5 Pinterest Security Issues You Should Know About | #SoulcialMe

Pinterest is one of the fastest-growing social networks of the past year, and has attracted many fans who love to share their world in visual ways. Alas, with its growing popularity, also comes its growing potential as a scam platform, where spammers supposedly make more than $1,000 a day. It’s not only scams that you have to beware of, though.

Like any other growing platform, Pinterest has its threats, security holes, etc. The main difference from Facebook or Twitter seems to be the naivety  of its users. This not not to say that Pinterest is populated only by a certain kind of users who are naïve; rather, it’s due to the fact that this is a new network, and many of us have yet to encounter any spam or scams on it, a fact which makes us feel safer than on other social networks.

This article was not written to scare you or make you stop using Pinterest – Pinterest is still as safe and fun to use as ever – it’s just here to educate you about the potential threats you may encounter on Pinterest, so you’re able to continue using it and enjoying it just like before.

Scam Pins

While Pinterest seems like a haven from the well-known AMAZING WEIGHT-LOSS DIET and FREE $100 gift card spams, it’s actually not. While these scams are rarer than on other social networks, several have been reported over the past few months. These scam pins take the form of a regular pin, usually promising something people might want, such as a gift card, a diet, etc.

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Just like on Facebook, clicking the pin will redirect you to a third party website, where you will be asked to repin the scam pin, fill in a survey providing personal details, install malware, or all of the above. These pins can contain any image, from a famous company logo to a cute puppy, and read something along the lines of:

WOW! An amazing new weight loss product sponsored by Pinterest! It worked for me and I didnt even change my diet! Here is where I got it from [LINK]

Or

[BRAND] is giving away free giftcards to all Pinterest users! Visit [LINK] to get yours

These pins can also include multiple tags of random users, and you might find yourself tagged in one of these posts without having anything to do with it.

This is not to say that all gift cards on Pinterest are scams, but pay close attention to the URL these pins lead to before clicking on them. If the URL doesn’t seem like anything official to you, don’t click it and don’t repin it. If the URL is shortened, you can use an expander such as Long URL to check it out first.

Collaborator Hijacking

This one can potentially be much more malicious than scam pins. If you’re not a big brand or have many followers, you’re probably safe from this specific type of hijacking, however, you should still be aware of it

As you probably know, Pinterest allows for collaboration on its boards. All you have to do in order to add someone to your board is follow at least one of his boards and then invite him to collaborate on the board from the “Edit board” screen. The person you invite doesn’t have to be following you.

When someone accepts this invitation, the new board appears on their Pinterest profile, and is pretty much out of their control at that point. Many people don’t know that when they are offered to collaborate on a board, the board actually appears on their own profile as well.

This situation used to be worse, as collaborators could be added without their consent, and has happened on prominent accounts such as Barack Obama’s and Starbucks. When a person adds such an account as a “collaborator”, he can start pinning inappropriate content on the board, which appears on the collaborators profile. While these hijacks occurred adding someone to a board did not require their explicit approval, it’s still something to pay attention to.

To stop it, all you have to do is edit the board and remove yourself from the collaborators list.

Fake Accounts

Fake accounts are a problem on every social network, but like many other threats on Pinterest, we tend to expect them less here. These can be especially dangerous when combined with the previous threat: a well-known name has just invited you to collaborate on a board. You happily accept, only to find out it was a fake account and you’ve compromised your own profile.

Fake profiles can be advertised as such, like this one for Michelle Obama, but can also be completely vague, such as this one for Mark Zuckerberg. Is it real? Might be, but no one really knows for sure, so when you have some dealings with a famous name on Pinterest, take this possibility into account, and don’t assume anything. Pinterest doesn’t have verified accounts.

Another aspect of Fake accounts is accounts used for spam: these fake accounts can be used to spread spam, and also to mass-follow users and thus flood their inbox with notifications. This personally happened to me on Twitter, and seems to be happening on Pinterest as well.

Android App (Or Lack Of One)

Android is the most popular mobile OS in the world right now, and yet, at the time of this writing, there is still no official Pinterest app for Android. I repeat, there is NO official Pinterest app. As you can imagine, the lack of such a desired app is like a broken window calling to a thief, and there have been several fake apps which appeared in Google Play for a little while before their real nature was discovered.

The problem with these fake apps is not only that they’re fake, they can also access your data, pollute your phone with spam, and more. The official app is rumored to be coming out soon, but until then, beware of what you install, and watch for official news of the official app. Up until then, it’s all fakes.

No Personal Boards

This is not really a security threat, but it is something people tend to forget. In general, social networks make us forget ourselves, and more importantly, forget that the Internet is a public place, no matter what privacy we feel we might have.

On Facebook, we can set it up so only friends see our posts (although they can still be shared by them), but on Pinterest there is no such option yet. What you pin is public, and can be repinned by anyone, even people who don’t follow you at all.

One way to keep some sort of privacy is to hide your Pinterest profile from search engines, but even if you do that, don’t forget the public nature of your pins, and keep private content off Pinterest.

