2. What recent activities have you of your company initiated in internet marketing, particularly through social media? What initiative are you most proud of?
We manage the social media platforms for over 250 brands – the initiative I am most proud of this week is a program we launched for Hellmann’s in the US where we partnered with illustrators to find and bring to life great tweets from our fans expressing their love for our mayonnaise- and created and shared artwork in response under the hashtag “BringOuttheBest”. Also loved a project we did at the start of the year for Qtips- a brand without a big marketing budget that wanted to tell the story of their precision tip Qtips in the beauty space. We partnered with Instagram influencer Paper Fashion and created content- including time lapse video- as she painted the Oscar contenders red carpet looks in real time as they appeared on the runway. The idea caught the media’s attention and Style Bistro tweeted that it was the coolest thing they’d seen related to Oscars 2015. It proved that a great idea doesn’t have to cost a fortune- it just needs to be timely and tap into the culture.

3. In terms of good social media marketing strategy, who do you think is doing it right? Why?
The folks who are doing it right are the ones who understand the role of each platform and who customize their content to leverage what each platform does best versus simply repurposing assets that weren’t designed for the medium. Those who think about what the consumers are coming to the social media platform for will do better than those who only think about what their own brand wants to say or do there. Often there is a gap- and the best programs are those that provide utility or entertainment or currency to the consumer within the purpose and voice of the brand. And be realistic about what a brand can do – many brands wanted their own “Ice Bucket” challenge- not understanding that part of the dynamic that made it so powerful was the authentic origins of the effort.

The rise of photography and imagery to tell a story- and the birth of platforms from Pinterest to Instagram in response- is a great indication of the increased importance of visual influence in the past 5 years.

4. What social media platform do you use most in your role? How has this changed over the last 5 years?
I have seen Facebook grow as a “soft” newsfeed – it’s a great barometer for what’s capturing people’s imagination and interest online as the “Blue Black / Gold White” dress discussion proved when a simple blog post jumped onto the platform and quickly become a world-wide debate. The rise of photography and imagery to tell a story -and the birth of platforms from Pinterest to Instagram in response- is a great indication of the increased importance of visual influence in the past 5 years. If your brand is still entirely reliant on stock or communicating simply with words- you may be at a disadvantage.

5. What do you foresee as the next “big thing” in internet/social media marketing?
I caution against chasing the next big thing as marketers- Meerkats will rise and only to have a Periscope eclipse them- investing quickly and before the audiences are there or the models are proven is a risky proposition. Four Square was a great example of a big thing that fizzled. I would think that investment and energy should first and foremost be in making sure you have best in class practices on the platforms that have emerged, that are part of your consumers daily life and rituals. If we are consistently meeting or exceeding those platforms benchmarks- earmark a little to experiment on emerging media. But make sure you’ve got the core done right first.

Digital and mobile are the primary media for most consumers and that the brand’s quality and image and reputation is expected to hold up on line as consistently as it does offline.

6. What is your greatest challenge when marketing online and via social media platforms?
Investment. Clients have a legacy predisposition that digital should not be costly- what they fail to understand is that digital and mobile are the primary media for most consumers and that the brand’s quality and image and reputation is expected to hold up on line as consistently as it does offline. We have clients who ask us for best in class performance but have not budgeted to create content for the channels. Under investment in quality video is a great example of this, as is the reliance of too many brands on stock imagery.

7. What advice would you give companies that might be considering an internet marketing and/or social media strategy for the first time?
Invest in measurement and analytics. You need to understand what is working and why and close the feedback loop with anyone creating content for you- you’ll quickly be able to see what what works, and what doesn’t and adjust accordingly. The great advantage of internet marketing is that it is clearer results than any amount of testing- the consumes let you know very quickly if your work is working- you just need to be able to understand the information coming back to you and adjust accordingly.

2. What recent activities have you of your company initiated in internet marketing, particularly through social media? What initiative are you most proud of?
We’ve done press outreach campaigns on Twitter and recruitment campaigns on Facebook that have been solid performers but the best has been our YouGov Says campaign. We asked members of our panel to record video answers to the questions “What’s the difference between democrats and republicans?” and “What do you think of Washington politics?”. We used the answers to create a preroll ad that was used on Facebook and YouTube.

