Pinterest Releases New Business Tools, Gets Analytics from HelloInsights

Pinterest has announced that they are improving what the site offers its business users. The content sharing website has released new business centered guides and tools to help these companies promote their brand across the social platform.

Pinterest has been steadily improving their system since moving into the public sphere from an invitation only policy last year. Recently security updates to the system include a  website verification feature and user blocking.

Appealing to the Business Side of Social Media

By adapting a new set of tools Pinterest aims to make the website more appealing to businesses. According to a blog post from Cat Lee, Pinterest’s product manager, the company has instituted some new polices and tools that are geared towards improving their services.

Businesses who wish to use Pinterest merely have to sign up for a business account or convert their current account into a business one. By having a business account, Lee says that content on the website will be optimized to help improve the business customer experience, such as being able to verify their official website and adding key buttons and widgets to an account to improve customer traffic, such has the Pin It Button and the Board Widget.

As way to separate how the site works for the individual persons and businesses, Pinterest has also split their terms of service into one policy for the everyday user and one policy for businesses. Also, as way to ensure that businesses can use Pinterest successfully, the website offers a variety of help guides, which include:

• Case Studies: Users such as AllRecipes and Etsy have provided information, tips and metrics, so that others businesses can learn from their success.
• Best Practices: These guides show users how to properly navigate and engage customers through Pinterest.
• How-to Guides: These guides include the basics of Pinterest, such as a how to use Pin It, to more in depth reports, such as how to properly use Pinterest as a marketing tool.

It’s All About Analytics

The introduction of a more business friendly Pinterest isn't the only business centred news for the content sharing website. Science today has launched HelloInsights, a Pinterest analytics platform that helps users track their company's growth and interactions with customers. This tool joins other Pinterest-centered analytics tools, such as Pinfluencer and Curalate.

A free, leader board based platform, HelloInsights can either be used from Pinterest or the HelloInsights website. Some of the key factors that it tracks for businesses include:

• Tracking the must influential pinners and ranking pinners based on their overall influence on others.
• Moderating pin virality.
• Companies can see their real-time presence through a “Live Pin Stream.”
• Companies can schedule automatized pins.
• Companies can create custom charts to see how their company compares to its competitors.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Facebook App of the Week: The Static HTML iFrame Facebook Tab

It’s time for the Facebook App of the Week. This week we're discussing the Static HTML iFrame Facebook Tab app which enables users to create custom tabs for their Facebook fan pages.

The app, which is designed by Woobox gives users the ability to customize a Facebook tab with either an image, static html code or with Static Markup Language (SML). In doing this, users are able improve their social interactions with their community and broaden their Facebook presence.

How Does Static HTML iFrame Work?

By either clicking through the app page on Facebook or through the Woobox website, users can install the tool. From there, they choose which of their pages they’d like to add a tab to and customize the settings for that tab.

From the settings page they can change the URL, page source, non-fan page source, tab icon and tab name. By using this app, users have access to a variety of other features. These include:

• Fan-Gating: Users can choose what content is available to those who have liked their page and those who haven’t.
• Custom Tab Icons: Users can change the icon on the tab so it’s better suited to the tab’s content.
• HTML/JavaScript/ CSS Support: There aren't any restrictions on what type of code is used, any of the three mentioned are accepted.
• Tracking Visits: Users can use Google Analytics to track who visits their individual tabs.
• External URLs: If users want to make a externally hosted page show up in a tab, they merely have to put the URL into the settings and select its height.

The Cost of Static iFrame HTML

Users who install this app are automatically given a free account with Woolbox. There are also four paid, non-long term commitment options. Users can change or cancel their plan at any time.

• Free: By keeping their free account, users have an unlimited fan per page limit, unlimited promotions tab, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram page tab options, limited fan-gating options and limited coupons.
• Plus: For US$ 10 per month, users have all the features in a free account, but also gain unlimited access to the fan-gating functionality.
• Pro: At US$ 29 a month users can have 20,000 fans per page. Additional features for the pro option include full access to coupons, as well as photo contests, instant wins, polls, group deals and rewards.
• Pro100: For US$ 99, users have all of the previously mentioned features, but the fan limit per page is 100,000.
• Pro250: At US$ 249, those who choose this options have all of the possible features, as well as an unlimited amount of fans per page.

Final Thoughts

This is a simple, yet useful app for those who aren't technically savvy or have a limited marketing budget, but still want to their page tabs to have a professional look.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Facebook App of the Week: Designing a Professional Fan Page with Pagemodo

This week our Facebook App of the Week is Pagemodo, an app designed to give Facebook fan pages and tabs a more professional look.

Pagemodo gives users the ability to professionally customize fan pages without having to know HTML or any specific graphic design skills. With this app, Pagemodo aims to improve the customer experience by giving businesses one of the first things needed to properly engage with consumers on social networks — a professional looking Facebook fan page. 

How Does Pagemodo Work?

Once a user clicks on the app, they’re directed to an account on the Pagemodo website. There they are asked if they want to create a timeline photo for their fan page or a custom Facebook tab. 

• If a user chooses the tab option they are redirected to the dashboard where they click Create New Tab. After a choosing a theme for the tab, they can modify its layout, background image and content. After customizing the tab, users (if they have a Agency account) can then choose to include a ‘like button. Once the page is finished users click publish and it should appear, after a few moments the Facebook page.

• The cover photo option is relatively new, as it goes a long with the Facebook timeline update. In order to customize a cover photo users, when at their dashboard, first have to choose which page this photo is for and then choose a theme. Themes range from a single image, to four squares, to a bubble. In the Edit Background Image page, users can then choose which photo or photos they want to include as well as the colors. They can choose their own images or pre-loaded backgrounds from Pagemodo. Once this step is finished users will be able to edit the content and change how the photo or photo looks in their cover photo.

