Search results for "brands"

What’s up with WhatsApp?

What’s up with WhatsApp?

Had you even remembered WhatsApp had a ‘status’ feature? It’s that original line that states ‘Hi there, I’m using WhatsApp’ underneath your profile that probably hasn’t been changed, or in my case, noticed, since you downloaded WhatsApp when it was released in 2009. Talking of originality, WhatsApp have now changed…
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Creative & original visuals in your social media strategy to make it POP!   

Creative & original visuals in your social media strategy to make it POP!  

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

Are chatbots the future of social media customer service?

Social media customer service is becoming more important by the day. According to J.D. Power, 67% consumers have now used a company’s social media channel for customer service. And when they do so, they expect quick response times which a lot of companies are…
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Does Tinder’s acquisition of Wheel mean the ‘hook-up’ app is ready to settle down?

Does Tinder’s acquisition of Wheel mean the ‘hook-up’ app is ready to settle down?

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and if that’s the case Snapchat should be positively blushing right now. Because lately all of the social networks seem to be crushing fairly hard on that friendly ghost. Get a room you guys. The latest, fittingly in this post-Valentine’s week…
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Can Instagram make social commerce work?

Can Instagram make social commerce work?

With social commerce proving a major revenue generator for WeChat and Line in Asia, there’s no surprise that the big social networks are more enthusiastic than ever to get their slice of the action. And look no further than Instagram as a key example here: from the launch…
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Three essentials to squeezing the emotions out of social

Three essentials to squeezing the emotions out of social

Emotional content is the zeitgeist of modern marketing from TV and outdoor to, of course, social.  We know it works because the results speak for themselves. The challenge for most brands though, is getting that emotional bit right. Pups and sappy might work for John Lewis, but it is…
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Slowly losing interest in Pinterest?

Slowly losing interest in Pinterest?

We reckon the recent introduction of search ads might turn the world of pins back into wins. The virtual online inspiration ‘cork’ board, as Pinterest is often referred to as, has 150 million monthly users. These 150 million are making on average of 2 billion searches…
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Facebook’s forward-thinking Lite app opens up social marketing

Facebook’s forward-thinking Lite app opens up social marketing

If like us you live in a developed country, you’d be forgiven for not knowing what Facebook’s Lite app is, but it’s exactly what it says on the tin – a lightweight version of the well known Facebook app, available in a select group of countries and designed…
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Strategic Authenticity in your Social Presence- oh the irony!

Strategic Authenticity in your Social Presence- oh the irony!

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

Big changes to Snapchat ads

“What’s that?” I hear you cry, “Another Snapchat related blog?” well, you’ve got me there but this time is different, this time is really significant. This time there’s llamas. Firstly let’s get the latest ad unit news out of the way so I can get to the good bits. In…
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3 Ways How Instagram Drives Sales

3 Ways How Instagram Drives Sales

Instagram Stories Ads Good news! Instagram just announced that it will be releasing ads in its Instagram Stories section, which has managed to acquire about 150 million people check out Instagram Stories since it release later last year. And yes, Instagram is copying Snapchat a bit (again) but at…
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6 social tips for 2017, that you can benefit from NOW

6 social tips for 2017, that you can benefit from NOW

It’s said if you want to know what technology will be in mainstream cars in future years, you should review what is in a Mercedes S Class, today. The vision of S Class, becomes tomorrow’s reality. Much like the Mercedes S Class, CES has evolved into a beast of future…
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Make the most of your Pinterest boards

Make the most of your Pinterest boards

Most of you already know Pinterest. But if you can look past the design-ideas-pic sharing platform cliché, it’s more powerful than we often imagine, and can be incredibly useful to develop your brand online. Pinterest has as many monthly users as Snapchat (150 million), and 40% of new subscribers are…
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Everything has changed, nothing is different

