘collaborative’ version: “We are testing something new for some people using Fleets in…

A new social media subscription service, maximised ad campaigns and IGTV previews – let’s jump right into this week’s Social Snapshot: Twitter’s working on a new subscription service Brief disclaimer – this is supposedly only speculation, but a new team is reportedly working with Twitter’s payments group…

72% of B2B marketers use social media advertising or promoted posts, so it’s no secret that paid social media is vital to generating sales and delivering ROI. But with the influx of users and increase in social advertising, how do marketers set themselves apart to ensure…

Sounds mad doesn’t it? Who’d of thought that now is the time to start your Christmas campaigns. Usually you are finalising plans in July for Q4, but not advertising. Things are indeed strange. A look at the social conversations and latest insight from Facebook and Pinterest makes it…

LinkedIn has been historically reticent to give in-depth follower information, or it has at least limited follower-specific features. When it brought back the option to invite your connections to follow your company page late last year, it implemented a limit of 50 invites per page manager, per day.

Social has been hit by a perfect storm. A triumvirate of changes that have set it on a new path. Covid-19, which has more of us on social, spending a lot more time and increased activity is likely to stay; More polarising content has made it a hard…

More ads on YouTube, pinned comments on Instagram – the social media landscape is ever changing, but we are here to keep you up to speed. Join us for another social snapshot: YouTube is adding more ads YouTube videos are usually at least 10 minutes long. That’s…

When it comes to social media marketing, Facebook is always the go-to platform for many marketers – especially when you find out Facebook users sign into the platform an average of 13.8 times a day. And with a platform that hosts multiple tools to help you set up and…

One of the latest releases from Twitter is the Audio Tweet! Now, I must admit I am a sceptic with this function – I’m not sure that, when social media is so visual, an audio-only format will be useful or used. However, sound is important in branding (tune…

So many insights and developments in one week – let’s get right to it with our Social Snapshot! TikTok reveals how its algorithm works TikTok is working hard to demonstrate it is a transparent company, with this week providing another level of transparency – explaining how its recommendations…

Pride months is here, and while many people will be celebrating at home, social media is once again delivering features to users that let their voices be heard digitally. In London, the annual march that usually involves more than a million volunteers, artists and Pride-goers cannot take place.

In recent weeks there has been a reoccurring question framed at us, “if social is noisy what’s the point in publishing content? Covid-19 has sent it crazy, hasn’t it?”. It’s an obvious answer, but, ‘you need to be at the races – you need to be in It,…

Both TikTok and Pinterest have experienced huge gains during the last few months. Engagement on Pinterest is up 75%, and TikTok users grew by 34% in April. If you’re not sure how to get started with either platform, here are a few ideas. Pointers for Pinterest With 367…

This won’t come as a surprise to anyone, but the big players in social media are finding new ways to monetise their platforms. The shift towards full eCommerce platforms has been particularly apparent in recent weeks, with the introduction of new storefront features. So, what’s new? And more…

Changes abound in another week of social media activity – from Twitter bringing back verification to Facebook’s revamped news section. Join us for another social snapshot: Twitter bringing back verification? In the past, getting verified was a nebulous, question-filled process. How many followers is enough? Is there some…

From baking banana bread to getting sick of our own cooking and ordering in, here are some of the key drivers and examples of the food and drink sector in social media: Eating and drinking at home After 4 weeks in lockdown, McKinsey reported…

Right now, as lockdown lifts, marketers are looking for short-term quick wins that will deliver impact. A fast move to recovery, a chance to grab market share and make a distinctive difference that will run the rest of the year. It makes sense. For many brands marketing had…

Back in March, TechCrunch reported Instagram had seen a 40% increase in traffic due to the pandemic. With everyone at home, more time is being spent on digital platforms, and all social media platforms have been nurturing their growing platform in different ways – but…

Brand as Broadcasters is the concept all business running brand events need to truly deliver greater cost efficiency and standout innovation Running brand events comes at great cost. Marketers have to evidence cost efficiencies that yield tangible returns for the business. Formats have to keep being refreshed to…

In recent months, the workplace has shifted more than we’ve ever experienced. Some have found this shift towards remote working productive, while others have found it unmotivating; no employee experience is the same and we’re all scrambling to adjust to the new normal. And while information is…

