The best of the We Are Social blog, 2009

robin.grant

Inspired by our friends Ben, Neil and Nick, here are my personal highlights of the topics and debates we’ve hosted here on the We Are Social blog over the last year:

Learning to speak human
What seemed like a simple post about the language companies need to start using when talking to their customers and prospects, kicked off a very interesting and high-powered discussion in the comments.

Brands and Twitter
I was in a combative mood when I wrote this post on how brands should behave on Twitter, which again kicked off a massive debate in the comments.

Social media’s rise as a distinct discipline
A seminal moment for us at We Are Social, with glue’s Mark Cridge making the point that social media is as distinct from digital as digital is from traditional advertising.

The death of the microsite, act IV
A post looking at the death of the microsite and the rise of the real-time web, and what impact it will have on the agency landscape, with some insightful debate in the comments.

The great game
This post examines the convergence of above the line, digital, PR, direct marketing and media agencies and predicts who will win in the age of social media.

Be nice or leave
A neat summary from Nathan of Faris Yakob’s and Russell Davies’ thinking around how brands need to behave in social media.

This is Now
Violette gives the inside story of our This is Now campaign for Ford. We’re very proud of this campaign, and I think that comes through in the passion and emotion of Violette’s post.

Commentariat v. bloggertariat
Chris makes an impassioned case about how mainstream media views social media and how it should be adapting to it.

Twitter’s rise and the decline of blogs
A post looking at the rise of Twitter and the decline of blogs, and what this means for brands.

The purchase funnel is no more
Spurred by McKinsey’s thinking about the consumer decision journey, this post looks at why the traditional model of the purchase funnel is no longer valid and what it should be replaced with.

Stop campaigning and start committing
This post examines the need for marketers to move on from the traditional idea of ‘campaigns’ to longer term commitments, and the structural issues that hinder this.

How teenagers really consume media
In response to 15 year-old Matthew Robson’s famed Morgan Stanley report, we got our own teenager, Adam Bernstein, to give a more balanced view of teenagers’ media consumption habits.

The Destination and The Conversation
A detailed look at Nick Burcher’s valuable Destination and Conversation model for media planning, along with a critique around some of the detail.

IPA Social: 10 conversation starters
My report from the IPA Social launch event, with links through to all ten conversation starters. If you haven’t read these already, you should.

Proving the ROI of social media
A post looking at how you might go about proving the ROI of social media activities, containing Olivier Blanchard’s brilliant presentation on the subject along with a few thoughts of my own.

Thank you to to everyone who has visited, commented, linked, subscribed, shared and tweeted over the year – here’s hoping 2010 will prove just as interesting. Have a great New Year!