Everything has changed, nothing is different

The marketing landscape continues to alter at a startling rate and we at Immediate Future are pretty certain you are fed up of being bombarded with fluffy information and figures about this “mammoth” transformation over the years. I can pretty much guarantee you’re thinking, “How great was life when we…
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Snapchat beefs up it’s ad game in 2017

Snapchat beefs up it’s ad game in 2017

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

PRISMA app evolves into a social animal

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

5 Ways To Use Live Video

Live videos are everywhere. This live trend started with Twitch, went to YouTube, jumped onto Facebook, then Instagram, and now Twitter is coming out with it’s native live streaming too (well done Twitter, you got there eventually). So the tools are there. But how to use them? We…
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What is Facebook Instant Articles and does it replace my blog?

What is Facebook Instant Articles and does it replace my blog?

Question: should I be using Facebook Instant Articles, and does it replace by blog. Answer: yes and no. Glad we sorted that one out. Merry Christmas and we’ll chat in the New Year. Okay, so I’m guessing you need a little more info than that. Fair point. What is…
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2016: A Year In Video

2016: A Year In Video

2016 right? It’s been a crazy year. Aside from the politics and the entire world being different now, social has notably evolved – particularly when it comes to video. Here are some of the ways social video has changed: Facebook Live Despite being launched in August…
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How to tap into Christmas TV on social

How to tap into Christmas TV on social

With the darker nights and Christmas programming on the horizon, TV takes a more central role in our UK media consumption. Last year, research showed that Christmas TV viewing was dominated by the TV set. But TV isn’t a channel alone anymore. Social sits hand in glove…
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Making Your OOH More Social

Making Your OOH More Social

From Snapchat’s Spectacles to the Amazon Dash Button, 2016 has seen a heavy focus from brands and advertisers on integrating digital and physical. This was also adopted in the marketing sphere, and several of the most notable campaigns this year came from ideas that found a way to use digital…
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The future of customer service is… ROBOTS!

The future of customer service is… ROBOTS!

Social media has long been credited for finally giving brands a voice. It also means that brands can be totally open and honest with their customers and audiences. Unfortunately, this means that brands are a lot more accessible than previously, leading to social pages often being used as a customer…
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Three Top Tips to Ace Live Social

Three Top Tips to Ace Live Social

Live social is an art. For some it comes naturally. Those with a flair for creating content on the fly and sharing their lives moment-by-moment will certainly have an advantage when it comes to live-posting at an event. However, without a deeper understanding of your client’s brand, the key messages…
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Teens: The Multi-Networking Generation

Teens: The Multi-Networking Generation

Reaching the elusive teen demographic (defined here as those aged 16-19) can be a pretty challenging task – just ask Facebook. After having it’s $3bn bid for Snapchat declined in 2013, Zuckerberg & Co. have had to find new and innovative ways of maintaining the attention of these young networkers.
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Is this the influencer you are looking for? Maybe.

Is this the influencer you are looking for? Maybe.

Influencers are all the rage these days – whether it’s a YouTube star, an Instagram model, or a renowned blogger, majority of brands are or would like to work with one. We have worked with a few of them and while the number on their subscription bar might be impressive,…
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Losing followers on social? The issue is bigger than you think

Losing followers on social? The issue is bigger than you think

Chasing vanity metrics such as likes and followers is pointless (given most of the algorithms on social don’t favour organic posts). But losing followers is still bad. It’s a sign that maybe you’re turning people off your brand. Take a deep dive into your losses and you’ll uncover insight that…
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Top 5 Books For Marketers

Top 5 Books For Marketers

1. Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential This book is one of ma favourites and I cannot recommend it enough. Whether you are just starting your career or you manage a team of 50 people, this book will make your rethink how you think about yourself and…
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10 creative executions for social you must use

10 creative executions for social you must use

Storytelling has been a hot topic for some time now, and rightly so. The brands (and their channels) that have the best storytelling content enjoy greater reach, engagement and conversion to spend. At IF, we’ve championed our audience-first approach for more than two years now; and we have the…
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Full Disclosure: Is Sponsored Content the Death of Influencer Marketing?