When it comes to conversion, the goal you might be setting doesn’t have to be a purchase – you might wish to measure conversion on increasing followers, engagement on your posts or sign-ups to an email list. Whichever conversion you’re measuring, we’ve got some top tips on what…

We’ve got your roundup of the latest happening on social media. For more on how these updates impact your business, drop us a line or follow our social channels. Buy products directly from a business’ Facebook Page or Instagram profile Facebook and Instagram have launched ‘Shops,’ which will allow…

Now is a time of rapid change – which can be scary. People are inherently resistant to change because it means disruption, even if it is beneficial. Can you remember Instagram’s old logos? The days when it looked more like a rounded-edged floppy disk? When Instagram’s logo was…

We’ve all likely noticed the upswing in social media traffic – but we now we have hard statistics on the massive surge happening in recent months. A look at monthly traffic, Google’s new digital skills training sessions, Facebook’s redesign and more! Media habits are changing Across all…

Don’t let the title fool you, we’re not suggesting that you simply reintroduce old content into your social feeds. In fact, we feel so strongly against this that we went as far as dedicating an entire Serious Social podcast episode to NOT repurposing content. There is, however,…

Few will be surprised by this statement. So why haven’t more acted on this knowledge in recent years? It is as if some marketers have been caught in a cavity of boring and until someone senior to them instructs otherwise, inside the cavity they will stay. Some…

Life has changed. Work meetings are now interrupted by children (our own Managing Director recently had to pause everything because his son was just so darned proud he’d beat a level in a Lego game, which, to be fair, is very impressive). The Emmys will now be televised,…

On a call this week I said I felt as though I had developed a split personality, one that’s motivated, encouraged by great client feedback and what we can do for brands right now on social ( ) and another that’s wistful, dreamy and engaging only in the…

Though lockdown is in full swing, we haven’t all gone mute as a result. In the B2B tech sector, conversations around AI, cybersecurity, cloud, etc. are all staying strong – but have the discussion points changed, and what can you do to adjust your messaging so you remain…

Last Friday, we broadcast the latest episode of our Serious Social Facebook Live. Having moved from an edited weekly publication to a live broadcast. We’ve joined the brilliant British public response in flexing around Covid-19 requirements, whilst continuing our commitment to surface, address and offer solution to…

The current climate is changing our perception and view of what the word “community” means. If you’re unsure what you should or shouldn’t be using in your messaging right now – the first task is to listen to your audience. Discover where they are – which channels,…

It’s a question that really puzzles me. Along with ‘why do some businesses try to mimic the market leader?’ or, ‘why do B2B companies continue to use awful stock photography of people pretending to be businesspeople?’ or, ‘why do travel companies persist with blue filters?’. At the risk…

What planning must you do now for the inevitable new normal It’s frantic busy. Every marketing department and agency is resettling and refocusing. Spinning multiple plates as usual! Last week, the below diagram was shared with me on the Drum Network Slack channel. I loved it – it…

While the streets are quiet and the shops are shut, the bars and cinemas are closed – and so are the theatres. But in the theatre, when they are “dark” (there’s no live production), there’s a tradition to leave a “ghost light” centre stage. Partly for the safety…

75% of users never go beyond page 1 of a Google search query. To reach your audience effectively, the key is to know what their interests are, and what questions they have. To achieve that balance, you need experience and a few choice tools that can make all…

Very few of society have faced anything like what we all front up to today. Fluid developments continue to alarm and challenge us. Businesses have been placed in a period of uncertainty whilst they seek support from the government. For now, all we can all do is follow the…

In such unprecedented and uncertain times, social media platforms have become the go-to for keeping up to date with the latest news regarding Covid-19. Earlier this week we reported that social media activity had risen 25% over the last two week period – and this percentage is…

If you, like us, find yourself suddenly working from home, figuring out new technology and ways of staying connected and bonded to your team on one hand, as well as navigating the current landscape in marketing on the other, we’re here for you. Rapid change and uncertainly can…

Start with the ‘why’. This is [or should be] the mantra for any effective content marketing strategy. This is particularly important with social, where often the hard-sell message needs to take a backseat to genuine engagement and sensitivity when it comes to why social users are on that…

