Search results for "twitter"

Burberry tops Pinterest

Burberry tops Pinterest

Despite being 156 years old, Burberry is proving to be a very progressive brand with its use of innovative social media platforms. It is currently the leading British fashion brand on Pinterest, the image-sharing social network that has gained huge traction around the world since it launched in 2010. Pinterest,…
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Battle of the soap operas in social

Battle of the soap operas in social

Whether you’ll admit it or not, many of us enjoy snuggling up on the sofa at the end of the day for a daily dose of our favourite soap opera. Nowadays, thanks to the ‘two screening’ phenomenon, this delight is now reflected online, with many of us engaging on social…
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Discover what content works in B2B social media using (non-paid) click-through rates!

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…
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“Horse-gate” and the importance of crisis management in social media

“Horse-gate” and the importance of crisis management in social media

From Findus lasagnes, Tesco burgers and Asda bolognese to Whitbread, it seems that the horsemeat scandal gets worse every day, as the saga gets even darker and more twisted and new brands become embroiled in the scandal. The questions of exactly what are we eating continue to persist and it’s…
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Your Weekly Social Media Snapshot

Your Weekly Social Media Snapshot

Search for your old tweets on Twitter This week Twitter has made some important changes to its search options. Users are now able to search for old tweets via hashtag or keyword. Previously, search results could only be seen from one week ago, so this news will…
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Valentine’s data crunch: the social low-down on this year’s trends

Valentine’s data crunch: the social low-down on this year’s trends

The most romantic week of the year is upon us once again. The cards are stocked, the roses reduced and the restaurants ready for their annual influx of covers. But what can the world of social tell us about Valentine’s Day in 2013. Is this a year of carefree romance…
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Top UK Universities in Social Media

Top UK Universities in Social Media

  I recently read a blog post that ranked universities in the US on how well they were engaging with social media. I thought it might be interesting to look at how our UK establishments were shaping up alongside them. Traditionally speaking, social media is not something…
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Buy it with a #Hashtag!

Buy it with a #Hashtag!

Have you ever tweeted about wanting a new bag, or the latest bit of gadgetry, or pined over a pretty bit of jewellery?  Well now if you tweet about it you may very well be able to own it with Twitter’s new partnership with American Express. Twitter has made a…
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The Cornerstones of a Good Social Media Crisis Policy

The Cornerstones of a Good Social Media Crisis Policy

Social media crises are not as rare as you think. And, as with HMV and Tesco, it’s often the biggest brands that struggle to mitigate the risk. Mistakes are easy to make: you only have to look at Tesco during the middle of the horse burger scandal…
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Your Weekly Social Media Snapshot

Your Weekly Social Media Snapshot

Busy week? No stress. Here’s a short, sweet digest so you can round-off the week feeling up to speed. 5 things you need to know from the last week:    Instagram launches online profiles Instagram have made some changes, announcing that users can now view their full…
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Should we take Google Plus seriously?

Should we take Google Plus seriously?

A recent study shows that Google Plus is now the second largest social network in the world. According to GWI, there are now 343m people using the platform, and it is hardly surprising. Google is integrating the existing user base of Gmail into G+ and continues to…
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7 super social TV stats from the Superbowl

7 super social TV stats from the Superbowl

For those of you who don’t care for American Football you would be forgiven for thinking “what is all of the fuss about?”.  Simple answer – Social TV and advertising, it is certainly worth taking note!  Real-time conversations are shaping brands all of the time in social, some brands are…
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4 reasons small businesses struggle with social

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,…
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HMV: a social media crisis

HMV: a social media crisis

Yesterday saw an excellent example of when a brand’s social media goes very, very wrong. An HMV employee, who had access to the company Twitter account, began to Tweet about the mass sackings that were going on that day in wake of HMVs bankruptcy: HMV clearly had not thought…
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Vine: Watch This Space