Full Disclosure: Is Sponsored Content the Death of Influencer Marketing?

There seems to be a new form of digital marketing dying every week, according to the internet – the latest victim apparently being influencer marketing. It’s not, of course (sorry, spoilers), it’s simply running into the issue that all organic-feeling mediums face when crossing into the mainstream as a legitimate…
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Just Why Is Video So Important On Social?

Just Why Is Video So Important On Social?

It’s a standout content, right?! Video that auto-plays in a customers’ social feed will draw their attention. Well, yes and yes. It goes much further than this though. Regular readers of our blog will know we advocate the ‘half scientist and half artist’ approach to marketing. Some will say: that’s…
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Your social media budget wish list for 2017

Your social media budget wish list for 2017

As we rush towards the end of the year, many marketers turn attention to budgets and planning. Planning goals, KPIs and a roadmap for the year is, as always, the essential starting point. So too is an understanding of what has changed since last year.  What are the…
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Facebook Might Say Goodbye To Likes

Facebook Might Say Goodbye To Likes

Facebook is testing removing “Page Likes” but before you start panicking, let’s look at the pros and cons of this possible reality. PROS: Page Likes are slightly different from what they used to be in the good old days when Facebook’s organic reach was considerably higher than current…
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Struggling to develop a Social Media Strategy for your business?

Struggling to develop a Social Media Strategy for your business?

As a business, have you ever asked the question “Why are we struggling to make social media work for us?” or “Do we have the right social media strategy for our business?”  If the answer to both questions is No, then you’re not alone as the real challenge of social…
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How to generate reach on YouTube for your brand

How to generate reach on YouTube for your brand

For a lot of brands, having a YouTube channel as part of a social media strategy may seem as if it’s not worth the hassle. For one thing, making good quality long-form videos is certainly on the expensive side of the content creation spectrum. Also, there are 300 hours uploaded…
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5 key Social Media learnings from X Factor

5 key Social Media learnings from X Factor

Whether you’re an X Factor fan or one of their many haters, there is a lot learn from the social media published by prime time television shows. For disclosure, I should say we’re working across X Factor this year, through one of their sponsors; but this is not a rally…
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Another Facebook Live Update

Another Facebook Live Update

The launch of Facebook Live has seen brands and agencies (including us) experimenting with the new broadcasting format.
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Periscope ups its live streaming game

Periscope ups its live streaming game

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

Why your brand’s ‘personality’ is so important

Social media has been revolutionary in not only brands giving brands a direct relationship with their current and potential customers, but for providing brands with a personality. In previous years, social media was used as simply another platform for advertising the benefits and uses of a product or service. Brands…
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Why you need to ‘pay to play’ in social media marketing

Why you need to ‘pay to play’ in social media marketing

Once upon a time, when social was still in its infancy, advertisers who were innovative enough to take the risk of plunging into the social media ‘trend’ were rewarded by establishing themselves as the first brands to truly embrace direct online relationships with their customers. Back in a simpler time,…
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Advertising to Developing Countries is ‘Lite’ Work

Advertising to Developing Countries is ‘Lite’ Work

It’s no secret that Mark Zuckerberg is trying his hardest to tap into developing world markets. In 2015 Mark hosted a town hall, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk about Facebook’s ‘Internet.org’ program now named Free Basics. A year on from that meeting and India regulators banned the…
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The 4 trends of ‘micro’ in social media

The 4 trends of ‘micro’ in social media

Social media is meant to be all about the one-to-one conversations. Yet the large reach of many social networks often sits counter to this philosophy. The truth is that brands may well want to be part of the conversation, but the temptation to target reach numbers is too overwhelming. After…
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Social media offers important benefits to businesses