The Cost of Pagemodo

Once users give the app access to their Facebook account they're automatically signed up for a free Pagemodo account, but there are also three paid options.

• Free: With this option, users are allowed to make one tab and one fanpage, as well as cover photos and have access to the builder, hosting features and a support forum.
• Basic: The basic option is available for US$ 6.25 a month. With this option, users have all of the basic options, as well as the option to create three tabs. They also won't have a 'created with Pagemodo' footer at the bottom of the fanpage and can talk about issues with the app through the support forum and through email support. 
• Pro: This option is available for US$ 13.25 a month. In addition to all of the other features from the previous versions, users can create unlimited tabs and three fan pages. They have access to more professionally designed page templates, can add like buttons to their pages, use Google analytics and have the 'powered by Pagemodo' statement removed from tabs. Pro Users also have access to the support forum and premium email support.
• Agency: For US$ 33.25 a month users have access to all of the previously mentioned features. They also have unlimited tabs, an unbranded feature, which allows clients to update pages and contact forms that don’t have the Pagemodo brand on them. Users who choose this option also have access to Agency Support.

Final Thoughts

Pagemodo is a useful app for those who want to create a professional looking fan page, but don’t have the time to design it themselves. The free and basic options would only be useful to those who own very small businesses, larger companies or those who need to promote a lot of products should consider the Pro or Agency options.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Google Chrome Update Boosts User Privacy with Do Not Track Feature

Users of the Google Chrome browser now have more privacy options available to them. Access to permissions settings has been eased and Chrome now offers a “do not track” feature.

Permission Denied

In an official blog posting, Google said changes to how users set permissions for web pages will make it “much easier to view and control any website’s permissions for capabilities such as geolocation, pop-ups, and camera/microphone access.”

The new permissions procedure enables Chrome users to click on a “page/lock” icon next to a site’s URL in the browser and then select from a list of settings. Different sites can be given different settings and users no longer have to go to settings pages to customize permissions. 

Follow Me Not

Google Chrome also now offers users the option of sending a “do not track” request to any site or online service to try to stop following and monitoring of user behavior after leaving the site. Google warns “effectiveness of such requests is dependent on how websites and services respond” and says it is working with “others” to create common “do not track” procedure.

Joining the Crowd - Is It Enough?

Chrome was the last major browser not to offer its own proprietary “do not track” feature and users previously had to rely on third-party extensions to maintain privacy settings. As reported by Daily Online Examiner, although users will automatically receive access to the feature, they must still manually turn it on in the advanced settings page.

The article also questions the effectiveness of “do not track” as currently offered by Google Chorme and other major browsers. “The do-not-track request doesn't prevent ad networks from collecting data about Web users or sending them ads,” states the Daily Online Examiner. “Instead, it only signals that users don't want to be ‘tracked’ — a concept that means different things to privacy advocates and ad networks.”

The article concludes by saying the FTC may support legislation to formalize “do not track” rules for online advertisers – perhaps the FTC is one of the unidentified “others” Google says it is working with (see more on Google’s interesting history with the FTC on this topic below).

Google Follows Through

Google is following through on a promise it made earlier this year to include “do not track” functionality in Chrome. What Google’s blog posting on the subject left out is that the promise came in the wake of a US$ 22.5 million settlement with the FTC for mishandling privacy settings in Apple’s Safari browser.

Whatever prompted Google’s move, it brings Chrome in line with its competitors in terms of user privacy, though until “do not track” has more teeth it may not serve as a real deterrent to advertisers surreptitiously monitoring the online activities of private individuals.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

NetShelter Introduces Earned Advertising Platform, Re-brands

InPowered, a service that helps brands with digital marketing, has launched its Earned Advertising Platform, a platform which allows users to create ad campaigns by themselves without having to work with InPowered professionals.

Inpowered was introduced last December as part of NetShelter, an advertising network. At that time, the cloud based InPowered platform was designed to make advertising easier for companies by curating and promoting favorable content from websites and blogs. It collected this information for the company and showed them how well their product and how well their competitors products were being received. In turn, marketers could use this information to tailor their ads appropriately to help influence consumer response.

What is Earned Advertising?

In a video promoting the product, President and Founder Pirouz Nilforoush said the company’s goal is to: help marketers leverage the trust of earned media in order to influence a broader sense of consumers.”

In using InPowered, companies will have be able to promote the positive aspects and most favorable reviews of their products. Companies will be able to create ads that don’t look like ads, but rather links to articles. They can then pick out what stories they think are the most favorable for a particular product and promote it over a social medium, such as Twitter or Facebook or through the NetShelter network.

This "earned advertising" allows businesses to positively promote their products and allows consumers to see what experts and industry professionals are saying about it — instead of merely relying on what the company’s marketing department is telling them. With the Inpowered system, users are then able to see charts and statistics on how this ‘earned advertising’ has influenced consumers.

Earned media is really a unique beast; it’s really the holy grail of marketing said Jeremiah Owyang, Partner and Industry Strategist for Altimeter Group “because earned media is the most trusted source of information people have between each other and therefore it resonates the most.”

inPowered Video from erica forte on Vimeo.

What’s in a Name?

Along with the launch of the Earned Advertising platform, it’s been also announced that NetShelter will re-brand themselves with a focus on Inpowered and what it offers users. They will now be called Inpowered Inc., but NetShelter isn't disappearing. It's being incorporated into the Inpowered Inc. parent company to be used along side the Inpowered platform.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Bing Ads Report Updates Ease Online Advertising Processes

Bing has updated the reporting capabilities for Bing Ads hoping to make both the reporting tool and the overall Bing Ads system easier to use and therefore, make users more productive.

Bing Ads, which was originally called Microsoft's adCentre, is a system within the Yahoo! Bing network that helps advertisers and marketers with their digital marketing campaigns. During the name change improvements to the system included a new web interface and improved ad rotation controls.  

