Financial organisations have to operate under strict regulations, even on social media. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA ), which replaced the FSA on 1st April, has made it clear that financial organisations have to communicate in a way that is clear, fair and not misleading, irrespective of the channel used. (April also saw American regulator, the SEC, issue fresh guidance permitting companies to post earnings and investment updates on social media channels.)

As more people turn to social media to communicate with companies, financial organisations such as banks, insurers and investment firms are finding creative ways to attract fans and followers, and engage them enough to keep them coming back for more. Read More »

BBC News, Chelsea and Arsenal are three of the British brands among those that score the highest levels of engagement on Twitter, according to this infographic from Nestivity.

What’s interesting from the research here is that despite some brands such as @JetBlue, @AmericanExpress and @WholeFoods having more than one million followers each, they don’t generate a huge amount of engagement. Read More »

If you drew up a list of ways you thought you might be able to pay for products in the near future, paying with a Tweet might not have been there, but American Express and Twitter are making this happen.

Last year, Amex offered customers the chance to save cash by synching their American Express card with their Twitter account. Now they have extended that synch feature and introduced the first “pay-by-tweet” service. Cardholders can buy products by tweeting a purchase hashtag. Read More »

Back in September, Kellogg’s launched the first ever tweet shop for a week to mark the launch of its new Special K cracker crisps. The unique store in Soho offered consumers the chance to try the crisps and then purchase the product, not with money but via a tweet with the hash tag #TweetShop.

The concept of using tweets for currency seems a little odd – the products are effectively being given away for free. However, this was using currency in a different way, by tapping into social currency and the word-of-mouth nature of social networks. Read More »

I’ve long been a fan of Foursquare. It is easily integrated into more mainstream social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and the location data that the app generates should make it an essential digital tool for marketers and campaigners.

American Express UK have recognised its power, and are running a new campaign in conjunction with the geo location company and Harvey Nichols. Card holders can sync their card with Foursquare , and if they check in at the department store they will receive £25 when they spend £25. Read More »

Twitter brought its   #Twitter4brands road show to London yesterday and used the event to highlight the success stories of a number of brands that have scored high levels of engagement on Twitter —  far exceeding traditional online advertising.

Adam Bain, president of global revenue at Twitter, pointed to brands such as Porsche, Starbucks and ASOS while Cadbury and Absolute were also highlighted at the packed event on London’s South Bank. Read More »

American Express are offering savings to their customers. This one though is not through coupons or points, but via social media.

To get savings from a host of US brands, such as McDonalds, Dell, and Whole Foods, all you have to do is sync your Twitter account with Amex, and tweet using the specified hashtag for that brand. The saving then goes directly onto the synced card. For instance, if you want to get savings at Whole Foods the hashtag is #AmexWholeFoods and the appropriate saving will automatically be applied on your next purchase. Read More »

One of social media’s greatest benefits to brands is the ability to scale up customer engagement for value creation. The most intimate and valuable type of interaction was until recently facilitated mostly by one on one engagements that demanded extensive human resources and expenditures. Now, powered by digital platforms, engagement reaches scale. Engagement via social media has more to offer than recruiting customers and driving sales.

It can help extend the customer life-time by creating loyalty, as well as optimise it by turning customers into advocates and enjoy additional leads and sales. And –finally, but potentially most importantly, engagement through social media can generate insights from customers, which can lead to better products and services. Read More »

Foursquare: deal with Amex

In spite of predictions that Facebook Places would kill off Foursquare, the geo-location social network is still going strong, revealing this week that it has 10 million members and a new partnership with American Express.

The deal works in the United States and will see American Express users required to sync their cards with a Foursquare account in order to get discounts at retailers and restaurants.

Read More »

LinkedIn has confirmed its plan to go public in 2011 and is seeking to raise $175m in what will be the first US social network IPO.

LinkedIn also plans to boost the way advertisers can target members and will offer them more options following recent reports that LinkedIn ads do not perform very well. Read More »