Pinterest is a social media site that operates as an online pin board for organising and sharing image content. It is understandable that many will lift their eyes and groan about yet another social media network where companies should have a presence, after all social media is a time consuming task. However recent figures produced by Shareaholic suggest that Pinterest is rapidly growing as a means to effectively deliver website traffic.

In January, 3.6% of all referral traffic measured by Shareaholic came from Pinterest. This may seem  to be a fairly inconsequential amount, but in comparison to other better known social media networks it actually fares rather well.

Pinterest was only marginally behind Twitter (3.61%) and considerably ahead of YouTube, Google Plus, and LinkedIn for referral traffic generated. The significance of the figure is considerably enhanced when the number of active Pinterest users is taken into account; the site is dwarfed by those other networks in terms of size but has a comparable or better click through rate.

Pinterest is ideal for companies directly selling products to consumers. The company can ‘pin’ its products to boards to share with other users. It is also possible to create different boards to group similar types of products or to categorise boards by market; children, teens and so on.  It can also help a company’s search engine optimisation efforts by providing high quality links back to a website.

There are many social media options for companies to use for marketing and it is virtually impossible to maintain an effective presence over them all. However, Pinterest with its high referral rate may be worth taking a look at.

Last week Facebook, the giant of social media, announced an initial public offering  (IPO) in which the company hopes to raise a massive $5 billion.

It is not the first time a big social network has gone public; LinkedIn launched a share offering last May, but the $350 million that sale raised will look like pocket change compared to the cash that will pour into Facebook’s coffers.

This increase in Facebook’s financial resources is certain to underline the company’s dominance, not just as a social network for individuals, but also as a platform where businesses will have to be represented. This fact is underlined by the founder and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerburg who, in an open letter to accompany the IPO, wrote that the company was giving people the power to ‘transform many of our core institutions and industries’.

Company pages are already well established on Facebook but they are likely to increasingly become a necessity in the future, particularly for companies offering consumer goods and services.  In an increasingly social world, it will no longer be possible for companies who want to succeed to hide behind an anonymous contact form on a website.

The public are likely to progressively demand direct interaction that occurs in the public arena. For many companies this may be a frightening prospect, but for the ones that place an emphasis on quality and good service it provides an opportunity to shine.

The social future of business offers both risks and rewards. The first step is for companies that want to avoid the pitfalls and take advantage of the opportunities that social media can deliver is to have a true understanding of how social media works, a subject that is comprehensively covered in our workshops.

British Telecom (BT) has incorporated social media into its newest offering.

Its redesigned internet TV service, BT Vision, incorporates social media elements in order to offer a more personalised service.

The move comes as Netflix, the internet film and TV service, launched in the UK last week.

BT Vision will be introduced within the next few weeks and will offer users a large library of on-demand content. The pay-TV service includes sports and films along with other kinds of TV programmes.

Social networking is also expected to be a key element of BT Vision, perhaps in order to help it compete with Sky. Sky have recently launched a social networking feature in their TV packages that enables viewers to share what they are watching and chat about it with others in real time.

Ian Livingston, chief executive of BT, told the Financial Times recently: “BT is focused on bringing true interactivity to the TV set, which is the most-watched screen in the house.

“That means on-demand services; it means the availability of buying things as you watch it; to have personalised services; to know what your friends like and what they think of it. I think that will change viewing habits quite considerably. It won’t happen overnight but I think it’s the start of something quite big.”

Facebook has launched a new feature that combines social media with music.

Listen With Friends lets Facebook users listen along with any of their friends who are playing music.

Alexandre Roche, a product designer at Facebook, wrote a blog post about the feature last week in which he said: “ This feature lets you listen along with any of your friends who are currently listening to music. You can also listen together in a group while one of your friends plays DJ.

“You can listen to the same song, at the exact same time—so when your favourite vocal part comes in you can experience it together, just like when you’re jamming out at a performance or dance club.”

The feature works via the chat sidebar. When a Facebook user is listening to a song, a music note will appear next to their name. To join them in listening to the track, users can hover over their friend’s name and then click the “Listen With” button.