Better Ad Reports

The updated Bing Ads reporting feature was initially launched in late October as a test. It allowed users to choose whether or not they wanted to test the new version. At that time, Bing said they wanted to not only get feedback on the new product, but increase how quickly users could move from one campaign to another.  

Now that the feature is a permanent part of the Bing Ads, some of the updates include:

• Reports are organized through a streamline navigation, which enables users to work on and run multiple reports at one time.
• Users can not only search for reports from a few days or a week ago, but also for reports that are up to 366 days old.
• Bing has updated how the date range works, so when a user switches from one project to another the date range will appear the same from the first report to the second.
• With the Reports View tool, certain reporting reporting features such as the time and date perimeters don’t have to be manually set, as they will automatically be included in a campaign project.

A Year of Bing Updates

As was mentioned, earlier this year Microsoft changed the name of Microsoft's adCenter to Bing Ads, but that's not the only update to the Bing system.

A few months ago, Bing announced that they’d be improving their search engine by adding paid search ads, which are similar to the ads that Google runs on its search results pages. Around this time, Bing also become more connected to social media platforms by adding a sidebar. The sidebar allows users to connect other accounts, such as Facebook and Windows Live to Bing.

In August, Bing updated their Maps tool and added Quora to their search engine. By updating their Spa Spatial Data Services (SDS) in Bing Maps, Bing removed features that were slowing the system down, such as the legacy tools. In integrating Quora, a question and answer forum, with the Bing search engine the company made sure that search results are more relevant to what a user initially searched.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

KiteDesk Creates Integrated 'Streams' of Your Cloud Services, Including FullContact

So many clouds, so little time. A new, free personal cloud application from Kitedesk is hoping to help users integrate what it calls “cloud-flipping” between various repositories of online information.

The application, also called KiteDesk and released in public beta by a company of the same name, allows users to view messages, contacts, calendar events and documents from social media services such as Facebook and Twitter — as well as from cloud services Google Apps and Dropbox — as customized news feeds.

Integrating All Your Data Feeds

KiteDeskers can also drill down to events or other details, such as Facebook posts from a specific client, and then create new, customized streams for that particular thread of information. The beta is intended for viewing on laptops and desktops, and a mobile device-optimized version is expected to be released soon.

The app helps deal with what KiteDesk describes as a lack of integration between data feeds, disconnected user experiences and frequent context switches.

Jack Kennedy, founder and CEO of Kitedesk, said in statement that cloud-based services and public APIs are a “huge opportunity” to provide personalized access to cloud-centered information. “When I look at my calendar, I want to see more than my next event,” he said. Kennedy also wants to see emails that were sent to and from event attendees, shared files connected to the event, and more — without having to open different apps and conduct a variety of searches.

Filtered Streams Keep Information Organized

The Tampa, Florida-based company gives the use case of a freelance writer who might have both personal and a business email accounts at Gmail, uses Google Drive for submitting expense reports and has Dropbox for transferring story photos. Additionally, the writer maintains Facebook and Twitter accounts to promote her writing practice, as well as personal accounts at each of those social networking sites. KiteDesk enables the writer to extract the information from each account into project-, person- or time-related streams.

In order to facilitate person-related information, KiteDesk has integrated with FullContact, a provider of contact consolidation and management APIs. Because KiteDesk automatically links contacts’ email addresses with their social profiles, a user can click the “from” link in an email and see a stream of messages, social media postings, files and other documents or communications from that individual. Custom streams can also be created through rules and tags that filter content according to a given project or other condition.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Mozilla Firefox Aurora Marketplace Opens For Android Users, Time to Get Testing

As apps become a commonplace with both an increased interest in web apps and smartphone usage, there are more and more options for where users can get them. Mozilla Firefox has joined other companies, like Google, and developed its own web and mobile app marketplace.

Mozilla Lab’s Engineer Manager, Bill Walker, made the announcement in a blog post yesterday. In his statement, Walker said that this pre-beta version of Mozilla's Aurora Marketplace was released as a way for the company to get proper feedback from users before releasing the beta and full versions.

Our goal is to collect as much real-life feedback as possible about the Marketplace’s design, usability, performance, reliability, and content,” he says. “Feedback from early adopters helps us enhance the quality of the Marketplace before it is released to larger audiences.”

With their marketplace, Mozilla aims to bring together not only those who use apps for business and recreational purposes, but aims to give users the opportunity to be a bigger part of the Marketplace and Mozilla community. In his post, Walker mentions that Mozilla is always looking for ways to engage with their users, as they can both browse current apps and submit and develop their own ideas for apps.

Firefox Marketplace also offers APIs for app submission, payments, and app discovery,” he says. “Like everything Mozilla does, this ecosystem is always open — users have choices and developers have control over their content, functionality and distribution.

The site also offers potential developers tutorials, FAQ’s and other material to help with the creation and development processes

What’s Available?

As the marketplace is in development, there are a limited amount of apps available. Even though the choice is limited, all of the apps on the site are available for free. Users can either search an app, or browse categories that range from Games and Lifestyle to Education and Business and News. Some of the current Apps include, The Boston Globe, Twitter, MixCloud and WordWars.

Where to Get it

If this marketplace venture proves to be successful, once it’s finishing beta testing it will become part of the Firefox OS that Mozilla has set up for mobile users.

Mozilla Firefox Aurora is available for download through Mozilla’s website to mobile users who have Android phones (version 2.2 and higher). Users can also choose to scan the QR code on the download page instead of downloading the program. In order to use the apps, users must configure their mobile device to accept non-market apps.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

LinkedIn Updates Tools for Homepage, Profile Editing

LinkedIn use is exploding, and all those millions of new users added over the last two years have some updated features to play with.

