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6 social media 2014 predictions from some of the most influential industry authorities

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

2014: The year of Google+?

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

14 essential must-dos to improve your social footprint for 2014

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

Dear Social Santa…

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

Inspiring social media of 2013

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

Twitter ads: Now open to everyone

Facebook has them, LinkedIn has them, but when it comes to advertising on the platform, Twitter was lagging behind. Until now. That has all changed this week with the introduction of Twitter’s self-serve advertising platform for the UK, Ireland and Canada. Previously companies outside the US had to contact Twitter…

Facebook’s design change: thumbs up or thumbs down?

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

Google+ go enterprise social with closed communities

G+ yesterday launched another new platform development allowing organisations and employees to create private communities. This is a very ‘social business’ move, with G+ following in the footsteps of LinkedIn’s open and closed groups. The hope is that organisations and its employees flock to the platform to connect through discussion threads…

How did you find that candidate?

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

5 facts about micro-videos you must know!

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

Why are we SO hooked on social media?

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

This week’s changes to Twitter platform

Twitter keeps constantly evolving, and this week has been no exception. Perhaps fueled by the upcoming initial public offering on 15th November, the platform has introduced a couple of important, albeit subtle, tweaks to its functionality. 1. Scheduled tweets Finally, we can schedule our tweets. Well, almost all…

Latest Social Advertising Developments

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

3 social platforms you should not ignore in B2B

We spend a lot of our time with our B2B clients talking about, and operating in, LinkedIn, Twitter & YouTube. Whilst these platforms (for good reason, particularly LinkedIn) are taking the floor and presenting the most opportunities at the moment, it is important for Marketers not to become closed to…

Employer branding, part one: Instagram

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

28 free social media monitoring tools

Who hasn’t been trying to monitor their online performance and hit a road block because you can’t access the proper tools? Maybe you’re up to your eyeballs in meaningless figures and graphs? All you need is a little context, some simple analysis, a general overview – but you don’t want…

Google takes hashtags to a whole new level

It may be seven years since Twitter revolutionised the hashtag, but Google Plus is fastly finding new ways to take the hashtag further, and in different ways than ever before. Of course it helps when you own the biggest and most popular search engine in the world. And the most…

10 must know stats that are shaping B2B social media

After our recent accolade claiming a top 10 spot in the Cision’s best UK social media blogs, I thought it would only be right to give you a little top 10 of my own. At our B2B breakfast event last week, and…

Social Profile – Are you portraying yourself in the BEST possible light?

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

The power of social media for recruiting the best talent

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

Find a candidate FAST, using social

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

The social media magpie effect

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

Social selling and the B2B decision maker

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

From student, to graduate, to employee via social

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

Social is growing, and so are we!

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

Exploring lesser-known social platforms – Part 2: Viadeo

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

Exploring lesser-known social platforms – Part 1: Plaxo

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

Why summer is a good time to reassess your social media presence

With the sunny weather dominating London’s climate for the last couple of weeks, the social media world has somewhat quietened. For many people this is a time of holidays, parks, ice cream, beaches, festivals, BBQs and generally taking a rest from the constant flow of data that surrounds our culture.

Using Social Media Internally for Business – Part 2

I recently wrote a blog post about how social media not only helps businesses on an external level, for brand awareness and product promotion, but also for internal purposes too. The blog gave a brief overview into some of the tools/platforms that can be used internally, however, let’s look…

Three things I like about the new Google+ layout

It has been more than a month since Google+ announced its new design, so I thought it is a good moment to reflect on how the changes have affected the way I use the platform. If I am being honest, they really haven’t. Despite the way G+…

Be creative and make time for social media: New businesses moving forward

For new businesses social media can appear a very daunting task but to be fair most companies give it a go, to a certain degree. Some have a better idea of what to do and others write content with no business purpose. My last two blogs have…

How to stay relevant on social media

Social media is constantly evolving. Every day there are reports of a brand new feature update or a new tool to try out, but how do you stay on top of all of the developments? Other than following @iftweeter and reading our…

Opening the door into building new businesses around social media platforms

Starting your own company comes with high risks but, if done correctly, offers high rewards. A great business plan is essential but any business plan that ignores social media is, today, a business plan that is incomplete. When used wisely, social media can assist start-ups in many ways. You can…

Would your policy stand up before a Tribunal?

When social media and the law collide it can often be a dangerous mix. And with growing numbers of employees Facebook-ing, Tweeting, Pinning, LinkedIn-ing, YouTube-ing and blogging during (and even outside of) working hours it can present a tricky situation for employers to manage As our recent…

Why is Google’s research of the online customer journey so significant?

