Uncategorized Immediate Future

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It’s been 20 years since Bill Gates uttered the famous words “content is king” – and for the last two decades, it has been a mantra by which marketers have lived. But mobile and smart technologies have changed the way that people interact with brands and their content, which, in…

Facebook’s presence is becoming ever more omnipotent, as Sir Martin Sorrell stated how Google’s dominant position in online advertising is threatened by the social networking giant. This may not be surprising to some, as Facebook beat YouTube in terms of desktop video views for the first time in August 2014,…

Recently there has been a lot of talk about Twitter’s supposedly secret upcoming feature, Project Lightning, and it’s easy to see why. What we do know is that it will curate and display events-based content in rich feeds which will be visible whether the user is logged into Twitter or…

The festival season is here and brands globally are cashing in on sponsorship, branding, presence and product demos of all kinds; taking over stalls, stages, arenas, performers and musicians to get in front of the most dynamic audiences, be in the background of their selfies, and inevitably be part…

What is the ‘best’ performing blog? Which piece of content performs the best on my website? What should we make more of? These are all questions I am used to hearing from clients. There are a number of ways to measure ‘success’ and ‘performance’ but before doing so you need…

As more marketers are taking innovative steps toward reaching their target audiences on digital channels, it is becoming even more important for the messages they are pushing to be as relevant as possible. The most effective way to gain relevance like this is to use the digital data at your disposal. It’s never been…

With the introduction of the modern computer in the 1950s through to modern-day hand-held devices, technology has empowered us to communicate and process facts faster. It has also forced us to assimilate data and phenomena quicker. But as a result of that faster data and message transmission, we are now…

Industry events, trade shows, exhibitions and all the other events that companies have to attend are, in many ways, a necessary evil. They are great fun, and they show the industry that “we are still here and we mean business”. However, more often than not, they cost the earth and…

A recent article published by the FT has announced that several mobile providers may soon be launching ad blocking software over their networks. This new service, developed by an Israeli start-up, Shine will block most types of advertising on mobile devices, including in-app advertising,…

It’s no secret that social media connects millions of people worldwide and has irreversibly changed the way we interact. The abundance of social media platforms has necessitated a change in the way brands engage with customers, how we consume news, our communications with friends…

With all kinds of summer events on the agenda and the corporate convention season already rumbling away, marketers are increasingly looking for reliable ways to bide the attention of attendees, eager to solidify connection with their target prospects and make sure they stay on their radar to develop a promising brand relationship.

“What’s Twitter saying?” “What’s the hashtag?” So entwined is social to our world, that to get the latest news we often go there first – but are we right to look to Twitter and other social networks to gauge wider public opinion? A study in 2013 by Pew Research showed…

On Sunday 26 April, alongside around 38,000 other intrepid runners, I ran the 2015 Virgin Money London Marathon (I promise this will be the last time I mention it). To make it harder for myself, I decided to live tweet my way around the course. Along…

As if you didn’t know already, social media is a noisy space. And the latest research from GlobalWebIndex (GWI) gives us one of the reasons why. Because on average people have 5.39 social networking accounts. Now that is a lot of chatter! But here’s the thing: for…

In the event of Klout’s new feature to identify expertise, and the fact that I seem to be increasingly talking more and more to clients around this subject, I thought it seemed timely to discuss influencers. Firstly, what is Klout’s new feature? Well, in a nutshell, it shows you what…

A huge change in readily accessible data on social media is about to occur. On 10 March Facebook announced it would be closing off third party API access to its user activity data to make way for something a lot more exciting. Facebook Topic Data. What does…

The hot topic of the moment is Digital Transformation. As you would expect of any agency principle, I regularly attend and speak at events on this very topic. Whilst I applaud the information that is being shared to help inspire and evidence the increasing importance of digital, all too often…

Every 6 months or so another infographic appears informing us of the best times to post on each social media platform. Well I can tell you that most of these timings are unworkable. Useless insight that is meaningless. Why? Because the best times to post depends on a number of…

Here at immediate future we like to stay in shape. Whether it’s running the London Marathon or maintaining brand health, we are always on the ball. With that in mind, we put together the following Social Media Brand Workout to help you keep your…

I recently spoke on the panel at a wonderful Social Media Leadership forum event hosted by Founder Justin Hunt, on the theme of how to embed a data driven culture. Whilst by title, the focus was on social media, it was inevitable that we leaked into all…