Vine: Watch This Space

I’m sure you’ve probably heard murmurings about Vine, Twitter’s new video-sharing app, which arrived on the social media scene at the end of last week. There has already been lots of excitement around the new app, which is being dubbed the Instagram of video. Twitter’s 500 milllion…
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Myspace: Lessons learnt from other social media networks

Myspace: Lessons learnt from other social media networks

Last week after much anticipation, the new and improved version of Myspace was rolled out to the general public. The launch coincided with the release of singer (and major Myspace investor) Justin Timberlake’s new single. Although the launch may have been overshadowed by Facebook’s announcement of graph search, the site…
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The shift to visual social media

The shift to visual social media

Content marketing is on the lips of most Marketing Managers as we head into 2013. The growth of platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram are proof of the way that people are consuming content – shifting to rich engaging visual content. Our own client analysis shows that 4x more engagement…
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Why 2013 is the year of Google Plus

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…
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New functionality for Google Plus Business boosts engagement and customer service

New functionality for Google Plus Business boosts engagement and customer service

Accumulating connections on Google+ isn’t a problem for some brands – take Cadbury UK with nearly 3 million! But for others, growing the size of the community remains a big challenge when using Google+ Business. The art (and little bit of science) of growing the follower and fan-base for business…
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LinkedIn continues to walk on the path of success

LinkedIn continues to walk on the path of success

LinkedIn have reached a milestone 200 million users this week. An impressive stat for any social media site. Perhaps not quite in the same league as Facebook who have 1 billion active monthly users, but definitely catching up with Twitter who have around 500 million registered…
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Consumer demand is turbo-charging growth in social customer service

Consumer demand is turbo-charging growth in social customer service

I love to talk about social customer service. I think it’s fascinating and incredibly pertinent in our digital world. It also still amazes me how brands and retailers are still missing a trick! I’ve experienced this slow uptake for myself recently; waiting nearly 2 months for a replacement washing machine…
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Social TV – The impact of David Attenborough on Social Media

Social TV – The impact of David Attenborough on Social Media

As I watched David Attenborough’s amazing show Africa last night on BBC, I found myself typically “two-screening” – following the conversation on Twitter (with intermittent flicking to Facebook) whilst the other half of my attention was glued to the box.  Whilst some might say that this is ridiculous behaviour, and…
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Top 5 blog posts of 2012… and more!

Top 5 blog posts of 2012… and more!

2012 has been a thrilling year in the world of social media, and we’ve been busy keeping up with the rapidity of changes as and when they happen. As the year draws to a close we’ve chosen the top 5 blog posts of 2012. 1. Afraid of…
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Instagram and the Power of Social Media

Instagram and the Power of Social Media

This week has seen a huge backlash against Instagram’s new terms and conditions regarding photo rights. The new terms and conditions appeared to claim that unless users deleted their profiles by the 16th January then all content published on the site becomes fair…
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UK Newspapers in Social Media: winners and losers

UK Newspapers in Social Media: winners and losers

As yesterday’s blog post shows, social media continues to radically transform the ways traditional journalism operates across the world. We learnt that some of year’s biggest stories broke via Twitter, not printed press. And traditional journalism will either transform, or die. An unanswered question remains though…
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Social Media as a Source of News: Latest Trends and Developments

Social Media as a Source of News: Latest Trends and Developments

In 2012, social media became a major source for breaking news. Before newspapers and other traditional methods of reporting had even heard of a story, everyday citizens were updating their Twitter and Facebook accounts to spread the word. Social media’s immediacy meant that it could always be…
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The State of Social Customer Service

The State of Social Customer Service

Social customer service is no longer an innovative concept; for most, particularly the big names, it is now an integral part of customer service operations. The question being asked is no longer ‘Does your business handle customer complaints via social media?’ – it is “How well are you performing? What…
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Could checking social media at work soon be illegal?

Could checking social media at work soon be illegal?

