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 VP, Head of Social Content and Strategy at Social@Ogilvy. These posts were written during her time as editorial director of Econsultancy in New York (2012-13).

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.

Zynga launches new gaming site

Back in October, Zynga hinted at a new play service called Project Z. Today, its unveiled this mysterious project as a new online gaming platform, Zynga.com, which will launch in beta this month.

This new site will allow you to play popular Zynga games such as "Words with Friends" and "CityVille" without going through Facebook or mobile apps. But why would Zynga bother?

by Heather Taylor 01 March 2012 21:49pm 0 comments

Facebook launches real time analytics

More than ever, businesses are understanding that data is important. But the main importance lies in not how much you collect but how you use it.

At the Facebook Marketing Talks Live event, Facebook's David Software Engineer, Louis Eisenberg, explained how Page Insights can help build connections and engage a wider audience with your content. The most exciting announcement of this break away session had to be the roll out of real time analytics for Facebook pages.

by Heather Taylor 29 February 2012 21:39pm 4 comments

How to protect yourself from patent trolls

As we move further into the digital space, it's not enough to walk blindly into the technology wilderness anymore. Marketers, especially on the agency side, need to be careful when they are creating applications for their clients. Without forethought, they may be hit by what is becoming a growing concern in digital: Patent trolls.

Brad Gross, Intellectual Property and Technology Law attorney, works with digital agencies, production and new media companies to help protect them from this new predator.

by Heather Taylor 29 February 2012 18:03pm 1 comment

Companies expect big moves into digital for 2012: new report

According a recent SoDA report, digital marketing efforts are expanding and it's the internal growth of resources where most companies are looking to boost their offerings.

This is leading to changes in working relationships with agencies as there is a shift to niche areas of expertise instead of a “one-stop shop” digital partner.

As part of the SoDA report, Econsultancy's Digital Outlook Marketing Survey shows a conservative yet steady growth of digital marketing spend according to the 650+ digital marketing professionals surveyed. The spending growth includes the addition of social media activities and an explosive growth of inbound marketing.

by Heather Taylor 27 February 2012 20:13pm 0 comments

Yahoo treads lightly in social with Open Graph integration

Last week, Yahoo brought together a panel led by Patrick Albano, VP Sales of Social, Mobile and Innovation, to talk about how Yahoo is using its own content across social media.

The panel focused on the integration of Facebook’s Open Graph into their home page and the use of Social Bar, a tool that allows advertisers to ask consumers questions through the ads themselves.

by Heather Taylor 27 February 2012 19:24pm 0 comments

What we've been reading this week: US edition

Here it is. Our Friday link round up of all the things we've been chatting about, sharing and shaking our head at in the US office.

Your weekend reading starts here.

by Heather Taylor 25 February 2012 01:07am 0 comments

US job moves: YouTube, Facebook, Ford, Island Def Jam

Once again we've put together the most senior and influential job moves in the US.

This time we cover a major move from Microsoft to YouTube, another Acqui-hire by Facebook, a new position for former New York Times Company president and CEO and a loss for Pepsi to Ford.

by Heather Taylor 25 February 2012 00:45am 0 comments

Q&A: Ogilvy's John Bell on the future of social business

Last week, Ogilvy & Mather announced the launch of 'Social@Ogilvy.' This new worldwide practice will be led by John Bell as global managing director and will connect social media experts across the agency.

We had a chance to speak with Bell about this new branch of Ogilvy. He also gave us some insight into the movement away from Facebook commerce and how the social landscape may change over the next year.

by Heather Taylor 24 February 2012 20:58pm 0 comments

Anatomy of the perfect website: infographic

It's getting easier and easier for non-designers to make basic websites. In seconds you can have your own site in Tumblr, WordPress, or Posterous (to name a few) but have you considered how users will experience your site and what they want to see?

According to a new infographic by ROI Media, only 4.13% of websites have valid HTML and CSS. The bigger worry is only 40% of users say they can find the information they need on sites. This could be the fault of the users themselves but more likely it's due to poor design.

by Heather Taylor 21 February 2012 16:02pm 15 comments