Search results for "twitter"

Imitation is the most social form of flattery

Imitation is the most social form of flattery

The social media industry is always exciting, with new social media sites popping up all over the World Wide Web offering different concepts and uses. Two of the most notable social media platforms that have grown exponentially in recent years have not been born on an American university campus nor…
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Thought leaders and Bloggers of the World Unite!

Thought leaders and Bloggers of the World Unite!

When people think of paid advertising in social media they usually think of platforms like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Nothing wrong with that. They have hundreds of millions of users. But how about blog sites? Already blog sites offer thought-provoking and…
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Video in demand

Video in demand

Video is racing ahead of any other medium on the web. It’s capability to lead on engagement and shareability is undeniable. Web consumers are eating up video at a rate that is literally shifting mainstream provision from larger production channels. On demand services like Netflix are clearly challenging the convention…
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Governments open up with social media

Governments open up with social media

Governments, not always naturals for open government and publicity, are hoovering up opportunities to develop their cyber presence via social media. Perhaps in defiance of what we recently discussed in this blog on a retreat among UK investor relations professionals, both private sector boardrooms and governments are starting to…
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10 steps to avoid a Tinder style meltdown

10 steps to avoid a Tinder style meltdown

In the unlikely event you missed Tinder’s social meltdown last week, here’s a recap of what happened: Journalist Nancy Jo Sales published an article titled Tinder and the Dawn of the ‘Dating Apocalypse’ in this months’ Vanity Fair. Tinder reacted poorly to the article, publishing a barrage…
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What should your brand be tweeting?

What should your brand be tweeting?

Do you wake up in the morning and look forward to tweets from brands? Me neither. If someone decides to follow your company, it’s a massive deal. They’re allowing you to enter a news feed most likely to be populated by family, friends and colleagues. The opportunity to deliver the…
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To Bae, or not to Bae. The importance of dialect in social conversation.

To Bae, or not to Bae. The importance of dialect in social conversation.

Back in the pre-Kardashian era of 2002, HSBC ran a campaign called ‘the importance of local knowledge’ and it’s as relevant today as it was then. More specifically the importance of local dialect in relation to social media. This week Facebook released…
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6 ways you get dirty, debatable and downright dubious social data

6 ways you get dirty, debatable and downright dubious social data

Social data is powerful. We should know, our performance-driven campaigns are based on extracting the right demographic, geographic and psychographic data from unstructured social conversations. It delivers results. Knowing your social data works. It works because we subscribe to the 10:90 rule by Avinash Kaushik who says…
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Time to re-think: balancing content creation & content distribution

Time to re-think: balancing content creation & content distribution

As serious marketers we are all well versed on the benefits of social media and content marketing. In reality as marketers, we have always produced ‘content’ anyway, albeit now the channels and types of assets have changed. We moved from print to website, brochures to PDFs & micro sites, seminars…
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AppleMusic – A Multichannel Narrative

AppleMusic – A Multichannel Narrative

The quality of today’s brand engagement is seeing owned content and publishing flourish at rates and volumes almost unseen before. Out of all the most current HD, Hi-Res, 3V, native-video, animated gif and micro-moment storytelling the most creative, responsive, quality-consistent and to-the-second content is winning. Some of the worlds hottest…
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What can Cecil the Lion’s story teach us about social behaviour?

What can Cecil the Lion’s story teach us about social behaviour?

The social media storm around Cecil the Lion is undeniable – with over 800k mentions of this name online and 444k uses of the hashtag #CecilTheLion. For those that don’t know the story goes something like this: Cecil is a famous lion from Zimbabwe that has been…
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Easily Explore with Instagram

Easily Explore with Instagram

After being purchased by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012, Instagram has become one of the most influential social networking sites. Especially as it surpassed Twitter in 2014 to become the second largest social network in the United States. Furthermore, Instagram boasts 300 million active users, with over 30 billion…
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Big “Buy Button” Bonanza

Big “Buy Button” Bonanza

The oldest enemy of e-commerce has always been customer drop-off, losing potential customers during various points in your purchase funnel as they slip through the gaps in your carefully crafted user journey. It often left us feeling like Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Roadrunner. In-app commerce could be the…
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Navigating The Chinese Social Media Landscape

Navigating The Chinese Social Media Landscape

On the 14th September 1987, the first email was sent from China to an international academic network. “Across the Great Wall,” the email proudly proclaimed, “we can reach every corner in the world.” Ironic, considering that the Chinese government has since blocked over 2,700 websites including Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,…
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UK Companies not taking social media seriously enough?