Employers have tightened up rules over the use of social media in the workplace, in fear of employees spending their days glued to Facebook or Twitter and ignoring their daily work. Whilst this is commonplace, could using social media at work soon be illegal? According to Stephanie Green and Christine…
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Will visual content drive social media in 2013?

Will visual content drive social media in 2013?

As the year draws to a close the inevitable lists of the best and worst moments begin to appear. But what about social media’s biggest successes this year? Econsultancy have published what they think are the 10 greatest social media campaigns from 2012. Looking back at what…
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What do CEOs think of social media? (infographic)

What do CEOs think of social media? (infographic)

There were some really interesting insights from IBM’s 2012 global CEO study which were released this week… When CEOs were asked for their predictions for the next 3-5 years they foresee a 61% decrease in traditional media being used as a customer interaction method, whilst collectively predicting a 256% increase…
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Social Media in 2012: The Top of the tops

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!…
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Movember’s social media reach

Movember’s social media reach

Most companies seek ROI when running a big social media campaign. But can charities do the same? This year it seems, Movember is proving that not only can a charity movement have a wide social reach but it can actually convert those Facebook ‘likes’ into real charitable action. The Movember…
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The social snowman driving an 11.4% increase in sales…

The social snowman driving an 11.4% increase in sales…

John Lewis have pulled out all the stops with their Christmas advert this year. Presumably trying to top last year’s heart warming offering. They have extended their campaign across social media platforms. The advert was first unveiled on Facebook before its prime time spot later that day…
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Trends and directions of the top 10 social media platforms

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…
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The mother of all B2B social media infographics

The mother of all B2B social media infographics

Love these to bits, always great encouragement for B2B marketers. Especially when they are about 6 foot long! B2B social media is handled by the PR department in the main, most do it to create awareness and the shock that more use Facebook (80%) than Twitter (78%) Have a little…
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Tis the season to be social…

Tis the season to be social…

The joyful season is nearing and brands are definitely trying to get us into the Christmas mood. They are doing all they can to boost sales through creative marketing and the use of interesting social media campaigns. Fashion outlet ASOS has launched an interactive campaign. Users will be able to…
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Three quick tips and three fast resources for sourcing content on the fly

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…
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And The Winner of the Presidential Election is…

And The Winner of the Presidential Election is…

The US presidential race will be decided on Tuesday 6th of November 2012 when either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama will be handed the keys to the White House for the next four years.  At present, the race is too close to call and opinion polls have them neck and…
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Hurricane Sandy – The Social Media Saints and Sinners

Hurricane Sandy – The Social Media Saints and Sinners

Last week Hurricane Sandy left much of the east coast of America in tatters. Whilst the hurricane swept across New York and other states, social media was to be one of the most powerful platforms in which aid was offered. Social media served as a useful tool for family and…
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B2B Content Marketing Trends 2012

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!…
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Dark social; the ghost in the social media measurement machine

Dark social; the ghost in the social media measurement machine

When the clock strikes midnight and the un-dead stir from their graves, it won’t be Freddie Krueger, or Pennywise the clown putting the frights into social media marketeers this Halloween. Something far worse. Something far scarier. A social media metric that isn’t being measured. As Social Media Examiner reports, the…
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Politics, Democracy and Social Media

Politics, Democracy and Social Media

Social media is a great tool for engagement; it enables the target audience to set the agenda and puts the customer in the driving seat of communication. It is both an opportunity and a challenge to any organisation, including political parties. In fact, one may even recognise core democratic elements…
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5 Tips to Use Google Hangouts in B2B Marketing

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…
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Cadburys show that Google+ is worth a go

Cadburys show that Google+ is worth a go

Google+ has been rifled with issues and skepticism since it began. The social platform has been criticised for its lack of activity and for being too small to be taken as a viable social media platform for brand use. Moreover brands have not always been sure about best practice marketing…
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Do dormant social users add brand value?

