Social Marketing

As the 2014 FIFA World Cup lights up screens and social feeds across the U.S., Nielsen Social is compiling a weekly wrap-up of all the action on Twitter to make sure you have a firsthand look at the minutes and matches that are igniting the social stadium.

According to the research, 80% of US client-side marketers measured the effectiveness of their social content, with social media metrics such as “likes” the most common. Usage statistics—daily or monthly active users, for example—fell in the middle of the list. Meanwhile, metrics that could identify business ramifications were not used nearly as much, with financially based measurements such as return on investment and sales landing near the bottom.

As high school graduation season comes to a close, millions of US teens are preparing to start a new chapter—and they’re probably chronicling it all on Facebook. Despite speculation that the social network is dead to teens, the vast majority of the class of 2014 remains active on the network.

In a joint effort, Richards/Lerma and digital agency Digiworks introduce The Social Cup; a dynamic dashboard where users can see which country garnered the most mentions, the ultimate Dream Team, how many “friendly” messages the referees have received and more.

A clear majority (62%) of American consumers who use social media says it has “no influence at all” on their purchase decisions, according to a new poll of over 18,000 U.S. adults conducted by Gallup. That compares to 30% who said it has “some influence,” and just 5% who said it has a “great deal of influence.”

To reach a nationwide audience during this summer’s global soccer tournament, DISH collaborated with Google to develop a first of its kind presentation of “El Juego Bonito (the beautiful game)” across the web, including the first ever Spanish language masthead sponsorship in the U.S. on YouTube’s desktop and mobile sites.

From the pre-tournament build up, through the final whistle, the LISTERINE Brand will react to the news of the day, recap the biggest matches and connect with sports and brand enthusiasts through its social channels and the hashtag #PowertoYourMouth. 

This year the drama of the World Cup is expected to dominate 60% of the Twitter conversation for a month, making it the most connected World Cup yet. So, how can brands make sure they’re heard through the social media noise during the tournament and beyond?  

República announced that it won a 2014 Appy Award in the best Mapping/Navigation category for the Miami Trolley app.

Social TV has turned watching TV into an interactive experience—an experience that connects viewers in the moment with friends, content creators, stars, and likeminded—or not so likeminded—fans.

According to an April 2014 study from TrackMaven, bloggers were most likely to post their content on weekdays, with 87% of weekly blog content pushed out between Monday and Friday.

A Q1 2014 study by Converseon analyzed direct user interactions with 20 leading global brands and found that 55% of those that took place on Twitter were positive in nature, with an additional 25% neutral. On Facebook, 49% of interactions were positive, with Google+ falling in the middle.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament may not kick off in Brazil until next month, but viewers are already planning on how they’re going to watch the matches. And based on polling conducted by Instant.ly for YuMe, digital devices are reshaping game viewing.

Have we been taking a certain social media platform Instaforgranted?

Amid the squeeze on drug companies due to patent expirations on blockbuster drugs, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced in April an asset-swapping/joint venture deal, which includes Novartis picking up GSK’s cancer drugs and the two companies forming a joint venture on their respective nonprescription drug consumer units. The venture, GSK Consumer Healthcare, will combine the businesses of Novartis brands including Excedrin and Prevacid with GSK brands including Nicorette, TUMS and Aquafresh. Cheryl Policastro, director of shopper marketing and insights at Novartis Consumer Health, spoke with eMarketer’s Christine Bittar about selling over-the-counter medications and some of the differences between marketing prescription and nonprescription drugs.

Social media management agency, Emoderation, has opened an office in Miami, to serve brands wanting to reach the US Hispanic and Latin American markets.

Telemundo Media announced the second season of the original social media novela, “Secreteando”, starting April 28th. The online novela was the first drama series directed to Hispanics where viewers were active participants in the storyline through social media platforms such as Google+, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Much of the growth in mobile video has been driven by the YouTube generation – some 40% of all YouTube’s traffic comes from tablets and smartphones now – and that trend shows no signs of stopping. While that’s great for YouTube, it’s not so great for the marketers that desperately want to reach that audience, but are either unwilling or unable to take advantage of the myriad mobile video platforms that deliver said audience on a silver platter.

The IAB and the MRC are both leading the charge for viewability in display advertising, but the only way this initiative will take hold and work is if media-buying agencies get on board.

According to Facebook, the leveraging of language targeting segments created efficiencies across major metrics, driving up engagement across Spanish and English creative.