UK Companies not taking social media seriously enough?

This month both the London Times and Financial Times have run horror stories about social media. The FT featured its own FT/ICSA Boardroom Bellwether survey which found that just over a third of FTSE350 index companies have never discussed a social media policy, while roughly the same proportion — 37…
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Christmas in July? Amazon launches ‘Prime Day’

Christmas in July? Amazon launches ‘Prime Day’

In honour of their 20th birthday, Amazon have declared today to be Amazon Prime Day and are celebrating in a big way with a 24 hour global sales extravaganza billed as having even more bargains up for grabs than Black Friday. With exclusive member-only deals…
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How’s Your Facebook Relevance Score?

How’s Your Facebook Relevance Score?

Facebook is as much an evolving ecosystem of data as ever before. We proactively share what we care about with people we care about at some of the most revealing levels of intimacy. It is no wonder that among such an environment of personal information, marketers can use this data…
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5 ways to measure Snapchat marketing success

5 ways to measure Snapchat marketing success

With more than 100 million daily users, and 71% of those falling into the 18-34 age bracket, many brands chasing younger demographics are now looking towards Snapchat as a way to engage with and market to their customers. Other than fear of the unknown,…
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How paid is cannibalising ATL advertising

How paid is cannibalising ATL advertising

If you’re not already ‘paying to play’, you should be. Get your targeting right, and your customer engagement rates can be as high as 20%. It is compelling data like this that is helping to evidence the success of paid social versus above the line (ATL) advertising. Being able to…
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Facebook Changes Video Ad Charges

Facebook Changes Video Ad Charges

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! Facebook have made a few significant changes to how video ads work on both mobile and desktop clients. Firstly the new pricing options for video ads, which will now offer advertisers the option of paying for video ads only when they are viewed for at least 10…
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How going psycho with social content drives conversions

How going psycho with social content drives conversions

There’s endless bloomin’ rhetoric on how you make content relevant in social media and beyond. It is after all, the hottest topic in marketing. It’s proven that the greater the relevancy and context, the more content resonates with audiences. The more it resonates, the more likely the…
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The difference a second makes

The difference a second makes

As busy professionals, I am sure that you often feel stretched for time to complete your ever-growing to-do list. As your inbox relentlessly piles up, have you ever uttered the words ‘there simply aren’t enough hours in the day’? Or if you are super busy, perhaps there aren’t enough minutes…
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What is Project Lightning?

What is Project Lightning?

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…
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Usefulness is key for brands to really connect at festivals

Usefulness is key for brands to really connect at festivals

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…
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The emoji: a digital communication revolution

The emoji: a digital communication revolution

As hieroglyphics proved an effective form of communication for the ancient Egyptians, has the emoji, the digital hieroglyphic, revolutionised modern day communication in the same way? According to research conducted by TalkTalk Mobile, a phenomenal 80% of Brits are using emojis to communicate, there is even an…
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Cashtags in a bit of a hash?

Cashtags in a bit of a hash?

Anyone who uses Twitter will know there are several keystrokes that can spice up the reading experience, and most importantly, add value. Handles (@) identify individuals or their companies on the micro-blogging site, and hashtags (#) provide a topical marker or context, allowing readers to discover more content on a…
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Why you should forget about social media training for your CEO

Why you should forget about social media training for your CEO

Yup, you read that right. Don’t bother training your CEO, or for that matter, your leadership team, in social media. In our experience, training courses don’t make any tangible difference. Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating that business leaders shouldn’t be active in social. In fact, I’m suggesting…
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10 Takeaways from Social Media World Forum

10 Takeaways from Social Media World Forum

If you are a regular to the immediate future blog or follow us on Twitter then you will know that we were very much behind #SMWF last week. I was there, taking selfies, storming the stage, speaking on a panel but most importantly networking and talking to industry peers about…
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Is brevity knowledge, concise e-commerce messaging or Newspeak?