Bottom Line

Pinterest is a wonderful place, and as long as you keep an eye out for these Pinterest security issues, you can and should continue using it safely. Just like with any other social network, don’t forget what Pinterest is – a social network. Treat it as such, and you’re good to go.

Did you encounter any of these threats on Pinterest? Did you witness or hear about a threat we missed? Share it all in the comments.

Image credit: Attention sign image via Shutterstock

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Social Media - Achieving Kingly Facebook Engagement: The Six Secrets of Superbrands : MarketingProfs Article | #SoulcialMe

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Facebook has just passed the milestone of a billion active users per month. So for brands, the oldest question in the social media book has become even more pressing: What's the best way to access and engage this super-present audience?

As Tonia Ries notes at the Realtime Report, Wildfire conducted an analysis of 10,000 Facebook social marketing campaigns, isolating the top-performing 10% of brands. About 17% of fans share campaign news with friends and family, but "Superbrands" get 39% of fans to share.

How can you emulate the Superbrands? Here are Wildfire's six key strategies for achieving higher engagement with a Facebook campaign:

Run multiple engagement applications. Constantly provide a variety of engagement paths, and cool things to do, on your social pages.

Seize opportunities to stimulate actions with clear CTAs. Ask people to Like, share, or comment. Always make it clear what you want them to do.

Include great images wherever possible. Compelling images help you stand out in news feeds and make your timeline more fun to skim.

Make your interactions seasonally relevant. Content can become obsolete overnight! Make sure to tie fresh copy to events and breaking news.

Mix up campaign types and consistently create new offers. Important point: The marketing campaigns most engaged in by users are not necessarily the same ones that are most heavily shared, Ries notes.

Expand your social community across multiple platforms. The world's most talked about brands aren't limited to a network; they diversify.

Want more? Download the full report for free.

The Po!nt: Social can still feel like alchemy, but there's indeed a method to this ongoing madness. The key is to keep things interesting and visually engaging while making your expectations clear for your fans. Happy socializing!

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Shoutlet provides social management software for companies to engage consumers online & monetize social media communication. It includes Facebook, Twitter & YouTube management, Social CRM, a contest platform, web apps, social commerce & analytics in one simple interface. Learn more.

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Social Media - Three Creative Ways to Boost Response on Facebook : MarketingProfs Article | #SoulcialMe

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As we mentioned last time, B2B marketers are becoming more socially adept. As a result, tips continue to emerge about what's working best to engage users at the major social sites.

John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing recently shared his insights about three tactics boosting response for him at Facebook.

Feeling creative? With your next post, you might want to:

Use an image for your update. Forget the blah, blah, blah. Upload a photo as your next status update! Then add a little descriptive copy and a link to your blog post (which can go into detail about your big announcement) in the "say something about the photo" box, Jantsch suggests. "I notice that when I do this I get … more views and more engagement," he says.

Use a tab for a call to action. The space to the right of the About box will display four images (tabs) of your current pages or apps. The good news is you can create your own images in those spaces! Why not include a call to action in one of them? For instance, "if you want to send someone to a page to grab a free eBook, you can use an image to create the call to action," he advises.

Schedule your posts. According to Jantsch, scheduling posts is no longer a professional no-no, and it might even get you more TLC at Facebook. He reports that his scheduled posts are getting seen by greater numbers. Why? Perhaps Facebook favors direct posts over those posted by third-party tools. "I know off hand that my direct content gets 30-50% more views then content from Buffer," he notes.

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How to Get More Followers on Twitter. Grow Your Twitter Network. | via VIC Consulting | #SoulcialMe

Get more Followers for your Twitter account. Grow your Twitter Network Naturally.

Here I will give few tips of how organic/naturally increase number of your Twitter followers. If you are simply looking to increase the number of followers, not real readers you can use some automatic tools for that.
If you want to grow the number of readers, quality followers, the steps bellow are designed for that:

• Come up with short and good Twitter name
• Make a good avatar.
• Write up a good bio.
• Tweet well and tweet often.
• Ask people to retweet you.
• Search for tweets with keywords related to your topics of interest.
• Use hashtags.
• Put up "Follow me on Twitter" links on your blog, social networking profiles, wikiHow user page, email signatures, etc.
• Follow people who follow people who are like you.
• Make an effort to Keep Your Followers on Twitter.

Come up with short and good name

Since your Twitter name is part of Twitter search, make sure it includes the most important keywords, explaining what your Twitter users is all about. Currently Twitter allows up to 20 characters, try to utilize them all.

Make a good avatar

The avatar is first thing your twitter visitors will be looking into. Make extremely creative Twitter avatar, make it eye catching and interesting, as well as presenting who you are.

Write up a good bio

Extend here your Twitter name, write in more details about who you are, what are your interests and what you will be tweeting about. When you write your BIO use following rules:
1) Utilize max allowed characters. Currently you can put up to 160 characters.
2) Do not repeat your name.
3) Try to use as much as possible different keywords that people may use while searching content like yours.

