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How Starbucks uses Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Google+

Starbucks is often touted as having an excellent social strategy, so it’s an excellent subject for our series of posts looking at how brands use the four main social networks.

Having previously evaluated a number of brands including Red Bull, ASOS, Walmart and Ikea, it appeared that the brands that were doing well in social all followed the same basic blueprint – they post updates several times a day and are excellent at responding to consumers.

But as this post shows, Starbucks has managed to outperform nearly all other consumer brands in terms of community engagement despite taking the exact opposite approach.

And there is a special mention for Starbucks’ Instagram feed at the end as well...

by David Moth 06 March 2013 10:43am 25 comments

10 interesting digital marketing stats we've seen this week

Here are some of the most interesting digital marketing stats we've seen this week.

Stats include consumer confidence in mobile commerce, mobile use in Australia, Instagram, online sales in February and luxury brand mobile apps.

For more digital marketing stats, check out our Internet Statistics Compendium.

by David Moth 22 February 2013 10:29am 1 comment

Eight examples of brands that have run Instagram photo competitions

Despite the hullaballoo over the change in its terms and conditions, Instagram hasn’t yet folded under the weight of people stampeding for the exit.

In fact in terms of user numbers the photo-sharing app appears to be in rude health, though there is still that pesky question about how it will ever make any money.

And as with any social network that boasts million of users, brands have quickly moved in to try and use the platform as a way of extending their reach among consumers.

According to stats from Simply Measured more than half of the Interbrand 100 now uses Instagram, and we've previously looked at nine brands making great use of Instagram, plus one that isn't.

One of the most common tactics for starting conversations with users and driving up follower numbers is to hold a photo competition.

by David Moth 20 February 2013 10:06am 0 comments

Native advertising: whatever it is, it shouldn't be PR

More and more publishers are rushing to embrace native advertising, and for good reason: advertisers are eager to spend money on it.

While there's debate and discussion around the exact definition of 'native advertising', publishers and advertisers are quickly learning that ads integrated into the user experience, often to the point that they're not immediately distinguishable as ads, come with challenges.

by Patricio Robles 19 February 2013 15:14pm 1 comment

Nutella gets us out of bed through Facebook

Valentine's gets a brief mention in the midst of chocolate, watches and shoes in our weekly showcase of The Dachis Group's Social Business Index.

Our focus is on three companies – The Swatch Group, Foot Locker and Ferrero International known for the popular chocolate spread, Nutella - 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 15 February 2013 16:57pm 1 comment

Did Twitter win the Super Bowl?

The Super Bowl is arguably the most important day in advertising, and every year, as much attention is focused on Super Bowl ads as the game itself.

With social media such a big part of brand advertising today, it's no surprise that many observers pay close attention to how social media is used by brands in conjunction with their multi-million dollar Super Bowl ads as outlined in our earlier Super Bowl post.

by Patricio Robles 04 February 2013 19:35pm 0 comments

Are brands overestimating the value of social data?

Brands love social media, and as evidenced by the number of high-dollar acquisitions of social media monitoring and analytics firms last year, they love the data that social media generates.

And, on the surface, there's a good reason for that: popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter give brands a front-row seat to the collective conversation consumers are having about their products and services. From that conversation, brands may, in theory, be able to gain valuable insights that help them connect with consumers and serve them better.

by Patricio Robles 31 January 2013 15:37pm 5 comments

10 interesting digital marketing stats we've seen this week

Here are some of the most interesting digital marketing stats we've seen this week.

Stats include Google's Q4 earnings, performance marketing spend in the UK, Instagram's 90m users, email spam and Google's UK market share.

For more digital marketing stats, check out our Internet Statistics Compendium.

by David Moth 25 January 2013 10:50am 2 comments

The end of Instagram? New TOS go into effect Saturday

Instagram became a worldwide cultural phenomenon, mainly by being first to market with a cool idea: a photo sharing app with built in filters and a social platform for sharing.

Now its days may be numbered as the Facebook acquisition and new terms of service make it extremely uncool to the digitally hip.

We used a Twtpoll to ask how many of you will bail on the service after the changes go into effect Saturday. It was a very limited sample size, but the results are still interesting.

by Ryan Sommer 17 January 2013 16:46pm 2 comments

Tracking the impact of Instagram's 'confusing wording' through social media

There has been suspicion surrounding everyone’s favourite photo sharing app, Instagram, since Facebook purchased the company in April.

Some have suggested that Twitter’s own picture filters are now just as good or better and others have jumped ship due to worries surounding Facebook’s ever changing privacy policies.

Despite this, Instagram still reports 100m users.

by Hannah Emanuel 24 December 2012 10:30am 3 comments