LinkedIn has updated the homepage by adding a larger profile image and redesigning the whole feel of its pages with a more refined look. The power to find new contacts and network effectively is still there — it's just under a less utilitarian design.

Status: Updated

Starting today, LinkedIn members can update their profile via an opt-in sample/invitation. Everyone else will see the updates roll out to their profiles over the next few months, the company said in blog post. Larger profile images, new inline editing and richer insights into people's networks are all part of the update. 

Larger images show off a profile's highlights right at the top of the page.

Additionally, the Activity Stream, People You May Know and Background sections all have a new look, with the people section having the most dramatic change. There's a new graphic stats display for network suggestions that adds some color and useful information on those you may want to connect with. 

For updating background information on your profile, there is a new menu of options that pops up on the right-hand side. 

Suggestions are still made about what updates to make, but now they are a bit more polished.

Simpler Editing

Once updates are made to the background section, each portion gets a new little icon instead of a solid horizontal line to separate them. For example, there's a little hand next to the Volunteer and Causes section, and a little compass above the Skills and Expertise section.

This is also where the inline editing feature comes in. Now, instead of changing those skills using a new edit page, the changes can be made right from the profile — no need to click over to the Edit Profile page. 

Simpler editing makes an already popular activity even easier.

Linkedin CEO Jeff Weiner gave a brief presentation on the updates, and said the company now has over 175 million users, with 50 million of those added in just the last two years. He also pointed out how popular the recent Company Pages release has been and how millions of people are updating their profiles even though they aren't necessarily looking for jobs. 

Tell us in the comments if you are a LinkedIn Pro user or if you are cross-posting things to LinkedIn and Facebook — and how you decide what goes where.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Google Extends Search To Add Google Drive, Calendar, To Gmail Search

In August we reported that Google had extended its search capabilities to include Gmail. It started testing the new functionality then. This week, after feedback from Google users about the new feature, Google has now decided to extend the search capability to Google Drive and Google Calendar.

At face value it probably doesn’t look like much. But keeping in mind the fact that information is only good to a user (or enterprise) if it can be found, this should be popular with everyone who uses anything at all by Google, including Drive, Google Calendar, Google on iPad/iPhone and Gmail.

Google Content

In terms of everyday working tools this is a pretty impressive list. Bram Moolenaar, a software engineer with Google Search promises in a post on the Inside Search Google blog that users will be able to find what they want without having to know where exactly it is stored.

Needless to say, in the blog post we are subjected to a lot of Google positive affirmation blah about this trial. But all PR guff aside, it really does look like this will be something very useful for private and business users.

Google: Drive, Calendar Search

One comment that Moonelar reproduced was from a participant in the August trial "wowing" the fact that all the search results appear on the same screen. If all the search results from Google Drive and Calendar also appear on the same screen, then that will be really something — a kind of instant guide to all your Google information on a single screen.

The result is this new expanded field trial that will instantly enable users to search across all their Google apps from Gmail.

Gmail, Google Apps Search

Similarly, users will also be able to search from Google.com with the results displaying relevant entries from Gmail as well as file documents, spreadsheets and all other kinds of data from Google Drive.

The current trial is only accessible in English and limited to @gmail.com addresses. It is not available from Google Apps accounts and can only be subscribed to from the field trial page.

Like the original trial in August, there are potential privacy issues, particularly for those in companies, for example, that are working off common computers. This is not the place to talk through that one, but in pure functionality terms alone this is at least worth a trial. If you want to find our more about the extended Google Search, check it the video. 

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Office 2013 Goes Gold, Prepare for Microsoft Upgrade Frenzy

 Microsoft announced that Office 2013  has hit the Release to Manufacturing milestone, which sets the company up for an upgrade smorgasbord. Will users look to upgrade their whole PC, their OS, or their Office applications in the coming months, or all three? 

To The Stores…

From 26 October into November and beyond, the tech world is set for something of a buying spree of Windows 8 PCs, OS upgrades and, now, Office upgrades, as those in the Microsoft way can happily spend a fortune on new hardware and software.

For the first time in the company's history, Microsoft (and many, many partners)  are launching PCs, tablets, smartphones, along with huge amounts of new software via the Windows Store and other portals. The alignment of new OS, Office suite and hardware across so many areas has never been seen before. 

While Microsoft fans may lack the zealot-nature of their Apple equivalents, there are hundreds millions more of them and this chance to join in the upgrade festival may suck millions more in, with Windows business tablets a major part of the thrust. 

With Office reaching RTM it will be available for the general user early in 2013, but enterprise and Volume Licensing users can start deploying it in November, those buying the old 2010 version will get a free voucher to upgrade to 2013. 

Expect the usual slow take-up from enterprises, who will take their own sweet time over matters, to ensure code, feature and document compatibility. But with the likelihood of users choosing to upgrade to the whole Windows 8 touch experience, expect plenty of whole-system upgrading going on, as everyone wants to get the most from the new features in Windows 8 and Office 2013. 

Still Relevant?

There will be those still asking if all these upgrades are necessary or welcome, and if Microsoft is still the force it used to be? We'll see as the financial reports and sales figures come in, but this is pretty much Microsoft's biggest and last shot at creating the excitement we saw with Windows 95 and Windows XP. Will there be much take up of the whole Windows phone/tablet/PC ecosystem, even with the enhanced security?

The PC market has long been in need of a hardware boost, with sales slipping in the recent market reports and Lenovo overtaking HP as the No. 1. All the major players have stacks of new tablets, Ultrabooks, notebooks and combo devices along with desktop all-in-ones to sell, and will welcome a huge rush to upgrade for Windows 8. 

That all depends on just how much of the business/SMB and end-user base is happy running their tasks via cloud apps, and feel no need to upgrade the OS, and those who are happy with Windows 7 or earlier. Sure, Microsoft has got the cloud user covered with Office on Demand, but with so many options out there, the company can't guarantee user loyalty. 

