Twitter’s head of UK sales, Bruce Daisley, hit the headlines recently with his statement that “social media campaigns need objectives”. It seemed like a strange thing to hear – if you work in social media, this has always gone without saying.

But in recent months, there does seem to have been a change in the air. Clients – perhaps wary of the #FAIL hashtag or appearing on the Condescending Corporate Brand Page, seem to have taken a step back and regrouped. Briefs are now focused more on training and in-house skills, strategic support and the development of infrastructure plans – often globally. Read more »

The worst thing about social media is not being unable to measure it – in fact there is arguably too much to measure.

Likes, retweets, favourites, new fans, members, comments, complaints… it’s a long list.

But on their own, or even taking a couple together – these measurements are a distraction from what really matters. Just like you can convince yourself that you’re doing important work when you are down a wormhole on Twitter – yet you know that when your crunch time comes around, that won’t wash at all. Read more »

It’s been a good week for Twitter outrage, but a bad week for the people at the centre. Diver Tom Daley has been on the receiving end of some vicious tweeting; a journalist for the Independent was chucked off Twitter for criticising NBC over shoddy Olympics coverage (though since reinstated), and a 17 year-old has been picked up from a guesthouse, arrested  and given a harassment warning as the presumed sender of the abusive tweets to Daley.

Perhaps it seems odd to include the alleged perpetrator of the abusive tweets in the ‘bad week’ round up. But I’m not the only person wondering if arrest seems a little extreme. Read more »

The ability to link a consumer’s social data to existing CRM systems – and what you do with that data – is, arguably, the answer to the social ROI question.

Much is talked about social ROI, but in practice, little is being done to any great effect. The technology is there. It is possible, and reasonably straightforward, to extract social data from a social media campaign on, say Facebook, and cross-match it with a CRM system. But more interestingly, it’s also possible to match existing CRM data with customer interactions on social media. Read more »

Everyone’s talking about social media and customer service. We’ve put together our top 10 things to do if you’re getting into social customer service.

From listening effectively, to being properly resourced, responsive and ensuring that your social media is joined up with other parts of business. Any we’ve missed? Read more »

A few years ago, you’d have to actually watch a football match (or listen on the radio) to get live updates from the pitch. Today, you can follow live coverage on Twitter, get your half-time analysis from a football community like footbo and bantr , discuss the result on Facebook and get the low down after the game… from the players themselves on Twitter. We did some digging into the relationship between our national obsession with football, and social media.

Footballers and their fans

Players like Cristiano Ronaldo have millions of fans following them on Twitter. This is a great way for players and fans to talk directly to each other, but it also carries a risk. The carefully crafted soundbites of a press conference can be replaced with ill-thought-out comments that often as not make it into the press. Read more »

Humour is a difficult thing to get right for brands. But done well, it can be an ace in driving positive advocacy for a brand.

Two major online worlds for children have launched this year: Pottermore, an extension of the Harry Potter franchise; and Horrible Histories, Scholastic’s virtual environment based on the books of the same name (disclosure – Horrible Histories® is a client of ours). Children’s worlds are big business. They are a chance for brands and IP owners to connect with young people – both to encourage children to read or learn, and to tap into new revenue streams.

Kids are a tough audience. Your world might be the most beautifully designed thing in the world, but if it doesn’t have a strong enough purpose or story, it won’t hold a child’s interest for long. Read more »

You can’t go anywhere or do anything at the moment without a brand compelling you to go to their Facebook page and click Like. But do brands really need to acquire vast numbers of Facebook fans? What’s the point? And perhaps more pertinently in today’s ROI-obsessed world, can we attribute a meaningful value of enticing someone to click the magical ‘thumbs-up’?

Group buying platform, ChompOn, did some research earlier in the year which placed the value of a Facebook Like at $8 based on ‘immediate next sales’. A Facebook Share was similarly valued at $14. However, it admitted that the true value would be higher because of long-term loyalty, and that there was no way to be certain that the sale was a direct result of the Facebook Like unless there was an ecommerce channel within Facebook. Read more »

Social media has had a large part to play in driving donations towards relief efforts to help those affected by the tsunami in Japan. Some have been received well, like the initiative by LivingSocial that matched users’ $5 donations to give more than $2m to relief efforts. Others have sparked accusations of profiteering from human tragedy, such as the ill-judged attempt by Bing to link donations to retweets using the #SupportJapan hashtag. Read more »