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Social media companies and their all-conquering brands have begun to dominate our world over the last decade. Many of us are now addicted to our Twitter feed or slaves to Facebook posts and there’s no getting away from that, no matter what the context. However, with Twitter turning 8 this year and Facebook turning 10, it’s unlikely that when these two institutions began anyone could have predicted what today would look like for the social media revolution. As we look back at the relatively short amount of time it has taken for these two become mainstays of modern society, we’re also wondering what social media is going to be like a decade from now…

A Superior Alternative to the Traditional Conference?

Thank you to all who recently attended our successful 'Using Social Media in Healthcare' conference, which took place at the MK Dons on 31st May. We are pleased that so many of you not only participated but also took the time to join our Twitter feed on the day #NHSGoSocial

‘Digital Marketing’ is a much used phrase that has been kicking about for some time now and is used to describe the type of marketing that is carried out through digital channels. Although it’s still a relatively new concept, the power of digital marketing has been continuously highlighted, as the influence that social media and a digital presence can have on a business’ tangible success is proven over and over again. In fact, such is the power of digital marketing, that the US research company Forrester has predicated that in 2013, the term ‘digital marketing’ will become simply ‘marketing’ as many non-digital forms of marketing become obsolete.

For many customer-facing businesses one of the biggest issues is being able to provide an efficient and timely customer service. Dealing with complaints, queries, questions and sales enquiries is an enormous challenge, particularly for SMEs where there simply may not be the requisite staff numbers to constantly man the phones. This is where social media can come in incredibly useful, as it offers a way to not only make the customer feel like they are connecting directly with the business, but to provide fast, personalised responses that are ultimately much more satisfying for the person on the other end of the smart phone.

Bottlenose, named after dolphins for their association with social intelligence, is a recent development in social media circles. A website that aims to change the way people search, provides results in a real-time data stream. Highlighting current trends and focussing on information awareness rather than retrieval, it acts as a discovery tool to find out what the world is talking about.