8 out of 10 Australian users connect with brands
According to eMarketer, this year 11.4 million people in Australia - more than half of the population - will be social network users. And that’s not all. According to a December 2012 survey from Latitude Insights and The Social Hatch, 82% of social media users had connected with a brand via a social site.

On Facebook nearly three out of 10 users reported connecting with 11 or more brands.

Half of Australia’s social brands don’t talk to customers
A recent survey has shown that of the ASX100 companies, only 50% are using social media to talk to their customers. Telstra, Coca Cola and Woolworths have more than 340,000 Facebook fans each, but at the time of checking, none of the companies had responded to any of the last of 10 posts on their timelines according to The Australian.

Retailers Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi have disabled comments on their Facebook pages.

With Australians being some of the most brand friendly social media users in the world (see above article), not engaging these users in conversation or actively listening and creating a dialogue is not just a missed opportunity, but a misunderstanding of the role of social media in marketing.

Social is a conversation. If you want to talk more about how you can be part of the conversation, then let’s chat.

Facebook report Q1 earnings & increase in monthly active users
Facebook has reported its earnings for Q1 2013, announcing revenue of $1.45bn, up 38% from Q1 2012. 85% of total revenue came from advertising, amounting to $1.25bn, up 43% from Q1 2012.

The network simultaneously noted an increase in Monthly Active Users (MAUs). While growth slowed down in markets like the US, Canada and Europe, MAUs were up from 901 million in Q1 2012 to 1.1bn a year later, while Daily Active Users (DAUs) increased from 526 million to 665 million in the same period.

A great deal of this growth was down to mobile. Q1 2013 saw 751 million mobile MAUs compared to 488 million the year before, while there are now 189 million Mobile Only MAUs.

Twitter appoints Cynthia Gaylor as head of corporate development
Twitter has fuelled rumours of plans for an IPO with the appointment of ex-Morgan Stanley investment banker Cynthia Gaylor, who worked on the public offerings of Facebook, LinkedIn and Zynga. In what was her first ever tweet, she said:

@amac @twitter @jess look forward to joining and focusing on M&A + strategy. pointed north … let the migration begin!

— cynthia gaylor (@cynthiag) May 2, 2013

Twitter was valued at $9bn after an offer to staff in January and is set to hit global ad revenue of $1bn by 2014. This, along with the above appointment, has led to speculation by The New York Times that “next big step is to go public on the stock market, and insiders say the current goal is to have an initial public offering in 2014″.

Twitter ads now available to all US users
Twitter’s self-serve ads interface, launched in March 2012, is now available to all US users. Previously accessible only by invite, Twitter has used the period to improve on a number of features, from targeting to reporting, and decided to open the self-serve platform to everyone in the US. All you need to do to gain access is visit the page at business.twitter.com and answer a few questions. There has been concern that the increased demand will lead to either a boost in the number of ads appearing in users’ streams, or the price of ads. Russ Laraway, senior director of small- and medium-sized business at Twitter, has stated that “There will be no change in the frequency with which ads show up in timelines”, though it is not clear how price will be affected.

‘Photos of You’ on Instagram
Instagram has launched ‘Photos of You’, which essentially allows Facebook-style tagging of people and brands in photos. Previously, users would @-mention one another, as if on Twitter, to perform a similar function. This form of tagging comes with another key feature: it makes a full archive of all photos someone has been tagged in that appear on that user’s profile, assuming they have given permission. To prevent privacy complaints, Instagram has built controls that allow manual selection of which photos are visible to others. The feature looks to foster increased communication between individuals, but may also be beneficial for brands to interact with each other, as well as influencers with high follower counts and normal users.

Twitter updates Vine for iOS
Twitter has produced a couple of updates for the Vine iOS app, including the ability to shoot with the front-facing camera and tag others in posts. Where it was previously only possible to shoot with the camera on the back of the phone, the screenshot below displays a small button in the bottom left of the screen that allows switching between cameras. You can also see that @-mentioning is set to work much like on Twitter, Vine’s parent platform.

Path exceeds 10 million users
Path, the social network that limits you to 150 friends, has exceeded 10 million users for the first time. After reaching 2 million in Feb 2012 and 3 million in June 2012, the figure sees a large milestone for the platform. They’ve since added a search feature in December and released version 3.0 in March this year, which supported messaging. While the number of registered users is an impressive start for Path, it will be interesting to examine how many active users they manage to retain.

Where does brands’ Pinterest engagement come from?
According to a study by Digitas and Curalate, 30% of engagement on Pinterest comes from brand accounts. The remaining 70% comes from users pinning content from outside of brands’ Pinterest accounts.

J.C. Penney asks fans to come back on social media
Last year, J.C. Penney decided to get rid of sales and coupons, focussing instead on regular, low prices. The move was a disaster and they’ve recently taken to social media in an attempt to remedy it. They took to Twitter with the hashtag #jcplistens, whereby fans were asked which changes should be kept and which reversed. The move is a nice example of a brand using social media honestly, in an attempt to connect with fans. It will be interesting to see if it helps their ailing figures.

