Heather Taylor

Heather is a writer and filmmaker who covers media and communications, tech, ecommerce and the arts and was listed by Brand Republic as one of the top 200 most influential bloggers in 2011. She is currently editorial director of Econsultancy in New York.

Prior to her move to Econsultancy, Heather was acting editor of About the BBC, the BBC corporate blog and website, and managed online corporate reputation for the BBC. Previous roles included social media manger for PayPal UK and social media/ PR manager for Groundswell award winner, giffgaff.

Heather speaks at events on social media, marketing, community and filmmaking - previous speaking engagements include talks at ComicCon, Reputation Online Live, Technology for Marketing and Advertising, PR Week, European Customer Experience World, Social Media in Business, Media Camp London, and Digital Surrey. She has also advised on social media strategy for a number of startups and charitable organizations.

Colgate-Palmolive connects with customers with a smile

Our weekly showcase of The Dachis Group's Social Business Index highlights brands in a range of verticals from publishing and retail to travel, with the Dacchis team focusing this week on Vivendi and Colgate-Palmolive.

We also survey the top twenty listings of the Social Business Index, a real-time ranking of 30,000+ multinationals' performance in social.

by Heather Taylor 11 February 2013 20:51pm 0 comments

Top 100 brands see huge growth in Google+ and YouTube in 2012

It's not surprising that Google+ adoption has increased over the past year as Google has integrated the social platform with all its services and YouTube is on the rise as more brands are offering video as part of their content and marketing strategies. But what are the big brands doing?

This morning BrightEdge released their latest Social Share report focusing on social media adoption trends of the top 100 global brands. This quarter, they are focusing on Google with the latest on Google+ and YouTube.

by Heather Taylor 07 February 2013 15:32pm 3 comments

The movement to viewable ads vs served ads: infographic

As we begin to sift the huge amounts of data at our fingertips, we are starting to see a move toward better advertising solutions: more targeted and more relevant ads served to potential customers who will actually act on them. This is needed in display advertising more than any other.

In 2012, we started to see publications shift toward more effective types of inventory from ad servers. Sites such as Forbes and USA Today have moved from allowing served ads to viewable ads, which means advertisers aren't being charged for ads that aren't seen by the consumer.

Some may consider this a bold move, and those serving the inventory are likely to unhappy with this move, but a movement to a viewable ad measurement, will make the ROI of display advertising reflect the actual truth of what is seen.

by Heather Taylor 05 February 2013 21:56pm 1 comment

Tackling Twitter and Pinterest in 2013

While we have seen Twitter gradually embraced by most companies over the past five years, newcomer Pinterest didn't even exist that long ago and now we are basing strategies on it.

With our shift in attitude toward the effectiveness and importance of social media to marketers and comsumers alike, we are ever looking to the future of these platforms.

With Twitter's release of Vine (and the resurgence of animated gifs everywhere) and their flipflop in openness with their APIs, it's important to stay one step ahead of the game.

by Heather Taylor 01 February 2013 16:45pm 2 comments

Finance and pharma in 2013

A strange combination but these are two areas that may see a big change in the upcoming year - especially if they can get away from the stringent regulations they often work under.

I think marketers working under these conditions have done amazing things and those working in these sectors only have room to grow.

by Heather Taylor 31 January 2013 14:03pm 1 comment

How marketing in the travel industry will change in 2013

With Wikipedia shaking up online travel with WikiVoyage, things are already changing in this essential industry at the start of 2013. As travel becomes more and more accessable and more competitive, how marketing in this space has to become more savvy and customer centric.

But what is actually going to change and how are marketers going to shift gears in the upcoming year?

by Heather Taylor 29 January 2013 16:46pm 4 comments

What to expect from apps in 2013

Love mobile? Love your apps? On the other with Windows 8 hitting the scene, it looks like apps will be more popular than ever. But is it the way to go?

The average smart phone user has only 40 apps on their phone with a great precentage of them leaning toward a utility function. So what would the advantage be for your company to go into the app space. If you aren't there already, should you still jump in?

by Heather Taylor 24 January 2013 16:45pm 2 comments

Personalisation and tablets will dominate changes to ecommerce in 2013

At the end of 2012, we saw record numbers in online shopping over the holidays and that is only going to increase as our ecommerce experiences improve.

This will only happen if we increase personalisation and make our shopping experience more relevant.

Also as we increase to use new devices in our day to day lives, those retailers and companies who ensure their sites and shopping experiences extend into tablets and mobiles will be ahead.

This year may see more of this especially when it comes specifically to tablets.

by Heather Taylor 23 January 2013 16:45pm 0 comments

Personalization key for email in 2013

Though email has been with us for the lifetime of most digital marketers, I think it has the potential to be an exciting space, if marketers are able to look at it as a new and exciting channel just as they think of social media.

Agencies are beginning to merge email and social as they see personalization at the core of the success of both channels. This is one area we'll see grow in 2013 but what else is in store for us when it comes to email?

by Heather Taylor 22 January 2013 16:45pm 2 comments

Social media in 2013: the year we finally go “beyond the like”

Social media is not the new kid on the block anymore but it's still a growing channel and 2013 will see a number of changes - or so our industry experts think. Brands are starting to realise the importance of this channel and are looking for real numbers to back up the claims of agencies and social media experts.

The continued growth of content will affect how people use and interact with social media and the beands using it. And now that we can collect more specific and individual data through social media, this content will become even more effective.

by Heather Taylor 21 January 2013 16:45pm 2 comments