By Zoe Sands, Head of Digital Marketing, Juniper Networks 

On my quest for social media knowledge and learning I continue to attend lots of social media events, most recently SMWF  in London. After attending many sessions it sprung to mind that although there is still a lot of buzz around social media, most businesses are not truly utilising this channel. I hope that the following piece on social business may resonate with you to take action within your organisation and start your own social business journey.

Just as email has become a ubiquitous business tool so will social media in the coming years, therefore it is imperative that businesses take notice of social media. When I first started my digital career at Hyundai back in 1997, I was the only person within the organisation that had an email account and access to the Internet. Gradually over time more people were provided with an email account and Internet access and nowadays it’s expected you would have access or you cease to be efficient and effective in your work. This may seen completely alien for those who are generation Y, but this was the case in the late 90s early 00s.

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Writing about social media is exciting – it’s a bit like writing about the emergence of the Web in the mid-1990s, which I did. A brand new medium, very exciting but very quickly people take it as read that we’re all webbed up, or ‘social’ now. Understandably they want to know what they can do with it next.

One of the panels I moderated at March’s #SMWF  in London was about precisely that. The idea of social shopping has been with us for some time. Arguably every shopping interaction is ‘social’ in a way; I have neither room, skill nor money to go and buy and care for a cow, but if enough of us get together we can get pints of milk without needing the rest. That’s the power of a mass market. Creating this sort of critical mass electronically makes it even easier. Whole businesses exist that couldn’t otherwise. (more…)

By Luca Benini, Managing Director, Europe, Buddy Media

The 2012 version of SMWF London had a different feel than last year. Last year, I saw app developers everywhere I looked. But in 2012, these app developers were mostly replaced by social software and platform companies like Buddy Media. In my opinion, this is a testament to the evolution of the social space toward companies that offer more comprehensive solutions. We have moved away from one-off social campaigns to full-scale solution technology. (more…)

That’s SMWF Europe over for another year; thanks to everyone who took time out of the ludicrously summery weather to come indoors and listen to a host of social media experts waxing lyrical about the developments in our industry.

After Chris Brogan tore down our preconceptions and misapprehensions on the morning of day one, before building us back up again based on fundamental common sense, we knew we were in for a good show. Thanks to all our speakers and chairs for the benefit of their insight and expertise over the two days.

There’s much debate about whether social media has matured as a market, and as such, whether there’s anything new to be said, but what we saw this week the answer to that question is a resounding no. It’s true that many of the basics and best practice areas are out there, including commonly know tips and tricks, but many of the less glamorous organization’s wide issues are still being worked on. In many cases it’s the organization wide role that hasen’t been addressed, and how ‘social’ is being approached from a top down perspective.     Fundamentally how social is approached from a strategic role and its integration within an organizations wide approach either from a campaign generation or service quality and relationship management perspective. As always, much still needs to be done in terms of best practice, and delivering on the basics is always important.

This year we’ve seen delegates approaching our speakers and exhibitors with complex strategic and operational questions about how they achieve pre-defined objectives. They understand the channels and they know what they want to achieve. That’s a big jump from last year when the majority of conversations centred on why social media was worth getting involved with; the question used to be ‘why’, this year it was most definitely ‘how’.

The top end of social media is forcing its way into the stratosphere, with measurement strategists burrowing ever deeper into the data, returning with philosophical questions about how we define engagement, why we measure it and how we mine applicable insight from it to inform future strategies. As the understanding increases, so the hunger for more data driven insight also grows.

Next year SMWF is moving onwards and upwards to a new venue. Look out for some massive developments in the format and content too. We’re constantly developing, and will introduce a number of new facets, including more in-depth content and new innovation only sessions, breakout workshop sessions, barcamp discussion only tracks for audience participation,  more speed networking with multiple parties and networking opportunities around the event.

We look forward to continuing to connect with you until then. Here’s how this year unfolded, in pictures.

 Keynote conference room

Chris Brogan – Keynote Address

‘Who should create content within an organisation? Everyone.’

‘Checking your Smartphone is the new smoking’

It was great to see everyone and celebrate the industry at the Social Soiree! We hope you’re all feeling fresh and ready for another exciting day of discussion and insight. Today alongside the keynote track the Enterprise and B2B Marketing workshops will be taking place as well as the Mobile Marketing track, there will also be some exciting free sessions taking place in the Marketing Tech area of the exhibition. We’ve picked out our highlights for the day ahead… (more…)

We hope you’ve enjoyed the action packed agenda today, now it’s time to sip some drinks and catch up with everyone at the show at tonight’s Social Soiree!

We’ll be at JuJu in Chelsea from 7.30pm tonight for some serious social media networking, with a DJ, dance floor and a top-notch crowd of movers, shakers and deal-makers from around the social media world.

JuJu is an 8 min taxi ride from Olympia & The Hilton Olympia Hotel, a 10 min taxi ride from the K-West Hotel and 15 mins from South Kensington Tube Station. Get directions here.

See you tonight!

So SMWF has officially kicked off, and boy do we have a jam-packed first day set for you! With so many sessions to feast your eyes on, it’s difficult to whittle it down to just a select few that are unmissable. Today we’ve got the keynote track taking place along with the Social TV and Social Shopping workshops. Here are a few sessions that we think you shouldn’t miss… (more…)

SMWF is nearly upon us. On tomorrow the doors of Olympia will open on one of this year’s most eagerly anticipated social media events; offering six conference tracks, a bustling exhibition space, and more industry movers, shakers and deal-makers than you could shake a stick at.

Read on for some important information for anyone planning to come along… (more…)

The official SMWF 2012 app is now available to download from the iTunes App Store now providing you with instant access to the latest agenda, speaker details, floor plan and exhibition information.

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By Helen Clark, Marketing and Communications Assistant at ContentPlus

Content marketing is a way of creating and sharing content to promote ideas, engage targeted audiences and encourage them to take action. It’s an integrated approach to marketing, with quality content at its heart.

Just as the heart powers the body, content powers online marketing success. Quality content in the form of blogs, social media posts, search-optimised articles and so on is a driving factor in attracting new customers and building brand loyalty – as we demonstrated in our infographic the Anatomy of Content Marketing. (more…)