Users do need to share the same music service in order to use the feature, with Spotify and Rdio being the only two services that are currently used by Facebook. If a user attempts to listen to a song with an incompatible music player, they will be prompted to install the right one instead.

Listen With Friends is also part of Facebook chat, meaning that users can chat online about what they are listening to.

Facebook is encouraging researchers to report security bugs on its site by rewarding them with debit cards.

The card, a customised Visa debit card, works in the same way as a credit card. Facebook adds more money to each researcher’s account as they report more bugs.

Ryan McGeehgan, manager of Facebook’s security response team, said in a recent interview: “Researchers who find bugs and security improvements are rare, and we value them and have to find ways to reward them. Having this exclusive black card is another way to recognize them. They can show up at a conference and show this card and say ‘I did special work for Facebook’.”

The card might also give researchers other benefits, such as passes to get into Facebook parties.

The social media giant is also planning to tap further into researchers’ knowledge. For example, researchers may be brought into products as soon as they reach production stage in order to help Facebook catch any problems as early as possible.

Researchers who report security bugs that are eventually confirmed can make at least $500, but they have to follow Facebook’s Responsible Disclosure Policy and not go public with the vulnerability information until the problem has been fixed.

More businesses than ever are expected to engage with social media next year.

According to new research from the Royal Bank of Scotland Corporate & Institutional Banking, nearly nine out of ten businesses will invest more in social media during the coming 12 months.

In total, 87% of companies with a turnover of at least £25m said that they saw social media as a cost-effective communications tool. More than a third (38%) said that social media improved their commercial or reputational standing.

Senior executives who were questioned for the research also said that they were using tablets more than ever before. Nearly half of them (47%) said that they use tablets on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, 25% of organisations who had increased their social media spend in the last year said that it had resulted in a positive impact for their brand. Nearly 40% of organisations who are planning to increase their social media spend for next year say that they are doing so just to keep up with industry trends and competitor activity.

John Dixon, head of technology, media and telecoms from Royal Bank of Scotland CIB, said: “UK businesses clearly understand the importance of social media.

“It is an effective and cost-effective tool, and its increased popularity comes at a time of increased pressures on marketing. The challenge is for firms to maximise their investments beyond 2012.”

Well it’s Christmas Eve and we’ve come to the end of another Twelve Days of  Twitmas. It’s been amazing response all the way through to our Christmas Crescendo times two.

FINAL FRIDAY:

So we had an Amazing final day of Twitmas yesterday where we had not just one but two over night stays in two of Glasgow’s finest hotels to give away.

One of our featured hotels was ABode Hotel in the other The Grand Central Hotel. Both offered one lucky Twitmas winner the chance of a free double or twin room on a “Bed and Breakfast” basis for an agreed date in 2012.

So congrats go to @Daviegardner for picking up the over night stay in the Grand Hotel and to  @seasider007. We really hope you have a wonderful, memorable (for all the right reasons) time in two of Glasgow’s best hotels!

CHRISTMAS EVE FINALE

So here we are on Christmas Eve 2011, and we’re delighted to be giving away a two-night break on the island of Arran at the Douglas Hotel.

This is just an amazing prize, because not only is it two nights at the hotel, but they’ve kindly thrown in breakfast and some free Bubbly on arrival too!

So for lucky winner @AlexBoyd you can take your partner, a friend or a family member and enjoy this amazing break.

Congratulations Alex, you’re the last winner on Twitmas12 for 2011!

Once again we’d like to thank all the people who supplied us with festive goodies to give away over the past twelve days. We’d also like to thank all of you who tweeted and re-tweeted for the past two weeks.

Please follow @Alan_Tennant  the Regional Director of hotels.tv!

Plus our lovely hotels for the final giveaways @douglashotel @abodehotelsgrp @bairdstravel – thank you so very much!

So that’s a WRAP kids! Look out for #Twitmas12 in 2012!

Happy Holidays one and all from all of us at NSDesign!

We at NSDesign are so excited that we’re down to the final day(s) of our “Twelve Days of Twitmas” for another year.

Tuesday – “New Year – New You”

On Tuesday, we gave away two tickets at one of Scotland’s top personal development coaches – Jack Black. The 2 tickets were for his upcoming “The Best of MindStore” in Glasgow on 3rd March. It will no doubt be a life-changing experience to all who attend.

