In some shock news last week, Lush has announced that they will be closing down all of their UK social media platforms.

RDPR’s digital team were delighted to attend the Big Social Media Conference 2015, held at Lancashire County Cricket Club last week.

If you weren't able to attend, or simply want to catch up on the expert social media marketing advice offered by the event's expert panel of speakers, we've put together a handy round-up.

'Should I be using LinkedIn?' and 'How should I be using LinkedIn?' are two of the most common questions I'm confronted with in regard to B2B social media. 

And the answers, while fairly simple, are far from straightforward. So in this guide, I'll be taking a look at what you can potentially gain from this powerful platform, as well as the best and most time-efficient ways to get the most out of LinkedIn. 

When it comes to social media, it's not what you know, it's who you know. Seeking out the top influencers and curators can help you keep your proverbial finger on the pulse of industry news, as well as helping to exponentially increase the potential reach of your communications.

To help you make the most of your social media activity, we've put together a comprehensive list of the best users for housebuilders to follow and engage with on Twitter.

Fine dining venue 47 King Street West has hit the headlines this week after its manager took to social media to issue a vitriolic response to complaints about the experience of one hen party at the eatery.

But what can Barry H's decision to brand his customers 'chav cheap trash' teach restaurants about how to handle complaints online?

Whether it’s on television, online or print, we’re all exposed to relentless amounts of PR every day from companies trying to put their product in the best light possible. 

Without question, the rise of social media in people’s lives on mobiles and tablets means that a greater amount of an organisation’s attention is placed on creating a successful Twitter/Facebook post.

Achieving a substantial amount of views on one of these websites can be similiar to gaining front page on an established publication like the Finanicial Times. 

This can be done via amusing pictures, engaging with their audiences in online conversation or even a public stunt, all which would be documented across several different online platforms. 

Some companies have taken full advantage of this ever-growing way of reaching their audience with some brilliant PR campaigns in the last year, whereas some have fallen flat or not quite got the right message across.

So without further ado, here’s our pick of the good and bad side of social media PR – ‘The Best and Worst Social Media PR Campaigns of 2014’.

On the back of our investigations into digital marketing in the property sector, we decided to do some first-hand research into what the north-west's property agents think about social media and how they use it on a day-to-day basis. 

The Sample 

We surveyed 26 property agents on their social media usage via a web survey and looked into various facets of how they perceive social media in terms of both industry and personal usage.

As well as looking at the raw figures in regard to usage, favoured platforms and time spent – we also asked for qualitative impressions on how property agents viewed social media and its use within their industry.

Complaining has become a lot easier of late. It doesn’t seem that long ago when getting something off your chest consisted of a stern letter being furiously assembled on a typewriter, followed by an angry walk to the nearest letterbox.

Now times have changed and the role that social platforms like Facebook and Twitter play in the complaints process means there’s an increased pressure to respond in a magnanimous manner.

The instantaneous nature of these new technologies has enabled consumers to take a step back from the somewhat soulless and streamlined automation and hierarchies that had previously governed the complaints process in recent years.

The dawn of digital has facilitated a reversion to more natural behaviours – talking directly to company representatives and amplifying the power of word of mouth, as well as making evidence of bad complaints handling practically indelible.

Opting to buy a house is one of the most important decisions a consumer is likely to make and it's no surprise that it's not taken lightly. As with virtually every purchase these days, reams of online research will be carried out when looking into a new build or specific developer. And if their digital profile is hopelessly tarnished, trust can be lost – along with a potential sale.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the worst responses to new builds on social media and see what we can learn from the way the developer in question handled the complaint.

As SME month comes to an end here at RDPR, we've decided to end proceedings with a detailed look at real-life examples of how some of the top SMEs in the region are utilising online marketing.

Using the SME 300 table produced by North-West Business Insider in November last year as a basis, we've delved into the web presence of the top ten companies to see how actively they're embracing online marketing, what platforms they're using and suggested potential areas where they could expand their efforts.

Social media marketing is becoming an increasingly popular avenue for businesses of all shapes and sizes. As a cost-effective replacement for a traditional advertising campaign, using several platforms to communicate your brand values is a great option. But what many fail to consider is the time that it takes to deliver a strong campaign that'll generate leads and effectively attract your potential clients.

In this guide, we'll offer our top five tips on social media management tools that'll help you meet your social commitments in a fraction of the time it'd take you to do things manually.