According to the paper hashtags are currently being tested so that users can track conversations about specific topics. The paper also notes that Facebook has been using hash tags by stealth since its acquisition of the Instagram image sharing service which uses them

The paper says

Facebook is testing whether to follow Twitter’s lead and allow users to click on a hashtag to pull up all posts about similar topics or events so it can quickly index conversations around trending topics and build those conversations up, giving users more reason to stay logged in and see more ads. Instagram, which Facebook acquired last year, already uses hashtags, allowing users to sort photos by the symbol.

So is this a good idea – of just further evidence that Facebook is becoming more like Twitter and vice versa?

Well in some ways people are already using hash tags on Facebook. People who joint post to Twitter and Facebook simultaneously have to keep to Twitter’s rules – so that means less than 160 characters and sometimes use of hash tags.

Some Facebook users will post hash tags to highlight certain topics to underline to their friends that they are posting about a specific issue.

I could see hash tags on Facebook working well. It will be interesting to see how they operate though. Would you just be presented with posts from your friends? Or would you also be able to see fan pages? I guess to make it work

When a new app or social media service launches, one of the first questions to pop into our heads is: What are the potential opportunities for brands and marketers?

The latest service to hit the spotlight is Twitter-owned Vine, a short-video service app which allows you to share six-second videos on Twitter and Facebook.

What’s so great about it you say? Think Instagram for GIFs. Ah yes that got your attention didn’t it. The launch of Vine comes at a time when social media is turning increasingly more visual and could therefore become very useful to marketers. Many brands have already successfully embraced a more visual storytelling using Instagram and YouTube heavily in their marketing campaigns, and Vine might be the natural next step.

Struggling to get people to watch your 2 min branded videos? Vine is a way to keep even those with the shortest attention span captivated. As part of a greater video marketing strategy, Vine will enable marketers to create, among other things, previews of longer videos. Vine can also help marketers and brands show off their personalities more. Just ensure the content you create isn’t under par and as a result ends up having a negative effect on your marketing activity.

As co-founder of Vine Dom Hofmann said: “Posts on Vine are about abbreviation — the shortened form of something larger. They’re little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life.”

We can’t wait to see what the creative souls think of in the weeks and months to come.

Speaking about Coca-Cola Journey, Ashley Brown, head of social and digital at Coke, said:

“We want Coca-Cola Journey to be a place where thoughtful people indulge their curiosity about the world around them, engage in a civil discussion and hopefully learn a little more about one of the world’s best-known companies. For our part, we commit to be an open, transparent, and honest host and a thoughtful curator.”

Coca-Cola Journey offers something for everyone when it comes to content – environmental issues, sport, health  and recipes. With several staff writers and contributors they aim to refresh the site with 45 new pieces of content per month, ensuring returning visitors will be able to find something new each time they revisit to explore the brand’s journey further.

Like many other brands, Coca-Cola have until now relied greatly on other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to host and spread their content socially. But we are now seeing more and more brands realising the importance of amplifying their bespoke content with a hub that they are in complete control of, becoming both a media owner and publisher in the process.

If we were to mention one slight negative thing about the site is that it is perhaps a bit too brand centric. As with all great content marketing, the stories and visuals should not be entirely about the brand – a lot can be, but not all. For content marketing must place the consumer at the heart and offer value to the consumer, while of course not losing track of the brand story. It is about finding the right balance.

Content marketing offers a great opportunity for brands to use unique content and social media to drive business goals. Storytelling is fast becoming the norm for brands that want to thrive in the digital sphere and strengthen relationships with consumers.

If you are interested in exploring content marketing, and perhaps doing something similar to Coca-Cola, we have a vast experience in producing engaging websites and intelligent content for brands – as well as for our own sites. Get in touch today to discover how we can help you tell your brand’s story.

Popular platforms like Instagram and Pinterest let people share snapshots of their everyday lives and aspirations with just a few buttons. But how can brands leverage the power of visual social media?

This rather nice looking infographic by Socially Sorted shares six tips brands and small businesses can follow to become more visual, including:

• Don’t tell if you can show
• Invest in and create original visual content
• Crowdsource visual content where possible

But having the option to download the entire archive of tweets linked to one account can very useful for brands.

According to Venture Beat, old tweets will be downloaded into an archive that resembles a calendar, that can be browsed by month and search the entire archive. We have yet to see the actual calendar, but this should mean community managers can easily digest the data (we do love a spreadsheet) and find old tweets easily.

Further, being able to look through the entire back catalogue of activity on the platform would allow brands to see how their content has developed (positively we hope) over time. This could be used to shape future content calendars and plan the overall strategy on the platform.

The latest tweak which was undertake last week, seems to have been promoted by a desire to push brand’s own content higher up the search engine lists. So for example whereas in the past you might have search for ‘Samsung phones’ and got a lot of blogs and websites at the top of the page now you are most likely to be presented with web properties from the brand. There’s a good look at the update here.

This is of course very good news for brands, but at the same time it does up the ante a little. There’s no point in having top spot on Google if you don’t have anything worthwhile to say. With the media continuing to contract and digital advertising revenue fairly static there is a great opportunity for brands to reach out to customers with engaging and entertaining content. Get in touch if you want to know more.