Then Garrett Ramsay (@garramsay) offered up a three-hour, business coaching session focusing on sales. No matter what business we’re in, we can all improve our ability in sales, no doubt…

At the end of the day @HarperMacleod, took away the MindStore prize and @LomondBeauty gets the three hours with sales genius Garrett.

We would like thank Garrett and Jack for the Twitmas giveaways and congratulate the winners. Let us know how it goes you two!

Wednesday – Was all about the body

Body Butter that is, courtesy of the lovely Miss Polly. I had been admiring her work at a recent craft fair, and so when we were arranging Twitmas prizes, I immediately thought of these darling tins of Body Butter.

Given the sore feet I’ve been having lately – I’d been wishing I could win the Peppermint Tootsie Treatment. Sadly I couldn’t win but the people who do win these little pamper pots were – @anniegburns, @flofoxes and @BruceDevlin. Congrats to all three of you. I sure hope that you or your special someone enjoy these silky-smooth body butter treatments.

Thursday – Our penultimate prize

For this year’s penultimate Twitmas giveaway there was not just one but two bottles of wine – red and white courtesy of wine guru @pieterrosenthal from  corkandbottle.co.uk and www.lovethatwine.co.uk. Pieter was kind enough to hand pick a bottle of Lomond Sauvignon Blanc and a red Gran Sasso, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo too.

Congrats go to the winner of the Gran Sasso @Thomassimpkins and @Mickles20. Please check out his new video How to Decant Your Christmas Port.

Two-Day Finale

So here we are on the final days of Twitmas and to give more of you an opportunity to win, we have several fabulous prizes to give away. We are just so excited about it as Gary explained in his last blog and so grateful, and I’d like to reiterate the special thanks to Alan Tennant – Regional Director of Hotels.TV Glasgow.

Good luck today to all who follow @nsdesign – and thank for your participation!

Happy Twitmas one and all!

Businesses in the UK are falling behind their international counterparts when it comes to making use of social media.

According to a new research report from KMPG, the global professional services firm, organisations in China, India and Brazil are 20 to 30% more likely to use social media than those in Europe and the other main developed countries.

The statistics are similarly different in terms of managers’ use of social media sites.

In the UK, a total of 80% of managers use social media sites such as LinkedIn several times a week. The countries generally acknowledged as emerging markets – China and Brazil – beat this figure hands down.  In China, a massive 98% of managers use social media sites, compared with a similar figure of 95% in Brazil.

Tudor Aw, KPMG’s head of technology for Europe, said: “The emerging markets seem to be quickly finding that social networks offer a relatively low cost opportunity to leapfrog the competition in developed markets.”

However, the survey did find that 70% of companies across the world see social media as a viable and effective mechanism for business.

The report also found that organisations that attempt to block their employees’ access to social networking sites will ultimately lose the fight.

Around a third of employees in companies with blocked access admitted to using social media sites at the office, sometimes tampering with their work devices in order to do so.

Although law firms are starting to use social media, many of them are reticent to engage further with it.

According to a new report from LexisNexis entitled Global Social Media Check-up: A Global Audit of Law Firm Engagement in Social Media Methods, many firms are signed up to sites like LinkedIn but do not engage further with them after setting up a page.

In total, 85 of the 110 global law firms surveyed by LexisNexis said that they favoured LinkedIn over any other social media site.

However, many of those firms have just registered a page for their company, rather than actively engaging with other users. The report says that this is a missed opportunity, as law firms could be using LinkedIn to connect with clients, recruit for staff and manage their reputation online.

The highest number of law firms using social media are in North America, whilst many law firms in Western Europe are also getting on board with it. However, there is a greater level of engagement in the UK and Holland than in Switzerland, France and Russia.

One of the report’s authors stated: “Social networking was once thought to be just for socialising – for sharing your social life with your friends and for making new ones — but it has gone far beyond that.

“With some notable exceptions, now is the time for law firms to adapt their business models and experiment with social media as part of their client acquisition and retention programmes, or risk being left behind.”