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.

Betty Crocker fans go wild for Elf on the Shelf bait recipe

This week Christmas is slipping into the mix alongside some inspiration sports brands in our weekly showcase of The Dachis Group's Social Business Index.

Our focus is on three companies – V.F. Corp, General Mills, and Woodman Labs known for their brands Vans, Betty Crocker and GoPro - as analyzed by the team at the Dachis Group.

We'll also take a glimpse at the top twenty brands on the Social Business Index, a real-time ranking of more than 30,000 global brands based on their performance in the social space, to see how the biggest brands in social are faring.

by Heather Taylor 07 December 2012 14:38pm 0 comments

62% of 12 to 15-year-olds own a smartphone : infographic

I find it fascinating to look at habits of children who have grown up in the digital age or really now, with social media. So I found the recently published Ofcom child media usage survey interesting as it looked at the habits children are displaying in terms of their media consumption.

The numbers aren't surprising nor is the move away from traditional TV viewing with only 17% of 12 to 15-year-olds saying they would miss TV if they didn't have it. Most parents I know are showing their kids Elmo videos on YouTube and I've scarily seen an increase of pretend laptops, iPhones and iPads, for the under 3s to play with so they don't break mummy's shiny new iPhone 5.

by Heather Taylor 06 December 2012 16:49pm 0 comments

Only 20% of Fortune 100 CMOs are active in social networks

As social leadership is an increased focus for global businesses, BusinessNext went in search of the top 25 CMOs in Fortune 100 Companies. In the end, they could only find 20 as only one in five CMOs on the Fortune 100 list are active in public social networks. I'd concur, though, that number is higher than previous years.

Despite The CMO Survey's recent projection of an 150% increase in social spending in marketing budgets over the next five years, the majority of the senior staff holding the purse strings are yet to establish a social footprint of their own. Is this an indication that they don't understand the space, or is it that they put their efforts in promoting the brands they work for instead of the brand of "me"?

by Heather Taylor 04 December 2012 18:43pm 2 comments

IAB announces new site tagging best practice: the experts' view

The IAB recently called for feedback on a newly released best practice guide for site tagging. This is a new area of comment for the IAB but a much needed one. They are aiming to form this guide to eliminate risk, improve site performance and protect site owners and advertisers from any privacy and security issues that can arise from poor tag management.

“Tagging is a fundamental element of the heavily data-driven interactive advertising ecosystem without which it would not continue to thrive,” said Steve Sullivan, Vice President, Advertising Technology, IAB. “To better meet the needs of publishers, advertisers, marketers and consumers, we must not only take account of the ongoing value of site tagging, but more fully understand the operational challenges presented by site tagging’s increasingly prolific use.”

by Heather Taylor 03 December 2012 14:50pm 0 comments

Hershey's captures the holiday spirit with candy turkeys

This week is focused on the outcome of social media and the holiday sales in our weekly showcase of The Dachis Group's Social Business Index.

Our focus is on three well-known brands – Best Buy, The Hershey Company and RIM - as analyzed by the team at the Dachis Group.

by Heather Taylor 30 November 2012 16:36pm 2 comments

Mobile app review: Dunkin Donuts

Dunkin Donuts has been looking to a strategy to combine social media and mobile in order to grow brand loyalty.

On its social networks, it has 7.7 million fans on Facebook with just under 5000 daily organic likes, and over 1-2 million daily impressions. On Twitter, it has more than 180,000 followers and 200 to over 1000 tweets/ conversations each day. As for YouTube, Dunkin Donuts has more than 2500 subscribers and 1.6 million video views.

Even with the numbers it does have in their social channels, one of Dunkin Donuts' main goals is to grow its fan base and allow customers to participate in the brand to help build loyalty and, in turn, earned media. The company saw mobile as a good way in.

by Heather Taylor 30 November 2012 15:02pm 3 comments

The ultimate social media image sizing cheat sheet

With all the recent changes to our favorite (or not so favorite) social networks with Facebook covers, Twitter header images and YouTube branded channels, businesses have had to redesign their images and rethink of how they represent themselves visually online.

This gave way to a lot of new creative campaigns on Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest but is has led to a lot of social media managers scrambling to get the images just right.

by Heather Taylor 29 November 2012 13:18pm 31 comments

Key takeaways from Social Media World Forum #SMWF

This November 27th and 28th, Social Media World Forum took place in New York with speakers from major brands such as McDonald's, Endemol, Shell, Twitter, Google, and Pepsi.

We captured a few of your tweets, pictures and articles including a Pinterest case study from Scholastic and Four Season's love affair with Instagram for those of you who couldn't make it there.

by Heather Taylor 28 November 2012 20:34pm 0 comments

IAB study reveals 80% of smartphone owners shop on their device

As we round off the long weekend of deals with Cyber Monday, we have officially started the holiday season which can account for 20-40% of retailer's annual sales. This year, the NRF has estimated an increase of 4.1% of holiday sales to the tune of $586.1 billion with projections of $2 billion in online sales today in the US and Europe alone.

But retailers can't forget the importance of mobile. 16% of consumers are estimated to shop on their mobiles over the holiday season, up from 13% in 2011. As mobile becomes even more of a keystone in holiday campaigns and shopping, it's import to understand how consumers are using their devices.

The IAB in partnership with Prosper Mobile Insights released its second annual Mobile Shoppers study to show where mobile shopping hotspots are around the US as well as how consumers are influenced by apps and digital coupons.

by Heather Taylor 26 November 2012 16:53pm 6 comments

How to avoid online scams during the holiday season

As 62% of holiday shopping will be online and consumers are estimated to spend $586.1 billion over the next six weeks, it's important for shoppers to be vigilant when it comes to online safety.

Everyone is looking for a deal over the holidays and as Black Friday brings its own plethora of deals, fraudsters are taking advantage of our vulnerability.

by Heather Taylor 20 November 2012 16:32pm 2 comments