Is Facebook Selling You Out??

I just read this news report,”  Facebook may be solving that little ‘revenue’ problem”  which really concerns me.  It appears that Facebook may be “adjusting” their advertising model to increase revenue….by using your information. YIKES!! Just think about all the personal information you have placed on Facebook…name..birthdate….other contact info.

What are your thoughts on this??

How To Get The Corporate Stakeholders To Buy Into Social Media

Too many corporations are buzzing about  Social Media around at the water cooler but few are willing to jump in. Few of the powers, “that be” can actually wrap their head around the concept of social media to implement a strategy.  An article written by Rob Crumpler attempts to tackle this topic and educate us on taking the “social media plunge” Below are some tips from Mr. Crumpler that I felt were “dead on”….

 

 1.  Know your marketing goals: Be careful not to get roped into helming a social media marketing or advertising effort simply because it’s trendy. Before embarking on these initiatives, take the time to understand what you want from your ad spend. How do you want creators and consumers of social media to respond to your ad efforts? What is their ideal experience? Clicking on a text link off of a blog post, or reading blog coverage of your company from a source they trust and traveling to your site via an embedded link? Figure out the answers to these questions before jumping into a social media advertising program.

2.  Rethink the definition of marketing communications: If you use traditional media assessment formulas to plan an ad strategy in the new world of social media, you’re making a big mistake. Social media is much more than another way to communicate with your target market; it’s a way for your customers to trade information that helps them make better decisions, given that they’ve become somewhat hardened about marketing spin. These days, they prefer to take their cues from other consumers whom they trust. For a social media-based ad campaign to be successful, it needs to be based on authentic interactions at every stage of the customer lifecycle, not just when you’re pushing messages out to them.

3.  Find the influencers: You can’t plan an online advertising strategy until you know how to reach an audience that’s primed to hear your messages. You need to identify where the conversations that connect to your marketing goals are taking place, and who is shaping those conversations. Since influence in the social media world isn’t always determined by audience size, this can lead to some interesting surprises. The process of finding influencers turns some conventional ideas about marketing upside down. Rather than first searching for advertising targets and then deciding where and when to advertise, the process begins by determining what’s being said, and figuring out who is saying it.

4.  See beyond the assumed customer base: Marketers need to recognize that influencers are not always the current customers for their company’s products and services. They can be former customers who have become dissatisfied, they may be fans of your competitors, or they may simply have strong opinions about your market. The ability to see beyond your own customer base is an important skill for social media engagement.

5.  Redefine what “advertising” means: It’s not just about placing an ad anymore. For instance, companies like Protuo can use a social media engagement strategy to generate online leads (which is the objective of many paid search ad campaigns). As a result, the company was able to generate traffic that converted to action better than incoming leads from typical online advertising methods. Marketers don’t necessarily associate “influencer marketing” with hard metrics, but the dense network of links that power social media conversations enables consumers reading their favorite blogs to quickly jump to the kind of content that will trigger a purchase.

6.  Take a multi-pronged approach: In social media, traditional online ad placement isn’t enough to engage your potential customers. Participation is a key step. Comment on the blogs of key influencers. Write your own posts in order to challenge them on important topics. Join in the conversation instead of waiting for the conversation to come to you.

Search Engines and Privacy Issues

Search Engines and Privacy Issues ….

You can rarely move through the news any more without hearing something about privacy issues. The technology used by search engines can be considered controversial based on the amount of personal information they can gather and store from their users. Most search engines record each search request made by an individual. These searches can then be link to IP addresses and the ISP of the user, thus affecting your privacy. Once a company has this type of information it can be analyzed to determine and further online behavior. More importantly these records than can be used in lawsuits throughout our court system. Think of all the information you can find on a person simply by “googling” their name?  

An article written by Declan McCullagh and Elinor Mills “How search engines rate on privacy” details privacy policies by several search engines.

Makes you wonder where all your information is going? Think about how this will effect recruiting efforts…

What Does Your Company’s Career Website Say About You?

I recently was involved with a colleague who asked, “What do you look for in a Career Website?” Which then prompted this rambling……… 

When is the last time you visited your company’s website? You may be surprised about what you find or maybe what you do not find. Over the years one would be surprised about how many recruiters and human resource executives have not reviewed their own website. I know it always shocked me to be in a meeting with a client and they do not know their own URL. Your website is the first “window” into your company that an applicant will look through and we all know it only takes a minute to leave a first impression….for better or worse! 

As social networks, podcasting and blogs continue to rise, candidates are looking beyond traditional marketing material to educate themselves on a company. By employers adopting web 2.0 technology can create a more “user-friendly” atmosphere that reflects well on the employer brand. The keys here are to make your site easy to use, dynamic and interactive. Most importantly to make is AUTHENTIC.  Here are features that should be contained in an effective Career Website (or at least I think so):

• Careers section accessible from EVERY page
• Careers site URL must be simple and memorable
• Link to ‘Job Search Functionality’ should be no more than two clicks away from the home page: home>careers>job search.
• Job search database should be easy to use and provide the ability to search via multiple criteria.
• No more than one click should separate the job description and the beginning of the application processes.
• Job searches should be available as RSS feeds and email agents.
• Job posting content should be written to capture the attention and pique the interest of passive job seekers.
• Applicant privacy and confidentiality should be addressed and respected including an anonymous job application.  
• 10 – 20 minute window for completion of the job application is desired.  
• Hiring process expectations MUST be set UP FRONT.
• Easy Navigation
• Content should be compelling and authentic, reflecting the voice of your company culture.  
• The use of interactive media such as blogging, podcasts, and online video should be utilized to give a rich experience of the company culture.
• All careers pages should have an ‘email to a friend’ option.
• Diversity and College Recruitment should be addressed.
• Feedback should be solicited.
• Relationship marketing – Opportunities to receive future recruitment communications should be provided

     

Social Networking in Plain English

This is a great demonstration of the definition of social networking. It truely makes the term SIMPLE, so everyone can understand what this BUZZ word is all about.

Now go on and impress your friends since YOU now know what social networking is!