by Margaret Donnelly, Director of Marketing, Meltwater Buzz

For all the thought leadership, case studies, and best practices guides available today, many businesses are still having a hard time applying those principles and practices to their own unique circumstances. At every social media conference I attend, I overhear the same type of comments by puzzled or frustrated marketers.

For instance, I recently overheard this comment while I was waiting in the queue for the shuttle bus: “The Dell Outlet success story is very inspiring. But I really don’t know how that success story relates to my chain of senior residential communities.”So what’s the “average” brand or business to do? How do they translate the “steps” to building a social business to their particular circumstances? Let’s take the example of the chain of senior residential communities and see how best practices principles apply.

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We are pleased to announce the launch of SMWF Connect our brand new networking service for 2012!

SMWF Connect provides the opportunity for all workshop delegates, speakers, exhibitor & sponsors to connect pre-event, share knowledge, engage in discussions & pre plan meetings with key folk they are looking to connect with during the show.

How does SMWF Connect work?

Pre-event 

• All sponsors, exhibitors (one per company), speakers and delegates will be sent an invitation with a unique username & password to create a profile within the SMWF connect system
• Once logged into the tool users can connect with each other, start conversations, share announcements and send meeting invites
• Pre arrange your onsite schedule by selecting your chosen workshops

During the event

• Access your individual show schedule which includes all confirmed meetings & selected session on the mobile platform

Benefits of SMWF connect 

• Opportunity to set up 1-1 face time with fellow industry folk
• Increased opportunities to meet prospective clients and suppliers
• A chance to share your experience and knowledge
• Engage with session speakers pre event, create thought provoking discussions & questions
• Increase your social connections

To be able to take advantage of the SMWF Connect service register for your paid workshop pass here.

If you have already registered for a workshop pass you will be receiving your invitation to join this week. If you have any problems using the tool or have any questions please contact rachel@sixdegs.com.

We look forward to connecting with you!

The SMWF Team

By Kiron Mair, UK Community Manager for Synthesio

It’s no big secret that in 2012 social media is driving most of the world’s conversations about anything and everything. But it’s only been in the last three or four years that brands have cottoned on to the idea of social networks being places where their customers are gathering and sharing their opinions about products and services.

With this realisation came a need to listen and understand what these people are saying, and then to work out how to engage with them – otherwise known as Social CRM. This is where social media monitoring tools enter the fold; applications that scour the public spaces of the web to find where the conversations about given topics are happening, what they are about, and who is having them. (more…)

By Maya Grinberg, Social Media Manager, Wildfire Interactive

Summing up social marketing in 2011 and making predictions for the coming year is a daunting task! 2011 saw more industry growth than any other year; we saw the widespread acceptance of social marketing for B2B companies, and we witnessed moments that are likely to echo beyond 2011: the debut of Google+, the introduction of Facebook Timelines, and an amusing concession to social media silliness by the White House, via the now infamous rickroll. (more…)

Twenty years ago Gerald Ratner described the jewellery his stores sold as ‘crap’ at the Institute of Directors annual conference. Days later his organisation had seen £500m wiped off its value. It’s reputation unsalvageable. Had Gerald made the same faus pas today his company reputation would have been destroyed in minutes due to the instantaneous sharing of news, information and off the cuff remarks through social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube et al.

Social media has revolutionised the way that individuals, organisations and brands communicate with each other. Life is never going to be the same again. But while there are so many positives, potential disaster lurks around every social media corner. In the last year alone we have seen brands such as Dell, United Airlines, Chrysler and Domino’s Pizza fall foul of social media, so why do so many ‘marketing and communications professionals’ get it so spectacularly wrong in the social media sphere? (more…)

With spending on customer service processes and applications to assist sales expected to exceed $1Billion globally this year (Gartner Research),  the hype around Social CRM software is over and  companies are rolling up their sleeves and getting down to business.   While B2C markets have seen the biggest adoption of social CRM, B2B businesses are now aggressively investing in social.  By the end of 2013, it is predicted that organisations using social CRM applications will increase to 25% of all projects worldwide (Forbes). (more…)

By Anders Lundin, EMEA Digital Lead for Text 100

There is no doubt that LinkedIn has taken the position as one of the leading social platforms for B2B communications. LinkedIn currently has around 150 million users and the platform is used almost exclusively for business contacts and business communication, which makes it a very powerful tool for B2B communications. Further evidence of this is the report presented by HubSpot recently, which says that LinkedIn is almost 300 percent more effective when it comes to generating leads, compared with Facebook and Twitter. (more…)

By Lloyd Salmons and Ronnie Crosbie from Outside Line

This is the year that the Superbowl got all social on itself. With an estimated 60 per cent of its 100 million viewers tuning in via a ‘second screen’, it’s no wonder the main players have woken up to social plug-ins.

The Superbowl has – until now – been the primary platform for blockbusting TV ads. So it’s interesting to see how the big 30-second spot is evolving in the era of social media.  This year’s event set two new records on Twitter for the number of tweets per second. During Madonna’s half-time performance Twitter traffic reached 10,245 tweets per second and after the Giant’s won, Twitter traffic reached 12,233 tweets per second. The relationship between an increase in tablet usage and social media this year, mean that major televised events are increasingly becoming a two-screen experience.

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We’ve teamed up with Vitrue to celebrate Social Media Week next week with a Social Soiree at the Hospital Club in Covent Garden on Thursday 16th February between 5 and 9pm. Come and join us and get involved over some networking drinks with social media enthusiasts and friends.

The event is free to attend and promises to be a fun filled evening and a chance to catch up before SMWF at the end of March. We’ve got lots of entertainment planned for the evening including an iPad DJ, Facebook games and the chance to win a piece of LiveArt crafted at the event representing a pictorial view of social media.

We’d love to see you there, so register to attend here, but be quick places are limited!

Let us know you’re coming – tweet us using the hashtag #SMW_Soiree

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…)