Say, you want to advertise your kickstarted, redwood-embossed suitcase made from a titanium-weave shell that’s reinforced with Kevlar, because why would it not be? It’s the next step in suitcase technology, with a built-in sound system and paper shredder. To top it off, it looks pretty swanky. You’re aiming…

For B2B brands, account-based marketing is key to its marketing and sales for several reasons. To name a few – ABM puts the emphasis on individual prospects or existing accounts, has a huge potential for return on investment and often shortens the sales cycle. So, what’s holding B2B…

Twitter is growing – are you missing out? Their Q4 performance report states that they have added 21% more monetizable daily active users to the platform – this takes them to 152million. What does monetizable mean? It’s a user count of how many accounts…

IGTV may not have grown as quickly as anticipated, but with additional features on the horizon and monetisation in testing, it could very well be IGTV’s time to shine! Top creators are currently making their megabucks on Youtube and Facebook, swerving IGTV for the simple fact that…

The UK events industry is worth £42.3 billion – and it’s still growing. Gone are the days of cold calls, handshakes and flyers. Today’s event marketers are reaching you when you’re walking, talking, surfing or just casually browsing your favourite job listings site. When you…

In October 2019, Instagram launched a new @Creator account to provide tips and advice for Influencers, citing it as “THE place to learn more about what it takes to be a creator from the team at Instagram + the creators who inspire us every day”. Since its…

At IF we love all things social. So, we’re always interested in staying up to date with the latest happenings and bringing them to you in our weekly Social Snapshot! Read on to find out what’s been happening in the past week……

Would you create a White Paper giving it only cursory effort? Would you slap any old image and message on a Billboard? Would you grab any piece of copy and image and throw up on your website? If shooting a TV Ad, would you corral the troops…

After 5 years of back and forth boomerangs, Instagram has decided to take things to the next level, adding not one, not two but three new features for the ever-popular platform! According to Instagram itself, they are ‘creative twists that’ll make you say yaaassssss’. And will also help…

More controls for conversation on Twitter – is this a positive change to reduce trolling or the beginning of closed communities on the platform? One of the latest announcements from Twitter was made during an appearance by Suzanne Xie, Twitter’s director of product management, at CES (Consumer Electronics Show)…

A new calendar year inevitably brings algorithm changes and updates to social media platforms. But these aren’t the only changes that marketers need to put on their radar – changes to reporting and insights need to be noted as well. These changes are extremely important to brands, as…

Why Media Buyers and networked Creatives agencies are doing Social Media wrong If you were to jump into a DeLorean equipped with Flux Capacitor and punch in a…

That’s right, it’s that time of year when we all prophesied about what the future year will hold. We usually look back and back-slap the 2019 forecasts that bore a molecule of resonance and success. Some will make simple to prove assertions like ‘live video demand will increase’.

If you’re a small business looking to grow and haven’t considered the potential benefits of using social media, you may want to keep reading. We’ve put a concise list together touching upon just some of the many reasons social media is an effective tool in helping grow your…

Let’s be honest, we sometimes overcomplicate marketing activities. Planners can be accused of planning a plan to create a plan. Creatives are claimed to create complex artwork for the sake or showcasing their talent. Strategists are believed to strategise the best approach for strategic construction of a tweet in…

Marketing teams are busy. Task lists swell daily. I’m not sure any marketer manages to achieve everything they set out to annually. Evolving sales collateral, event planning, commissioning reports, briefing the spring, summer and Christmas Ads, launching NPD, or improving demand generation. There is much to achieve as…

If the last week few weeks in the world of social media x politics have taught us anything, it’s that the public does “give a toss” about the cut and thrust of social – even if this politician doesn’t think so. In October 2019, Twitter…

Included in Facebook’s latest Graph and Marketing API update, the social media platform has announced that in 2020 they will limit the number of ads a page can run at one time. Your initial reaction might be that this update could limit capabilities for your business. However,…

Digital marketers should play the long game when it comes to LinkedIn For digital marketers, ‘ROI’ is not a new term. It’s a metric that is consistently measured against efforts and budgets when reporting on performance. But how is ROI calculated and influenced? And how can we…