Finding yourself in a new location, town or city can be quite daunting. But being able to connect to others and discover new venues can be key to quickly getting the most out of your new whereabouts. On a…

Are private messenger platforms due an overhaul? The latest trends suggest that brands are looking to leverage their customer interaction with product information, advice and sheer selling. Is private no longer private, as the messages get commercial? Private messaging has been around for yonks. In the late 1980s the arrival…

Clinton passed on an ostentatious announcement, and opted for online social conversations to kick-start her campaign for the White House. And the buzz which followed was far greater than fellow candidates from the opposing Republican Party. After announcing her presidential bid, last Sunday via YouTube, Clinton has managed to score…

On 26 April, I’ll be running the Virgin Money London Marathon for the very first time. My IF colleagues all think I’m completely bonkers, and after 5 months of (barely) training, I’m starting to agree with them. Why is this blogworthy, you may ask. Well, despite it…

It is one of the UK’s fastest-growing retailers and its name and mission have shunned the city centre for nine years. But notonthehighstreet.com, which recently underscored its aversion to the high street by opening its new Surrey headquarters overlooking the Richmond roundabout, has ambitions to – wait…

Yesterday I spent the day with one of our global clients getting into the nitty-gritty of social compliance. As a business operating globally, they sensibly wanted to understand the latest social regulations, ensuring their social media policy was updated – sage advice indeed, I would urge any business to…

There is a lot of social noise when it comes to travel. From flights and holidays to hotels and destinations; brands and consumers alike are chatting, posting and broadcasting on social media. In all that noise though, there is insight that can change the game for travel brands. Get it…

Your audience on social media can be a fickle, and tricky one to crack. But it’s a quest worth fighting for! Did you know an astonishing 47% of people who follow brands on social are more likely to visit the company’s website? Precisely why it’s important to…

Occasionally we all need to brush up on our social etiquette, so immediate future have produced this useful infographic of some of the worst things a brand can do on social media. There are plenty of lists of what you should be doing on social media to further your…

Whether you’re at the beginning of your journey working in digital or progressing a career, it seems to me that conventional paths to success are not all that common. In fact, getting on in tech often comes from idiosyncratic and unorthodox approaches. This Sunday, I had the rare and amazing…

Did anyone hear about Madonna’s fall last week? Well, yes I think the whole world did and they heard about it in the precise moment even if they weren’t watching the Brits. #BRITs2015 anyone? The power of social. By the time the newspapers had printed…

So Facebook has at last, after 4 years, got its patent to identify influencers and experts in a social network. And so influencer marketing comes back centre stage. I say it comes back, because when immediate future started 11 years ago, influencer marketing was a hot tactic.

Moving pictures. The phrase has been around for more than one hundred years but in 2015 they really are just that. Only the buzz name for them is cinemagraphs. And they are the next big thing in social media and marketing opportunities. Based on the humble GIF file, they are…

Fireworks illuminated the skies across Asia as millions celebrated the Year of the Sheep on Thursday. Wednesday night, Lunar New Year’s eve, was marked by loud booms as people set off firecrackers across china and families came together to enjoy the festivities. In China over 600 million people use online…

Voice is a big thing for me this week, partly because I have a cold and appear to be losing mine, but mostly because so many brands on social, need one. There is just no excuse for posts and tweets that are vanilla, samey and predictable? After all, most brands…

Today I am going to show you how you can take your pre-made video content on your desktop computer and turn it into a Vine in 4 easy steps. Of course the real first step is producing some really top quality video content, but here’s some I borrowed earlier –…

It is very exciting to be at immediate future at the moment! Everyday we are having conversations with intelligent people at brands who are embarking on a digital transformation journey. Within the first few slides in our presentation documents we share a common immediate future belief “social is not the…

People who spread racial hatred on social media could soon be issued with ‘Internet ASBOs’ under new proposals from a group of UK MPs. The proposals seek to ban users who persistently spread racial hatred online by extending existing legislation that prevents convicted sex offenders accessing the Internet,…

A lot we think. I saw a quote last week in an article that was shared by @SaraFdezM that got me thinking – if social helped get Barack into the white house – when will it catch up in the UK elections? As…

Brands are demanding results from social media. They want ROI. Quite rightly too. Social has matured and now investment is required for paid and organic (and the content to go with it all). Yet 52% of marketers say they still struggle to prove the worth of social…

