By Lance Concannon, UK social media lead at Text 100

Speak to any senior corporate comms exec about the barriers that prevent them from using social media more in their organisation, and I guarantee that the issue of ‘risk’ will usually come close to the top of the list. This raises a couple of questions; what exactly are the risks posed by social media, and how can we negate, or at least mitigate, them?

What if people say bad things about our brand?

People often think that creating social media channels for the brand will add fuel to the fire of criticism, but that really doesn’t make any sense. Almost all brands have detractors, and social media makes it easier than ever for those detractors to share their opinions online and there’s not a lot you can do to stop that. (more…)

The SMWF team are excited to announce that the fourth annual SMWF Europe event will be taking place on 27^th and 28^th March at Olympia in London. This year’s show is your chance to experience a packed agenda of interactive workshops, combined with unique networking opportunities, a bustling exhibition space and much more…

New for 2012 we have introduced an updated show format, delivering 6 individual conference tracks, each examining the latest strategies and cutting edge technologies across specifically focussed areas of social media marketing. (more…)

We are pleased to have partnered with both the K West & The Hilton London Olympia to offer all SMWF visitors a discounted room rate for the 26th, 27th & 28th March 2012.

Only a limited number of rooms are available at each hotel, and the rate is only available until 24th February so book today to make sure you have somewhere to stay! (more…)

By Christer Holloman author of ‘The Social Media MBA’ 

For how much longer will we call ‘smartphones’ just that and not simply ‘phones’? ‘Smart phones’ will be the de facto standard in a not too distance future (it’s already the case in certain clusters), the long name will eventually be made redundant. The same will now happen to the words ‘Social Media’. (more…)

SMWF Asia are delighted to welcome back MEF for the 2nd year.  The Mobile Entertainment Forum will be hosting a free to attend session within the Developer/Social Media Hub on day two from 11.30am.

The MEF line up of sessions will explore the cross-over between the mobile app platform & social media and provide an insight into monetising, social commerce, location based marketing, mobile video and more

Kicking of the session, MEF Asia chairman, Colin Miles, will be presenting on how the mobile platform amplifies social media, followed by Arsenal F.C’s global  partnerships Rupert Daniel who will provide an insight into how premier league clubs are adopting mobile social media to engage with fanatical Asian supporters. (more…)

There was a time, when marketing and PR professionals could take their time, having hours until daily newspaper deadlines. Today, however, it is a completely different story and minutes can make the difference between being part of the buzz of the latest headline or being yesterday’s fish and chip paper. This development caused PR professionals to adopt a new method of communication – social media.

The power of social media has given public relations specialists and journalists a myriad of choice when deciding how to connect with their target audience. As a result they’ve been seen to be some of the first people to embrace social media and have become leaders in the field. (more…)

As the big day approaches, the internet, if it was a biscuit, would be largely royal wedding flavoured. And having finally gotten over the crushing disappointment at not receiving an invite, SMWF blog is beginning to get caught up in the party atmosphere.

According to Bing, the number of blogs about the wedding has more than doubled since the start of the month to 102.9m, with the number of wedding related stories published every day souring to a staggering seven million… every day!

With around 45% of the related Twitter noise coming directly out of the US, Nielsen reports that the wedding has made up 0.3% of total US news coverage since details of the engagement were released, with the level immediately after the announcement closer to 3%. (more…)

Guest blog from Demand Media, silver sponsor of SMWF Europe and in the comScore Top 30 Global Network of Premium Online Brands .

Thank you for attending the Social Media World Forum and for joining our discussion panel “Examining the Social Shopper” where you met our VP of European Sales & Business Development, Stephanie Himoff. We really enjoyed meeting with you and learning about your business! In the discussion, our VP shared real-life examples of leading brands that increased conversions with basic social media tools.

Optimizing the Social Mix
One of the things we love about the Demand Media Social Solutions group is the opportunity to work with thought leaders at brands and agencies. Via a variety of meetings, conversations and exchanges recently, it’s become clear that marketers are evolving their perspectives on social media. (more…)

With the SMWF’s fantastic early bird saving of £100 coming to an end this Friday we recommend you secure your place for the event as soon as possible!

With the show promising to be cracking, with action packed workshops on both event days covering – building your social media marketing strategy, social shopping, location based marketing, b2b social media marketing, social crm, social tv, mobile social media, social search, social gaming, virtual currencies and the latest in twitter and facebook marketing plus a wealth of opportunity to network with likeminded social media folk.

Save £100 off your workshop pass today! Workshop passes from £295 for one day, provide access to all workshop streams for you to pick and chose your chose sessions, creating a tailored agenda to meet your objectives.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Mobile Entertainment Forum have partnered with Six Degrees to bring you a free half day on Mobile @ the Social Media World Forum Asia.

The Free to attend workshops provide a current overview of the mobile social networking market, highlighting obstacles from leading social networks, operators and start up mobile social networks.

When? 13.00 – 17:30pm – 22nd September

Where? Suntec Conference Centre, Singapore

Key topics covered include: (more…)