Messaging Immediate Future

Messaging

In social media marketing, relationships are everything. But what happens when consumers start to sour? A new report exposes the seven deadly sins that brands commit on social media that can tarnish reputations, drive away customers, and ultimately lead to the downfall of even the mightiest…

Cosy culture is having a profound impact on society. The desire for comfort, warmth, and connection has revolutionised the way content is consumed. Let’s unravel the significance of cosy culture in social media, why it’s so popular, and how to infuse our feeds with everything cosy. Understanding Cosy Culture Cosy…

Get ready to turn your social media ads into a real party! Social media advertising is more than just a promotional strategy; it’s an art form. It involves crafting tailored ads to reach specific target audiences on a wide variety of evolving social media platforms. Armed with insights such as…

In today’s ever-evolving digital world, our screens overflow with a ceaseless stream of information clamouring for our attention. In the quest to capture hearts, minds, and wallets, a potent force has re-emerged, reshaping how we perceive and engage. Authenticity is an unwavering beacon of truth that stands tall amidst the…

In the early days, there was a lot of confusion about how to work with creators and what that even meant. Creators would approach brands with the promise of making them the hero of their content in exchange for a flat fee. However, in recent years, we’ve seen a shift…

Are you looking to elevate your TikTok ads game? Look no further than TikTok‘s latest tool in the Creative Center – Keyword Insights! This cutting-edge feature allows you to discover the top-performing keywords and phrases in TikTok ads. By browsing…

What is Instagrams new Quiet Mode and why do we need it?

A lot of things changed last year, so how can you prepare for what lies ahead? Discover which social media trends matter for 2023. In today’s blog, we look at some of the predictions offering an advantage to retain relevancy in an increasingly competitive market. Make brand-new resolutions When…

TikTok data shows that 70% of mobile gamers say the platform is a great way for developers to get their attention. Should all brands be paying attention? The short answer is yes. In case you missed it, TikTok released a guide earlier this month for marketers…

Crunching the data and turning it into insight is what we’re all about – BUT… you’ll be failing if that’s all you focus on. Proving the value of social back to your organisation can be challenging – we’ve got some ideas about how you can best do this.

Brands in the food industry, are you still relying on recipe content and fancy photos of your food to generate engagement? This is especially important if your marketing strategy needs to encompass B2C as well as B2B – we’re here to remind you that you’ll need to do…

Trends are fickle things. They can come from nothing and be the hot new thing to post on social media. On TikTok, we see this more now than ever with different sounds or dancers for users to use or copy. The trend we will be focusing on today…

In the past year there has been an increasing trend of brands using their social media platforms to support various causes. Social media has shifted from a place of ideas sharing to one that educates and inspires. Supporting a good cause on social can be one of the…

Designers know more about ‘trusting the process’ than anyone else. Though what we all need to understand is, there is a process to everything that we do and without trust and patience, we can falter at the first hurdle. When it comes to ‘Trusting the Process’ on social…

Employee advocacy has moved centre stage in social marketing. It is accelerating as a program, pushing out its messaging in all new ways and putting employees at the forefront of business promotions and campaigns. What is driving this rapid increase in employee advocacy across social media, and what…

With social media companies all seeming to blend into one nowadays, it’s interesting to note the companies who know things aren’t working and can pull the plug before any more time and resources are spent on them… Yes, we are talking about you @Twitter. Now, this is…

No brand is a stranger to the realm of social media likes, but it seems like 2021 will be the year to kick them to the curb. While introduced to help relieve social pressure and improve mental health for its users, it’s difficult to ignore how this impacts…

That title is a nod to Bo Burnham’s Inside, the comedian’s latest special on Netflix, in which he spends a hefty amount of time discussing the effects of social media. His song Welcome to the Internet covers how there’s a little bit of everything for everyone, good and…

