One in four UK consumers spend more than five hours a day on social media

A man looking at his Facebook profile.

The majority (53%) of UK consumers spend two to four hours a day on social platforms, while a further one in four spend more than five hours a day scrolling, watching and clicking through their social feeds.

These are some of the key findings from a study by Integral Ad Science (IAS), a specialist in digital media quality.

The Social Media Ad Receptivity report is based on a survey of online UK consumers, provides an overview of social media usage, as well as insights...

3 February 2022 | Social Media Marketing

Lush shuns social media in user safety protest

A Lush shop.

British cosmetics retailer Lush has ditched social media in protest at what it deems to be a lack of action taken by the social media networks to improve user welfare.

From November 26, the brand has turned its back on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat, until the platforms take action to provide a safer environment for users. This policy is rolling out across all the 48 countries where Lush operates.  

In the same way that evidence against climate change...

30 November 2021 | Best Practice

Julie Meredith, Dash Hudson: Why video and authentic content are vital

Julie Meredith, VP of marketing at Dash Hudson.

Could you tell us a little bit about Dash Hudson and what makes it unique?

Dash Hudson was founded back in 2015 with the mission of helping the world's most important companies deepen engagement with their consumers through photos and videos. Our goal is to close the loop on all key visual marketing channels for brands, by focusing on the performance of photos and videos. Our software helps brands to choose the right image, inspire their audience to action, and measure the results...

22 November 2021 | CMO

B2C e-commerce leaders are fast-tracking social commerce initiatives

Spocial media apps on a smartphone

Social commerce has become a strategic imperative for brands seeking to expand revenue and capture new audiences as competition for next-gen consumers grows at a staggering rate across the retail and direct-to-consumer markets. 

This is according to a study commissioned by customer experience platform Emplifi, which uncovered insights from more than 220 global enterprise ecommerce leaders on social commerce strategies, early trials, and planned areas of...

8 November 2021 | Commerce

76% of Instagram influencers hide advertisement disclosure in their posts

Someone using Instagram on their smartphone.

More than three quarters of influencer adverts on Instagram have the disclosure hidden somewhere in the post, whether that be in the middle, at the end or in a comment.

This is according to research undertaken by the team behind global affiliate network Awin.com as part of a wider look into disclosure in affiliate marketing.

For the study, the top 100 posts for each disclosure hashtag were analysed to see whether the hashtag was visible in the original post, or needed...

4 October 2021 | Influencer Marketing

Institute for Rebooting Social Media launched by Harvard University

Social Media Platforms

Harvard University has launched an academic initiative called the Institute for Rebooting Social Media, which aims to fix social media's most urgent problems.

Described as a “three-year pop up initiative”, the institute will focus on addressing misinformation, privacy breaches, harassment and content governance.

The institute is part of the University’s Berkman Klein Centre for Internet & Society (BKCIS) and it is being funded with £1.5 million from the John...

22 September 2021 | Data Science

Everyday social media influencers grow in popularity

A man and woman covered in paint and holding paint brushes.

The everyday social media user has become the preferred influencer to follow for more than half of consumers (56%). 

Whether it is friends, family, peers, or wider networks, those that share day-to-day content, products, and places that they find a genuine interest in, without an agenda to promote, are now the most trusted source for authentic and genuine content for two in five consumers (38%).

The findings come from a study by Bazaarvoice, a provider of product...

17 August 2021 | Influencer Marketing

Vimeo becomes first video software company to partner with TikTok

TikTok Logo

Video SaaS company Vimeo has joined TikTok Marketing Partners, a group of specialist companies that create, implement and measure ad campaigns on TikTok’s video-based social media app.

The partnership gives small and medium businesses (SMBs) access to Vimeo’s suite of video creation tools whilst simultaneously enabling them to take advantage of TikTok’s broad userbase.

Pre-release tests of both company’s capabilities saw participants able to double the number of...

20 July 2021 | Advertising

65% of UK CEOs think marketers focus on analytics too much

Facebook likes.

CEOs are beginning to question the analytics used by marketers to target campaigns, and instead want what they feel is a clearer link to business goals.

Research from behavioral targeting platform Bango, in which more than 200 CEOs were quizzed, found that 55% consider digital marketing metrics “meaningless” if they aren’t directly associated with sales. Nearly two thirds (62%) of CEOs also feel that too much marketing budget is wasted on activities that don’t deliver...

2 June 2021 | Web Analytics

10 practical ways to grow your local business with digital marketing in 2021

Digital marketing for local business is quite different from how to do marketing for a national or global business.

Yes, we mostly use the same channels - but, in a different fashion.

Local businesses target local people, who are geographically around. They may seem easier to reach without digital marketing; however, it's been long since consumers started searching online before they buy basically anything.

More than 90% of users searched for local businesses...

4 February 2021 | Advertising