Following on from last months' post on mobile internet trends, this month we look at the latest internet trends overall.

This in-depth slide deck provides fascinating statistics around internet growth, usage, mobile adoption and re-imagination of what's possible with cloud based technologies.

We have a busy 10 week block ahead of us as we count down until the end of the year.

Next month we are running our LinkedIn at Lunch ( or after 5 ) series for busy professionals who would like to get more out of LinkedIn. Don't miss out, last year's Social Media Revolution was fully booked in a really short space of time.

This year we welcome you to our offices for smaller sessions, lunch and some insights into how we do real business via LinkedIn.

We are please to annouce enhanced features for our email marketing tools that give us more power and greater design flexibility that we can now offer you. Specifically we now can:

• Dynamically drop in blog posts or announcements just like we do with your site page templates
• Dynamically control product views or lists within newsletters, so you can now flag items as specials at your website and we can have those items dynamically appear in your newsletter
• Dynamically display upcoming bookings or events.
• Extensive use of content holders - control banners, edition numbers and addresses that normally only we could manage for you. A great cost and time saving tool.

What to know more? Make sure you chat to us soon!

I hope you have been reviewing our latest blog posts from the team. Their insights are designed to be read through the eyes of our clients.

You can use your tools better to drive more traffic, get more sales and feel less stressed in the process. Make sure you view our blog in Mission Control.

Please don't hesitate to contact our sales and support team with any of your questions, we look forward to working with you soon!

kind regards

Leanne O'Sullivan

Heard of the 4 P's of Marketing?

Price, Product, Place and Promotion?

Then I am sure you will find the 4 P's of Social Media Marketing ( with a bosweb twist!) just as helpful to focus your marketing efforts

Platform - where are your customers hanging out?

Most likely not in Google+ as yet!

Are they in Facebook, Twitter, Linked In or Pinterest? When planning your social media strategy and how you wish to use these tools to market your products and services, not all platforms are equal. You may find different types of customers are mainly focussed in different areas. You may find you need to use slightly different communication styles in these various platforms.

Which leads to our next P

Personality - who are you and how do your represent yourself in these platforms?

When you speak to your customers via social media, are you engaging them, are you speaking to them like you would face to face? Think about the style and tone of your words and imagery you use. Is this a reflection of your business? Be authentic, social media can tell fakes pretty quickly, so make sure you speak with honesty to build credibility and expand your reach.

And remember have a personality! Don't be too staid and buttoned down in your comments. The social media medium allows you to be more relaxed in your style that a traditional press release. Loosen up people!

Piggybacking - Connect with fellow businesses online

I am not recommending that crazy tagging of unrelated businesses to build up an audience. Again that kind of approach to social media just doesn't work long term. Think about who in your industry, your business community and your circle of friends ( this is social media!) that can be brand advocates for you - and also you for them. Acknowledge and share great content around. There are a lot of resources we can share and as small business owners, it pays to acknowledge those that you recognise as good value and they in turn will recognise you.

One thing to remember with this approach is when you are looking to launch, reach out to those in your circle with a large footprint, the influences and brand advocates who can kick off your project with some well timed tweets, likes and +1's. It really pays to build these relationships overtime.

and the final P

sPontaneity - yes well it's not a P is it!

That's the point! Mix it up, inject some fun. This is the fun stuff in your marketing activities. Remember it is SOCIAL media...

Fast-track your understanding of Pinterest with this great 5 minute slideshow presentation including a 2 and a half minute introductory video.

(For best viewing, click the 'Fullscreen' icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the slideshare)

Heard of Pinterest?

What another social media channel I need to play with?

Pinterest is the 3rd largest social media channel in the word - larger than Linkedin and Google+ and fast chasing twitter in the US.

So what do you need to know to get on board the Pinterest bandwagon?

We had a great in-house session outlining how to get onboard - more information can be found here - at the Pinterest site itself.

