Google+ Hangouts Enhanced: This Week in Social Media

Welcome to our weekly edition of what's hot in social media news.

To help you stay up to date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

What's New This Week?

Google+ Hangouts Are Nicer to Look at, Easier to Use: Google+ Hangouts have some new features: a sidebar you can show or hide, new notifications and apps that are easier to find and manage. The result is a more enjoyable experience.

LinkedIn Makes it Easier to Discover and Follow Thought Leaders: LinkedIn recently launched the ability to follow thought leaders. Today you have new ways to discover and follow these thought leaders. There's a new leaderboard where you can “find influencers who've posted content most recently or sort them alphabetically” and “discover recent posts by thought leaders you are personally following.”

Discussion From Our Networking Clubs: Thousands of social media marketers and small business owners are asking questions and helping others in our free Networking Clubs. Here are a few interesting discussions worth highlighting:

• Ask guest expert Chris Brogan questions about Impact.
• How much is a Facebook Like worth?
• Review the Musket Sword Paint blog.

Share Your Stuff From Google Drive to Google+: You can now “share the stuff you create and store in Google Drive, and people will be able to flip through presentations, open PDFs, play videos and more, directly in the Google+ stream.” You're now able to view what you share from Google Drive right inside your Google+ stream.

AI Is No Longer Optional for Marketers—Ready to Master It?

This April 29-30, join over a thousand forward-thinking marketers at AI Business World—a conference-in-a-conference at Social Media Marketing World.

Get two days of practical AI training where you'll discover:

✅ Which tools to use for your tasks—from content creation to data analysis

✅ Systems that 3x your output—leaving time for strategy and creativity

✅ Proven strategies you can deploy right away—no guesswork, no wasted budget

Become the indispensable AI expert your company needs.

GET YOUR TICKETS—SAVE $150

Facebook Gifts Now Allow Charitable Donations: Facebook is launching “a new test feature on Facebook Gifts: now you can use Facebook to make a charitable contribution in celebration of a friend or a family member.”

Yelp Adds Visual Menus: There's now an  “Explore the Menu” link for restaurants on Yelp. “Specifics on menu items, like description and price, will match up with Yelp's user-generated photos and reviews mentioning that particular dish.”

Here are a few upcoming features worth noting:

Facebook Tests Page Post Notifications: Inside Facebook reports “Facebook is rolling out a new feature for users to opt in to receive notifications every time a Page makes a post.”

Google's Universal Analytics Opens in Beta: Google is offering large enterprises access to “Universal Analytics,” a new feature to help “customers tailor Google Analytics to their needs, integrate their own datasets and ultimately get a more complete vision of the entire marketing funnel.” This will help businesses to better understand their marketing efforts.

Twitter Promoted Products Gets Gender Targeting Option: Gender targeting is now available to marketers thanks to Twitter's ability to “understand gender by taking public signals users offer on Twitter, such as user profile names or the accounts she or he follows.”

Here are a couple of interesting tools worth noting:

Ready to Supercharge Your Marketing Strategy?

Get expert training and an unbeatable conference experience when you attend Social Media Marketing World this April 28-30—from your friends at Social Media Examiner.

Broaden your reach, skyrocket your engagement, and grow your sales. Become the marketing hero your company or clients need!

🔥 Save $450 on an All-Access ticket. Sale Ends Tuesday! 🔥

GET THE DETAILS

SplashPost: A tool to create multimedia Facebook posts to enable you to “easily sell, promote and advertise your products, consulting services or solutions right inside your News Feed.”

PicMark: A tool to put watermarks on images before sharing them on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.

And don't miss this:

Social Media Marketing World is Social Media Examiner's latest mega-conference—taking place at the waterfront San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina in San Diego, California on April 7-9, 2013.

As you'd expect, Social Media Examiner recruited the biggest and best names in the world of social media marketing for this conference. Only the best for you! Be sure to check it out.

What do you think? Please share your comments below.

Want to Unlock AI Marketing Breakthroughs?

If you’re like most of us, you are trying to figure out how to use AI in your marketing. Here's the solution: The AI Business Society—from your friends at Social Media Examiner.

The AI Business Society is the place to discover how to apply AI in your work. When you join, you'll boost your productivity, unlock your creativity, and make connections with other marketers on a similar journey.

I'M READY TO BECOME AN AI-POWERED MARKETER