Social media offers important benefits to businesses

It is quite hard to find an individual who has not heard of or does not use any of the popular social media platforms of the day, and the same thing can be said about most businesses.  No matter what your company sells it needs to harness the power and…
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Why you should be using video advertising in social media

Why you should be using video advertising in social media

It wasn’t too long ago that TV advertising was blasted as a dying marketing tool (tell that to the media organisers of the US Super Bowl who charged up to $5 million for a 30 second ad this year!). There are just under 700 channels on an average cable service…
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Top 5 Podcasts That Will Make You Smarter On Social

Top 5 Podcasts That Will Make You Smarter On Social

The Science Of Social Media A brand new podcast by the lovely people at Buffer. The first few episodes are packed with amazing interviews, advice, and fun content that will make your morning commute or afternoon walk a lot more enjoyable and productive. The interview with John Yembrick,…
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Chasing the latest tech probably isn’t right for your business!

Chasing the latest tech probably isn’t right for your business!

Shouldn’t we be innovating? Shouldn’t we explore the next big thing for our industry? Shouldn’t we consider how to be first-movers in new areas? Shouldn’t we determine if new tech can help us to acquire market share? Yes. Yes. Yes, and yes. Few businesses actually have the required resources (and…
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The advantage of segmenting your audience on each channel

The advantage of segmenting your audience on each channel

Most brands focus on building their community on one page, but should they be putting all their audience under one umbrella? Big brands like Nike and The Huffington Post which have huge product ranges or cover a variety of topics have been segmenting their communities based on topics, location, or audience…
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YouTube goes full social

YouTube goes full social

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

3 Key lessons from my dissertation on social media influencer marketing

My post-graduate degree comes to a close with a 15,000 word dissertation on influencer marketing. With the pressure of getting that word count in, I was at risk of losing sight of what I was actually trying to find out. But upon reflecting on all of the things I’ve learned…
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The importance of knowing your social presence

The importance of knowing your social presence

Clients often come to us seeking guidance on their social media strategies, and one question is always asked of us ‘What and how many channels should we be on?’ In order to answer this, we first look at their current social media presence, in the form of a social media…
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Facebook’s bridging the gap between click and brick

Facebook’s bridging the gap between click and brick

The trouble with paid social is tracking the customer journey from click to brick. Facebook thinks it has the answer to this problem and is in the process of revamping its offers program. Core updates include: Bookmark: People can easily claim an offer on mobile or on desktop and it will…
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Facebook collects WhatsApp’s data – what all marketers need to know

Facebook collects WhatsApp’s data – what all marketers need to know

The biggest news to come out of social over the weekend has been the controversial reveal that WhatsApp will now be sharing its data on consumers with Facebook.
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The curse of knowledge in B2B social content

The curse of knowledge in B2B social content

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

Twitter’s Instant Unlock Card drives brand conversations

Marketers can now measure the success of a campaign by tracking how many people are talking and engaging with a brand’s social activity. The Twitter Ads dashboard will display the engagement metrics and the earned media metrics generated by the campaign’s success. Struggling to encourage your fans, audience or followers…
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4 key perceptions of social media by a Gen Y focus group of one

4 key perceptions of social media by a Gen Y focus group of one

Back in the days before the internet, the main stay of audience insight beyond surveys was the focus group. A gathering of relevant demographics in order to get feedback on products, adverts etc. Now we have social data and insight. A magnificent cauldron of opinions, views, trends and sometimes plain…
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Why Social Media Feature Plagiarism is Good for Business

Why Social Media Feature Plagiarism is Good for Business

If you have been following the recent movements in social media, then you will know that no idea or concept is off limits when it comes to the social media world. Facebook has long been the most popular social media platform among the recent generations. Although some would say Facebook…
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Facebook hands the power back to consumers

Facebook hands the power back to consumers

Advertising can be a pain. You’re scrolling down the news feed and BLAM – an advert for dog food. When you don’t own a dog. Frustrating isn’t it? But for brands, Facebook’s ad platform is a brilliant way to serve copy and content to a specific target audiences. The problem…
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6 things we can learn from Adidas’s Paul Pogba transfer marketing genius-ness

6 things we can learn from Adidas’s Paul Pogba transfer marketing genius-ness

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

Should you be investing in Facebook or Snapchat?