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…
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The weekly news round-up

The weekly news round-up

The B2Bs in the Social Marketing Universe Using social media for business is no longer a new or strange concept. Although some businesses have been slow to grasp the full value of social media for B2B marketing. Last week Facebook announced it was awarding 12 of the…
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Latest news from the world of social media

Latest news from the world of social media

News Round-Up Coca-Cola Reaches 50 Million Coca-Cola has always had a good grasp of how to market itself and communicate well with its fans. On social media it engages well with its fans in a direct and ‘authentic’ manner. In doing so, it’s…
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The rise of the social customer

The rise of the social customer

This year more than ever, the issue of social customer service is front and centre in the minds of customer service leaders. Many major companies are left with more questions than answers on how to implement, strategise and budget. It’s a common question, but why should a company bother with…
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Weekly News Round-Up

Weekly News Round-Up

Good News for Facebook Despite its fiscal status in a state of constant flux, Facebook had a good week. The platform passed the final hurdle in its bid to acquire Instagram after the California Department of Corporations ruled that the transaction appeared ‘just, fair, and equitable’. With all…
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Monday News Round-Up

Monday News Round-Up

Olympic sponsors: the social winners Whilst athletes were vying for medals during the dubbed ‘Socialympics’, the official sponsors were hard at work battling for social media dominance. Social Media Influence have released the sponsor leaderboard.  Visa and P&G come in joint 3rd position. Visa saw…
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News Round-Up: The Socialympics Legacy

News Round-Up: The Socialympics Legacy

After 16 days of sporting excellence, London bid farewell to the Olympic Games last night. Touted as the ‘world’s first social games’, London 2012 lived up to the hype around social media with networks extending their reach far and wide, as well as acting as a supplement to traditional media.
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News Round-up: Facebook Under Fire

News Round-up: Facebook Under Fire

Stay tuned for our Monday round-ups of the latest social media news. We will be providing short,  sweet snippets that will help you stay ahead of the ever-changing social media game. Here’s the first in the series… Enjoy. Last week saw the shock revelation that 8.7% or 83 million Facebook…
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Five tips for successful YouTube content

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…
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7 brands and their Instagrams

7 brands and their Instagrams

With the high profile acquisition of Instagram by Facebook for $1bn there is a lot of speculation about Facebook’s plans for the photo editing/sharing mobile app. CNET and the Guardian’s coverage of the takeover are the most…
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The larger your customer base, the more problems on social media?

The larger your customer base, the more problems on social media?

Many brands would love millions of followers of their social media profiles, customers just waiting for that next brand message or purchase motivator. However, it’s not a one way street. Social gives customers  a direct and very visible route to a brand. Some might say that the more followers you…
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Listen and learn: how to rise above a social customer crisis

Listen and learn: how to rise above a social customer crisis

With an increasing number of consumers – and particularly those under the age of 25 –  expecting customer service through social media channels, brands have a new and highly visible opportunity to turn negative sentiment into public and positive advocacy. Successful social customer service, however, treads a fine…
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Three considerations before exploring social customer service

Three considerations before exploring social customer service

A few weeks ago Econsultancy reported that just 11% of retailers use social media channels to respond to customers; while 81% of businesses use the channels for marketing purposes. Pair this with the fact that 46% of consumers expect great customer service online, not to mention 78% of consumers…
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How to destroy your social media reputation in 5 easy steps

How to destroy your social media reputation in 5 easy steps

1. Take it personally Responding in the heat of the moment may be a very human thing to do. But, when acting as the public persona of a brand or a client of such a response is a sure fire way to get your arse handed to you by the…
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Social Media Week 2012

Social Media Week 2012

It’s Valentine’s Day? Oh yes, of course! It’s also Day Two of Social Media Week and the line up for the rest of the week is looking fantastic. SMW takes place all over the globe, but there is a host of great events taking place in London…
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Facebook begins the inevitable mobile ad assault