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Dropbox Improves Mobile Photo Viewing Experience

Document sharing service Dropbox is improving the photo viewing experience for mobile phone browsers.

Dropbox says users can now view photos via mobile phone “as easily and vividly as you would from your computer.” By visiting the Dropbox site from their mobile phone, users can then select the Dropbox icon, click the “Photos” button and see the photos in their “Camera Uploads” folder in what Dropbox is promoting as a “big, shiny gallery format.” Dropbox photos can also be viewed at full size on a mobile phone and mobile users can flip through photos one at a time.

Enhancing Photos for All Mobile Users

One of the most significant aspects of this move by Dropbox is that the mobile site itself has been enhanced. Thus users of mobile platforms that Dropbox has not yet developed an app for (such as Windows) can now get the same enhanced photo-enhanced experience as users of Dropbbox’s iOS and Android apps.

A new article in TweakTown comments on the importance of the latest upgrade to the Dropbox mobile experience. “Dropbox have moved toward a gallery-style image viewer, which is available to anyone with a mobile device,” states the article. “Windows Phone is included, which is great news as there's no official Dropbox application on Microsoft's mobile OS.”

Dropbox Aims at Photos 

Most people with a digital camera or mobile device with a camera installed quickly accumulate a giant collection of digital photos. And photos are also becoming an increasingly important form of corporate content. Recognizing the value of this trove of visual data, Dropbox has been focusing on providing the best photo experience possible as a way to differentiate itself in the document sharing/storage market.

As reported by CMSWire, in April 2012, Dropbox added a new Photos page and the ability to upload those photos from just about any device as part of its Dropbox 1.4 release. The minimalistic layout organizes the photos in a very Flickr-esque way. When new photos are uploaded to Dropbox with Camera Upload, photos are grouped by month, and hovering over them will show the date. Users can see full size versions and share/download them by clicking. As an added bonus, Dropbox is throwing in 500 megabytes of free storage when you upload your first image with the new version.

Additionally, Dropbox will add another 500 megabytes of free storage for every 500 megabytes users upload with Camera Upload (up to three gigabytes extra). Camera Upload will prompt you when a device is plugged in to the computer or if using the newest version of the Android app.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

My Other DAM is a Self-Service Intranet Portal

Running a digital asset management system without a self-service DAM intranet portal is like buying gas in Oregon — the “drivers” (end users) must rely on an “attendant” (a person in charge of managing digital assets) just to get to work.

It’s illegal to pump your own gas in the US State of Oregon. Anytime you take a pit stop in southern Core Cascadia you must wait for an attendant to come over, grab your cash or plastic, and start pumping. You then wait again for the attendant to come back over, remove the nozzle, and hand you a receipt. God forbid the tank unexpectedly stops pumping mid-refuel. It’s a nice regional perk on a cold and wet Portland day but infuriating when you’re in a hurry.   

Why don’t they just let everyone pump their own gas like the other 48 sane states? (New Jersey has similar laws.) A big reason is security. Back when this legislation passed, there were concerns about equipment safety and so it was decreed that only ordained gas dispensing professionals would be allowed to operate the pumps.

Controlling the Flow

The same concern is also true for the security of your DAM. You don’t want anyone helping themselves to whatever images and videos they find and then blowing themselves or the company up. Someone might pump a high-res TIFF file into their screen-res PowerPoint presentation, similar to putting gasoline into a diesel engine — the thing just isn’t going to run right. Another security concern is someone using something they shouldn’t, perhaps something not properly licensed or released or just plain embarrassing (like putting curb feelers on an Audi R8).

While permissions in DAM provide some security, what works best is an interface designed specifically for the common DAM motorist. Something that is easy to use, provides relevant search options, and connects the end-user and the DAM collection. Most importantly, it should allow users to find what they need on their own without relying on someone else.

Getting Around the Gatekeepers

Let’s take a look at the other role in this analogy: the gas station attendant. They’re pretty busy with other customers, and would rather be doing other things like being inside their warm booth or smoking cigarettes (30 feet away of course).

People in charge of managing digital asset management collections feel the same way. The DAM manager would rather be working on something besides being an asset concierge. Instead, as a gatekeeper they become a bottleneck and are frequently interrupted with requests for assets. As one DAM attendant recently bemoaned, “They need my brain to find anything!”

So what does this DAM intranet thing do? It helps the motorists get to work and helps the attendants work more efficiently while maintaining their sanity (or what’s left of it). A self-service DAM intranet portal usually offers one or more of the following functions:

• A simple user interface, compared to the expert interface of the main DAM application 
• Easily customizable search interfaces that display relevant options, as opposed to all search options
• The ability to pre-filter search results based on metadata rules. For example, only publish assets tagged with the keyword “approved”
• Options for downloading assets in alternative formats. For example, links for downloading JPEGs for PowerPoint and TIFFs for print
• Digital rights management and watermarking capabilities.

As a native Oregonian, it was easy for me to figure out how to pump my own gas when I first traveled out of state. The pump interface was easy enough, I didn’t spill any gas and I didn’t blow myself up. If you’re currently exploring or using DAM, I encourage you to travel outside your state and consider where a self-service DAM intranet can take you.

Title image courtesy of RetroClipArt (Shutterstock)

Editor's Note: Ed knows his DAM. Want to read more?

— Digital Asset Management Trends

About the Author

In his current position at Extensis, Edward Smith is the in-house expert for all things digital asset management related and contributor to the DAM Learning Center.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Facebook Passes the Billion User Mark, But Where Will Revenue Growth Come From?

 User growth will come from new territories as the social media giant continues to eat up users' time and Likes, with almost half of all North Americans using the Facebook service to keep in touch online. But where will it see new revenue growth?