Image from here.

But what is more interesting  to us social marketers, are the rising stars of the social media world. The three fastest growing social media channels have been found to be Tumblr, Instagram and Foursquare.

With more or less every single brand worth noting being on Facebook or Twitter, it is those that dare to branch out to more unfamiliar territory that are doing exceptionally well  these days. British label Burberry is a great example of a brand that has embraced Instagram, sharing both product news and behind-the-scenes shots as well as general images snapped around London.

Foursquare on the other hand has not taken off as much here in the UK as it has in the US but as the number of smart phones have exploded over the past year, we’re not surprised that this location-based social site has been experiencing a bit of a revival.

Tumblr, with its focus on the visual and easy posting and sharing, offers opportunities for brands (read more here) and could potentially be a competitor to Facebook for brands that want more control over their digital output.

If you want to find out how your brand could potentially use one of these social networks in your marketing activity, get in touch with us today for a chat.

View a larger image of the infographic here.

Sullivan reported that at certain times of day more people are accessing the website via mobile devices (phones/iPads/tablets) than they are via traditional computers. Sullivan suggested that the tipping point when mobile overtakes desktops is still around two years away.

“Mobile is having a huge transformational effect not only on how our audience seek out content, but how they’re discovering it. The way we’ve organised ourselves reflects that we put mobile really at the centre of our planning,” said Sullivan.

Interestingly Sullivan said that 94% of tablet visits to Guardian products are on Apple’s iPad, but that he expects this to change “pretty quickly” in the months ahead, thanks to the release of new, high-profile Android and Windows 8 tablets.

All of this underlines the challenges facing brands in developing branded content. Developing websites, or shall we call them media properties now, that use responsive design is must. This means that whether you are looking at a page on an desktop, iPad or mobile it should render quickly and still deliver a great looking site.

Optimising content to suit the media on which it will be consumed is essential and brands need to take time thinking about these issues before they begin developing content platforms.

With only 10 minutes to capture the attention of your Facebook fans, is your brand’s content calendar up to the task? At Sutro we take content calendars seriously. Our plans are based on continuously monitoring community behaviour and adapting the content and the timing of the activity to when responsiveness is at its peak. If you would like help to reach your fans better, contact us today.

Having seen a rather unsettled time since its IPO, Facebook has looked at ways to make money on its services and is now offering brands to pay to reach the followers they have already acquired.

This has angered billionaire tech and media investor Mark Cuban – also the owner of the Dallas Maverick – who openly aired his dissatisfaction with the social network on rivalling platform Twitter, after receiving an offer from Facebook to pay several thousand dollars to reach his team’s fans. In the tweet, Cuban said he was tired of the way Facebook does business and is considering taking his business elsewhere, While saying they will not leave Facebook, Cuban told Readwrite that the focus will be grow his brands on non-Facebook platforms such as Tumblr.

But how does Tumblr, which has seen a gigantic rise in users over the last few years with many high-profile brands making great use of the blogging platform, compare to Facebook?

Pros of using Tumblr over Facebook

Greater degree of customisation – Tumblr offers more than 1,300 ready-made themes as well as the chance to create a totally customised look that is on-brand. Even after the introduction of the Timeline Photo, the rather rigid Facebook layout may be a negative for even the most impressive content strategy.

Richer media embedding – Tumblr lets you embed videos and images with great ease, which depending on your theme, can make the page look more visually pleasing.

Potential increased sharability on the open internet – It’s all well and good to reach friends of friends on Facebook when they hit the share button, but one of Tumblr’s strong points is that any branded content you add there has the potential to reach much further than on Facebook. Why? A) people can’t share Facebook content outside of Facebook Walls – unless they cut and paste it elsewhere and B) content can be reblogged on Tumblr in just one click. Then again Facebook is just two clicks…

Cons of using Tumblr over Facebook

Reduced two-way communication – Customer service has become one of the main reasons for why people follow and connect with brands on social media channels. Tumblr offers limited ways for brands to find out what their fans are thinking and to receive feedback through comments, unless they install Disqus. On Facebook users are allowed to leave posts on the Wall and comment on updates as well as send private messages, offering several ways for consumers to communicate with you.

Less targeted reach – With over one billion active users, Facebook is well on its way to world domination. Tumblr can be seen as the flavour of the month and could potentially have been swapped for the next cool thing a few months down the line. Meanwhile, Facebook has over the years become the matriarch of social media and is now thoroughly embedded into people’s daily lives. Despite the fact that brands may have to pay in the future (no-one expected it to stay free for brands forever really?), there is still the benefit of being able to target those who are interested in your brand. And if you choose, you can still grow your audience through high-quality content. It may just take longer to see the results.

It will be interesting to see if other brands follow Mark Cuban’s plans and downscaling the marketing activity on Facebook in favour of other social media channels.

At Sutro we see Facebook as a key platform in any social media strategy. While we consider content to be king, something which is reflected in our strategies, we have also run successful paid for actives on the platform and think both are essential to most campaigns. An added bonus of Facebook are the deeper connections between people, which means a Facebook Share or Like can be seen as much more valuable to the brand compared to a quick ‘heart’ on Tumblr.

If you are interested in finding out more how we can help your brand – get in touch.