2012 was a big year for social media so as we move full steam ahead into 2013, and all the predictions it has brought, now is the perfect time to look back at the past year of social and see exactly what kind of year the past 12 months proved to be for the main players.  This infographic from Pardot takes a look at Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook (no Instagram) and gives them each an end of year school report card in terms of growth, users and ROI. Read More »

As Google fights ever harder to crack social media, it seems it might be playing a little bit dirty. The Wall Street Journal reports it is forcing people who use Google services, from  YouTube to Zagat, to sign up for Google+.

For example, those wishing to post reviews on Google owned services are required to sign in to Google+. Additionally, Google+ profiles are now appearing more and more in search. It all all allows Google to blend more data about a user together, remember you have to use your real name on Google+, giving them a more powerful sell to advertisers.

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One of the most interesting things about the US election campaign was the breadth of digital use and how the use of social media by the two parties evolved. Few stones were left unturned as the Obama and Romney campaigns progressed and even now that the election is over the Obama team continues to evolve its use of social and digital media with, for instance, its launch onto Pinterest earlier this week.

There is little the Obama team have not tried or experimented with from Tumblr, to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, blogs and Foursquare.

Then take a look back at what is happening in the UK with Labour and it seems that social and digital media campaigning appears to be going backwards. I’ve noticed a few things recently that have left me scratching my head. I saw another one yesterday and have rounded up a few things in this post. Read More »

There are only 41 shopping days left until Christmas. Yes, really. This also means it’s about that time of year that industry movers and shakers get together over a crystal ball. Always keen to get in early, here are my top social media predictions for 2013. I know we’ve said this before, but next year social media will move beyond ‘engagement’. It has to. What else? Well we saw something start to change at Yahoo, under Marissa Mayer, but will that result in a renaissance?

Yahoo’s fortunes as a whole mirror those of Google’s social platform Google+ and next year will really have to be do or die as far as it is concerned.

We’ve said it many times, but it did happen this year. 2012 was the year of mobile, we saw that clearly illustrated in the US election, and 2013 will be the year of even more mobile thanks to 4G.  Read More »

If anyone doubts the value of a Google + account for brands, take a look at what Google’s social extensions can do for web traffic. Social extensions connect all the +1 recommendations your customers have given you – whether that was on your website, your Google+ page or your ads – and display them in your search results.

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A while back I wrote a piece on whether clients should be worried about Facebook pages having a future as fans left the good ship Facebook and rushed to Google +.

Twelve months later and I think it’s safe to conclude that Google + is not presenting a threat to Facebook.

Moreover when a ‘social media’ force runs a mainstream media advert there’s something that just makes you wonder whether they’ve got their strategy right, and whether their product is sticking. All the other social media tools I use have relied solely on word of mouth. Anyone ever seen a Twitter ad? Read More »

The 2012 UK Social Charity Index shows that engagement with charities has doubled over the last year, with the top 100 charities now amassing 3.7m followers on Twitter between them, up from 2m last year.

On Facebook they have 7m followers compared to 3.5m a year ago. Charities now also attract over a million supporters on Google+.

In the last year, the number of social media platforms charities are using’s increased. Facebook and Twitter still dominate, YouTube’s also established as secondary platform, but other channels such as Google+, Vimeo, Instagram, Pinterest and Storify are also emerging as main platforms that charities are using as a core part of their social media marketing portfolio. Read More »

We may have all been watching the Facebook share price crash of late, but ultimately it’s users are still dedicated to the service.

New research by Global Web Index found that Facebook users are the most engaged in their network, as well as it being the largest. 64% of account owners engaged on the network in someway over Q2 2012.

This number is up 40% year on year. Highly significantly, but not surprisingly, 40% of users accessed Facebook via mobile. Proof, if any was needed, that the company really needs to sort out its mobile monetisation. Read More »

Google+ has a problem. While Google’s social network might have somewhere north of 25o million active users, and some predicting it might eventually have a huge impact on search campaigns among other things, others argue it is a failure.

That Google+ equates more to a failure like Buzz than a success, like Gmail.

What though is its problem and why is it struggling? Mark Schaefer argues very well that its problem isn’t about the product itself, about features or anything like that, but about its image. Read More »

Despite the overarching reach of Facebook and Twitter, people are flocking more and more to niche services. Research by Experian shows that Between July 2011 and July 2012 use of both Instagram and Pinterest shot up worldwide, as well as other more specific social services.

In Australia, for instance, Instragram use rose a massive 362%, and a staggering 17, 319% in North America. Here in the UK the rise was over 2000%. Figures were similar for Pinterest, which saw a 798% usage spike in Australia, and 2373% in Hong Kong, and 1489% in the UK. Read More »