Facebook has overtaken Microsoft for the first time to become the second most popular site in the UK after Google. Online measurement body UKOM/Nielsen has also confirmed that people over 50 and now some of the most active users on the social network. As of May this year Facebook had attracted 26.8 million visitors in the UK which is up 7% year on year, Microsoft has 26.2 million visits through the MSN/Windows Live/Bing sites. Google still holds the number one spot with a staggering 33.9 visits to the search giant’s site. Twitter has also seen growth in the UK with 6.1 million visitors; this was helped by the celebrity scandals and super injunctions, including an alleged affair by Manchester United star Ryan Giggs.

UKOM/Nielsen confirmed that the number of women pensioners visiting the Twitter has doubled after “Giggsgate”.

“The growth in audiences to these social networks is now primarily being driven by the 50-plus age group. Just a few years ago, this group may have found itself out of place on these sites,” UKOM general manager James Smythe said.

LinkedIn which is a social media platform aimed at business users has also seen growth in the UK with 3.6 million visitors to the site which is up 57% from last year.

Matthew Marley
360innovate

Are you a student with an exceptionally strong understanding of the web and online communications? Can you create a Facebook landing page, tweet and create imaginative blog posts for our clients? Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit, customer service skills and a strong independent work ethic? Meticulous attention to detail and a basic understanding of SEO and Google Analytics? If the answers to all of the above are yes then this internship opportunity at 360innovate will give the right candidate valuable experience in the world of internet marketing and social media.

Responsibilities:

Assist with the management of social media marketing campaigns
Blogging, Link Building, creating monthly reports.
Participating in client meetings, arranging meetings etc.
Helping to update Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and other social media platforms when necessary
Researching social media campaigns being implemented by other organizations
General office duties

The successful applicant:

Currently studying a marketing/media/communications
An understanding of website components and related areas would be an advantage.
Someone who is an avid reader of technology and social media blogs.
Someone who uses FB pages/Blogs/twitter and has experience in setting these up would be an advantage
Strong written and spoken English
Confident communicator
Strong computers skills MS Office, and familiarity with Google Analytics would be an advantage

If you are interested in this position please email your CV info@360innovate.co.uk

Or call us on 0141 241 6190

360innovate are delighted to announce the launch of the Kapow Comic Con website. Taking place in April 2011, Kapow will feature the cream of British and international talent, including Mark Millar, Leinil Yu, Bryan Hitch, Dave Gibbons, and many more.

Working within the design considerations of the event organisers and third parties such as Marvel, 360innovate produced a bespoke content-managed solution to appeal to both hardcore and casual comic book fans.

We are delighted to welcome Gordon Campbell to our ranks this week.

Gordon will be joining our online marketing team, and brings a great a deal of enthusiasm and knowledge to the team.

Gordon said:  ”I’m really forward to working with 360innovate’s broad list of clients. At the moment, I’m working hard to understand each business we’re working with, so that I can bring the maximum benefit to their business.”

Gordon will be working closely with our head of online marketing, Andrew, and looks forward to meeting our clients in the upcoming weeks.

Following the successful launch of the Cathcart and District Housing Association we are pleased to announce that 360innovate have been working with Knowes Housing Association to build a new website for the public sector organisation.

Built on a content management system, the Knowes Housing Association website focuses upon providing as much information and support as possible to current and future tenants.

You can visit the site at knowes.org.

Drum Central is Scotland’s leading provider of drum kits, accessories and hardware in Scotland.

Selling their wide range of drumming products both offline and online Drum Central appointed 360innovate to redevelop their existing website with the intentions of making the brand image more current and the website easier to administer.

360innovate proposed an ecommerce shopping cart that allows shoppers to find their desired product with ease, purchase gift vouchers to spend instore, sign up for newsletters and connect with the brand via social media. The final result is a vibrant website that is sympathetic to the rock genre and information rich providing visitors to the website with a wide array of content to aid and enhance their shopping experience.

Visit the Drum Central website.

Like what you see then get in touch with 360innovate today.

As part of their commercial plan Twitter have introduced Promoted Trending Topics.

Currently in its testing stages the Promoted Trending Topics appear alongside the non promoted topics, however, it will be clearly marked as promoted avoiding any misunderstanding.

As my handy image (please excuse the grey and pink colours) the first ever Promoted Trending Topic has been bought by Disney Pixar and is for Toy Story 3, as with all trending topics by clicking the promoted topic produces a feed of all related tweets.