Facebook begins the inevitable mobile ad assault

It didn’t take long after the IPO for Facebook to make a fresh announcement about plans for developing revenue generation – and it is the move into mobile advertising. Despite Mark Zuckerberg being described as having, “an evangelical approach to advertising,” and seeing the Facebook platform as, “a vehicle to…
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Real-time touches down at the Super Bowl

Real-time touches down at the Super Bowl

Few events in the sporting calendar command as much media coverage or social chatter as the US Super Bowl. Last year, French data intelligence company, Semiocast, reported that the American football championship was the focus of 4.5 million tweets, driving a 25% increase in global tweets during…
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SOPA and PIPA – the web’s four letter words

SOPA and PIPA – the web’s four letter words

  You may notice that the internet is slightly quieter than you are used to tomorrow.  This is due to numerous internet giants protesting the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). Opponents to the bills state that if passed into…
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Waze – Geolocation emerges from its troubled teens and becomes a useful member of society

Waze – Geolocation emerges from its troubled teens and becomes a useful member of society

You may have seen the other day that GPS navigation system Waze hit 10m users. It’s a social tool that aggregates user reports on traffic, accidents and the like. I’m a recent convert and signed up a few months ago, since…
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Slideshare and the rise of B2B social media

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…
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Afraid of your competitor’s social media activity?

Afraid of your competitor’s social media activity?

If so, you are not alone. New research from econsultancy shows a whopping 85% of brands believe increased social media marketing by competitors will have a significant impact on their social media plans in 2012. With all innovation, there is an adoption curve (see…
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14 essential stats from the latest UK social media research to help benchmark your planning

14 essential stats from the latest UK social media research to help benchmark your planning

Whether you’re planning your tactical social media campaign or reengineering your business for the social consumer, social media research is invaluable in setting benchmarks.  They help you manage expectations, isolate priorities and best of all, define KPIs that set the evaluation bar. But there is a dearth of…
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B2Bs take note – social media needs to empower staff, says global study

B2Bs take note – social media needs to empower staff, says global study

There is a perception in the industry that B2B “doesn’t do social”. I have often been asked if B2Bs “should use Social Media?” as part of their marketing mix and if “B2Bs can utilise Facebook?”…
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Are cats the new Pizza Express? The value of social currency

Are cats the new Pizza Express? The value of social currency

Estate agents used to say, that if Pizza Express opens in a new area, it’s a sure sign property prices in said area are about to rise; and smart property investors should pay attention. So I put it to you, if a meme spreads across YouTube, it’s a sure sign…
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Q&A: RiotRemedy founder, Heather Taylor, talks community management

Q&A: RiotRemedy founder, Heather Taylor, talks community management

In 2004 social networks were a groundbreaking channel for brands to self-publicise and broadcast their news. Today, the dynamic between brands and their customers has shifted. Customers want brands to talk with and not just at them. According to Heather Taylor, founder of online community, RiotRemedy, today’s brands need to…
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Why branded social media estates are like Pokémon: Qwikster vs. Jason Castillo

Why branded social media estates are like Pokémon: Qwikster vs. Jason Castillo

 Netflix have learnt the hard way that social media can’t be a last minute consideration when it comes to a rebrand. Marketing has to be fully integrated with social media planning. On demand video service Netflix struck upon the name Qwikster for its DVD side of the business, you can…
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Three reasons businesses fail to manage a social media crisis

Three reasons businesses fail to manage a social media crisis

Threee things we can learn from the world’s leading social businesses about how to avoid a social media crisis.
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Social media skills and the decline of the fourth estate?

Social media skills and the decline of the fourth estate?

A survival guide for journalists and the marketing profession The revelation that taking notes and time management are considered more important journalistic skills than understanding social media, has caused quite a stir. The worrying conclusion from the National Council for the Training of Journalists has been described…
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Online community management: Stop. Look. Listen.