Sometimes brands make mistakes. Sometimes they are huge, glaring, thousand foot high mistakes in neon pink and people usually have something to say about it on social media. In the ramp up to Super Bowl XLIX last night (the most social superbowl ever!) many brands released their…

Even ostriches don’t bury their heads in sand; it’s a myth that probably originates from the birds defensive behaviour of lying low and pressing their long necks to the ground in an effort to be less visible. I’m no longer shocked by the volume of brands who are yet to…

What can we learn from the health and fitness industry when it comes to engaging customers? Every January marketers spend thousands of pounds on health and fitness campaigns, targeting Brits who are trying to shed their Christmas pounds and fulfil their New Year resolutions of being fitter and healthier.

Last week Facebook and LinkedIn announced their intention to focus on social enterprise. Facebook at work launched with small scale trials by invitation. It functions like Facebook, but allows for a separate login and the opportunity to keep work and personal separate. LinkedIn, already considered the de…

We use the LinkedIn paid platform for clients on a daily basis. Despite its rather dated layout and reasonably thin set of features (when compared with the big boys like Google and Facebook), there is no doubt, for me, that LinkedIn still very much has the edge…

Social channels are constantly evolving and keeping up to date with the optimum way to use each one can be a big task, so immediate future have made this handy guide to optimising your social content to the channel of your choice. Statistics have shown that the impact on the…

As we move through social media maturity, with some organizations already focusing on optimizing activity and performance based models, the question is – when does social media just become part of everything else? And what is the future of the social media department or even team?…

There are almost 10,000 vacancies for social media manager on Indeed right now and the numbers keep on growing. In fact there are even more jobs in social media, especially when you search for social analyst, content manager, editor and the many burgeoning job titles. There are university courses and…

At the back end of last year myself and a colleague delivered a social media training session to a customer service team – slightly different audience to the marketing bods that we are used to. And what was the purpose of the session? It’s actually something that we as social…

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year The team would like to thank you all for your continual goodwill and loyalty throughout the past year. It’s been a fantastic 2014 and your support has been amazing. Expect to see a lot more of Immediate Future in 2015 as we have…

2014 has been something of a segmentation process for the top social media channels. Revealing the true age, genuine activity and fluctuating engagement levels of some of the most active social groups. Despite attempts by Twitter to take action to re-engage dormant users with features like custom news feeds during the World Cup and similar…

This week has seen two horrifying terrorist attacks, the Lindt Café Siege in Sydney and the Peshawar School Attack, both resulting in tragic loss of life and inspiring heartfelt online responses in the form of the hashtags #ILLRIDEWITHYOU and #IndiaWithPakistan Monday saw Sydney struck by terror when at 9:45am a…

You’re on your phone, in an app, an ad pops up, what are you more likely to spend your money on? • A Jacket • A Meal • An App SPOILER ALERT; It’s an app. Everyone and their mum wants you to download their app these days, from…

This week, Twitter came out in force to remember the tragic death of Australian cricketer Phil Hughes, with a range of poignant hashtags. The first of the Phil Hughes hashtags was #63notout – a reference to the score he was on when he was hit on the neck…

It has been predicted that this year’s Black Friday will be the fastest growing online sales day of the year, with an estimated 28% year-on-year growth in sales (Social Bro) in the US. Over here in the UK Black Friday has also been taking retailers by storm, thanks mainly to…

Snapchat have joined forces with online payments company Square to bring you the latest peer-to-peer money transfer service, Snapcash. Simply put, it means Snapchat users can now transfer funds to contacts as easily as starting a chat, typing a dollar sign followed by an amount and hitting the green…

Over the weekend The Sunday Times reported on yet another big social media valuation, this time it was Snapchat’s turn to grab the headlines with a $12bn valuation. It follows the highly anticipated first ad running across the messaging platform last month – a 20 second trailer for horror film…

This post has been inspired this week by a hell of a lot of model drawing, inter-brand and agency conversations – scoping the models that will shape our clients in 2015 based on sterling work during this year so far in the real-time social arena. Then this video came up,…

When the social world swarms around an issue or to protest, change happens (most of the time). In many instances this is for a greater good – for injustice, to correct a wrong, or defend a situation. From the world changing Arab Spring; to the recent, and heart-warming, search for…

