inapro.posthaven

One of the platform’s standout features is its competitor comparison tool. That is, it can track what your company’s performance looks like versus competitors on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and even the iPhone App Store, Android app store (Google Play) and Facebook’s App Center. “In some senses, Ohtootay is compete.com for social media and mobile apps,” Mark explains. “And we believe that angels, VCs and social media managers that are armed with this kind of data will be way more effective decision makers than their peers who only navel-gaze at their own data in isolation,” he says.

Last week I posted on why Google "Plus Ones" help links pop more in search results than Facebook likes. Here's some great tips straight from Google on how to makes the same Plus magic happen in your ads

Example

George creates a Google+ Page for his company, Happy Burgers. He also creates an AdWords campaign, some ads, and then a social extension by linking his Google+ Page to his campaign. When 32 people +1 one of his ads, Happy Burgers' page will receive 32 new +1's.  Alternatively, if George connects his AdWords campaign to his Google+ Page after it already had 32 +1's, all of his ads can now have these +1's as social annotations.

The tool aggregates photos that have been labeled with a specific hashtag and brings them to a company's campaign page. Instagrammers can then claim their photograph and collect prizes, coupons, and other incentives the company have put in place. This allows for easy company/consumer interaction and gives brands customer contact information.

adding the Google +1 button to a website offers much more benefit than adding a Facebook Like button to a website. And it's incredibly easy to do.

Like Facebook, Google knows that search is moving from keywords and links to providing answers for users to questions such as “Where should I eat?” and “Who can repair my car the best?” That’s why the company has been spending so much time and effort adding expert information from places like Wikipedia and from its own sources like Zagat. But that isn’t social data, and while there has been plenty of debate about the ultimate value of social recommendations, there’s no question that Facebook has a far better grasp of that than Google. And unless Facebook and Twitter choose to change their blockade of the search engine, it is likely to stay that way.

this info is from back in february, but there's no reason to think things have improved. I would say take comfort, but it's not very comforting.

Have you looked at the “virality rate” statistic in your page insights — the percentage of fans who reshare a page’s posts and wondered why the percentage looked so low?

Take heart: 61 percent of page have a virality rate of 2.5 percent or less, according to EdgeRank Checker.

The median rate came out to 1.9 percent.

So, does all the data show that Pinterest, that red-hot online pin board, is worth your time, energy, and effort? Can folks who don’t give a pin about about making their own panna cotta or holiday buntings still use Pinterest for their business?

Yes. And, most definitely, yes!

that's great, but..I am still waiting to hear a better breakdown of who's receiving all these referrals to verify the value for business outside the fashion, decor and similarly visual sectors. I saw an article on oreck's pinboards, and some appear to be attracting followers and some engagement.

but I am looking for a case study on a non-intuitive brand that is generating conversions from pinterest activity and showing superior ROI to other social activity. I'm no purist - conversion doesn't have to be pinterest-referred sales. rather, it could be something like driving to interact on FB (not just another Like) or sign up for coupons or news. 

big hat image:  Some rights reserved by Lon2000

Using Board Connect on LinkedIn allows you see past first connections on LinkedIn, check out a potential candidate’s knowledge and their connections. It streamlines the process. But, if all board members add their networks, this produces a richer set of potential candidates. And, remember,  you are not just adding a board member, you are also adding their network.

As part of the board connect program, nonprofits get free access to a Talent Finder account (valued at $1000/annually), an exclusive LinkedIn education webcast (with tools and tips to use the account), and membership to the Board Connect Group on LinkedIn.

the voting study showed that patterns of influence were much more likely to be demonstrated among close friends, suggesting that “strong ties” in cyberspace are more likely than “weak ties” to influence behavior. It also found an indirect impact from the messages: friends of friends were influenced as well.

It’s no secret that Facebook’s existing search engine is bad; that drum has been beaten to death. But you don’t have to wait for Facebook to make it better; there’s a pretty darn good Facebook search engine out there now.

It’s called Trove, and it’s officially launching on Tuesday. But you can connect your Facebook account and get started now; the site had a soft launch about two weeks ago. I’ve been testing it, and it’s easily the best Facebook search experience I’ve seen. There are a few missing features that I’ll mention below, but Trove’s potential is obvious.