3. In terms of good social media marketing strategy, who do you think is doing it right? Why?
Automotive brands such as Ford and BMW are doing some really interesting things with social. But they have an advantage since really good product-based social media campaigns are for products that have a strong emotional tie. Few things beat the automotive industry for passionate consumers.

There are more platforms than ever to engage on – but you can’t abandon one for another. Social strategies should be additive.

4. What social media platform do you use most in your role? How has this changed over the last 5 years?
Twitter is probably the most used right now. We do a signifigant amount of press outreach and Twitter is still the best place to do that. The only change is that there are more platforms than ever to engage on – but you can’t abandon one for another. You can’t drop Twitter if you want to pick up SnapChat, social strategies should be additive.

5. What do you foresee as the next “big thing” in internet/social media marketing?
New user interfaces are going to be huge in the next 3-4 years. Desktops, then mobile have changed the way we interact with brands – but that’s nothing compared to the abilty to use wearables and virtual/augmented reality.

6. What is your greatest challenge when marketing online and via social media platforms?
Keeping things conversational. There’s an tendancy to over-market in social and online. It’s easy to alienate people through heavy-handed marketing and it’s difficult to keep things at a place that’s effective.

Key every message you can and use tools like Google Analytics to see what’s working and what isn’t

7. What advice would you give companies that might be considering an internet marketing and/or social media strategy for the first time?
Review the competative landscape as much as possible, but don’t let it limit your creativity. Learn from the trial and error of others and don’t be afraid to try where they’ve failed.

8. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about?
Wherever you can tie social engagement back to key business metrics. Whether it’s something concrete (units sold) or something more ephemeral (brand reputation as measured through a brand tracker like Brand Index) it’s important to be able to quantify the result of your effort. That and test, test, test. Key every message you can and use tools like Google Analytics to see what’s working and what isn’t.

I love being in a sector in which you can keep on learning, and I really enjoy the new opportunities and tools that are constantly appearing. It’s important to enjoy the process.

• 4. Which brand would you give as an example of having a good social media strategy?
  Hootsuite have very well-planned, effective branding, both at a corporative level, and for final clients. They are a successful case study. As well as having their own branding for Owly, their mascot. I love being in a sector in which you can keep on learning, and I really enjoy the new opportunities and tools that are constantly appearing. It’s important to enjoy the process.
• 5. In your opinion, what must content offer to encourage a user to share it?
  Above all, it should be worthwhile and original. If the client sees it as being interesting, and “in their area of interest”, he or she will be more willing to share it.
• 6. What do you recommend for improving the organic reach of Facebook publications?
  Analyze what the big brands are doing and see the strategies that they are using.
• 7. What is it that brands most ask you to do with social media?
  To manage, both in a centralized way and by using teamwork, their corporate social networks, and to establish work protocols in order to increase productivity and security.
• 8. Which are your favorite social networks for professional and personal use?
  On a professional level, it’s undoubtedly LinkedIn. Twitter is also important because it is being used to great effect by professionals. We recommend to our companies that they use these two networks together, because their combined use enables us to generate good results. For personal use, Facebook is where people are dedicating most of their time.
• 9. What mechanisms do you use to keep up to date on everything that happens in the sector?
  To keep up to date I continuously select new sources which provide valuable information and I manage them with an RSS reader. In Twitter I organize accounts inside lists in order to revise publications and focus myself on certain themes. In LinkedIn I use “Pulse” and I follow companies and key people in the sectors that interest me.

I’d say that the question is not if they are going to become active across the social networks, but how. This is the new environment where customers can be found, and if we don’t want to lose out on this new process of industrialization then it’s important to be there and to know how to be there.

• 10. What is the strangest anecdote that you can share with us related to social networks?
  I have a few with LinkedIn. One person asked me to connect with them and then tried to carry out that famous scam of offering to send you money in exchange for a commission. People are using different channels to try and scam you.
• 11. How would you encourage companies who don’t have a great presence in the digital environment?
  I’d say that the question is not if they are going to become active across the social networks, but how. This is the new environment where customers can be found, and if we don’t want to lose out on this new process of industrialization then it’s important to be there and to know how to be there.
• 12. Can you tell us your professional goal?
  To keep improving as a professional and so be better equipped to help my clients.
• 13. What question would you ask the next interviewee without knowing his or her identity?
  Which trends do you think are going to be the most important in the future?