Samantha Collier

Articles by: Samantha Collier

Samantha Collier

Samantha Collier is the owner-operator of What's Next Consulting, a digital marketing and copywriting firm in Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.

Samantha's marketing career began in 2008 as a social media strategist at the British Broadcasting Corporation. She has since worked for Silverbean, a marketing agency, and as an in-house marketer for the Mayborn Group (baby product manufacturers), Accapi Group (European distributors), Ocado (online grocer), and Master Debonair (menswear retailer).

Samantha holds a B.A. in History with honors from Northumbria University and an M.A. in Radio Production and Management from the University of Sunderland.

Connect with Sam on LinkedIn or via email.

Email Marketing
Benefits of Email Opt-outs

September 24, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Holidays can be painful for consumers. Allowing subscribers to temporarily opt-out of promotional emails can lower unsubscribes and drive trust.
Platforms & Apps
TikTok Replaces ‘Storefront’ with ‘Shop’

September 11, 2023 • Samantha Collier

TikTok Shop enables consumers to buy products without leaving the platform.
Marketing & Advertising
Tools to Monitor Competitors’ Ads

August 22, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Platforms such as TikTok, Google, Meta, and LinkedIn provide free details of all advertisements — the owner, views, run date, more.
Social Media
Here’s Why I’m Sticking with Threads

August 7, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Despite the post-launch traffic drop, Threads will benefit from Meta's quick adjustments and X's turmoil.
Customer Retention
Drive Customer Satisfaction with NPS

July 11, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Net Promoter Scores derive from a simple question to customers, "Would you recommend our company?"
Customer Service
KPIs for Ecommerce Customer Service

June 29, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Online consumers increasingly expect fast responses to their inquiries. Here are eight key performance indicators to monitor satisfaction.
Social Media
Social Media Platforms Ramp-up AI

June 26, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Artificial intelligence is nothing new for social media platforms. But the platforms' use of AI is accelerating to include chatbots, image creators, and more.
Social Media
Pinterest Shuffles Attracts Gen Z Females

May 21, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Pinterest Shuffles is a collage-making app launched in 2022 and popular among younger females, especially when synced to music on TikTok.
Social Media
Free Social Media Learning Resources

May 8, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Keeping up with social media changes can be daunting. Fortunately, most of those platforms offer free learning. Here are eight of them.
Social Media
YouTube Shorts Are an Underpriced Opportunity

April 23, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Entrepreneur Gary V called YouTube Shorts an "underpriced" marketing channel. Here's our overview, with examples and promotion options.
Social Media
Can Mastodon Help Merchants?

April 6, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Mastodon's userbase is tiny compared to Twitter's. But its features are compelling and worth testing.
Content Marketing
21 AI Tools for Marketers

March 22, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Marketers enjoy an ever-expanding choice of artificial intelligence-driven tools to optimize ad performance, generate content, enhance images, monitor competitors, and more.
Influencers & Affiliates
The Rise of De-influencers

March 8, 2023 • Samantha Collier

De-influencers address consumers' desire for authenticity and transparency. It's the anecdote to over-the-top marketing pitches.
Social Media
Is Reddit Open for Business?

February 23, 2023 • Samantha Collier

The new "Reddit for Business" ad offerings can help merchants reach target audiences. But beware: Reddit is not for the fainted-hearted.
Customer Service
6 Customer Service Examples from Online Retailers

February 13, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Changing consumer expectations and advances in technology provide merchants the opportunity to test customer support options. Many reduce costs while improving shoppers' experiences.
Social Media
8 TikTok Content Ideas for Merchants

February 9, 2023 • Samantha Collier

TikTok is much more than teens and dance videos. Users represent seemingly every demographic and interest. It's an opportunity for merchants and brands to connect with their audiences.
Social Media
Is BeReal for Real?

January 23, 2023 • Samantha Collier

BeReal users post instant, immediate photos of their daily activities. The site has scaled to 73 million monthly users. But what's the revenue model?
Customer Service
8 Customer Service Channels for Ecommerce

January 10, 2023 • Samantha Collier

Online customer service ranges from live agents to static FAQs. Here are eight common customer service options with pros and cons of each.
Social Media
Using WhatsApp for Ecommerce

December 13, 2022 • Samantha Collier

WhatsApp offers ecommerce merchants an excellent engagement and sales channel. Here's how to get started.
Social Media
Social Media Platform Updates for November 2022

November 29, 2022 • Samantha Collier

Here are the latest feature updates from leading social media platforms — Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and more.
Social Media
Comparing Social Media Scheduling Tools

November 8, 2022 • Samantha Collier

Social media scheduling tools streamline what was once a manual, burdensome task. Selecting a tool depends largely on a user's preferred channels and features.
Social Media
Will Ads on Instagram Reduce Organic Reach?

February 1, 2016 • Samantha Collier

Instagram has become one of the most popular social media apps, with over 400 million active monthly users and 80 million photos uploaded daily. Instagram’s move to open up advertising ...
Social Media
Tips, Tricks to Optimize a YouTube Channel

January 4, 2016 • Samantha Collier

Using YouTube for your business is easy. Simply set up a channel and start uploading videos. But as your investment in video grows, so does the pressure to make sure ...
Social Media
Using the New Twitter Polls for Ecommerce

December 1, 2015 • Samantha Collier

Twitter announced its new polling feature in October and quickly rolled it out across the desktop site, mobile site, and mobile app. Here is Twitter’s announcement video. Coming soon! We’re rolling out the ability for everyone ...
Social Media
Retail Brands Embrace Emojis, for Marketing

November 3, 2015 • Samantha Collier

Emojis are symbols or icons that express an idea or an emotion. Unlike emoticons, which use plain text to create a facial expression — like this :-D — emojis are ...
Social Media
6 Social Media Lessons from the BBC, for Ecommerce

October 5, 2015 • Samantha Collier

The British Broadcasting Corporation operates 11 U.K.-based radio networks, 10 television channels, and popular consumer broadcasts — such as Top Gear, The Great British Bake Off, and Strictly Come Dancing.
Social Media
Optimizing Instagram for Ecommerce: 10 Tips

September 2, 2015 • Samantha Collier

With 300 million active monthly users and 30 billion photos shared to date, Instagram is one of social media’s great success stories. This social channel is entirely visual, focused on ...
Social Media
Little-known Social Media Features that Boost Engagement

July 28, 2015 • Samantha Collier

Once you come to grips with social media, the main functions of each network — posting, sharing, liking, commenting — become second nature. But there’s a hidden world of advanced ...
Social Media
8 Content Formats to Jazz-up Social Media Posts

July 1, 2015 • Samantha Collier

It can be easy to fall back on tried and trusted formats when developing content for social media channels. Sometimes there isn’t time to think more widely about the types ...
Social Media
5 Tools to Plan and Post Social Media Content

June 1, 2015 • Samantha Collier

Planning social media content across multiple platforms can be complicated. Social media schedules typically include multiple events and wider marketing initiatives; a seemingly simple social media plan can quickly turn complex. In this post,