As you might have heard already, later this month Warc is hosting a conference focusing exclusively on one of the fastest-growing, and most rapidly evolving, areas in the digital space. Social Media: Beyond the Hype, as its name suggests, will aim to offer delegates some clear guidance and data on the true effectiveness of social media marketing.

After last week's talk with Mat Morrison of Starcom Mediavest (you can see the video interview I shot with him in a separate blogpost), yesterday was the turn of another of the conference presenters: Eva Keogan, head of social media at LBi. As well as being a prolific blogger, Eva is a big advocate of Twitter; at the conference, she will be running a workshop on using the social network as a marketing tool. For brands, merely setting up a corporate Twitter account is no longer enough: these days, the site can be used for a broad range of activities, from answering customer feedback to buying ad space in the form of promoted Tweets. And this evolution was a theme Eva picked up on in our interview.

Eva Keogan on Twitter marketing (1:17)

To Eva, many brands are simply not adapting to the new reality of social media marketing. They have been slow to adapt to the new empowerment of the typical consumer, who has gone from "passive" to "active" in their dealings with brands. Naturally, this changes the way organisations interact with their public, who are now, as Eva puts it, "fully engaged individuals who can interact with companies in many ways".

And she also had some critical words for the way certain marketers have adapted to the changed media landscape. Similar to Mat Morrison, Eva has little time for the self-appointed social media "guru".

Eva Keogan on on social media hype (1:16)

As well as Eva and Mat, The Social Media: Beyond the Hype conference, which takes place in London on October 26th, will have speakers from 1000heads, Tweetminster and Ipsos ASI, while from the client side there will be presentations from Europcar, Philips and Virgin Atlantic. You can book your place on our conference page, browse the full agenda, or take a look at the brochure.