All Around the World

While the stock price might be on the way down, the user numbers are going up and up for Facebook. With almost 45% of North Americans and Australasians now on board, a third of South America, nearly as many in Europe with only Africa and Asia lagging behind in single figures. That led the company over the 1 billion mark, which he discussed in an interview on NBC. 

They are the key growth markets for the company, and it will be aiming aggressively at signing them up. Of the existing users, over 600 million now use Facebook on a smartphone or other mobile device, up from 552 million users measured in June this year.

Mobile will be key in emerging markets where they are more common than computers. Facebook is trying to adapt the service to the feature phones prevalent in Africa but will need to use marketing muscle in China and Russia where local services dominate. 

On the Face Of It

Facebook recently broke into the physical gifts market in an attempt to move on from the virtual gifts that helped boost its early growth. With long-time revenue partner Zynga also suffering, it will also be looking for the next big thing in revenue generation, with better targeted advertising already on the radar.

Gambling could  become one natural focus, with real money gambling having started in the United Kingdom via a Bingo game, and virtual sports betting being trialled in America. These and other initiatives should see revenue rising to keep the stock holders happy.

However, it may face more defections from users over the latest claim on weak privacy with private messages claimed to be publicly visible. Similarly, further attempts to monetize the service's vast user database could lead to collisions with irate users suffering growing "intrusion" into their News Feeds. 

While still in a very strong position, and dominating the social media scene, Facebook still has plenty of time to find its feet as a traded company, but every move and misstep will come under increasing focus and scrutiny. 

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

HootSuite Integrates with Webtrends Analytics, Seeks Social Media ROI

HootSuite is launching an integration with Webtrends Analytics, a move the company says will increase the range of measurement tools available to HootSuite Enterprise users.

As a result of the integration, HootSuite enterprise users can now create custom, automatically generated reports that show the impact of social media messaging on customer conversion. In addition, users can compare the effect of social media messaging across different channels to determine where engagement is highest.

HootSuite says the integrated Webtrends Analytics capabilities also allow users to evaluate metrics such as which specific social media account or page provides the most valuable traffic, which time of day produces the highest volumes of traffic and engagement, and which specific types of messages and words drive the highest conversion rates.

HootSuite Pursues Integrations

Hootsuite has been aggressively pursuing integrations with a variety of social media networks and service providers to expand the functionality of its enterprise social media management platform. HootSuite is designed to allow users to collaboratively execute campaigns across multiple networks from a single Web dashboard. Integrations and plug-ins make campaign measurement — and management — more robust and easier to perform.

In August, HootSuite refreshed its GetSatisfaction app to include integrations with Facebook and Twitter. Users of GetSatisfaction, which was designed to ease the building of online social communities by transforming social media interactions into conversations between companies and customers, now have the ability to push and pull content across both platforms from one dashboard.  

In July, HootSuite started offering all users full access to Google+ Pages. As a result of this expanded integration, all HootSuite users (both paid and free) can manage Google+ Pages alongside other social channels, and have access to Google+ Pages functionality in the HootSuite dashboard. In August, HootSuite collaborated with Yammer, allowing all Yammer users to monitor and reply to Yammer conversations within HootSuite.

Other recent notable HootSuite integrations include a partnership with HubSpot for social lead generation and integrations with Instagram and Slideshare, all occurring in June.

In Pursuit of the Holy Grail

According to the Vancouver Sun's "Digital Life" blog, the integration of Webtrends Analytics signals that HootSuite is chasing the “Holy Grail” of corporate social media: ROI. Calling social media ROI “a complex puzzle that taxes companies as they struggle to balance investment in social media with its returns to the bottom line,” the Sun concludes this partnership is “aimed at putting the pieces of that puzzle together, delivering quantifiable results that tell a company or organization exactly how much money they’re making or what their return is for each and every tweet, Facebook post or other social media interaction that delivers a web link through the HootSuite dashboard.”

The integrated HootSuite-Webtrends capabilities are now available free to HootSuite Enterprise and Webtrends Analytics On-Demand clients.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Cirtix Podio Extends Collaboration App to Android Devices

Collaborative work platform provider Podio is releasing a new app for the Android platform. The app, available for download on Google Play, enables Android users to employ the full range of Cirtix Podio features on their devices.

“The Podio collaborative work platform is designed to let you live and work anywhere,” Podio co-founder Kasper Hulthin said during a recent sit-down interview with CMSWire. “It’s a social work process repository. You can share a file or data everywhere.”

Podio works through apps based on the Podio platform which can either be developed or acquired free through the Podio app market. Any third-party app is fully customizable, and development templates allow non-technical professionals to develop and customize apps.

Hulthin thinks that having users develop and customize their own unique apps is more effective than using standardized apps.

“There is a contentment and pride the individual gets from building their own apps,” he said.

Use Web-Built Apps on Mobile

With the new Android app, Android device users will have access to the same apps through their mobile devices as they do through their desktops. Web-built apps can be used via mobile device with no additional coding or development.

In addition, Android users can perform collaborative tasks such as posting status messages in shared Podio workstreams, managing and assigning workflow tasks, and accessing company contact directories.

“We want to create new ways of people working,” said Hulthin. “Now you have your work with you everywhere.”

The Email Alternative

While Hulthin made it clear his company is not out to replace traditional collaboration technologies (as evidenced by email integrations with the platform), Benzinga describes the Android app as providing “more powerful, collaborative and social alternatives to spreadsheets, documents and email.”

A Benzinga article on the new Podio Android app release gives the example of project managers using Podio's Simple Project Management app on Android to “track the progress of projects and deliverables, edit content and add comments in the right workspace, keeping everyone on the same page whether they're in the office or on the road.”

