LinkedIn Ousts Facebook As The Top Social Tool For Private Companies

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LinkedIn Replaces Facebook As Top Social Tool (University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth via MarketingProfs)
LinkedIn is the most popular social media tool among the nation's fastest-growing private companies, according to a study by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Center for Marketing Research.

Fewer companies are increasing investments in social media marketing.

Companies are somewhat mixed on how central social marketing is to their growth.

The 2012 study is based on a nationwide phone survey of companies named by Inc. Magazine to the Inc. 500 list, conducted in October and November of 2012. Read >>

Sephora Says Pinterest Followers Spend 15x More Than Facebook's (VentureBeat)
Beauty products retailer and digital trailblazer Sephora says that per-capita, its Pinterest followers spend more money than its Facebook followers, and not just a little bit more. In fact, Pinterest users spend 15 times more on Sephora products than Facebook followers, according to Sephora’s head of digital Julie Bornstein. "The reality is that when you’re in the Pinterest mindset, you’re actually interested in acquiring items, which is not what people go to Facebook for," Bornstein said. "Facebook continues to be just a great customer interaction tool that gives us the real-time ability to dialog with our customer; it’s a big customer-service venue for us." Ouch. Read >>

Instagram A Formidable Facebook Competitor (CNet)
Even as Facebook's property, Instagram, now with more than 100 million active users, could still pose a threat to the social network's business. "One of the services that is, I think, a quite formidable competitor is Instagram," says David Ebersman, Facebook chief financial officer. The striking statement, made in direct response to a question about whether competitors are siphoning attention away from the social network, speaks volumes about Instagram's status as a powerful photo social network all its own. The comment, particularly when coupled with previous disclosures, also suggests that the photo app is stealing away member attention from Facebook with no payoff. Facebook may own Instagram, but it's not profiting. Read >>

Wanelo Raises At North Of $100 Million Valuation (TechCrunch)
Wanelo, a site that allows you to bookmark items that you like and, this is crucial, allows you to buy those items via direct links from the site, has been the prettiest girl at the party for the past month or two while it completes its raise. The deal was closed last week, say sources, and the round was likely between $5 million to $10 million at “north of a $100 million” valuation. Rumor has it that a strategic investor and not a VC firm won the lead. So how do you explain such a high valuation for such a small check? “If Pinterest is the magazine, then Wanelo is the catalog,” one investor said on the investment’s appeal. Read >>

Why Is Your Company So Anti-Social? (Social Blog)
There stands a good chance in today’s electronic information age that the company you work for is not doing enough or even anything with social media. Whether your company’s social promotion is done onsite or outsourced, here are some tidbits to keep in mind:

• Be consistent
• Be precise
• Be human
• Be networking

Your employer could be missing out on potential sales, sales that could lead to more money for you and your fellow workers over time. Read >>

What Is Your Social Network Worth? (Inman News)
For an internal project Gahlord Dewald is working on, he's spent the last week calculating the reach and the value of his social network. It's not a "one metric to rule them all" sort of thing though, and should be taken in context with qualitative gains. But it is a worthwhile exercise to perform. Here are some some step-by-step instructions.

• Establish what you mean by "worth" or "value"
• What would it cost you to reach people?
• Ask what value each audience member brings to your business
• Measure your raw audience numbers
• Cull for quality
• Match value and worth to a channel

Multiply your real audience with your matched channel values and there's your channel value index. Add it all together and there's your network value index. Read >>

New York Is Social Media's Top City (Social Media Today)
New York is really leading the way for social media on a citywide basis in its initiatives and planned endeavors. In terms of tweets, here's how New York stacks up to other major cities.

It will be interesting to see when cities really begin using social media to promote tourism and how they will begin to play off each other. Read >>