We have been scouring the web to find great uses for Pinterest and have listed out top 7 items! We feel it is a great ADD-ON for e-Commerce sites and any site or business that uses imagery or photography to best focus on their products..

1. Spread the word about your product through an online photo contest.

 

Pinterest is a great place to organize contests. Your contest could be a search for the best pin of pictures of your product or your product logo being used by real people in everyday life. Your participants will pin photos of your brand and share them with friends. Therefore, your traffic will increase, as well as your product’s popularity.

 

2. Provide valuable and informative content for your audience.

 

Just like other social networking sites, providing high-quality content on Pinterest boosts your site reputation, thus attracting more attention from your followers. Provide useful information and problem-solving tips in the field you are an expert at - the use of infographics to visual display a key message are very powerful here and will drive pinners to you.

 

3. Pin some helpful shopping lists or product bundles.

 

Provide helpful shopping lists to your followers that include your products. Create a helpful mother's day suggestion list, kid christmas presents, tech toys - essentially a list of your products that you provide that are must haves and aid in the selling experience for potential customers. Recent studies have proven that Pinterest is a greater driven of online sales than Facebook.

 

4. Suggest gift ideas by adding price tags.

 

You’ve probably noticed that some items on Pinterest have price tags on them. You, too, can do it by simply adding a price in the description along with this symbol – $. We have recently been assisting clients do this and also integrating their Pinterest boards into their Facebook page.

 

5. Use Pinterest as a marketing tool.

 

Share the latest trends and browse other boards for inspiration - just like with all successful social media strategies, it cannot all be about you. Embed your Pinterest boards into your facebook page to maximize your reach. Encourage engagement and respond to comments and likes!

So Google+ had an update recently and just like you I'm trying to figure out how to use it, what the benefit's are or if I even like it (jury's still out on that one).

Regardless of all the 'new white space' and, love it or hate it, Google+ is here to stay.

Google is pushing this bad boy (so it doesnt lose the social media race), and if those Google (augmented reality glasses) are anything to go by (and by that I mean 'real'), then Facebook better watch out!

In the meantime though, check out SocioloG+ - it's a great resource to help you take full advantage of Google+

http://sociologyplus.com/

Is Google+ a ghost town on the demise?

"No way!" say's Guy Kawasaki, author of recently released e-book 'What The Plus?' 

According to Kawasaki, Google+ is on the threshold of becoming the largest Social Network ever, and not just because it's another Facebook or Twitter, but simply as part of the Google search engine we use everyday (which is 3 billion times per day by the way!).

To give you an idea of how successful the growth of Users of Google+ was when launched, it took just 24 days to reach 20 million users; whereas Twitter took 1035 days and Facebook took 1152 days.

(FYI new kid on the block - Pinterest - which celebrates its first birthday in May, has already reached 11 million users in roughly 300 days.)

As of February 2012, Google+ hit 100 million users, Twitter had 500 million and Facebook users numbered 845 million users.

'What the Plus?' is now available for download from Guy Kawasaki's website www.whattheplus.com      

While in San Francisco last week, I took a two hour trip north of San Francisco to the webcasting studio's of TWiT.tv (This Week in Technology) in Petaluma, California.

This fabulous (web only) broadcast station, (http://twit.tv) has as many as five shows a day, and I spent a whole day meeting their team and interviewing Leo Laporte on the technology used in the station including sitting in on his shows.

Over the course of the day, I met with their technical staff, Eileen Rivera (Supervising Producer and featured below on mixing desk), CEO Lisa Kentzell and Sarah Lane (host of iPad today & The Social Hour) and was also given a guided tour through the operations and technology that powers the studio.

We're looking forward to applying what we learnt towards Rocket! tv, the establishment of our own interactive education and support webcast station for our Business Catalyst clients & reseller partner network. So stay tuned!

* Special thanks to Eva Laporte for organising my time with Leo & Lisa at TWiT.tv :)

Facebook Timeline for Business will take effect for everyone on the 31st of March.

We have put together a quick list of Facebook Timeline changes you need to know!