Mountain Dew purchases promoted tweets for apology
Another example of a big brand mistake was Mountain Dew’s ‘Felicia the Goat’ advert, which was criticised as both racist and misogynistic. Last week, they purchased promoted tweets to expand the reach of their apology, letting users know that they had pulled the advert. It’s an interesting idea: on the one hand, it allows the apology to be seen by as many people as possible. However, it also provides potentially unnecessary promotion to the original issue.

Lowe’s post six-second tips on Vine
Lots of brands are using Vine. Some are doing it well, some aren’t. Hardware storeLowe’s has strongly entered the former camp with their latest campaign, using Vine to post six-second home improvement tips. The medium brings to life content that is relevant but not necessarily exciting, while the tips themselves are useful, not an unnecessary experiment with a new medium. As such, the form and content compliment one another perfectly.

Stripped screw? No problem, just use a rubber band. #lowesfixinsix #howto vine.co/v/bU61aqq2YOp

— Lowe’s (@Lowes) April 21, 2013

Any sticker peels right off when you use a hair dryer. #lowesfixinsix #tip #stopmotion vine.co/v/bPH2WPpnA7r

— Lowe’s (@Lowes) April 24, 2013

Red Bull’s ‘Imaginate’ Pinterest puzzles
Red Bull is asking fans to solve Pinterest puzzles based on stunts performed by trials cyclist Danny MacAskill. Six videos will be released, each showing a different trick, which fans must watch in order to solve a puzzle on Pinterest. This involves pinning content in the correct order to create an image of MacAskill. Those who do so correctly will be entered into a draw to win signed photos of the cyclist.

Hugh Jackman answers Wolverine questions
To promote the upcoming release of ‘The Wolverine’, in which he plays the title character, Hugh Jackman answered the Twitter questions of 11 fans in a series of YouTube videos. He also tweeted the answers and posted links to the videos from his official @RealHughJackman account. This is the latest in a series of social stunts around the film, including a 6-second ‘Tweaser’ released through Twitter’s Vine app.

This week; kitty exercising, the worlds best mum and Obama the movie. 

Sit back, relax and have a laugh at what’s going on this week on the Internet.

DELIGHTFUL: Cute babies in mugs.

CREEPY: One tiny hand.

RETWACT: A chance to retract a tweet.

TRIPPING: Taking screenshots to the next level.

ATMOSPHERIC: A sexy sax player gives the public a show.

MEOW: Sports balls replaced with cats.

PREMIERED: Spielberg presents ‘Obama’ the movie.

SUPERMUM: Artist draws super powered canines on her son’s lunch napkins.

SWEATY: Give your kitty some exercise.

BOOGIE: A bird with some serious moves.

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This week; Evian babies, embarrassing dance floor moments and photos to make your heart melt. 

Lots in store for this week according to the Internet so don’t forget to check it out!

FUNKY: Evian babies are the cutest.

EMBARRASSING: Jimmy Kimmel’s Lie Witness News.

BOOM: Always wait for the drop. 

HAPPY DAYS: The wedding dress that cost only $36.

ENORMOUS: Stupidly tall bicycle.

TWITTING: The knitter stream.

PARALLEL: The longest car park in history.

TOO MUCH: Photos to make your heart melt.

VERSES: Game of Thrones vs Friends.

TYPICAL: Kids do the funniest things.

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This week; base-jumping, crazy frogs and pranks in gent’s bathroom. 

Prepare for a few giggles in this week on the web.

BUBBA: The new age golf cart.

PEAKING: LG causing a bit of stage fright.

YUM: Oreo asks an important question.

GIF: An otter gets confused

FLOATER: NASA’s encounter with human waste.

PIXELS: Distance to Mars.

JUSTIN: YOLO moments of JT’s career.

INSANE: Will this base-jump athlete make it?

CRAZY: Just two kids out for a good time.

DANCING QUEEN: A bit of bus stop groovin’.

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This week; Giant Easter eggs, the cutest dog in the world and getting creative on Facebook. 

It’s a four day week guys, which just means you get your Internet fill early!

GRIM: Actresses without teeth.

ANTISOCIAL: One way to avoid shopping crowds.

BRIGHT SIDE: Things can only get better…right?

POPULAR: A collection of the most creative Facebook posts from brands.

MANTERESTING: Pinterest for dudes. 

TECH-HEADS: More through Google glass. 

TALENTED: Sounds you would never expect to hear from a walrus. 

GIANT: The worlds largest Easter egg up for auction. 

EQUALITY: Gay marriage equality box turns red and spreads on social media.

BUNNY-DOG: The dog that just can’t get enough of Easter.

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YouTube hit the 1 billion a month unique users mark

Online video giant YouTube put their success into context for us last Wednesday, announcing their achievement of 1 billion unique users per month. This means “almost half of the people on the Internet visit the online site each month”. Looking specifically at Generation C (18-34 year olds), YouTube stated that this “demographic spend 74% more time watching YouTube on their smartphones now than they were last year”.

Facebook cover photo policy has been changed

The rule against page cover photos featuring a call to action, contact information, references to price or purchase information has been updated. Page owners now have more flexibility in terms of what they can include in their cover photo, however the no more than 20% text overlay rule still applies. The rule for cover photos and ad images are now consistent, “this is important as cover photos are beginning to be included in both organic and sponsored page-Like stories in News Feeds”.