Online community management: Stop. Look. Listen.

In the words of the Content Marketing Institute’s Joe Chernov: “Without content, social media is a sports car with an empty gas tank”. No one knows that better than an online community manager. But what that community manager also knows is that accelerating your social media…
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Google+: how social media marketing could evolve

Google+: how social media marketing could evolve

Google+ has really got the social media world excited. Twenty-five million users in 6 weeks, makes the growth of similar social networks like Facebook and Twitter look positively stunted in comparison. And the blogosphere is just as fired up – a quick Google blog search for Google+…
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Social media marketing: what not to do

Social media marketing: what not to do

Social media marketing is not new. We’re all familiar with the basics and brands are actively engaging with their consumers on a daily basis. So, why are people still doing it incorrectly? Here, we share what to do and, more importantly, what not to do when it comes to the…
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Social media training – vital lessons from history part 2

Social media training – vital lessons from history part 2

In the last post we looked at figures from the twentieth century and the lessons that could be learned from their experiences when implementing brand social media training. In this post we’ll investigate some historical recommendations crowdsourced on Twitter over the…
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Social media training – vital lessons from history part 1

Social media training – vital lessons from history part 1

Those looking to ensure staff are equipped to represent their brand across social media platforms could do worse than learn from some of history’s most famous and infamous historical figures. So what can your social media training learn from the past? “To be ignorant of what occurred before you…
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The rise of online influence: Part II

The rise of online influence: Part II

In the second part of our series on online influence, we round up the three best tools for measuring social media influence; along with a look at their advocates and sceptics. In my last post I paraphrased Brian Solis and Vocus in defining an online influencer as someone who has…
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The rise of online influence: Part I

The rise of online influence: Part I

This is a two-part series exploring online influencers and their role in social media marketing. Part I looks at the reasons why a brand should focus on wooing influencers over journalists; Part II defines ways of identifying and measuring their influence. Traditional PR vs social media marketing Traditional…
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What is Online Reputation Management: Part I

What is Online Reputation Management: Part I

This is the first in a three-part series of posts exploring what is online reputation management? Part I looks at crisis management in the age of social media. The crisis management model is under threat. Robust plans that once cut the mustard with traditional media are struggling to control and…
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B2B social media case studies

B2B social media case studies

There is a real dearth of social media case studies when it comes to business to business. The scarcity is even more profound when you are looking for examples from UK companies. Yet, surveys tell us that almost half of UK companies…
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Urban Outfitter’s new nightmare: new stats reveal the Miley Cyrus effect

Urban Outfitter’s new nightmare: new stats reveal the Miley Cyrus effect

Online crisis phase 1 So, in case you’re not aware of it, the international fashion retailer is facing a bit of a brand crisis. In short, it has been accused by Stevie K of tru.che of copying a line of her jewellery.  In the industry it appears that…
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Osama bin Laden is dead but traditional news isn’t

Osama bin Laden is dead but traditional news isn’t

So the Royal Wedding quickly became old news. Wills and Kate’s wedding of the year was quickly overshadowed on Monday by the news that the world’s most wanted man has been killed. And while this was a significant day in history, it also became a significant day in the…
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So apparently PR is the 2nd most stressful career

So apparently PR is the 2nd most stressful career

So you may have seen a report on Twitter doing the rounds, that details the most stressful careers in the US. Now as a PR I don’t mind brand developed reports, as long as they are impartial, well researched and provide clarity about how…
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Social media is science fiction

Social media is science fiction

As this is the immediate future blog, rather than my own, I obviously steer away from anything too personal (apart from my various press trips of course). But if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to share a little anecdote with you. I listen to the @wittertainment…
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Sing it with me, ‘Social music is the future’

Sing it with me, ‘Social music is the future’

I’ve been reading a lot (and trying out) some new and exciting music applications over the past week or so, with people starting to explore hitherto uncharted territory. Everyone and their dog are launching cloud based music streaming services (Amazon have joined Sony in…
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Social media monitoring, the questions to ask