Is brevity knowledge, concise e-commerce messaging or Newspeak?

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…
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Keep a tight hold of those purse strings as Pinterest unleashes its buy button

Keep a tight hold of those purse strings as Pinterest unleashes its buy button

Searching for outfit inspiration on Pinterest? Like what you see? The new ‘Buy button’ will make it yours! Pinterest has announced some very exciting news that in a few short weeks, US consumers will be able to purchase directly from the platform through its ‘buyable’ Pin, without ever having to…
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Make a success of your event using social media

Make a success of your event using social media

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…
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5 Tips to Help Manage Crises on Social

5 Tips to Help Manage Crises on Social

Before the early noughties launches of Facebook, Twitter et al, news cycles were longer and managing crises was a whole lot easier. Why? Broadly speaking, you only had to worry about the media backlash. Today (as we all know), social has added another layer of complexity. The slightest error can…
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3 Top Tips to Ace Brand Storytelling in Social

3 Top Tips to Ace Brand Storytelling in Social

“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the minds stays up all night, telling itself stories.” – Jonathan Gottschall, The Storytelling Animal American author and journalist, Ernest Hemingway once made a $10 bet with some writer friends that he…
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How the hospitality industry can use reviews in their social marketing mix

How the hospitality industry can use reviews in their social marketing mix

Here at immediate future, we have a mantra that social media is not the be all and end all, but it has fundamentally changed the way we communicate. And having spent some time over the last few months working with a client in the hospitality industry, I think that there…
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Shining a light on mobile ad-blocking

Shining a light on mobile ad-blocking

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,…
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Why brands should not ignore customer queries on social

Why brands should not ignore customer queries on social

When it comes to customer service, consumers now expect to interact with the brands on their own terms – they want to receive a prompt response, on the channel of their choice, and a quick resolution to their problem. To put this into context, if a customer phones the call…
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Join the ‘Social Media Day’ Revolution

Join the ‘Social Media Day’ Revolution

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…
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How to target B2B clients at events on social

How to target B2B clients at events on social

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.
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View performance stats for LinkedIn Publisher Posts

View performance stats for LinkedIn Publisher Posts

  If you’ve used LinkedIn’s publisher platform in the past, you will now have access to detailed information on how well your content has performed, and the audience it reached. In an effort to be more than just a professional’s social network, and to place itself as a prominent…
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Does social reflect public opinion?

Does social reflect public opinion?

“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…
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Just how social was the #socialmarathon?

Just how social was the #socialmarathon?

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…
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4 assessments brands must make before jumping into the multi-networking trend

4 assessments brands must make before jumping into the multi-networking trend

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…
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Social Media Automation Pros and Cons

Social Media Automation Pros and Cons

For small business owners, automation tools can be incredibly useful things. But, like all tools, relying too heavily on social media automation will end in tears. Maintaining a brand identity and personality on social media is an important part of the relationship you want to have with your customers,…
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Top 3 places travel consumers are hanging out on social

Top 3 places travel consumers are hanging out on social

From asking followers for hidden-gem holiday destinations to posting the ubiquitous sunset selfie (framed by palm trees for added effect) and bragging about how amazing and life-affirming their holiday was afterward, travellers are a noisy bunch in social media. So much so that a recent study shows that social sharers,…
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Becoming The UK’s Most Social Beverage Brand – Pepsi Max at Social Speakeasy

Becoming The UK’s Most Social Beverage Brand – Pepsi Max at Social Speakeasy

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With Pepsi Max’s new “Genius” campaign officially kicking off this week, the timing of Aman Matharu, Digital Marketing Manager at PepsiCo’s, address at our most recent Social Speakeasy couldn’t have been better. Aman addressed an eager crowd of Social Speakeasy attendees on a balmy spring evening to share the secrets…
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27 Free Digital Tools to get you started (on Digital Transformation)

27 Free Digital Tools to get you started (on Digital Transformation)

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…
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Are charities and non-profits making the most of social at major events?