Citrix Reaches Out with Podio

Collaboration technology provider Citrix purchased three-year-old Podio in April of this year with the aim of integrating the platform into its GoTo cloud services portfolio. In July, Citrix made its first major effort at extending the reach of Podio by rolling out two new platform integrations with Outlook Exchange Calendar and Google Calendar.

Since the purchase, Citrix has also integrated Podio with YouSendIt, ShareFile, SugarSync, Microsoft SkyDrive, Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive and Google Docs. Podio also provides an app for users of iOS-based mobile devices.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Don't Fear Scary Internet Faces, A Community Manager's Guide

Considering that billions of people now use the Internet, it is only natural that Web users cannot easily be pigeonholed into a single “type” and not all Web users offer a positive interactive experience. As described in an infographic from online marketing technology provider Flowtown, there are at least seven different “faces” of potentially negative Internet users you are likely to encounter.

Faces of Web, Parts 1-7

The infographic warns that “the Web is a menagerie of personalities, personas and psychos” that online marketers will encounter. Following is a brief summary of the seven Internet faces Flowtown says are waiting “deep (in) the dark heart of the Internet.”

• Politico — Easy to spot due to their timelines “filled with reposted headlines and copy-pasted political speeches,” Flowtown says Politicos tend to “hibernate” once a favorite cause is no longer a hot topic of conversation. Flowtown advises that Politcos can be found in online locations such as Politico (naturally) and Gawker, and to avoid engaging them or liking their status updates.
• Lurker — Lurkers like to read and follow online discussions and chat threads without participating or directly making themselves known. Flowtown says Lurkers are typically found in the “nOOb (new Web users with little understanding of how to interact) subgroup.” Flowtown also advises to avoid engaging Lurkers, who can be found anywhere online, and cautioned they can turn into Trolls (see below).
• Fact-Finder — These Internet users enjoy finding obscure facts on Wikipedia and Google. They congregate in online locales such as Wikipedia, Google Search and Quora and Flowtown recommends never questioning the validity of their facts.
• Troll — Trolls enjoy making inflammatory online remarks and are immune to logical arguments and insults as they feed off negative reaction. They hang out in online places like social media, comment threads and 4chan and it is recommended to not feed them (i.e., respond to their comments).
• Meme Machine — Meme Machines feel the need to include a reaction GIF or meme in all online communications. They prefer constant solitude, hang out in spots such as Reddit, 4Chan, Imgur and Tumblr, and have potential to “explode into Meta- Memes.”
• Critic — Critics offer negative opinions on other people’s Web posts, pictures, etc. without being asked and “enjoy a good black turtleneck and monocle.” They can be found in locations such as comment threads, Reddit and Yelp and Flowtown urges those who encounter them to “never poke fun at a critic’s monocle.”
• Spambot — These automated distributors of marketing messages are among the “most prolific” Web users and frequent comment threads, Google search results and AIM. Direct eye contact should be avoided. 

Community Influencers Exist

Although obviously tongue-in-cheek, the Flowtown infographic does offer some genuine insight into the dynamics of online interaction. An entry on the UK social media blog The Wall uses the infographic to illustrate a broader point about the real phenomenon of “community influencers” in online forums.

After reviewing the infographic, Blogger Eoghan O’Neill of Ipsos MORI states “They’re a horrible social media cliché, but it seems to me that ‘community influencers’ (people who take the lead on a broad range of topics in a forum) really do exist.” O’Neill also points out that forum users generally take a “fierce sense of identity” in the perceived superiority of their forum compared to other forums on similar topics, form into cliques, give respect for regular participation as well as for specialist knowledge and often devolve into arguments and bitterness.

 

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Source : cmswire[dot]com

The Top 5 Tools for Monitoring Social Media Impact

There’s no doubt that social media has changed the way your organization markets itself. Additionally, social media has probably affected the way your users view your organization. In an effort to help monitor your company’s social impact, we bring you the top 5 tools social media monitoring.

1. Trackur

Need to measure the buzz around your brand, without a lot of fuss? Trackur offers strong social media monitoring software. Users can track conversations across all networks around a topic, name or industry, easily export information, set up alerts and push notifications. Every conversation is archived, with resources for viewing the original article, sharing with coworkers or bookmarking for follow-up.

This week, Trackur announced a new Trackur API for sentiment analysis and influence scores. The API lets users leverage the power of Trackur’s automated sentiment analysis and InfluenceRank by entering any URL and keywords of interest to learn the sentiment of the document and how influential it is.

Trackur offers a 10-day free trial, with plans starting at US$ 18/month for up to 5 saved searches. Larger organizations can benefit from a complete list of customizable options and unlimited amount of searches.

2. EdgeRank Checker

Measuring your impact on Facebook alone can be a full time job, which is why EdgeRank Checker comes in handy. It works to maximize your Facebook engagement using an algorithm that ranks objects in the Facebook News Feed. Pages with high EdgeRank scores will be more likely to show up in the news feed than pages with low EdgeRank scores.

Users can simply connect to Facebook for free to receive a report that indicates helpful stats like:  

• Best Average Day of the Week
• Worst Average Day of the Week
• Average Most New Fans Day of the Week
• Average Most Loss of Fans Day of the Week

For US$ 15/month per Facebook page, users can receive additional features like page-specific recommendations and visual analytics. This kind of up-to-date information will give your page the competitive edge.

3. Cyfe

Cyfe is an all-in-one dashboard software that gives users the ability to monitor and analyze — in real time — data scattered across a variety of online services like Google Analytics, Salesforce, AdSense, MailChimp, Facebook, WordPress and more from one single location.

With Cyfe users can monitor a variety of activity across multiple platforms through a dashboard; pull data from popular services like Google and Salesforce using pre-built widgets. They can share read-only dashboards with management, customers and anyone else.