Tweet well and tweet often

Try to Tweet constantly, at least several times a day. Write no\ice short messages, not just "Hi", "Hello", "what's up?". Re-Tweet, reply to others tweets.

Ask people to retweet you

If you can of course, ask your followers to retweet you. That way, their followers will see your tweets and some will also follow you at some point.

Search for tweets with keywords related to your topics of interest

Leverage Twitter search to find other users posting similar tweets to your. Follow them and there is good chance they will follow you back.

Use hashtags

Use hastags (#) in your tweets. Don't put hash tags for every words, as it will be very hard to read your tweets. Put hashtags on main keywords in your tweets. It will help others to find your tweets and your user.

Put up "Follow me on Twitter" links on your blog, social networking profiles, wikiHow user page, email signatures, etc

This is self explanatory. Put follow me button on your website or blog, put follow me link in your email signature, forums and other social networks.

Follow people who follow people who are like you

Search for other users based on your own keywords. Floow these users and there is good chance they will follow you back.

Make an effort to Keep Your Followers on Twitter

Try to be in touch with your followers, send them DMs, retweet their tweets, or reply on their tweets.

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5 Unique Ways to Promote Your Brand Using Personalized Products & Gifts | iBrandStudio | #SoulcialMe

This is a guest post by Chris Wise, if you want to guest post on this blog, please contact us.

Branding is the most challenging task that every business man will come across. Today, a wide range of personalized products are available in the market. Promotional items, like pen, cards, umbrella, coffee mug, magnets, and bags can be effectively used for brand name promotion.

Given below are the five unique ways by using personalized products and gifts for branding promotion and market your business.

1. Customer Appreciation

Image courtesy 123RF Stock Photos

One of the most effective uses of personalized products is to help your customer retention efforts by showing a little appreciation. Most companies send generic holiday cards and even branded items like pens and keychains – but how well do these outdated and commonplace tactics really work in our constantly evolving marketplace?

Smart businesses will get ahead by taking the concept a step further…

Instead of sending the same holiday card to each customer – personalized each holiday card for each customer! And not the old fashioned way…do it with imagery!

2. Branding

Branding is another common use for personalized products. But as you saw from the last example, we’re going to take this one a step further…

The whole purpose of branding is to create a memorable experience for your customer in order to be remembered down the road. The only way to achieve this is to think outside of the box!

3. Link Building

Most businesses with websites realize the importance of ranking high in the search engines. That being said, most businesses also realize the importance of having links to rank high in the search engines.

In order to earn quality links you either have to create compelling, high quality content, have a very creative marketing campaign, or a very unique pitch when requesting links.

Most internet marketers will send generic link request emails. But you’re smarter than that! Instead try sending branded and personalized items (*shock*) through the mail! You can send a thoughtful hand written note and create a personalized label to send with an item like mints, candy, or even a chocolate bar! It doesn’t take a genius to realize it will help you stand out – and inevitably lead to better results.

4. PR With Contests & Giveaways

PR is one of the most effective marketing tactics in both the short and long run. PR helps gain brand recognition, build backlinks, and foster relationships between your company and your consumers (and the media outlets themselves!)

A great strategy to earn some good press is offering contests and product giveaways to the public. You can easily use personalized products to do this!

The trick is to be unique! A great example of this concept can be found with last year’s Tweet Wrap campaign.

This campaign was hugely successful – earning tons of press and new social media fans. Plus just think about all of the shocked faces from people who received tweet wrapped gifts. I’ll bet they will remember it for many years to come…

5. Conversion Rate Optimization

Image courtesy 123RF Stock Photos

Conversion rate optimization can often provide the highest ROI of any marketing tactic. Personalized products and gifts can help in every step of the process!

The first step to increasing you conversion rate: getting feedback. You can use customized gifts as an incentive for customers to provide you with honest, actionable tips to improve your shopping experience. Offering something as simple as a photo print or wall cling (which are relatively inexpensive to produce and ship) is all it takes.

Personalized gifts can also be used as an up-sell – while increasing your conversion rate at the same time. As a simple example – why do you think Apple allows you to personalized your IPODs? They make more money (even though it is free) because you are more likely to purchase knowing you can make it your own. It helps to create a more personal connection between consumers and a product.

Get Creative – start using personalized products to help your branding efforts and better market your business today!

Do you have unique ideas or examples of your own? Share your ideas with everyone in the comments.

About the Author!

Chris Wise is head of online marketing for the Expressionables family of retail sites – specializing in everything from Bar Mitzvah invitations to corporate holiday gifts.

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Amazing!! This article I found goes out to my friend Meach. We were just on the phone the other morning talking about how important it is to have a "hook" when marketing or promoting your brand. Something that makes your product or service stand out as well as bring the customers back because of the uniqueness of delivery, imagination and attention to detail.

I will most definite reference this article when dealing with my clients. Conversion and customer retention should be of the utmost importance to the bottom line of any company.