Sourcing fresh content that genuinely engages and adds value among your community is always a challenge. Making sure you discover content that is not only fresh but also on-trend and totally relevant for curating back to your social following is key to gaining positive…

5 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Infographics The use of infographics in marketing and on social media is nothing new but here are a few reasons why you should be using these incredibly versatile tools; 1) 90% Of Information Transmitted To The Brain Is Visual. Your eyes have more sensory…

Moves are afoot, and money is being spent, to dig a whole lot deeper into the Twitter conversations. Earlier this year Twitter gave researchers data grants to back-test hypotheses with large quantities of historical data. It is also funding (to the tune of $10m) an MIT programme to analyse social…

The rise of Clickbait headlines on social networks is a content marketing tactic that we’re all familiar with, and many of us now bored with. From Buzzfeed to Upworthy, Clickbait has garnered some content aggregate sites with unprecedented hit ratios in the last few years. However, Facebook has recently changed…

The next phase of The Government Cyber Streetwise has launched. This time it’s tackling the subject of passwords. On average a person will have between 19 to 26 online accounts, (figures according to Experian), 25-34 year olds being the most prolific users with no fewer than 40 online accounts per…

Nearly one in two people in the UK will get cancer. But, as we learned from Amanda Neylon, Macmillan Cancer Support’s Head of Digital at the Social Speakeasy, 38% will not die from the disease. Macmillan exist to improve the lives of everyone living with cancer. Engaging and inspiring others…

Pinterest has solidly established itself as one of the top visual content-sharing platforms, primed with plenty of user-generated content but also curates content itself, through its Pin Picks feature – a lesser-known collection of a few of the Pinterest team’s “favourite things”, compiled in partnership with some…

In a world where the constant battle to strive to make things smaller and smaller seems to be never ending, the boys (and girls!?) over at Tiny Circuits have created a miniature screen that you can put on…well…basically anything. At an inch across (diagonally), the…

Yesterday we wrapped up a social command centre for the Thomson Reuters brand Accelus OrgID. It has been a week of frenzied content creation, tweeting and posting. All designed to amplify the company’s presence at Sibos 2014 (a major financial trade conference) and drive leads. And in our experience, real-time…

Despite the ubiquitous nature of social media and its increasing impact in digital marketing, the majority of marketers fail to maximise the channel’s full potential. We are seeing it time and time again. What many seem to have forgotten is that social is sold on relationships. In an earlier blog…

It’s official. Instagram Ads are going live in the UK. Like Pinterest before them, the photo sharing app is evolving into an advertising hub for social businesses. Having tested sponsored ads with select partners such as Channel 4 and Waitrose, all UK brands will soon have the opportunity to promote…

Since yesterday, Dave Lewis, Chief Executive at Tesco, has been in the firing line. He is new to the role and battling against a crisis that, whilst not of his making, puts him centre stage. Yet a search on the networks shows that Mr Lewis has no…

“Luxury retailers are leading the way with in-store technology” was the title of an article that I read recently and something I have been watching for a while. Yes, because I have a natural interest in fashion but also for me I really believe that the fashion…

News flash! B2B marketing is emotional. More and more marketers are recognising the importance of psychology behind purchases, and the emotional state that customers are in when they connect with a brand. Not dissimilar to the concept of H2H (human 2 human). Brands need to lose the unnatural techie jargon…

Safe and small micro-sharing apps like Cluster have been adopted as a new way of sharing sensitive or more private information & content with a select group of people. In an attempt to compete in this space and allow its users to share information more selectively, Facebook is building a…

Little else has dominated UK news headlines in recent months than the impending Scottish referendum. Not satisfied by traditional media coverage, many have taken to social media to voice their beliefs. Individuals, as well as the Yes and No campaign brands themselves, have chosen social to raise awareness and support…

Last week we were joined by Clare Izhaky, Head of Social Business for Microsoft Mobile (formerly Nokia) at the Social Speakeasy, who shared some terrific insight into her team’s approach to social media… Don’t be Bob. Who is Bob, you ask? Bob is dull, unsociable, doesn’t listen to people and…

Twitter has recently unwittingly dropped hints they may be shifting closer to becoming an Ecommerce channel with the discovery of a ‘payments and shipping’ option in the settings window of their android app. The discovery followed a tweet by a developer in South Africa, the window clearly showing a currently…

immediate future is thrilled to be celebrating a decade in social media; what a landmark! And we’re going to make the most of the occasion. Much to the IF team’s delight, we are having a fabulous party! This is a once in a lifetime moment, after all! We’re looking forward…

