Archive for the ‘social media’ Category

LinkedIn was the favourite social media site for professionals at work in 2009, with 86% of worldwide internet users referring to it, a jump of 24% on 2008.

The survey from internet security firm FaceTime Communications shows that most professionals use LinkedIn to network with colleagues (79%), to learn about colleagues (66%) and for general research (61%). Only 37% were using LinkedIn for marketing to customers.

While only 13% said they used Twitter in 2008 for work purposes, the number leapt to 76% in 2009, overtaking Digg, Delicious and YouTube in the professional social networking pecking order though these also experienced substantial increases.

Facebook is still regarded as mainly a personal social networking site and in another survey reported in eMarketer, by Liberty Mutual, three quarters of employees Read the rest of this entry »

According to estimates from blog Inside Facebook, revenue for the pre -eminent social network is expected to exceed $1bn in 2010.

Revenues have typically doubled each year, according to the research carried out amongst industry experts, from $150m in 2007, to $300m in 2008 and so on, with advertising revenue from fan pages believed to be the main driver.

2009 is seen as an important transitionary year for the site which grew to more than 350m monthly active users, from 150m at the beginning of the year. Of those, 100m were in the US and another 100m were in Europe – the two markets where brand advertising brings in the most money.

Brand advertising is estimated at $225m for 2010 and Inside Facebook predicts this stream could eventually grow to $20bn, taking share away from more established sites like Yahoo and MySpace. Read the rest of this entry »

Chief marketing officers in the US are quickly increasing their predicted social marketing budgets, finds a survey from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the American Marketing Association, reported in eMarketer today.

Marketers researched in January 2010 now say their percentage spend on social media will increase further than they were predicting just six months previously. Their estimates show that in five years social media will represent 20% of their budgets.

Across sectors, B2B spending is expected to be in line with B2C except in the B2B products category.

B2B marketers see customer relationship management and brand-building to be the priority areas for them in the next year with social marketing seen as an ideal channel for delivery due to its effectiveness in boosting brand engagement and loyalty.

Social media is proving a valuable crisis communication tool for people affected by the Chile earthquake.

Mashable reports that one woman was able to track down her sister-in-law via Twitter using local hashtags which were picked up by a man in Santiago who was able to confirm her safety. Photos of the aftermath have been uploaded to Twitter and Twitpic, providing a photo log of the destruction.

Google has launched a version of its person finder application for Chile, to aid  those looking for or offering information about friends and family.

On Facebook, pages like Chile Earthquake have sprung up, with 8,500 fans creating links, photos, videos and links to Google’s person finder. Read the rest of this entry »

Managed hosting provider NetBenefit has appointed Furlong PR to implement an online pr and social media strategy, following a three way pitch.

Furlong will also undertake traditional media relations work for NetBenefit in the UK

Kristel Scattergood, Marketing Manager for NetBenefit commented, “We appointed Furlong PR because we were impressed by their ability to combine expertise in online pr and social media, with an ongoing traditional media relations service.”

NetBenefit is the third new client Furlong PR has added to its portfolio in recent weeks, following appointments by FESPA and Freedman International.

Ross Furlong, CEO of Furlong PR commented “Online pr is generating a lot of interest from companies who seem just a little jaded with traditional pr approaches. Online and social media pr strategies are proving an attractive proposition, not least because their success is more measurable” Read the rest of this entry »

An ad made by Audi to promote its electronic car concept e-tron, which appears to send up Toyota’s accelerator problem, has become a YouTube sensation with 500K views.

Audi admits, in a report by Brandchannel, that they did make the viral called ”Toyota lawnmower recall’  but that it was released in September, before Toyota’s recall of some eight million vehicles worldwide.

The Toyota related  title was allegedly added by an anonymous party more recently.

However, Audi does have a history of competitive advertising and recently took aim at BMW with ‘Friendly Competition‘ in which Audi capitalises on independent comparison road tests that found in their favour.

Our guess is the headline is the work of some online wag, part of a long tradition of advertisements being deliberately adapted or taking on a comic dimension in the light of new events – Tiger Woods print ads a recent example.

Here’s the lawnmower:

For some reason the Winter Olympics has left me cold this time, practically frost bitten in fact but as a sports fan, I worry I’m missing something so the Twitter Tracker from US news channel NBC looked a good bet – you click on a photo of an Olympic star and it shows everything being said about them.

Not knowing who any of them are though, is a drawback and in terms of holding interest, Twitter Tracker goes downhill rapidly from there – like whoever won the skiing.

The main Twitter feed is a better bet. NBC’s has 65K followers – a gold medal winning ski jump ahead of the official Vancover 2010 one which has 13K followers – worldwide, slightly embarrassing, Richard Madeley has more than that.

There’s a volte-face when you compare their Facebook pages though, Vancover 2010 has almost one million fans, while NBC’s Facebook icon directs to my personal Facebook page, at least on my computer – and I have no fans at all.

Furlong PR has a mighty 7 fans though, a very select bunch, I urge you to join and unlike private members club, One Alfred Place, I promise I won’t try and throw you out for overuse.

By the way, does that Evan Lysacek have a look of Robin Cousins about him?

The first episode of the latest series from HBO, the esteemed makers of shows including The Sopranos and The Wire, is premiering on YouTube prior to its network launch on Sunday.

‘How to Make It in America’, starring Bryan Greenberg (One Tree Hill), Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie) and rapper Kid Cudi, follows the escapades of two twenty-something New Yorkers trying to ‘Make It’ in the fashion business.

The YouTube marketing approach for HBO follows the success of ‘The United States of Tara’ which launched online last year, notching up more than 500,000 YouTube views on its first day.

YouTube is believed to be actively pursuing deals with programme makers while cable channels are seeing the potential for social media promotion of new releases via YouTube.

Sadly the pilot episode is blocked on UK YouTube so here’s the trailer instead:

A new report from Forrester and the Association of National Advertisers shows 77% of marketers increasing spend on social media  in 2010,

Social media therefore tops marketer’s adjusted spending agenda, followed by web advertising, SEO and email marketing.

The determined march towards new channels emerges in the context of a TV advertising study that shows 62% of marketers think TV advertising is less effective than it used to be.

19% go as far as to predict the 30 second TV ad will be dead within 10 years.

Marketers are also looking closely at online video as an alternative to TV, 46% saying they will move spend into this area. Read the rest of this entry »

While the twenty year old USA today focus group ‘ad meter’ judged Snickers to be the favourite Super Bowl ad this year, Doritos has emerged as the favourite ad measured online, according to several different buzz monitors.

Colle & McVoy’s Squawq registered 35,000 tweets about the brand sent during the game, two thirds after its ‘house rules‘ ad (below).

Doritos also generated the most talk and highest sentiment according to BrandBowl2010 plus the most positive tone online, according to Zeta Interactive – 96 percent positive, 13 percent up from before the game.

YouTube’s Ad Blitz verdict is still to come in but on rival video sharing site Hulu, Doritos was once again the most liked ad though Motorola’s ‘Megan Fox Photo’ was the most viewed.

Measured over a longer period, from December, Alterion SM2 found that Focus on the family, with its controversial pro-life content, generated the highest volume of activity.