The latest of social networks to join forces with advertising are photo-sharing apps like Instagram. While we’ve spoken of such apps before, their role in advertising has become even clearer recently, as they have proven to hold a pragmatic function for retail advertisers.

Recently, online retailer Amazon added Sunday deliveries in two major U.S. cities to its offerings. In a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, Amazon began Sunday deliveries in New York City and Los Angeles in mid-November. It hopes to expand Sunday deliveries to Dallas, Houston, New Orleans and Phoenix within the next year.

Another company, that was once a leader in its market, has bitten the dust due to its unwillingness to adapt with the changing times. This time, it’s Blockbuster. Last week, the movie rental retailer announced it would be shuttering its remaining 300 stores, leaving only 50 individual stores run as independent franchises. Blockbuster’s demise comes after years of losing customers to its online competitors — namely Netflix. In the wake of Blockbuster’s announcement, many have noted that it was a long time coming, and other businesses — especially media companies — should take Blockbuster’s story as a cautionary tale.

The social image and video-sharing giant Pinterest has crossed over into the advertising world. While the social network is still relatively young, at a mere three years old, its quick rise to fame makes Pinterest look less like a scrappy upstart these days, and more like a seasoned vet in the social media game. That is perhaps why the site now feels it’s the right time to roll out its first advertising offering to businesses.

Lately, you may have noticed a trend developing amongst brands using social media as a component of their marketing, especially on Twitter. This particular platform lends itself well to breaking news, as many in the media believe it’s crucial to be the first to report important news. Reporters have found that the quickest way to get information to the public and beat their competitors to the punch is by composing a 140-character tweet. It’s an immediate way for them to say, “I was there first,” and it’s even accompanied by a time stamp to prove they were. In addition to being the first to break news, journalists have also found Twitter and other social media platforms are a great way to connect with their readers and start a dialogue with them, as the public increasingly wants to play a role and have a say in the news. As a result, Twitter and other networks host huge audiences, all discussing similar topics at the same time and hitting refresh to see the latest post about the subject.

Many have already recognized the great potential Facebook offers businesses. The social media giant allows both nationally recognized brands and small businesses the invaluable opportunity to reach their existing audience and widen that scope by connecting with potential clients. You and your advertisers are no doubt aware of Facebook’s business and advertising features, but if you haven’t already, it’s time to consider the power of Facebook promoted posts. These posts allow paying businesses with a Facebook page to promote a particular piece of content to not only their existing fans, but also to those fans’ Facebook friends. This allows businesses to grow their audience without breaking their budget.

We at AtF are always exploring the newest developments in social media and mobile technology to learn what’s on trend and what newspaper ad departments need to adopt into their strategies. Lately, you may have heard of a little mobile app called Vine. It’s kind of like the Instagram (the vintage-themed photo-sharing app) for videos. The Twitter-owned app allows users to create six-second videos that loop, offering an almost stop-motion animation effect. National brands have already started implementing Vine into their social media strategies to great avail, proving that this new app has carved its place in the marketing and advertising industry. 

Pinterest, like many social networks, experienced a viral-like reaction during its beginnings, but it remains a serious player in the social media universe. It offers a huge audience and plenty of opportunities for you and your advertisers to engage with customers.

With all the talk about Twitter, you may be surprised to find that many companies still vastly underuse the social media giant. This was the subject of Forbes contributor Brent Gleeson’s article, “10 Tips for Tactical Tweeting.” In it, Gleeson emphasizes the importance of technology as companies and brands try to improve their communication with their varied audiences.While there are countless tools aimed at streamlining Twitter, Gleeson wanted to remind people to focus on the basics. He offered tips on how to effectively and efficiently use Twitter to reach your audience; we’ve summarized a few of the main ones below.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Social media is playing a bigger role in advertising, marketing and commerce every day. It’s important for you to know the trends, which ones matter and how to incorporate them into your own strategies as well as your clients’ — retailers included. Online shopping is growing at a steady pace, providing shoppers with the convenience of buying without even leaving their homes, but also offering them information to prepare for in-store purchases. In fact, a Gartner survey found that 74 percent of shoppers use social networks to inform their purchase decisions, and as a result, more and more companies are incorporating things like user reviews and social network share buttons on their websites.

With all the change that has taken place in the past 10 and 20 years, we have become familiar with how media and advertising have changed forever, and what consumers and readers want and expect. However, one thing that actually has not changed is the trustworthiness of email marketing. Your weekly or monthly e-blast is still a viable part of your marketing campaign, however, one thing to keep in mind when designing your email marketing strategy is that the way people view their emails has changed. Yes, they still view them on computer screens, but more than ever, they read their emails from their mobile devices. With this in mind, we have a few tips for your email marketing design. 

Email is an integral part of our daily communication — especially for professionals — and it has been for quite some time now. In fact, many professionals have their work email sent straight to their phones, blurring the lines of standard in-office work hours. This constant flow of back-and-forth emails brings with it some interpersonal issues. Sometimes emails are written in the moment, without a second glance. This can lead to not only technical errors, but it can also cause the message to be received as rude, even if it’s unintentional. Therefore, just because email provides a way to instantaneously communicate with others to get the job done, that doesn’t mean they should be sent in haste. In fact, doing so could potentially burn some bridges with colleagues and potential clients! With the help of The Huffington Post’s Dana Sachs and her article, “9 Rules of Email Etiquette,” we have some basic rules to keep in mind when composing your next email.