LinkedIn announced this week that they have acquired social sorting site Newsle. This machine-learning site, scans all social sites to cut out the noise and deliver to you only the most relevant information and content that you are looking for. It has been stated for…

Cover your tracks, you can no longer hide! Snapchat have just released their new geo-filters feature, allowing users to add quick, designed-up location tags to their pictures. Swiping right on a picture once you have taken it creates a text or graphic sticker which gets overlaid onto your picture showing…

The most tweeted about sporting event in history. The day Germany smashed world cup hosts Brazil in a 7-1 victory. Twitter set out to win big during Brazil 2014 and they continue to excel their own benchmarks in smashing records and taking their event coverage to the…

The days of going to a shopping centre with a group of friends on a Saturday afternoon could be something of a myth soon. The ecommerce boom has meant that more and more of us are taking to our laptops, mobiles or tablets and it doesn’t look like its slowing…

Lithium customer service management tool, used by services such as Spotify and Post Office and Skype, plans to incorporate its, recently acquired, online influence scoring app; Klout into it’s monitoring system. Adding value and unique…

This week Facebook released their employee diversity report, a new ideal brought about by Google to provide more transparency over large tech companies’ employee intake. In theory, this is a nice practice which would reveal the fair and positive mix of race, sex and ethnicity amongst the…

Today’s social media practitioners are digital pioneers. They are setting benchmarks and establishing best practice for businesses all over the world. They are setting the social media agenda, and we think it’s time they were recognised by the wider industry for their outstanding contributions. So we are shining…

Glastonbury is the festival to be at year after year, and its only two days away! Although you may be in the deepest darkest fields of Somerset, don’t forget if you’re lucky you may still be living in the world of 3G. Make sure you know the schedule, remember the…

Spreading campaign messages via Twitter with the use of hashtags or recruiting dedicated supporters has always been a labour of gaining organic strength. Relying on the persistence and influence of others to spread the message. Now we see the emergence of new apps that access supporters’ social…

It was high time that tinder broke the mould and gave the app an update. However, I am not sure this is what people had in mind. The use of online dating sites and apps for meeting new people has become increasingly popular. The stigma that was attached to meeting…

One of the original 21st century social platforms that has somewhat survived 2 purchases, a revamp and an exodus of millions shifting to (and from) it’s once thriving user base to other emerging, more dominant, platforms (Facebook). Responsible for introducing many users to their first taste of blogging, photo sharing,…

Marketers are spending more money on content marketing than ever before. But without a clear content strategy how can brands calculate ROI? We all know that for brands using social media, great content is key. But it’s knowing what to do with that content that is what brands need to…

This weekend the British public were treated to a very generous helping of sport! For many of us sports fans there was so much sport it was hard to keep track of it all, but with rigorous planning I think I managed to catch most of it on TV! The…

This week Twitter launched a new feature allowing you to mute those pesky users who Tweet too much or sporadically at a time that is just not working for you. Useful right? Probably not so much for brands… Disclaimer: I followed @JustinBieber to illustrate the muting of someone who…

With the popularity of mobile apps and the development of tablets and smartphones, it’s no secret that businesses (especially social platforms) are focusing their efforts on becoming more mobile. Why wouldn’t they? You go to work to work – you have your mobile device to be ‘social’ outside of work…

There has been a lot of controversy around the recent changes to Twitter’s photo focused profiles. Not entirely sure what I am talking about? Discover how “The new Twitter profile layout now shows the world who you are” They really do look very similar to Facebook! Behind the scenes, as…

In the wake of the terrible tragedy at Corpus Christi Catholic College yesterday, where 61 year-old beloved teacher Anne Maguire was stabbed by one of her own 15 year-old, pupils, my thoughts turned to the difficulty in policing social media. In a situation like this, where the identity of an…

Would you like to know which social media site offers the top tools to target users, or the best platform for building brand awareness? Look no further as the Direct Marketers Association’s Social Media Council introduces the first ever social media scorecard for the…

The simple and versatile platform that combines a coherent interface with simple functionality. With an endless variety of customisable templates the platform has been a vast canvas for the more visually driven blogger to be truly creative. At face value Tumblr has the reputation of being mostly populated with junk…

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