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Traditionally if a brand wanted to test a new campaign or product it might turn to in-store promotions, sampling activities and surveys, or it might organise a series of focus groups bringing people face-to-face to talk through their thoughts and opinions and gather valuable insights.

Now, in the social media age, it’s possible to cut out the legwork and project our new ideas online, utilising the immediacy and connectivity of Facebook® to formulate a virtual focus group, probably the world’s biggest and most efficient group imaginable.

Budding brands and those with gazillions of fans alike have one thing in common - a hunger to give things away.

When you're looking at a report suggesting that the start-up cost of client acquisition through AdWords or traditional marketing is nearly always higher than the initial purchase price of your product, it's extremely tempting to brainstorm your way down to the lowest form of marketing...the give-away. Let me argue that we must not and should not go there.

All I’ve been hearing about recently is Pinterest. The pinboard styled start-up that allows you to create image-based collections of things that matter to you. A great and simple concept, and having been a member for over a month now I can honestly say I love it.

Pinterest has found its way into the hearts and browsers of millions of people. But why? Well, in the past couple of years there’s been a growing need to share things. I say need; it’s more a “want” from people. We don’t need to share any of this information, but we’re compelled to.

Google+ could surprise the doubters, says GlobalWebIndex founder Tom Smith.

It’s not hard to find critics of Google’s attempts to harness social in recent the years. But the sceptics should be wary of underestimating the power of the Mountain View behemoth.

The latest data from GWI.6 suggests that although widely known for its core search product – reaching more than 85% of global internet users every month (up from 76.1% in GWI.1) - Google+ is becoming the exciting new contender in social media.

As Facebook heads towards a record stock flotation that could value the company at £63 billion (and Mark Zuckerberg at £17.8 billion), we have to ask what role we, the users, play in its success.

The website relies on adverts to generate profit. Those can be directed either to an external website or to a branded Fan Page. Marketers realised early on that directing their ads to a Fan Page rather than a standard ‘Dot Com’, not only meant a better response (the site shared information about other friends who endorse the action), but also introduced the potential to grow massive marketing databases to which they could direct promotional messages at no further cost.

We’ve all swallowed the pill and a quick glance at your new timeline profile will show how many Fan Pages you have now ‘liked’- far more than you’d imagine, it’s not uncommon for single profiles to join hundreds a year.

YouGov, the most quoted research agency in the UK, today reveals its predictions for 2012 on people’s consumption and behaviour around Smart TV, smartphones, Facebook, digital newspapers and digital radio.

What seemed like a fantastic marketing campaign, turns out to be a horror story. Metrics were missed, warning signs ignored and US retailer, Target ends up 'doing a Hoover'.

As with so many promotions, it started with a terrific deal for customers. Visit Target's Facebook page and get a $10 gift card for spending $50. What happened next was a  free-for-all with deal hunters gaming the system, some claiming profits of $5,000. So, what went wrong? 

Google+ started life as an attempt to be another Facebook. If I am honest it did a better job - but then again, it's not hard to stand on the shoulders of a giant (metaphorically speaking). The problem with Google+ is it doesn't offer anything additional to Facebook on first viewing.

Google+ is beautiful and easier to use than Facebook - my mum could set up an account on her own which is saying something. But after half an hour she was back in Facebook. Why? None of her friends were using Google+.

So does Google+ stand a chance? Until recently I would have said no.