It can be difficult to quantify exactly how many brands are advertising on the biggest social tool around – but perhaps that is precisely the genius of it.
There are now a variety of Facebook ad formats, giving advertisers and brands a range of marketing tools in which to apply their strategies to Facebook. Facebook ads are especially successful at promoting content, 
due to the fact you are able to target specific audiences within the social community.
Benefit to the brand?
The most obvious benefit to a brand is, of course, the ability to grow a network of individuals who have actively said that they choose to ‘like’ it via targeted ads. Although much of the time there is an incentive – some kind of giveaway or ‘special offer’, those people 
can always decide to move away from the brand but the vast majority simply don’t. Meaning that they are actively choosing to follow that particular brand. Why they are following that brand is difficult to put a general value on, as each brand is different in the way they implement their marketing strategy – therefore each brand’s Facebook Fan will have a different value.
Benefit to the consumer?
The primary benefit to the consumer is that the recommendation comes from a trusted source – i.e. a friend or an acquaintance who actually knows who they are. This is such a precious commodity that sometimes brands can get caught up in numbers and forget they are selling to individuals with their own distinct personalities and likes and dislikes. Trust and Knowledge are 2 key facets for brands to remember and to be aware of!
Essentially, sponsored stories that come through a friend’s recommendation doesn’t necessarily feel like an advertisement – if your friends think it’s valuable and think highly enough of it to share, then consequently it’s valuable and relevant to others in their social group. We all know that word of mouth is a proven advertising method, or we wouldn’t have so many successful viral advertising campaigns and that’s exactly what Facebook Ad’s trades off!
Yesterday, we were asked specifically about Facebook advertising for the BBC’s Newsnight programme. News correspondent 
Rory Cellan-Jones popped in to our office for a quick chat with our CEO Jim Brigden, and as a result Jim had a starring role during last night’s segment on Facebook Advertising!
If you would like to have a sneak peak at Jim in action, then follow this link.
During next weeks Super Bowl we’ll see advertisers and sports brands step up their marketing strategies and lose their inhibitions when it comes to cost and creativity. A huge global audience will tune in to witness this advertising phenomenon.
To take a look at the top Super Bowl adverts from the last 14 years, check out this blog post that the Super Bowl have put together here. This includes mighty brands such as Volkswagen, Coca Cola and Apple.
In a similar vein, London Fashion Week is coming up and we wondered if fashion brands felt just as much pressure to do the same in their field of expertise?
After speaking to some of our fashion-based clients, we discovered that most do and as a consequence, we end up with some beautiful advertisements in magazines such as Vogue.
However, their advertising doesn’t just stop there. Traditional methods of advertising work particularly well when it comes to fashion as it is a form of visual art – therefore by having a full page aesthetically pleasing advert in a relevant magazine (which is where all the hard core fashionista’s hang out) is a proven method to sell their new lines and promote brand awareness.
Luxury brands which appear in magazines such as Vogue and Drapers have been slow to move into the digital advertising space, but as they are we can look at the key trends and success stories of such brands.
If we take a look at one of the most popular digital brands and assess their marketing strategy, we can see how extremely successful they have been with their move into the digital space. This high-end brand began to shine in the press when Google+ started to allow brand pages on their social network. Burberry were quick off the mark when creating their Google+ brand page, while most brands were cautious about opening themselves up into the social sphere, especially on a platform that had been so newly launched.
When you look at the amount of PR coverage that Burberry and all the other brands to be a ‘first’ on the Google+ network gained – then we can see that by taking a chance and opening yourself up to the social world can be a positive thing if you manage your activity correctly.
If we take a look at Burberry’s brand pages on the top three most popular social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter and Google+), we can see that visually they are all stunning, but their attention to detail is what clinches the deal and keeps customers engaged.
Ten top tips to keep your social audiences engaged:
- Create topical and relevant content to your brand/products
- Become a trusted advisor to your audience/Build a trusted relationship
- Have a two-way conversation with your customers/Ask questions/polls
- Listen to your customers
- Keep activity fresh and personable
- Target your audience with the most relevant ads
- Make sure that you are consistent across all channels
- Ensure you use the right tone of voice for your clientele
- Measure and track responses
- Develop your strategy to meet your customers demands
I Spy were delighted to learn late Friday afternoon that we had been shortlisted in The Revolution Awards, a whopping four times!
“I’m thrilled that I Spy Marketing has been nominated for these 4 awards, we’re over the moon to be acknowledged by our peers for our outstanding work which is an honour in itself. We truly believe in our philosophy of Uptimisation which is all about being at the cutting edge of online marketing, and we’re delighted that it is working for our clients!”
said Chris Whitelaw, our President.
The Revolution Awards have been running for the past fifteen years and are designed to recognise innovation within the design and marketing world. They celebrate excellence and make a lasting impression on a changeable industry that is constantly striving for excellence.