Google has developed yet another mind-blowing research tool. Despite the rather unimaginative name, “The Customer Journey to Online Purchase”, it nevertheless provides extremely valuable data to boost the imagination of online marketers, providing even further evidence to treat social media as an integral part of any serious marketing strategy. So…

CEOs and corporate authenticity on social media

Social media continues to revolutionise corporate culture. It opens up new avenues of communication, breaks down barriers between employers, employees and the public, and provides new opportunities for brands to put a human face to their image. CEOs are no exception to this quiet revolution. Customers want to see that…

Choose a colour to find out where you fit into social media laws

Have you noticed how blue the colour scheme on most social media platforms is? Apparently it is a very trustworthy colour, subconsciously symbolising intelligence, wisdom and stability. Users can also be quite colourful, not only the content that they are sharing but the shades that their complexion goes through when…

Immediate Future weekly digest:

Facebook wants to know what you’re doing This week we have taken a look at the new changes Facebook is rolling out! Facebook is about to launch a brand new update which will affect our Facebook status updates. They are soon to become much more interactive due to a…

Your Weekly Social Media Snapshot

Surprising correlation between LinkedIn endorsements and recommendations It has been half a year since LinkedIn introduced their endorsement feature, allowing users to endorse their colleagues and business partners for their skills and expertise with great ease. A couple of weeks ago LinkedIn announced that since last September…

3 ways to use Slideshare for B2B lead generation

In my last post I looked at key characteristics that make Slideshare presentations go viral. They included providing in-depth insight, designing eye-catching experience and, most importantly, telling a great story. (Full article here.) And yet someone may ask, “What’s the point? Why bother with Slideshare?” The answer…

Your Weekly Social Media Snapshot

Facebook after death An article was released this week, regarding the heartbreaking wish to allow parents access to their deceased children’s Facebook accounts. Should we allow family members access without knowing the account users wishes? Or something that shouldn’t even be questioned? It’s difficult to say,…

Discover what content works in B2B social media using (non-paid) click-through rates!

After reading an interesting article from The Real Time Report last week I was inspired to share some of the metrics I know most companies won’t be tracking in the B2B space… The report above, which looked purely at website analytics as a way of determining referral traffic and…

4 reasons small businesses struggle with social

A new Wall Street Journal Online survey sheds light on the challenges facing small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) with social media. I say that with two hats on. As an MD of an SMD, I can relate to these business challenges. On the other hand our clients are global brands,…

Choosing and using the right tool from the social media toolbox

As the space of social media continues to grow, so does the general confusion regarding the best ways to proceed with appropriate content marketing strategy. Where do you start? PCMag have published an infographic that provides a useful overview of popular social media platforms. The figures are thought-provoking and help…

Why 2013 is the year of Google Plus

Last year Instagram was the new up-and-comer on the social media landscape, exploding onto the scene and earning a $1 billion pay check from Facebook. With 58 photos being uploaded per second and well over a billion photos uploaded to the site as of May 2012, Instagram was clearly the…

Social Media in 2012: The Top of the tops

As we’re nearing the end of 2012, it is vital to review the year behind us before we can start planning ahead. What have been the most significant trends, brands and developments in social media and content marketing? Here’s a few highlights from the best of the best – enjoy!…

Trends and directions of the top 10 social media platforms

Social media is a dynamic universe. Seemingly insignificant platforms become market leaders in a matter of months, and web giants that appear indestructible fall in no time. Such a rapidly changing market requires attentive monitoring, and access to accurate statistics is essential. People at DreamGrow have published…

Three quick tips and three fast resources for sourcing content on the fly

Unless you have a social newsroom churning away in the background, keeping your site and social estates replenished with fresh content is no mean feat. And with real-time social media platforms such as Twitter churning out a record 32 million tweets in the space of 24 hours during US Election…

B2B Content Marketing Trends 2012

This survey of 740 respondents from the LinkedIn B2B Technology Marketing community looks at the trends in content marketing for 2012. Here are some key tweetable pull outs from the report… 84% of marketers say that content production is going to rise in the next 12 months!…

5 Tips to Use Google Hangouts in B2B Marketing

It’s been over a year since Google released their challenger to Facebook’s rule on top of the social media pyramid, in the form of Google Plus. Launched in June 2011, the search giant hoped that Google Plus could strike a huge blow to Facebook’s dominance of the social media…

How many of your Twitter followers are on Facebook and Google +?

Ever wondered how many of your brand’s Google+ circles are repinning away on Pinterest? Or how many of your LinkedIn connections also use Twitter? And just how many global users does Facebook have this week? Wonder no more! Global Web Index has shed some light on engagement patterns across social…

Do dormant social users add brand value?