Are charities and non-profits making the most of social at major events?

Last week, I saw an infographic on the charity and non-profit sectors that perform best – and worst – on social media. And whilst running (and live tweeting!) the London Marathon this year, it occurred to me that charities could be making more of the huge opportunities that are available…
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Mobile optimisation now mandatory

Mobile optimisation now mandatory

From 21st April mobile optimisation became mandatory, but we’ve all been doing this anyway right? Well, it appears now, and rightly so, we don’t have a choice as the almighty Google are now favouring mobile optimised and friendly websites over those that aren’t. What does this mean…
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Re-mapping your thinking – 3 ways to identify B2B prospects on social

Re-mapping your thinking – 3 ways to identify B2B prospects on social

Recently, I have been working with clients across a wide range of verticals in the B2B space, from pharmaceuticals to chemical engineering to sports equipment. These disparate markets have completely unique business challenges, requirements, sales processes and routes to market. However, there is one thing that many of these companies…
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5 do’s that will help embed a data driven culture

5 do’s that will help embed a data driven culture

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…
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Finding your influencers through link listening

Finding your influencers through link listening

Knowing your influencers is a key goal for most companies. However, there is no straight forward formula, or right or wrong way to identify these evangelists. Repeated engagements and metrics such as Klout will help in assessing how engaged and how influential they are in their own merit, but without…
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3 Great Ways to Socially Engage in New Places

3 Great Ways to Socially Engage in New Places

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…
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Hillary Clinton turns to social to announce “I’m running for president”

Hillary Clinton turns to social to announce “I’m running for president”

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…
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Elevate your employees on LinkedIn

Elevate your employees on LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s latest product utilises the connections of employees in order to publish and curate content with up to ten times the reach of the average company page. “Did you know the average employee has 10 times as many connections as a company has followers?” – LinkedIn LinkedIn Elevate offers your…
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Making the marathon social – #socialmarathon

Making the marathon social – #socialmarathon

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…
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notonthehighstreet shuns facades, likes Facebook, and sees five-fold sales increase via social – Social Speakeasy

notonthehighstreet shuns facades, likes Facebook, and sees five-fold sales increase via social – Social Speakeasy

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…
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Social media giving beauty brands the facelift treatment

Social media giving beauty brands the facelift treatment

The beauty industry has gone through a significant revolution over the past 10 years, with rise of the visual social platforms such as YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, we are quickly learning that beauty brands need more than just a pretty face for social media. Consumers have become more and more…
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Writing “opinions are my own” won’t save your job: 2 social regulations you must know

Writing “opinions are my own” won’t save your job: 2 social regulations you must know

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…
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When does social become anti-social?

When does social become anti-social?

Being in the business of social media, we like to believe that it helps bring people together, incites communication and debate amongst large groups of people, and simplifies access to that communication. These remain true, and can be backed up with a plethora of hair-raising facts and figures like…
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Top tips for writing blogs

Top tips for writing blogs

So you’re writing a blog, but where do you start? At Immediate Future we blog professionally for clients and ourselves, but sometimes even we as “experts” get writer’s block. A good place to start is with the audience – what do you think they want to read? It’s simple marketing…
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The 3 P’s of Social Media – People, Process and People

The 3 P’s of Social Media – People, Process and People

Yeah that’s right – especially to those of you working at one of hundreds of social media marketing tools and platforms – I forgot technology! Firstly, it isn’t a ‘p’ so then I would have had to change the title of my blog post. Secondly, I left it out on…
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The topsy turvy relationship between news and social media

The topsy turvy relationship between news and social media

When news broke earlier this month that a former news executive on whose watch Britain’s phone hacking scandal occurred was joining the ranks of the social media universe, it raised a few eyebrows but also thrust attention on a nascent, high-risk but intriguing area: social media dictating the news. Rebekah…
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What’s turning your followers off… and what you can do to keep them!