Social media monitoring, the questions to ask

As a social media agency, monitoring tools have become a valuable component in our toolkit. With a plethora of new tools hitting the market, staying on top of the latest technology and understanding their differentiating factors is a challenge – so here are a few of the…
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Search gets social: Recommendations for brands

Search gets social: Recommendations for brands

What does a consumer see when they type your brand into a search engine? And where else are people searching for your brand? As the net becomes more attuned to social conversations, the line between social and search is becoming increasingly blurred. Conversations on social media platforms are informing search…
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Are dashboards symptomatic of an unhealthy obsession with numbers?

Are dashboards symptomatic of an unhealthy obsession with numbers?

Gone are the days of fluffy explanations. Marketing and communications professionals are increasingly expected to provide measurements, metrics and real time data. Whether it is to interrogate a campaign, set benchmarks or justify investment, the numbers count. Social media is no different, and it’s not short on numbers. From Facebook…
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What’s in store for the Huffington Post Media Group?

What’s in store for the Huffington Post Media Group?

Way back in 2005 Arianna Huffington set up a small left wing blog on a ‘shoestring’ budget while AOL was part of the world’s fourth largest corporation, AOL Time Warner. Arianna’s blog quickly became on online sensation with a high ranking and growing unique visitors. While things…
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Sony’s Music Unlimited spreads its wings at MIDEM 2011

Sony’s Music Unlimited spreads its wings at MIDEM 2011

Get excited, it’s another post by Mark where he’s been on a press trip! (OK, stop rubbing it in [that’s what she said!].Ed.) Last weekend, I accompanied our client Sony Europe as they visited the MIDEM 2011 conference in Cannes. If you haven’t heard…
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I like my media social, not socialist

I like my media social, not socialist

Does UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt believe the Murdoch buy-out of BSkyB is “against the public interest in media plurality”? Will the competitions commission review do anything more than delay the merger? This would be more of a cliffhanger if we didn’t…
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Social media and TV – not as united as first thought?

Social media and TV – not as united as first thought?

Last week I blogged about the convergence of social media and TV and this week news from SideReel shows the convergence isn’t as great as we first thought! SideReel, the largest independent TV destination on the web, has produced this infographic…
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Tweeting about TV

Tweeting about TV

Some of us at IF towers are self-confessed ‘Gleeks’ so we were ecstatic when the new series started last week on E4 and annoyed the haters in the office by talking about it. But it looks like we aren’t the only ones who love a bit of…
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Google alerts get a shot in the arm

Google alerts get a shot in the arm

There are loads of free tools out there designed to provide insight into what is being said about you or the brands and products you work for on the Internet. One such tool that is worth checking out is G’lerts.  Using…
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CES 2011 – Back to Vegas for 3D, Internet video and tablets

CES 2011 – Back to Vegas for 3D, Internet video and tablets

So this year I was back in Vegas. No, not for the gambling or the nightlife (not primarily anyway), but to provide support to our client Sony Europe during their launch activity around CES. Yes, it’s…
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What does Quora mean for brands?

What does Quora mean for brands?

There’s been a flurry of activity and attention around the rapidly growing question and answer site, Quora, and this week it hit the mainstream media. For anyone who’s missed the news, here’s a brief introduction, and some of the opportunities and risks that we have identified: What…
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How social media is changing the Christmas wish list

How social media is changing the Christmas wish list

Online shopping is making present buying a breeze for those of us that don’t want to brave the busy shops this Christmas. But is social media changing the way we buy? Are we becoming more and more influenced by our peers on social platforms such as…
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My social media journey of discovery

My social media journey of discovery

By Kate Eglinton Last summer whilst researching graduate positions in communications and public relations, I was drawn in by the social media buzz that has taken the PR industry by storm in recent years.  Social media seemed to be big business. With my…
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