Social additions should increase brand engagement

First, from LinkedIn, a way for users to follow influencer's posts within the networking site without having a direct connection to that person. That content can then be commented on and shared, increasing the reach of the influencer and increasing the connections of a particular user.

Early additions to the influencers list include Richard Brandon, Caterina Fake, President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.

The professional social network has also rolled out new Company Pages through which brands/companies within the LinkedIn site, giving businesses more ways to reach and and engage with consumers; brand networkers can also now feature particular updates within their streams, highlighting these new updates, products or services and promoting to users.

Meanwhile, Unmetric has launched the first measurements for social pinning site Pinterest. The new offering shows brands and pinners how their pins are effecting sales, website traffic and other measurements. The tool also shows how competitors are pinning and how brands can better use Pinterest to drive engagement.

"The digital window-shopping experience offered on Pinterest and the unique audiences it attracts have led to an enormous influx of successful and not-so-successful brand investments," says Lux Narayan, CEO of Unmetric. "Unmetric's new Pinterest platform offers the most comprehensive approach to making sense of these data, by allowing you to benchmark your brand's performance against the businesses most like your own."

Unmetric helps brands better understand what is working in their social strategies so that performance can be improved.

Tags: LinkedIn, Pinterest, social marketing, social marketing tools, social tools, Unmetric