While social media is gaining increasing acceptance amongst small and medium-scale businesses, nearly a third of SMEs are concerned over its security concerns and claim to have experienced malware or virus infection as a result of staff using social media websites. This is one of the many findings reported by Panda’s “1st Annual Social Media Risk Index for Small to …

I have no doubt that Twitter is world’s most powerful and popular social networking platform amongst business and enterprise users. It’s quick, incredibly simple to use and a large number of businesses are jumping on to the Twitter bandwagon with each passing day. However, there are a significant number of businesses and enterprises who’ve not adopted Twitter as yet due …

I’m no “Paul the Octopus”, in fact I generally refrain myself from making any predictions since I’m not very good at it. However, being an active social media activist, I’m often quizzed on my perception regarding the future of social media. How will the social media scenario change 5 years from now? Will Twitter and Facebook still be as popular …

As a social media and marketing consultant, I happen to meet all sorts of customers ranging from SOHOs (Small Office/Home Office), small businesses, aspiring startups to multinational corporations having a global footprint. What’s the common factor between them? Social Media. The beauty of social media lies in its ubiquity. While I’m not saying that social media is a “one size …

It’s a popular saying – “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”. However, when it comes to the world of computers and internet, people often believe “Men are from online gaming, women are from social networks”. While it’s true that men dominate the online gaming brigade, it would be foolish to ignore their presence on the social web. Several …

Most businesses in UK favor Twitter over Facebook to interact with their customers, a new survey from Virgin Media Business has revealed. While this particular survey was restricted to UK only, Twitter rules over Facebook in a large number of business markets worldwide.

If you thought social media is just popular with the young generation, let me correct you. A recent study titled “Older Adults and Social Media” from Pew Research Center Publications indicates that the 50+ crowd is flocking to social media in huge numbers. While a large majority of these users resort to social media to “stay connected”, a fairly substantial proportion …

YouTube today launches “Films”, a new dedicated full-length movie section that allows you to watch mainstream releases and classics. It also offers Bollywood hits. We have learned that agreements have been reached with Sony Pictures in the US, Lionsgate, MGM and UK movie service, Blinkbox to make this possible.

If you planned to start and market a business without much money a few years back, you’d be a dead duck. Those days, a shoestring marketing budget wouldn’t fetch you any significant returns. However, things have changed considerably in the last couple of years, especially with the ongoing Twitter revolution. Be it a small company, a startup or a one-person …

A large number of businesses see social media as an advertising and marketing opportunity, primarily due to the mass appeal of popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. However, a number of smart businesses have utilized the potential of social media to its true value by extending it far beyond marketing, sales and advertising. While some use social media …

Twitter has shattered marketing records one after the other, in the last one year or so. And it continues to re-write the modern books of marketing. While there is little doubt that Twitter is a smart marketing tool, it needs smart users to make its best use. One of the areas where I personally consider Twitter to be the most …

Canada loves social media! From business to politics and healthcare, social media has been embraced with open arms by Canadians. When it comes to using social media for business gains, Canada leads the worldwide charts with nearly 90% Canadian businesses adopting social media tools. As a Canadian and a staunch social media loyalist, I’m overjoyed with these statistics provided by …

There’s no denying that social media is changing businesses for good. It has opened up new avenues of marketing, sales and customer service which have never been imagined earlier. Many businesses have adopted Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as the preferred means to get closer to customers. Social Media has also played a key role in popularizing CRM with innovative apps …

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was a revelation of how global sporting extravaganzas can use social media as an effective marketing media. And now, with Singapore hosting the first ever Youth Olympic Games (YOG) starting two days ago, sports fans worldwide are preparing themselves for another sporting joyride. I’m often quizzed by online marketers who’re interested in exploring “live” marketing …

The devastating earthquake in Haiti and Japan, and the BP oil spill had something in common. While the first two were natural disasters, the latter a human error – these grueling incidents showed us the importance of social media as the modern-age tool for managing crisis and emergency response. While a lot has been said about how social media is …