So where were we recognised? We were entered into the categories for Leisure and Travel, thanks to the work we did with Radisson Edwardian and their Check in/ Check Out and QR codes.
We were also voted a finalist for the work that we did with Links of London for their Friendship Blitz promotion in the retail category. Our second entry in the retail category was thanks to the “What will make you say Wowcher today?” promotion.
And our fourth and final entry into the Revolution awards was for the Radisson Edwardian, in the best location based campaign for their check in / checkout promotion.
We are grateful to be recognised for our work in these sectors, and look forward to hearing the final results in April!
Fridays are funny, and this week we wanted to let you in on a funny video we came across in the office. It lets you in on commonly misconceived theories, and the actuality around them.
What do you think? Do you think it is worthy of FAF approval?
We would love to hear your thoughts so if you enjoyed the video please comment below or retweet us with the hashtag #FAF.
There are lots of different social media sites available depending on our interests, likes and where our friends share information. And Pinterest is the new, up and coming site to hit the US.
Look what you can pin!
But how has it exploded in such a short time? Is it a really clever PR idea, or just a brilliant site?
The main pull of the site is the community centric ideology. You are notified when someone re-pins your content, and you can build groups in this way. One lady in Alaska has generated $60,000 a month for her business through Pinterest, proving the power that an online community can have.
The invite only element is also a sure-fire draw, as people have to subscribe to a list to be allowed to join. This keeps the quality very high, and the psychology of this invite only community only increases the interest in the site, pushing it to the lofty heights of 3.2 million monthly unique hits (as reported by Techcrunch) which is well over a two thousand percent increase in 10 months.
Visual media is set to be the next big thing, and people much prefer to read information through an info graphic rather in a list format. Pinterest takes this to the next level, making all information pinned visual, and by ensuring that users adhere to strict pinning guidelines, the quality remains high.
So how should you pin to benefit your brand? Pinterest does not allow blatant brand promotion in accordance to the pinning guidelines, so brands need to take a more educated and inventive approach to the site. By pinning vibrant pictures that people want to re-share you will create a buzz within the community, you allow people to re-pin your content and therefore drive traffic back to your site.
Pinterest stats:
- The site launched in 2010, and by November 2011 boasted 4.5 million users.
- The greatest pinners live in California and Texas, but the site is rolling out across the world with massive widespread interest.
- 58% of visitors are female between 25 and 44.
- Named in Time Magazine’s top 50 websites of 2011.
- Has an iPhone app.
With statistics like this, it is clear that Pinterest is something that you should be thinking about within your social media strategy, and how best to implement it with your current endeavours.
What our social media team are saying:
Alex Lecoq – Account Manager
“I haven’t been using Pinterest for very long but really like how users can organise and filter content by hobbies and likes, making it really easy on the eye! The number of users is still quite low but it’s looking promising. In their latest F8 Event, Facebook have announced Pinterest as part of the integrated apps from their open graph. I’m very keen to see the first creative use marketers will make of the platform! Who would I suggest it to? Beauty, food and fashion brands as the platform has a high female usage.”
If you want to find out more then there is a fantastic article at Mashable with tons of information on the origins of the site and who is using it.
What do you think of Pinterest? Is it something you would use? Let us know your thoughts!
Predictions are a popular thing – people love to suggest how the world might change and what we might be doing in the next century. After all, 100 years ago the population must have thought that to have light at night time would be an outlandish concept, or be able to talk to people in other countries via waves, rather than face to face or with cords. With modern technology racing ahead at its current speed, the mind really does boggle at the sorts of things that we could be doing in a mere century. Over the decades, people have wondered what the future will be like. Who remembers the lyrics from the Prince song “tonight we’re gonna party like its 1999”? 
Inspired by a post on the BBC {read the original post} here at I Spy HQ we decided to put together a comprehensive office guide to our predictions; what will exist, what will cease to exist and more importantly, what will have changed in the ways we live. And being a creative bunch, there were some unusual suggestions, to say the least!
Communication
Talking will become a thing of the past as communication becomes carried out by avatars of yourself. Chips will be embedded in our heads to aid our memories, and memories will be tagged up using meta information and easy search for others to access.
The World
The population of the world will be higher than 12 billion and there will be wars over the lack of food and other supplies available to us.
We will no longer have four seasons as all we will experience are polar changes between summer and winter.
Travel
We will be able to partially space travel, meaning LA to London will take a mere 2 hours, and London to Sydney will be 3 or 4 hours.
We will all be flying around in cars, much like the Jetsons!
Health
There will be a cure for cancer.
Architecture and Infrastructure
Buildings will have biometric skins which will change with their surroundings, making the world far more energy efficient.
Computers will be invisible with the world having areas of high data flow.
There will be no more European Union, only a federation of member states under one union.
Social Media
Twitter won’t be the social media platform of choice any more, but whatever it is, politicians will be vetted before they post messages to avoid the faux pas of the previous century.