Facebook to roll out its new commenting system

Facebook have been testing its new commenting system since November 2012, it “includes threaded conversations and a ranking algorithm meant to put the most relevant and high quality comments first”. The new updates will be available on an opt-in basis for all pages with more than 10,000 fans. Some of the key features of the new comments are the “option to reply to a specific comment and a ranking system that takes into account positive and negative signals, and connections”. Facebook are hoping the update will improve conversation management, enhancing the fans experience and public figure profiles.

Facebook to introduce Lookalike Audiences globally

Last week Facebook rolled out Lookalike Audiences to Power Editor accounts, this is a tool which helps advertisers target similar users “to those in their Custom Audience database”. Facebook reported that Lookalike Audiences have decreased cost per action and an online retailer experienced “lower costs per checkout when the Lookalike Audience feature was in limited beta”. To create Lookalike Audiences a list of first-party data must be uploaded, such as, email, phone number or user ID to create a Custom Audience. Facebook then uses algorithms to analyse the Custom Audience and produces a Lookalike Audience based on demographics, interests and what people are talking about.

iPhone users make calls using Facebook Messenger for free

Following on from its successful launch in the US and Canada, it is now possible for iPhone users in the UK to make calls to other Facebook Messenger users for free. You simply open the Facebook Messenger app, select the person you want to call and hit the ‘I’ button.

Happy 7th Birthday Twitter

Last week Twitter celebrated its 7th birthday – In the last seven years the social network has gained more than 200 million active users who create over 400 million Tweets each day. Twitter is now considered by most to be the go platform for the “lastest news, to exchange ideas and connect with people all in real time”. To celebrate this milestone, Twitter have made a video celebrating some of the many moments on Twitter so far, and a few of the UK’s best known Twitter personalities have been shouting about why they love Twitter so much.

Britney Spears is first to reach 6 million followers on Google+

Britney Spears has had the highest number of followers on Google+ since November 2011, and is now the first person to reach 6 million followers. According to Starcount, Lady Gaga is hot on her heels with a mere 100,000 followers seperating them.

Puma are paying for UGC

German sports giant, Puma, announced they’re trialing iPhone app, Foap. The new app allows users to upload photos to the platform and sell them to brands. Puma has asked Foap users to take photos in response to ‘Missions’ for its ‘Nature of Performance’ global campaign, the UGC purchased will promote the campaign across all social media channels. The ability to “create a library of content and achieve further engagement by getting users to rate the images” in Foap is one of the reasons Puma decided to use this platform.

Friendly Twitter war between Kit Kat and Oreo

A friendly twitter war can be fun and exciting for the brand and their followers, and this one is no exception:

A Twitter user tweets her two favourite chocolate brands…

@KITKAT respond with a game of noughts and crosses…

To which @oreo responded very cleverly…

Oreo triumphed over KitKat on this occasion, we’re look forward to the next round!

Does Twitter really have an official Australian presence?

Social media commentator David Cowling recently asked what’s wrong with the official @TwitterAU account, and it’s a question that’s gotten a lot of attention, if not a lot of official replies. Repeated @ tweets to the official account asking for the number of active users in Australia were met with no response. Although the official Twitter handle launched back in October 2012, and senior execs have made scoping visits, there’s little evidence that Twitter have any dedicated resource locally.

Latecomer to the Aussie music streaming scene: Songl

Streaming music service Songl actually launched in October last year, but is now being relaunched with a PR and social media campaign as well as a whole heap of exclusive celeb content and playlists (the first new one was created by Sir Bob Geldof). The streaming service offers a $12.99 subscription model as well as an ad-funded version. It’s also backed by Digital Music Distribution (DMD), Sony, Universal Music and Southern Cross Austereo; early reports indicate some major artists are missing.

Spotify and Rdio already feature great social integration – we’ll be watching to see how Songl make their mark in the crowded social landscape of music streaming.

Interactive website aims to help gambling addicts

With the help of McCann Melbourne, the Victorian Government has launched fightforyou.com.au, which will feature video diaries of people trying to control their gambling habits. The online support service asks people to take a 100 day challenge and friends, families and even complete strangers can use the site to post messages of support. Forums and live chat functionality is also offered.

This week; branded superheroes, a very small surf and a messy St. Patrick’s Day.

Sit back, relax and get your weekly dose of Internet.

PUZZLED: Sir Ravi juggles and solves a Rubik’s Cube.

CANDID: Mila Kunis interviewed by Chris Stark, 10,560,000 views.

PLAY: Miniature surfing trip.

PARODIED: The Poke’s response to 3′s pony mixer. 

MIXED: Ed Sheeran and Passenger.

SELL OUT: Sponsored superheroes. 

ELECTED: Bryan Cranston is Pope Heisenberg.

UNARMED: Amnesty and Cassetteboy use Obama to take on the arms trade.

IMPROVED: Australian $5 notes given makeover.

BENDER: St. Patrick’s Day through Google Glass.

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