Findings from BT’s study earlier this year may have pointed towards females being the social media obsessives; but the latest data from Global Web Index into social platforms indicates it’s more of a man’s game. Almost every platform skews male, with the highest male ratio on LinkedIn…

Business readers turning to Twitter for answers

It seems the social landscape is shifting yet again for B2B companies… 20% of top level executives are spending more time reading Tweets than online news publications. It represents a slow shift which IBM says in the next 5 years will see social media become a primary interaction tool with…

Five tips for successful YouTube content

Three billion, 800 million, 60. The number of hours of video watched each month, the number of monthly unique visitors and the number of hours of video uploaded every minute. There’s no denying the consumer demand for quality shareable video content. And while it can be tempting to think of…

Slideshare and the rise of B2B social media

There is no doubt that the growth of Slideshare has got B2B marketers excited about using social media again. It has become the world’s largest content sharing community. Combine this with the reach of Twitter and LinkedIn and the platform has become a vital part of the best…

Social media and the content conundrum

Social media likes to give and take with both hands. It gives you innumerable ways of getting your company’s voice out to your target market, managing your reputation and adding value to your business. And then it takes. It takes all the content you can possibly feed it and it…

Classic networking skills still valid in the age of social media – top tips

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend a great event, hosted by the London Press Club and Women in Journalism, with Carole Stone, the Queen of Networking herself, as a guest speaker. Having heard so much about Carole Stone, her…

How the hungry corporate caterpillar hatched into a social butterfly

Back in the day, we were taught not to mix business with pleasure. These days - with the help of Web 2.0 - the two worlds have collided to form an altogether more social way of doing business.

Does the death of Bebo put pressure on Twitter?

Since the news broke that Bebo is in terminal decline, opinion formers have been asking: why did it fail? Some, like The Times, have pointed towards a lack of monetisation through advertising. If we hold up the Facebook smart advertising model as the best commercial blueprint, this…

Social Media – a reliable source for journalists?

This week the Guardian online posted a blog on the rise of social media as a relevant source of information for journalists, as revealed by a recent US survey which claimed that 56% of reporters view it as an important tool for producing stories. The research carried…

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6 social media 2014 predictions from some of the most influential industry authorities

2014: The year of Google+?

14 essential must-dos to improve your social footprint for 2014

Dear Social Santa…

Inspiring social media of 2013

Twitter ads: Now open to everyone

Facebook’s design change: thumbs up or thumbs down?

Google+ go enterprise social with closed communities

How did you find that candidate?

5 facts about micro-videos you must know!

Why are we SO hooked on social media?

This week’s changes to Twitter platform

Latest Social Advertising Developments

3 social platforms you should not ignore in B2B

Employer branding, part one: Instagram

28 free social media monitoring tools

Google takes hashtags to a whole new level

10 must know stats that are shaping B2B social media

Social Profile – Are you portraying yourself in the BEST possible light?

The power of social media for recruiting the best talent

Find a candidate FAST, using social

The social media magpie effect

Social selling and the B2B decision maker

From student, to graduate, to employee via social

Social is growing, and so are we!

Exploring lesser-known social platforms – Part 2: Viadeo

Exploring lesser-known social platforms – Part 1: Plaxo

Why summer is a good time to reassess your social media presence

Using Social Media Internally for Business – Part 2

Three things I like about the new Google+ layout

Be creative and make time for social media: New businesses moving forward

How to stay relevant on social media

Opening the door into building new businesses around social media platforms

Would your policy stand up before a Tribunal?

Why is Google’s research of the online customer journey so significant?

CEOs and corporate authenticity on social media

Choose a colour to find out where you fit into social media laws

Immediate Future weekly digest:

Your Weekly Social Media Snapshot

3 ways to use Slideshare for B2B lead generation

Your Weekly Social Media Snapshot

Discover what content works in B2B social media using (non-paid) click-through rates!

4 reasons small businesses struggle with social

Choosing and using the right tool from the social media toolbox

Why 2013 is the year of Google Plus

Top 5 blog posts of 2012… and more!

Social Media in 2012: The Top of the tops

Trends and directions of the top 10 social media platforms

Three quick tips and three fast resources for sourcing content on the fly

B2B Content Marketing Trends 2012

5 Tips to Use Google Hangouts in B2B Marketing

How many of your Twitter followers are on Facebook and Google +?

Do dormant social users add brand value?

Business readers turning to Twitter for answers

Five tips for successful YouTube content

Slideshare and the rise of B2B social media

Social media and the content conundrum

Classic networking skills still valid in the age of social media – top tips

How the hungry corporate caterpillar hatched into a social butterfly

Does the death of Bebo put pressure on Twitter?

Social Media – a reliable source for journalists?