Brands, we hear your plea… you want better engagement and higher conversions, right? What’s the secret [BBQ] sauce? It’s the consumer data. In social, there are billions of consumers chatting about everything under the sun, so you just need to listen, interpret the data and use it to…

Hello and welcome to our latest Social Snapshot News Roundup! Let’s dive right in: Clubhouse – the uber popular social audio app – launched its Android version this month, bringing with it one million new users, and a million more are sitting on the waitlist. The app…

We live in a digital era and there are billions of internet users worldwide. That means there are lots of opportunities for brands to engage with their audience and achieve business growth. One of the most effective methods for spreading brand awareness and attracting new customers is…

Why isn’t anyone advocating storytelling reporting to your own boardroom? As we emerge from COVID-19, boardrooms are scrutinising their post-COVID recovery plans. Budgets and ROIs are being assessed to determine if they’re investing in the right areas to deliver the required business impact, at the speed needed. There…

82% of people agree social media is a vital channel for delivering exceptional customer experience. We know consistently delighting customers is a complex task – requiring skills in leadership, tech and a healthy dose of agility. Often, though, the idea of focusing on the customer experience through social…

If you need some practical tips about community engagement on social, you’ve come to the right place! Audiences, whether in B2B or B2C are very unforgiving when it comes to how brands engage with them – more than ever, we want brands to be fast, human, clear and…

A few weeks ago, we wrote a piece on when it was best to stand out from the crowd, and if done right, can create some truly engaging content that sees other brands jumping on your bandwagon. The most recent occurrence…

Well, we could simply say… research, plan it, write it, check it, check it again, post it. But there’s really much more to writing for social media than many people think. Here are our top tips, and what not to do! First Thought What is the first thing,…

Since McDonalds and AutoTrader talked about being bold with content, it has been front of mind for me. I cannot stop thinking about the minutiae of being brave with social comms. It matters. Social is so noisy, you need bold content to grab attention. But it is a…

Social is a very visual medium, so why are brands still doing a bad job at communication through design? Whether it’s a boring, wallpaper image, or a message which doesn’t translate from print to social (we’re looking at you, Burger King), there’s no reason brands can’t take the…

Social media trends are quite often fleeting. Some find ways to adapt and evolve and stay relevant. Others are gone with the click of the fingers. One thing that is here to stay is influencer marketing. In 2021 brands are well aware that connecting with the consumers is…

Welcome back for another year of our Social Snapshot! Today we are taking a look at the biggest stories of January – plus a few missed from the end of the year when we were all on break. Let’s dive in: Instagram adds new creative tools in…

In recent days, gamers have swarmed social media to show their disappointment in the launch of the highly anticipated video game, ‘Cyberpunk 2077’, some of which have been waiting over ten years for its release. To the dismay of many, the game released to platforms in an unplayable state, making…

Many of us will be happy to see the end of 2020, but it’s still important to reflect on the happenings in social media from the last twelve months. Facebook year in review Unsurprisingly, a major theme for Facebook/Instagram this year was Covid-19. The Instagram Stay Home sticker…

Without a doubt next year is going to be bumpy. We’re not over the pandemic yet; the UK faces Brexit; and a recession is on the cards. Whether your industry is flying or picking itself back up again, you will need a plan for next year. This…

Building your brand personality on social will set you in good stead for the future – more than that, it’ll ensure your audience understand who you are and what you stand for, building up brand trust. The key to building this up is consistency – write in a…

With the groundbreaking election taking place across the pond, we are reminded to vote and to share with others the importance of voting through our social channels. Platforms are giving us factual information, and sometimes something creative to show support. These sort of social media events have been going…

Can you quite believe that we are a mere few weeks from the end of 2020! For many, it can’t end quick enough, but for brand marketers, we KNOW there’s never quite enough time to plan for the year ahead. We’ve just launched our…

Are you like me? Do you enjoy, nay, LOVE, Halloween season? It is by far the most enjoyable season (don’t @ me, I *will* fight you!) I absolutely love seeing the amount of creativity that goes into costumes, make up and media. I mean, even coffee get’s…