Starting anything new can be scary, and for some, social media marketing is no different. Whether it’s a brand new channel to you, or you’re testing new content, new paid strategies or going after a new audience, there’s an element of bravery needed. At IF, we’re always aiming…

LinkedIn is playing catch-up again and has announced the new facility to create and manage events on the channel… finally! The functionality promises to allow us to “create private events, event update notifications, search filters to invite the right attendees”, and you can find it…

Well, the nights are drawing in and it’s getting colder and darker. But it’s never a dull day in the world of social media! We are always warmed up by the new developments and news stories that appear in our feeds which we bring to you in…

If you’re reading this, you’re probably already familiar with the Business Manager on Facebook, and perhaps using it to great advantage in your paid social strategy. For some, the next step is considering markets outside the UK… nope, I’m not going to mention the ‘B’ word! Having attended…

In B2B marketing, it can be tempting to rinse and reuse marketing strategies that target decision-makers and upsell your offering. However, like the social media landscape, no formula for success remains the same. Just like B2C marketing, we need to factor in changing audience behaviours and the ways we…

And so it continues… Facebook is following in the footsteps of Instagram and going ahead with testing the hiding of like counts. Starting in Australia, users will still be able to see their own like count, but this will be hidden from everyone else. Instead, followers will only…

Meet employee advocacy, the first cousin to influencer marketing. Your employees are generally the best advocates you have. They can be a credible and creative way to build brand recognition and instill trust in your business as well as generating word of mouth. And let’s be really honest, where…

So you and your marketing team have taken an idea from the drawing board through to execution and you now have a great piece of content you can all be proud of, but now what? You can share it across your networks and hope it hits your target…

Huh, I hear many of you say. But, it’s true. Having spent months creating a meaningful report or white paper flush with extensive insight and valuable intellectual property, it’s a given that you’re going to place it behind a gate to gather critical data on potential customers.

If you’re a B2B marketer, there’s no doubt that you’ve had to sit through countless meetings, presentations and lesson modules that follow the same three-pronged strategy: 1. What’s the buyers’ problem, 2. How does my technology fix it? and 3. How can I prove that my product is…

The future of Instagram looks fun, funky and a whole lot more filtered! That’s because they’ve recently opened up the Spark AR filter creation platform for all users, allowing anyone to create augmented reality filters and publish them on Instagram stories! This will open a whole host of…

It’s astonishing the number of people who proclaim this without having even tried using the platform for B2B. “Facebook is more of a consumer channel. We use Twitter and LinkedIn.” Yet, when pressed, the spokesperson rarely has any supporting evidence or experience as to why they’ve landed at…

Summer is traditionally the time many of us slow down – heck, we all slowed down in the very recent heatwave – as many of us go on our holidays or enjoy time at home. And while many things go quiet over the summer, does social media? Well…

We love a good B2B brainstorm – it’s one of our (many) nerdy fascinations. So, when given the opportunity to attend the B2B Marketing Ignite 2019 conference, we simply couldn’t resist. Not to mention, our dear friends and clients at Fujitsu would be speaking on…

The UK and most of Europe is currently experiencing a heatwave – as I write, the temperature in London is set to reach 38º Celcius… scorchio! So how are you planning to deal with this? Hire some air-con? Hibernate in the Ice Bar or, to be fair, any bar…

Every company, be it B2B or B2C, will always be searching for new ways to spruce up their social media strategy; whether there’s a new format or a fun, innovative creative concept to try – we all want to break the social boring. But, are you experimenting with your…

It’s a question we’re frequently asked, and one that doesn’t seem to go away. It’s clear there is still much confusion around the metrics you should pay attention to, versus those that are nothing more than a positive signal. Too many people in industry mistake the latter for…

Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the fast-moving world of social media, but this is where we step in. Keep on scrolling for the latest updates and tips from the industry! Facebook brings back reach estimates for Custom Audiences. https://po.st/svu5UB Marketeers rejoice! Facebook has…

Are you up to date with LinkedIn? LinkedIn pages have a few new ways you can improve the visibility, content and followers – here’s a checklist you can use to make sure you’re maximising this platform – because they have over 500m users! Tagline There’s a space…