Cover Photo

Timeline’s cover photo allows you to create an eye-catching, descriptive visual of your brand.

Image Dimensions - 851 x 315 pixels

Use every pixel of screen real estate available (851 x 315 pixels), and change the image occasionally, in line with campaigns or other events relevant to your business. You cannot have ANY calls to action in this cover image area.

Profile Image

This image represents your business' identity and should remain unchanged.

Image Dimensions -  180 x 180 pixels

About Us Section

Your profile’s “About” section is prime, above-the-fold real estate to feature a short and punchy overview of who you are as a business or entity and why people need to find out more about your business' story.

Character Limit - 170, ensure you use your web address as appropriate

Review Facebook’s updated Page Guidelines to ensure your page is up to the latest standards, noting in particular the information around cover images.

Milestones

A milestone is a major event that is particularly relevant to your brand, such as a product launch,
personnel announcement, store opening, or other moment that is significant to your brand’s
growth and development.

Make the most out of milestones:

• Use photos & videos to tell your story
• Tailor the content to the industry to which your brand belongs
• Include questions to prompt conversation with your fans

Pin Posts

A pin post is a post that a brand may “pin” to the top of its Timeline for 7 days at a time, as a way
to curate its Timeline content and encourage a post’s “stickiness.”

Image Dimensions - 404 x 404 pixels

Make the most out of pin posts:

• Showcase links and other information about tabs and promotions that you want to drive
  visitors to - such as encourage people to LIKE your page
• When you’re running a contest or campaign, pin a post that calls attention to a particular
  phase of the promotion, and schedule the post to run the length of the promotion’s phase

Stars

Highlight an important post on your brand’s Timeline by “starring” it. When you star a post, it will expand to widescreen and always be visible. Milestones cannot be starred, so aim to star non milestone posts that you wish to call particular attention to.

To star a post on your Timeline, simply hover over the post and click the star icon that appears.

Image Dimensions - 843 x 403 pixels

What tabs should I features below the cover photo?

Tabs are more narrowly scoped in the Timeline format: there are four tabs featured on the top navigation, and brands can customize three of them (the Photos tab is fixed).

Since the featured tabs are always visible to users who visit your Timeline, you should choose them strategically.

To see additional tab applications, users must expand the tab panel by clicking a drop-down box located in the top navigation. If you wish to integrate new features here, we are happy to help! 

Make the most of tabs:

• Focus attention on the photos you upload, as this tab is always front and centre!
• Switch up your three customizable tabs periodically, according to current brand objectives, product releases, or product popularity. You may not have 3 tabs! Do not worry if you don't!
• Choose tab images that are descriptive and are good 'CALL to ACTION ' images
• Assign names to your tabs that clearly indicate what the tabs is about - again this is another 'CALL to ACTION' here
• If you drive users to a landing tab, include an on-brand call to action in the tab name that encourages users to click (e.g., “Shop Now” or “Book Here!”)

Image Dimensions - 111 x 74 pixels

What do I need to know about direct messages?

Timeline gives users the ability to send private, direct messages to brand pages. It is a great potential customer service tool. Make sure that you put processes in place to check these messages sent to your Facebook Page so that messages your page receives are responded to or escalated in a timely, appropriate manner.

It’s worth noting that Timeline does not give brands the ability to direct message fans or other users. You can respond to a user up to two times, but only after that user starts the conversation with your brand. 

On the 31st of March - Facebook will be rolling out a significant change to how business pages look and work. Facebook Timeline will take effect for all business pages around this day.

Is your business ready?

We will be conducting several information sessions to help you get ready for the change.

We can also book you in for any changes you would like us to do on your behalf.

This information session will cover

1. The new cover page and changes to the rules around what can be used on this graphic
2. Modifications to your TABS and where they will appear now
3. Favourites - what this means for your key content
4. Changes to your default landing page
5. Private messenging - how this works for brands.

For more details, make sure you visit our training page.

Places are filling fast - so don't delay!