What do you think will be the main changes in our world? How do you think we will be travelling, acting and living? We would love to hear your thoughts below!
Fresh for 2012, we will be running a Fridays Are Funny series, jam-packed full of amusing videos, articles and things we have seen around the tinterweb. If its FAF approved, you know its funny.
For todays FAF post, I want to talk about something that I actually would quite enjoy, having happily hummed along to ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ for the last twenty five years and gone to a festival to see him sing it in the flesh. Bang goes any street cred I might have. For the shame!
When I first started working in agencies I was informed of the online tradition that is Rick Rolling, and laughed at when I pointed out that I didn’t actually see this as a bad thing at all. Apparently the rest of the world do! So, rest of the world, this one is for you.
Rickrolling (definition from Wikipedia): An Internet meme involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up”. A person provides a link to ‘something awesome’ but in actual fact it takes you to a YouTube page with the video. If you click through, you have officially been Rickrolled. Sucks to be you.
The joke become widespread on 1st April 2008 when companies such as Digg, YouTube and Live Journal played a trick on their customers and directed them all to a rickrolled link. It became known to Sony who demanded that the content be taken down, but so many people protested that the video was reinstated within hours.
The Internet joke gained traction until Thanksgiving 2008 when during a Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, Rick Astley himself got up on a stand and performed the song. The Macys Parade had too been rickrolled. Since this time lots of offline gatherings have been targeted by rickrolling including sports games, protests and other very public places.
Rickrolling has since lost some popularity, but it remains one if the biggest online pranks that have ever happened. Rickrolling, we’re never going to give you up!
Check out the full infographic at Nowsourcing.
If you enjoyed reading this post then please retweet us with the hashtag #FAF and mention @ispymarketing.
Yesterday we saw a website that we have all come to use on a regular basis, disappear. Instead, when you tapped a simple or complicated fact into your search engine, you received no results. Instead you got this page:
But why are Wikipedia protesting so much about the bill that the US are trying to pass? It’s because if the bill IS passed it will mean the end of all free information on the internet and without realising we have become extremely dependant on the internet, and especially Wikipedia, for so many things. It may be something as simple as a song release date, but in other cases it could be for something more important like a reference for a University student (not that we are endorsing this as Universities frown upon it).
Today there was a different message left on Wikipedia’s homepage to thank everyone for their support on the issue. I think that what Wikipedia did was amazing – they highlighted a case that they felt strongly about in the most peaceful protest since Gandhi’s time.
It made me think, what if there was a world without the internet? What would we do if the net no longer existed?
Yesterday, BBC news reported that “the site had been viewed 162 million times, with eight million people following instructions to contact politicians”.
The media interest was also phenomenal, the topic was trending on twitter, and Wikipedia’s viewers shut down Congress’ switchboards and servers. Mark Zuckerberg tweeted for the first time in 3 years and posted a note on Facebook which directed users to another fan page outlining the finer details of the bill, Facebook’s opinion, and how you can get involved.
The internet is the biggest influence and revolution to be known since the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th Centuries (and yes I did use Wikipedia to make sure those dates were correct), and with the biggest social influences hitting back against such a destructive bill, I cannot see how Congress will be able to pass it. This bill is something that will not only affect the US but the world in general, and in my opinion it shouldn’t be just US citizens that are opposing this bill.
Earlier I asked the question ‘what would you do without the internet?’, well how about this for another question: ‘what would you do without Facebook for the day?’ I am sure that if Mark Zuckerberg chose to make a stand and follow in the footsteps of Wikipedia, there will be a lot more objection worldwide to really drive the point home.
Have you ever browsed to a website and not been able to find the content that you are looking for quickly and easily? Spent ages searching round a site for something that you have seen previously and never been able to locate it again?
It’s a problem that a lot of end users find, and something that Google (Official Post) are hot on sorting out for us. In a corporate fairy godmother way, obviously! Google are making a direct response to complaints about user experience and how relevant search results are.
Image courtesy of jennawaites.com
So in the first of their announced algorithm changes for 2012, they are seeking out sites that make our browsing difficult and who show us lots of ads at the top of the page and are culling them to ensure a better user experience.
So what does that mean for your site? The official line from Google is that this algorithm change will affect less than one percent of sites, so if your site is full of informative and relevant content to your target market and you aren’t spamming with lots of paid ads then you shouldn’t even notice the difference. The changes due to hit immediately are designed to remove those sites from the listings that we hate to browse to, the sites that are just a home for links and ads that won’t do us any favours, which is great news for when we are trying to find something in a hurry.
Matt Cutts said of the algorithm change “If you believe that your website has been affected by the page layout algorithm change, consider how your web pages use the area above-the-fold and whether the content on the page is obscured or otherwise hard for users to discern quickly.”
Once again Google is showing that they are ready to take action in order to deliver content that is readily available to users and it is up to site owners to ensure they are delivering what the Search Engines want as well as what users demand.