Using a freemium model, one user can have up to 5 widgets and unlimited dashboards. Premium plans start at US$ 9/month and offer unlimited users, real-time sharing and custom branding. With all the choices available, 5 widgets isn't a lot — you'll want to upgrade to a plan with more availability.

 

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Source : cmswire[dot]com

Secondary Dimensions: Getting the Most out of Google Analytics

Google Analytics (GA) is a wondrous thing. Simple to install. Easy to use. 

But for all its ubiquity, very few users do more with Google Analytics than just scratching the surface of the reports. And that’s a shame. There’s so much to be gleaned from a few clicks.

According to W3Techs Surveys, GA now possesses a staggering 82 percent market share in the web analytics industry. So what can all of those users do to transform ordinary GA reports into extraordinary?

Today we’re going to cover four specific uses of the Secondary Dimension tool in GA — a resource even analytics novices can utilize to find gems of business learning.

What are Secondary Dimensions?

Good question. To answer that, we first need to know what a dimension is. In GA, a dimension is defined as a “descriptive attribute or characteristic of an object that can be given different values.”

Some examples of dimensions in GA are Browser, Source and Exit Page. Values for the Browser dimension would include things like Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.

For each of those values, GA provides metrics for analysis. Some examples of metrics in GA are Visits, Bounce Rate and Revenue.

Most reports in GA, if not all, show just one dimension and a half-dozen or so metrics.

Secondary Dimensions are additional attributes you can layer on to your reports to provide more insight into the main dimension.

Where can I find Secondary Dimensions?

In almost every GA report, there’s a ribbon between the metric cards and the data table. It looks like this:

In it, you see the Primary Dimension of the report you’re looking at and a dropdown where you can specify a Secondary Dimension.

When you click on the dropdown and start typing the dimension you’re looking for, Google will automatically find it:

Site Content > All Pages Report, Secondary Dimension Medium

Anyone can find which channels are driving the most visits to their website, but which channels are driving the most page views to specific pages? That’s a bit hazier.

In any Content Report, choose Medium as your Secondary Dimension and you can solve that problem:

In my case, a lot of page views on my blog come from organic search. But for your business, you might have a lot of paid search or referral traffic to particular pages. And each channel might have a vastly different reaction to your content. Make note of those differences and use it to improve your landing pages for each channel.

Advertising > AdWords Keywords, Secondary Dimension Ad Content

Any paid search professional worth their salt is always running ad tests — at the very least — with some different headlines. Specifying Ad Content as your Secondary Dimension can illuminate which keyword/headline combos are most successful in your PPC account and allow you to channel more impressions to those:

SEO > Queries, Secondary Dimension Google Property

Search Engine Optimization is a great source of traffic for business everywhere, but there are a lot of Google properties where you can get ranked. Your SEO Queries report — which requires connecting GA with your Google Website Optimizer account — allows you to breakdown exactly where on Google you’re showing up:

 

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Source : cmswire[dot]com

EMC's Syncplicity Gears Up to Disrupt

Syncplicity wants to be the place that enterprise users go to sync, share, access and protect their files. The SaaS start-up that storage giant EMC acquired in May has been working in overdrive to achieve its mission.

In just a few short months they have built a new release (featuring true Mobile Sync for iOS and Android devices) that not only further liberates knowledge workers from being tethered to their desks, but that also syncs automatically, thereby freeing them from the burden of manually selecting, pushing and pulling information between their mobile devices, computers, file servers, business applications and the cloud. 

The majority of other solutions in this space work by downloading a file while connected, marking it for viewing later, uploading changed files and so on.

“The challenge you have with most of the players in this market is the degree of forethought required by the user,” says Jeetu Patel, Syncplicity’s newly appointed Chief Executive.

With Syncplicity, users are notified when changes are made and file and folder organization remains consistent.

Your Content at Your Fingertips, All of the Time - No Forethought Required

Work on a document in Salesforce. Visit a client and access it from your iPad. Get a call from your boss while you are on your evening run demanding that you look over changes “right now.” Review, edit and/or approve from your iPhone (no download or upload needed), then continue your run. Your boss has what he needs so you can take time out for an extra mile and a well-deserved ice cream. Access the most recent version of the document via your laptop (or any other device) later.

Imagine your work-life being this simple. Being able to access your content where it lives. No need for check-ins or check-outs, no dragging or dropping, no wrestling with and organizing content and document versions.

And if you’re collaborating on a project, like a presentation, with co-workers you can set read-only or read-and-write permissions to content. This might save you from getting up before a crowd with a stack of PowerPoint slides that looked different than when you last saw them.

That’s Great for the End User - How about IT?

Ask IT managers in regulated industries what they think about popular cloud hosting services like Dropbox and you’ll hear nothing but qualified praise. “Great for individual, personal, consumer use, but we don’t let people access it, or Box, from the office,” an IT Director at an insurance firm told me. “We have compliance, governance and security concerns when our files are not in our control.”

Is his company’s policy an anomaly? It doesn’t seem to be with companies that are regulated. We called three people at Life Sciences companies and three at Investment Banks and asked them to see if they could access Dropbox, Box or SugarSync. Their answers? “Blocked. Blocked. Blocked.” And this does not seem uncommon.

It’s not fair to ask the same question about Syncplicity because a good number of IT managers have never even heard of it and therefore have not come to any conclusions about it.

This may, or may not be, and advantage.

Will Syncplicity Win IT Managers Over?

If Syncplicity can get in front of IT Managers before curious, would-be early adopters do, the service might be more easily accepted. After all, EMC has a significant, trusted footprint in the enterprise world.

Add to that, that Syncplicity says it provides 99.999999999% data resiliency; that it stores documents and encryption keys in different data centers; that it provides remote wipe data from lost or stolen devices; that it enforces legal, regulatory and security compliance and much, much more.

 

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Source : cmswire[dot]com