Pinterest was recently deemed the fastest growing social media site…ever.  This came as a shock to most social media experts because it isn’t necessarily for everyone.  There’s a love hate thing going on with Pinterest leaving little room for any gray area; you either love Pinterest or you hate Pinterest. 

David Coursey, Forbes blogger, called the site “Facebook with training wheels.”  The same day Coursey aired his Pinterest dirty laundry CNBC aired a story titled “Why Pine for the Pinterest Customer? They’re Worth More.”  The segment explained that the image based website is “exploding” with traffic and that customers referred from Pinterest buy more because of the emotional connection they’ve already formed with the product.

Mashable.com actually ranks Pinterest as the number 3 social media referral site, referring over 104 million users.  That falls right behind Twitter who boasts 182 million referrals.

For marketers who are thinking of targeting the Pinterest user, remember, it’s not for everyone.  By that we mean it’s mostly women.  Consider whether your product is visual in nature.  Pinterest is, after all, a site comprised of millions of picture boards.

If you’ve got a match in Pinterest, plan on seeing a huge ROI.  Consider using some of the tips below to maximize your Pinterest exposure.

1. Include “Pin This” icons on website content and inside you email newsletter.
2. Advertise your Pinterest boards.  Get people to follow you!
3. Include images of your Pinterest activity in your Pinterest email blasts.  Give people a reason to check you out.
4. Tie Pinterest into your email marketing (holidays, big events, etc.).

In an effort to create a buzz, Google Chrome released a commercial featuring none other than the Queen of Controversy herself, Lady Gaga.

The commercial, in my opinion, is very well executed and really captures the essence of all that is Google Chrome and what it is all about; social networking and Internet marketing.

With the rise in Internet sales, Internet marketing and search engine marketing are two of the most popular terms online. The terms Internet marketing, web marketing, online marketing, search marketing all refer to the process of marketing products or services over the Internet. These terms tie together the creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising and sales. With billions of small businesses online competing for the same market, Internet marketing scams are at an all time high.

Internet marketing scams range from software sales directed towards the elderly and less tech savvy consumers to false SEO promises to businesses. Many consumers without the necessary knowledge or equipment put their trust in the companies selling marketing products. Researching a company online is the quickest way to find good and bad information regarding their products/services.

“SEO companies often make promises to boost rankings, but by knowing a few questions to ask you can avoid being taken advantage of.”, states Klepper, owner. A few major red flags are: 

1. Top rankings will only continue as long they are being paid a monthly fee. 

2. Becoming a part of their “network” of sites is a must. 

3. They claim they have a special relationship with Google, Yahoo or MSN.

Times Ten Creative Marketing Solutions is a full service Internet marketing firm that specializes in search engine optimization and keyword research.  For more information on Times Ten click here.

Source: Online PR news

Facebook serves the most people in social networking, but it also serves the most ads, too. According to the latest tally from ComScore, the Palo Alto-based company served a total of 1.37 trillion ads over the past 15 months, an average of 91.1 billion ads every month. That was more than double the next leading company in ads served, Yahoo, which pushed out 641.89 billion ads in the same period or 42.79 billion ads each month.

But what really sets Facebook apart, according to the latest metrics, is that it's actually increased the amount of ads it's serving per page over the past year while everybody else, from Yahoo and Google to AOL and Microsoft, has either leveled off the number of ads or stayed flat. Beginning last year, the social-networking giant showed an average of one ad per page, but then increased to as high as 1.7 ads per page in November and December of last year. The overall industry average, according to ComScore, is closer to 0.6 ads per pages served. That stands to reason given that Facebook has increased its ad revenue to $1.86 billion last year, according to eMarketer, and is expected to bring in $2.19 billion in ad revenue this year.

Source: Advertising Age