What’s turning your followers off… and what you can do to keep them!

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…
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6 Things NOT to do on social (infographic)

6 Things NOT to do on social (infographic)

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…
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What has Instagram got up its sleeve?

What has Instagram got up its sleeve?

The big social media giants, mainly Twitter and Facebook, have been making quite some noise lately announcing constant functionality and advert changes in the last few months. If you need a refresher you can find out more from our previous blogs: Facebook’s Product Ads target specific products to those…
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Is social media real-time making traditional media no time?

Is social media real-time making traditional media no time?

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…
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Influence is not equal – there are three types for starters

Influence is not equal – there are three types for starters

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.
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“Power” tools of social media changing the political landscape

“Power” tools of social media changing the political landscape

Some of the staff at Immediate Future are former journalists who have made a transition from traditional media to digital media and now to social media. Some try to forget they even used the humble manual typewriter with all that heavy industrial noise back in 1990. Seems a lifetime…
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Which brands made the most of Chinese New Year on social?

Which brands made the most of Chinese New Year on social?

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…
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4 ways to make your brand’s social voice sing

4 ways to make your brand’s social voice sing

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…
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Upload your edited video to Vine in 4 easy steps!

Upload your edited video to Vine in 4 easy steps!

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 –…
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5 (of many) reasons that social should be the heart of your digital transformation initiatives

5 (of many) reasons that social should be the heart of your digital transformation initiatives

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…
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How will you say ‘I love you’ this year?

How will you say ‘I love you’ this year?

They say technology is ruining personal relationships, with a study recently published in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture reporting that 70 percent of its participants, “all of whom were married or cohabiting heterosexual women, said that smartphones were interfering with their relationships” (Tech Times 2014) …
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Internet ASBOs – how effective could they be?

Internet ASBOs – how effective could they be?

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,…
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Now we’ve entered the 100-day countdown – how much will digital influence the general election?

Now we’ve entered the 100-day countdown – how much will digital influence the general election?

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…
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Social nudging voters to take part in the 2015 UK General Election

Social nudging voters to take part in the 2015 UK General Election

Did you know that it was ‘National Voter Registration Day’ yesterday? In conjunction with the Electoral Commission, Facebook issued a series of little reminders to kick-start the countdown to the 2015 UK General Election. Some UK voters will have already seen the “Vote Now” or “Share” button…
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Social Login is becoming prolific, but how safe are your details?

Social Login is becoming prolific, but how safe are your details?

Convenience has been at the fore-front of user experience in computing for at least the last 30 years and for the web, this emphasis on convenience has resulted in the proliferation of easy-to-use login services. After all, who wants to fill in lengthy forms…
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The British Army’s 77th ‘Social Media’ Brigade

The British Army’s 77th ‘Social Media’ Brigade

As announced last month the British military have launched the 77th brigade, put in place to directly combat extremist propaganda and the digital…
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Bowing to social pressure

Bowing to social pressure

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…
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Want more engagement on social? 40 top words that generate more shares

Want more engagement on social? 40 top words that generate more shares

Whether it’s more likes on Facebook, a higher number of retweets on Twitter or a handful of comments on LinkedIn; social engagement is good to see – a validation that your content is resonating with your audience and is worthwhile. More engagement then equals more eyeballs on your posts, which…
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New Year, new you, new campaigns

New Year, new you, new campaigns

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.
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6 brand damaging social media profile hacking incidents

6 brand damaging social media profile hacking incidents

Unless you have been living under a rock recently, I am sure you will be well aware of an increasing cyber security risk facing brands, organisations and public figures in today’s hyper connected world. The likes of Sony, for example, have been hounded with a series of attempted and successful…
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How to shine on social in 2015