As Facebooks user base ages it’s no secret that it has been trying its hardest to appeal to a younger audience. Facebook even made similar app in 2012 called Poke, with a built-in self-destruct feature that was intended to take on Snapchat. After that flopped in 2013, Mark…
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Quick wins for evergreen content

Quick wins for evergreen content

Over the last few months we’ve been fortunate enough to have on-boarded several new global clients spanning lifestyle, consumer and technology markets. One of the first things we’re always asked is: “what are the quick wins we can deliver together?” Clearly I cannot reveal too much about how we…
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The rise and rise of Facebook advertising

The rise and rise of Facebook advertising

It’s no secret that Facebook is killing it when it comes to the roll-out and monetisation of video on its platform. The platform’s second quarter earnings, which were published last month, revealed that more than 1.1 billion people are currently using the platform each day and ad…
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Instagram vs Snapchat

Instagram vs Snapchat

Instagram just launched its new feature: Stories. It’s this nifty feature that lets you create streams of pictures and videos and share them with you friends or just people you have never met – whichever you fancy. Just to make it feel more unique and fleeting, this lovely…
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Using Social Media for Social Good

Using Social Media for Social Good

Social media marketing has come to be a popular way for brands to advertise products and services. But recently, the charitable sector has taken advantage of this growing trend for fundraising activities. Some of the most memorable social media campaigns have been extremely successful in terms of donations. The #NoMakeUpSelfie…
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Organic vs paid social audience you have vs the audience you want

Organic vs paid social audience you have vs the audience you want

Organic vs paid social: the audience you have vs the audience you want For those who live and breathe community management, or even for those who don’t, it will have not escaped your notice that your organic engagement is only going one way… downhill. Whilst the impact will vary per…
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Why the new Facebook newsfeed algorithm isn’t the end of the world

Why the new Facebook newsfeed algorithm isn’t the end of the world

On the 29th June 2016, Facebook announced it was going to tweak its News Feed (Edgerank) algorithm to prioritise content from family and friends over brands and publishers. “The goal of News Feed is to show people the stories that are most relevant to them. Today, we’re announcing an update…
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How to get your hands on the best social media talent?

How to get your hands on the best social media talent?

Social might be almost a decade old, but it is still a young industry. And as more and more brands embrace social media marketing the need for skilled and experienced talent is growing at a rapid pace. Working in social media is a sophisticated business these days. You need to…
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Knowing your Content Tilt from your Content Goals

Knowing your Content Tilt from your Content Goals

It isn’t exactly new news that content is king. Particularly on social where you have a noisy opportunity to connect with millions of people and conversations. The keywords there were ‘noisy opportunity’. If you do what the rest of your category or industry are doing, then your content isn’t going…
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The new ubiquity of Twitter Blue Ticks

The new ubiquity of Twitter Blue Ticks

Aaahh, the coveted Twitter Blue Tick. Once a symbol of status and prestige, the Blue Tick signified that you had made it in social. The Twitter Gods had deemed your account worthy of the highest validation. To put it into perspective, of the 310 million monthly active users…
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How social is the oil in the B2B demand gen engine

How social is the oil in the B2B demand gen engine

Sigh! My biggest frustration after 12 years in social media marketing is the view that vanity metrics are the only way to place a value social. Only measuring followers, likes, engagement and fans misses the opportunity social presents to deliver into the pipeline – to ultimately drive revenues by being…
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Should live-streaming become part of your social media strategy?

Should live-streaming become part of your social media strategy?