Cross-app communication, Instagram’s 10th birthday and Facebook’s new Groups feature – it’s been a busy week, so let’s dig in today’s Social Snapshot: Facebook introduces cross-app communication between Messenger and Instagram Facebook announced it will begin rolling out new functionality, allowing Instagram and Messenger users to communicate…

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…

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…

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!…

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…

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…

Social media is ever-changing, and sometimes it can be hard to stay up to date! Stick with us as we take you through our weekly roundup of everything you need to know… Screen-share comes to mobile Messenger. After bringing the option to desktop earlier this year, Facebook has…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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,…

Mark Zuckerberg has recently announced a whole new range of video tools across the Facebook app family. And without further ado, here is what’s coming; With video calls, Facebook will soon double the amount of group video calls from 4 to 8…

Navigating through today’s societal challenges as a marketer is no easy task. Driving business objectives while also remaining respectful and providing support to audiences is a delicate balance that can easily be threatened with one wrong move. In recent podcast “Marketing in the time of…

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,…

(…in which the author has nostalgic ramblings) Well it’s about time, Facebook! The company has now announced that Messenger for desktop is available for download for both Windows and Mac OS machines. In a quote from Facebook: “people are using technology to…

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…

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…

In the past couple of weeks, social media has become the go-to place to get news updates and entertainment for many. So of course, our favoured platforms are continuing to test out new features to keep their audiences engaged during this uncertain time. If you’ve missed out on…

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…

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…

Since the advent of social media, never has there been a global pandemic that has required this large of a lockdown across the globe. The reasons for self-isolation are, by now, well-known – even if you don’t have symptoms of Covid-19, and are young/of good health, it…

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…

It’s always interesting to find out what’s happening in the world of social media, but we understand that sometimes it’s hard to keep up. That’s why we’ve rounded up the most interesting articles that we just had to shout about. Keep on reading to find out what you’ve missed…

Could it be? The much-awaited desktop version of DMs is FINALLY here? Well, almost. Instagram talked about and tested this functionality around February of last year, however, they have now confirmed that it will be happening and are slowly rolling out direct message access via their web-based…

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… Facebook’s adding more detail to its…

It’s hard to remember life before social media platforms popped on the scene and revolutionized how we communicate with others and how we express ourselves. Social media was once a place where friend networks were in the thousands. And let’s be honest, it’s not like many people would…

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’.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a critical tool for any business as it can ensure you stand out in a very crowded online environment. But did you know that social media also has a part to play in your SEO plans? How? By tying into what Google looks…

Social media marketing benefits businesses in many ways, not least as it facilitates a unique, direct relationship with your customers. However, many businesses, despite having and managing a social media presence, are failing to recognise one of the key benefits of this media – social listening. What exactly…

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…

As a consumer, you’d be forgiven for missing the change in product branding which occurred this week by Facebook. Sorry, FACEBOOK. Their announcements around the rebrand focus on their objective to be “clear” about which products belong in their wheelhouse. This effort may seem little…

Whether it’s a new platform update, testing a feature or ways to improve social strategy, we’re always fascinated to find out what’s been happening in the world of social media and learn new things. That’s why we’ve rounded up the best articles from the past week we just have…

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…

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…

Another week has passed and my, what a week it has been! We love staying up to date with the latest happenings in social, and we’re sure you do too. That’s why we’ve rounded up the best articles from the past week we just have to shout about… …

Sometimes people reply to your Tweets about things you don’t want to see. And sometimes you just don’t want any replies to be seen at all. So, to help, Twitter has been testing out a new feature that lets you do just that. After launching an initial test for users…

Instagram (or more likely, Facebook) are developing a new app called Threads – a messaging app where you can automatically share your location, speed, and battery life, as well as the usual stuff like text, photos, and videos with your ‘close friends’ list. Users will be able to opt into…