How to shine on social in 2015

So I attended this Drum event just before Christmas which was all about how to run an agency and be a leader. Half of the session was led by Simon Hartley from Be World Class whose whole business mantra is focused on what differentiates…
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6 uses for Bing Translate in Tweetdeck

6 uses for Bing Translate in Tweetdeck

Bing, the Microsoft owned, ever-growing search and data resource has returned its translation feature to Twitter-owned monitoring suite Tweetdeck. Originally introduced in July 2013 the service offered users a two click option to get quick and dirty translation of any none-native language tweet in…
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Facebook’s WhatsApp exceeds expectations by hitting 700M active users

Facebook’s WhatsApp exceeds expectations by hitting 700M active users

The world’s most popular mobile messaging service, WhatsApp which launched back in 2009 and has now reached over 700 million active monthly users across the globe. WhatsApp’s co-founder Jan Koum made the announcement on his Facebook page. The company was acquired by Facebook for $19…
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What is the future of the social media department?

What is the future of the social media department?

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?…
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Customer social service – what’s the standard?

Customer social service – what’s the standard?

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…
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The best of short-form video in 2014 – Vine or Instagram?

The best of short-form video in 2014 – Vine or Instagram?

With the news over the last few weeks that Instagram now has more active users and at $350m is worth more than Twitter, audiences clearly have a huge appetite for rich content. Short-form video is something that brands are already doing really well, but…
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Engagement, Demographics and Age trends: The Essential Social Stats of 2014

Engagement, Demographics and Age trends: The Essential Social Stats of 2014

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…
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Terrorism and Social Media

Terrorism and Social Media

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…
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Sony Pictures Crisis and Social Media

Sony Pictures Crisis and Social Media

The debate that has erupted after Sony’s David Boies’ “cease and desist” letter to media outlets was published invokes the paradoxical nature of trying to control and predict the media a la; have you ever walked into a crowded bar and demanded everyone stop talking?…
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Is it a yay or nay for the Facebook “Dislike” button?

Is it a yay or nay for the Facebook “Dislike” button?

You’re scrolling through your newsfeed when a friend shares some unfortunate news, and naturally you want to express your sympathy. Do you click “Like”? It just doesn’t seem appropriate! So how about “Dislike”? It’s a question Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has recently been mulling over. The suggested addition of the…
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YouTube most viral videos of 2014 – what can be learnt?

YouTube most viral videos of 2014 – what can be learnt?

Earlier this week YouTube announced its Top 10 most viewed videos of 2014. Coming up in tenth place was the 10 Hours of walking in NYC as a woman showed the multiple harassments she undergoes in one day despite being very…
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How did Uber get to be worth $40 Billion?

How did Uber get to be worth $40 Billion?

From success to scandal, Uber are never far from the headlines. Having announced today the latest $1.2 billion dollar cash injection they have received, you can’t help but ask…How have they created a $40 billion company in 5 years? From stereotypical Silicon Valley beginnings, Uber sprung onto…
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#Skeletakeover and #SecretScanta The Top Social Campaigns of Winter so far

#Skeletakeover and #SecretScanta The Top Social Campaigns of Winter so far

Last Christmas they gave us #hareandbear but the very next month they took them away. This year instead of a deer they gave us a penguin, special. This time of year we annually see some of the most engaging social campaigns and as the holidays rapidly approach.
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App Install Ads on Tumblr

App Install Ads on Tumblr

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…
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The propriety of hashtags, and the power of appropriate content (and a brief lesson in cricket)

The propriety of hashtags, and the power of appropriate content (and a brief lesson in cricket)

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…
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Black Friday is upon us

Black Friday is upon us

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…
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Nod to Doug Kessler – Insane Honesty in Content Marketing

Nod to Doug Kessler – Insane Honesty in Content Marketing

I was tracking the conversation yesterday at the Content Marketing Summit on the #content2014. With the knowledge it was my blog the next day I thought I would perhaps cover the key topics and themes from the event in this post. I took to Crimson Hexagon to help me quickly…
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