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

Beauty Pins

Pinterest is the biggest beauty platform in the world – at least that’s what Pinterest says. But is it true? Is Pinterest really the Holy Place for beauty brands. Let’s take a closer look at this, shall we? Social Media Demographics for Marketers |…
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Facebook is getting a bit more Lively

Facebook is getting a bit more Lively

Since Facebook launched its video broadcast feature back in August 2015 as a feature for verified Pages, it has been made publicly available for brands and the public. The Facebook feature allows users to post live broadcasts on their News Feeds, watch real time comments on their stream,…
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Social media and the landing page – A match made in heaven

Social media and the landing page – A match made in heaven

Rather than leading your social media traffic to the home page, why not take them on a journey via your landing page and turn visitor numbers into conversions. Creating web pages with a specific purpose is a gold mine for gathering new leads, encouraging event registration and guiding visitors to…
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How much should your social advertising cost?

How much should your social advertising cost?

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

How to deliver better brainstorms

I’m going to delve into how you can be more effective with your brainstorming and I’m specifically going to link that to how you can better define audience-first solutions. I’m doing this for two reasons: 1) the challenge of yielding business-impacting ideas has been shared by marketers globally, since Madison…
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Top 3 tools for achieving GIFing greatness

Top 3 tools for achieving GIFing greatness

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

Insta-BOOM

Instagram is no baby anymore. It has grown so fast. How fast? 500 million users in about 6 years. Today we have 500 million reasons to celebrate, and you’re one of them. Thank you from all of us at Instagram. ♥️ https://t.co/7QHMN4x3Kl —…
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Snapchat Launches Ad API

Snapchat Launches Ad API

Snapchat has finally launched its advertising API, giving brands the ability to push third party video ads directly into users feeds without having to deal with Snapchat directly. The new ad portal is called Snapchat Partners and it’s really the first major push to monetise snapchat ad…
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Is this the beginning of the end of social media – hell no!

Is this the beginning of the end of social media – hell no!

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

Snapchat Gets Publisher Friendly

Snapchat means business. Literally. We have written several blog posts about how businesses can benefit from investing into a solid Snapchat strategy. However, despite the benefits Snapchat can bring to brands in terms of audience acquisition, engagement and UGC. not many brands have tapped into the world of Snapchat. One…
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The 6 rules to not screw-up your influencer marketing

The 6 rules to not screw-up your influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is this year’s craze. Not just because marketers are increasingly wanting to use it, but because there is much debate on whether there is any value in doing it at all. Blogs and networks are lit up with the discussion. At immediate future we started out in activating…
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Instagram suits up

Instagram suits up

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

#winning marketing in a world of attention deficit disorder

My mind tends to wander at its best when on public transport, usually heading out of the city or a long underground trip. I thought about why this might be, and didn’t take me long to realise it was because I was out of signal, 3G or WiFi. However, with…
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Your social channels must be managed by an expert and NOT office junior!

Your social channels must be managed by an expert and NOT office junior!

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

Facebook Live Map: view live video from users around the world!

Continuing its foray to crush its competitors in the live video market, Facebook has made another enhancement to its Live Video feature.  The platform recently rolled out a visual and interactive map that allows users to snoop-in on and discover live video content, from around the world. Before the recent update,…
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Who is using Facebook Reactions?

Who is using Facebook Reactions?