Many Twitter fans and marketers have expressed concern that although the yellow box clearly communicates that the Tweet is promoted by Disney Pixar there could still be a certain level deception going on particularly when the promoted trending topics are able to move up and down the list in the same manner that other popular trends do. How Twitter judge where a promoted trending topic sits, however, is not so clear; is it based on how much the brand pays? Level of engagement?

Trending Topics offer Twitter users the chance to filter the thousands of Tweets transmitted every day, mixing in a sponsored trending topic somewhat muddies this function. It will be interesting to see how successful these Promoted Trending Topics will be…

]]> http://www.360innovate.co.uk/blog/2010/06/promoted-trending-topics/feed/ 0 http://www.360innovate.co.uk/blog/2010/06/rubberseal-website-goes-live/ http://www.360innovate.co.uk/blog/2010/06/rubberseal-website-goes-live/#comments Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:45:32 +0000 Laura http://www.360innovate.co.uk/blog/?p=2031

Rubberseal are flat roofing specialists,  providing roofing products and installation services to commercial companies, contractors and home owners.

The Rubberseal website was built on a content management system, making it easy for the client to update the web pages. The main areas of the website are separated into Installers, Commercial and Home Owner pages with clear navigation buttons on the main homepage making it very easy for visitors to the website source the information they are looking immediately.

Like what you see?

For further information about 360innovate’s web design services please contact us on 0141 241 6190.

For far too long consumer led companies have held the social media throne. Social networks such as Facebook and micro blogging site Twitter have provided them with a direct channel to their target market whilst business to business companies were left somewhat in dust trying to figure out how exactly social media tools could be used for business.

The common misconception held about business to business social media management is that social media is only for young people and Facebook users therefore it won’t work for B2B. Despite still being a commonly held opinion it is entirely false; social media is highly versatile stretching way beyond Facebook, the average social network user age is 37 years old and research shows that 91% of B2B decision makers consume social media. Companies such as Scania, Oracle, and John Deere are all shining examples of how diverse social media is and how it can be used to engage with the market.

These individual cases show that social media provides B2B companies with the perfect suite of online tools to engage with their online market, and a recent article by eMarketer has revealed that B2B companies are now taking advantage of social media even more so than their B2C counterparts. The article confirmed that B2B businesses have overtaken B2C in terms of utilising the various opportunities available online.  Perhaps because, despite knowing of its multiple opportunities it was never as clear cut as B2C for B2B marketers to approach social media. Yes, there were boundaries and B2B’s had to work hard to overcome them but as a result B2B online marketing and its uptake has evolved at lightening speed.

We may like videos, but we love interactive videos such as the ‘Choose a Different Ending’ video on YouTube.

For Drop The Weapon the interactive video made the audience face difficult scenarios and essentially choose their own outcome through selecting various options that pop up throughout the video. My particular ending saw me get into a fight and attacked by a weapon.

The Choose a Different Ending video is very effective in not only demonstrating how many young adults are living in the UK but its interactive element is key in demonstrating that these young adults have the power to choose another path in the life, one free from knife crime.

I have since came across another excellent example of how interactive videos can be used by brands, and in this case by movie companies. The Sex and the City 2 movie comes out at the end of May and the hype has been mammoth; the storyline somewhat overshadowed by the impressive wardrobe which is rumoured to have cost around $10 million. Essentially Sex and the City is, and always has been, a brands dream; it is the programme that has launched a thousand fashion trends and every brand is trying to get in on the act. In the last movie alone, off the top of my head, I can think of at least a dozen different product placements: Vogue, iPhone, Starbucks, Vivienne Westwood, Louis Vuitton and, of course, Manolo Blahnik; and despite the movie not even being released yet already the brandwagon has begun.

Much of the promotional activity has been played out online and one aspect of the online campaign which caught my eye was the launch of an interactive trailer as seen on the Heat magazine website.

The interactive trailer is essentially the same as the one we watch on our TV’s but we can click on the video throughout to find out spoilers and information about the clothes the cast are wearing. This is once again, an excellent opportunity to increase the brand exposure even further and it really does take product placement to the max- but it is an effective way of doing so! No doubt it will be a matter of time before this is introduced to online tv programmes and movies.

What do you think, is this taking product placement too far or an ingenious use of online video?

EDIT: Due to the video being ultra noisy I have removed it from the blog post and you can now find it here.