This week we spoke with Rick Rovegno, a former Technical Analyst for PC Magazine. He has been successfully using LinkedIn to develop his online network. Rick shared with us some of the features of Linked In that have helped improve his odds of finding a job using social media. Also joining the conversation, Ryan Goodin of Diligent Brands, Inc., a full-service marketing agency and Mildred Tassone, a digital and social media consultant.
For those of you who didn’t catch it, check out this article about Facebook in New York Magazine: Do You Own Facebook or Does Facebook Own You?
Basically, it is exploring how the Facebook business model effects relationships with both users and implicitly marketers. This is centered around the change in the terms of service, but ultimately its about determining how to deal with ownership of personal information. This is very interesting in that there is the contradiction that it is in fact an advertising-ran system, yet they are dependent on user trust in order to remain relevant. This is a game that many have lost, including Myspace, Friendster, and others. Read the article here.
While there are many aspects to running an effective online marketing campaign, including video is seen as imperative, especially if there is an intent for going viral. The billion dollar deal that brought Youtube into the Google fold only reiterates this fact. Before we can appropriately address how to approach the use of video in online marketing, we need to understand why it works with people.
Coming back to Marshall Mcluhan, media is either hot or cold, either interactive or ready-made. The internet transcends these boundaries. I won’t divulge too much here as this is a post of it’s own. However, beyond the fact that humans are visually-based, and that culturally we put a visual emphasis on everything (“’see’ what I mean?”), video has been and will likely be the quintessential example of hot media. Whether it is a cooking recipe, a guitar lesson, or your product commercial, people will choose a video over a typographical description 99 percent of the time.
Another reason for this is that Video is a mixed medium. It can be visual, audio, and typographical at the same time. This solidifies it as a hot medium.
The Takeaway: Taking this all into consideration, your target audience wants to come as close to experience your service, product, etc, as possible within the confines of technological ability. If you don’t have a video showcasing your value-added, your competition will, and likely already has. To have an online presence to be multisensorial in a mixed medium.
While Facebook once was reserved for college kids, its universal adoption has led many middle-aged subscribers to sign up and log on. Facing the higher unemployment and tougher competition for the job market, employers and jobhunters alike have resorted to using social networks as a hiring aid. This in result means that your profile will like become your digital first impression. This has several rammifications, of which we will explore here.
Firstly, for those of you who are within the original Facebook users, who signed on while in college and have since entered the job market, this means you need to review your profile with a HR Manager’s eye. Pictures of you doing kegstands at your best friend’s fraternity rush probably won’t create the impression that screams “management.” Akin to this, you should review all your online content accordingly. You do not necessarily need to delete your wall posts or take down pictures, but simply need to change your privacy settings so that your public profile is professional while you’re friends can still connect with you as they usually do. The best starting point is to remove network access to your pictures and wall posts. If a boss or someone you want to impress Facebooks you, you can also create custom settings to limit their ability to see anything other than your work history (for instance, once I got over the shock of being Facebooked by my mom, I changed the privacy settings so she couldn’t see the PG-13 wall posts between my girlfriend and I). Facebook has created the technology to adapt your profile for all contexts, but you have to take the time to properly utilize them.
For you older and likely newer users of Facebook, the thing to remember is that Facebook is not LinkedIn. Your potential employer has your resume and cover letter, so rather than making your profile an opportunity to reiterate your credentials, utilize the space to reveal dynamic qualities about yourself. If you have a blackbelt, speak Italian, or volunteer with a community organization, this is a great space to showcase it. However, remember that unless you change your privacy settings, such details as marital status, sexual orientation, age, and other information illegal for your potential employer to ask becomes readily available.
The Takeaway: Untag the pictures of yourself drinking to the brink of consciousness, add your work experience, and review your privacy settings. While Facebook has been used by countless people to gain employment, I personally know of several people being rejected solely based on their Facebook profile’s content. Similarly, for those of you employed, you may want to rethink your privacy settings as well.
The Web Uncovered