We are coming to the end of the first 3 months of Facebook Reactions, and data is rolling in on all sides. Initially the majority of people were delighted that their ability to express their emotional range had suddenly become slightly more than that of the house hold refrigerator, but…
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Why Advertisers cannot ignore Snapchat anymore

Why Advertisers cannot ignore Snapchat anymore

Like many tech start up’s, Snapchat joined the ever-expanding queue back in 2011, hoping to be the next Facebook and Twitter. In the expeditiously evolving world of social media, it seems that Snapchat is here to stay and is attracting advertisers, all of which are desperate to reach the lucrative…
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12 years in social – the lessons we have learnt

12 years in social – the lessons we have learnt

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

Mo’ content mo’ problems

First of all, I am not quite sure what is compelling me to right 90s hip hop inspired blog articles at the moment, so don’t ask… After recently presenting at a LinkedIn event, I found one of my favourite slides that optimises my thoughts on content and the internet right…
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The week in B2B Marketing

The week in B2B Marketing

We are suckers for B2B marketing… it’s part of our DNA here at IF and we like to keep our finger well and truly on the pulse. We are working with some absolutely cracking names in B2B right now and we figured that it was only right with all that…
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Why running simple competitions on social won’t see you #WIN

Why running simple competitions on social won’t see you #WIN

In a blow to those championing using simple competitions to grow audiences on social, I’m going to explain why this mechanic is actually far from simple. It’s a common sight: “follow @brandx and RT to #Win, or, “LIKE our page and tag a friend to enter”. We’ve all done it…
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It’s all about video ads

It’s all about video ads

2016 has seen some big changes in the world of social advertising and it seems it’s all about video ‘ads’ this year. Nielsen claims 64% of marketers expect video to dominate their strategies in the near future. It’s not difficult to see why, with advertisers being spoilt for…
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10 frustrating comments people make when you are developing your social media strategy

10 frustrating comments people make when you are developing your social media strategy

We speak to brands “on the reg” with a similar set of circumstances: social media has grown organically over time within the organisation, there is lots of activity (some of it really rather good) but no one really knows why they are doing it! They set out on a journey…
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5 reasons to throw your social strategy in the trash

5 reasons to throw your social strategy in the trash

What! Yup. If you have just one social strategy then you may as well consign it to the dustbin. Social is now too sophisticated for one strategy with a social channel (platform) agnostic approach. Every social network now has different audiences, varying behaviours and whole swathes of content formats that…
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The influence social media has on the beauty industry just grows and grows

The influence social media has on the beauty industry just grows and grows

Over the last few years, an overwhelming number of beauty consumers have focused their attention to the advice of beauty vloggers in order to judge cosmetic products, how to wear them, and if certain products are worth purchasing. Precisely why it makes sense that almost 60% of…
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Is the future of Social happening in private?

Is the future of Social happening in private?

Social media usage is constantly changing. Due to an ever more conscious audience, activity is predominately happening behind closed doors in private groups and over messaging apps. This can already be seen through the huge growth in platforms such as WhatsApp and Snapchat. Change in social behaviour is going fundamentally…
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Why our social curiosity certainly ain’t killing any cats

Why our social curiosity certainly ain’t killing any cats

Firstly, it’s a bit of a stupid phrase really isn’t it – curiosity killed the cat. I’m sure some stupid cats have died but if we were curious enough to confront a moving car on a busy road then I am sure we would too… If you ain’t moving then…
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Twitter DM Update: Join The Dark Side

Twitter DM Update: Join The Dark Side

Private messaging has been on the rise for a while. With the continuous growth and success of apps like Snapchat or WhatsApp (that recently added end-to-end encryption), it’s no surprise others have been trying to play catch-up. One of the platforms that is trying to improve its private…
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Facebook has changed the 20% text rule – don’t start the party just yet

Facebook has changed the 20% text rule – don’t start the party just yet

The moment social marketers have been waiting for has finally arrived. The 20% text rule on Facebook adverts has changed. I can hear the cheers from here. Don’t pop open the bubbly just yet – let’s look into the details first. So what has Facebook actually said?…
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Twitter made some changes to paid…and they are pretty cool

Twitter made some changes to paid…and they are pretty cool

This week has seen Twitter get all Facebook-y (yes that is a word) whilst making some nice strides with their paid advertising engine. There are three significant changes that have all gone live this week; Universal code, new custom audiences and an ‘objective-based’ interface – making the platform simpler to…
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