Harnessing Social Networks for Career Building

Everybody is doing it.  As a mom, that’s not something that is usually influential to me and my response can be “so” to anyone who says that, especially my kids.  However, in this case the fact that everyone who is anyone is using social networks for job search and building their brand is an extremely important point to take in.  No longer do we only have the option of using Monster.com, the equivalent of a bulletin board in a big cafeteria, but social networks now provide us with the opportunity to build our own brand and give potential employers more insight into who we really are and the value we will bring to their organization outside a simple two page resume.  There are tons of videos on YouTube helping job seekers learn how to use the tools available today such as LinkedIn, Indeed.com, Twitter, etc.  However, they all miss the most important information in the equation.  What goes into those tools.  What we have to say about ourselves is far more important than the tools themselves.  In addition, most of those sites also have tutorials somewhere within the site on how to best use their services.  The lack of information on how to brand yourself is a bit unnerving.  I’ve been helping Fortune 100 brands market themselves online for more than 13 years now so I’m taking that experience to talk about personal brands here.

We are all brands and need to look at how we present ourselves that way.  This is not just something for celebrities like Madonna (master of her own brand management and reinvention) or corporate executives such as Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.  Hiring managers don’t make decisions just based upon a piece of paper with a list of experience on it.  They look at the whole person and what Google has to say about their digital reputation.  These are extremely tough economic times and branding so branding is more important than ever.

I’ve outlined a few simple steps to help ensure that your digital brand says what you want it to:

1. Google Yourself. Truly one of the first things I do when I receive a candidate’s resume is head straight to google.com and enter their name.  Since I work in digital anyone who wants to join my team should show up with a positive footprint.  What does Google say about you?

2. Research! The internet is all about information and the sheer volume can be overwhelming, however, you must be prepared to do the research in order to find the best positions to fit your career goals.  Indeed.com is not just an automated search agent that will retrieve job postings that fit criteria you set, but it has developed an incredible tool set for research that will help you to stay on top of market trends, salary expectations, skill sets in demand, and background on companies of interest.  The last thing you want to do is continue to hunt for a position in a dying segment of the market.  Were you recently laid off from an automotive supplier?  Review your skill sets and rebuild your brand to focus on how those skill sets can apply to other industries that are rising in the market.  Indeed can help you complete your research and give you ideas as to how to approach the content of your profile with hot trends and key terms.

3. LinkedIn.com @ 100%. You should ensure that your LinkedIn profile is at 100% completion which includes an accurate summary overview of who you are (your brand) and what value you bring to the table.  This should include key search phrases that recruiters will use when searching for candidates to fill their open positions, your profile picture (we do like to see who you are), and a description for each position you’ve held.  Its also very helpful to be a part of relevant industry groups and those groups of personal interest so the hiring company can see more about you and the better they feel they know you, the more qualified a lead you will be.  Even more important, when you receive the name of someone at a company you are talking to or may be interviewing with, definitely get to the web for some personal research.  You may find something in common to help spark a connection and conversation.  I once was asked in a phone interview what I thought about Nike’s digital footprint.  That person didn’t know that while on the call I had his LinkedIn profile up in front of me and could see that his last position was with Nike’s digital ad agency.  My answer was informed and kept the conversation flowing in a positive direction.  Your 100% complete profile, connecting with groups, asking for recommendations, and doing research will serve as a solid foundation in your job search as you’ll be able to re-use this content for employer and other job search sites.  Use LinkedIn as your home base of operations and then spread your profile from there.

4. Blog Your Expertise. I’m not saying everyone should start a blog, but if you want to be seen as a leader, thinker, and relevant in today’s market you may want to consider starting one up.  Don’t worry about posts being perfect and be sure you’ve got thick skin.  Keep it positive, especially when responding to comments from readers.  Its all too easy in the social space to be a critic so let people have their say and try to respond only to their real question leaving any emotion on the table.  I like WordPress as my tool of choice because it also integrates well with LinkedIn profiles making it seamless for potential employers to know that I’m  serious about the content.  I’ve had a career that is under a tremendous amount of stress and time commitments so my blog sat lonely and dormant awaiting my return.  I’ve now set a goal that my posts will be short, informative, and more of an aggregate posting for what I read that has impact in my space.  In short, I’m doing it for me and if others learn from it that will be a huge bonus.  Ensure that the topic of your blog is not just your expertise, but your passion and keep it alive.

Clearly these four things are just a start to your efforts in using social networks for career building and personal branding, but you need to start somewhere and these are the main areas that will feed other areas.  Searching for a new position and branding yourself are time consuming activities at first.  If you’ve been laid off you must approach this process with as much energy as you did your full time job.  If you’re still working, then ensure that your digital reputation stays current because in this economy no one is safe and the days of secure jobs are long gone.  I once heard the phrase “If you work hard enough, good luck will find you.” and I have to say that I don’t believe in good luck, but I do believe we make our own opportunities.  Let’s get to work.

The Business of Advertising – Wanna Bet?

Sandy Schadler - Digital Strategist

I’m not one for betting.  I think I would have more fun actually driving through an urban neighborhood and throwing money out my car window than putting it on a table of chance.  I was asked to think of where I would bet the advertising business is heading in five years.  As much as I dislike the thought of being committed to a single view on that topic, this conversation is my attempt to place my bet on the guiding directives, not necessarily a straight answer to the question.

Broadband has catapulted advertising forward in the 21st century with the consistent release of new and emerging channels.  I couldn’t wait for the opportunity to work with full blown video and real time connections and now I have to deliver…in a very big way.  These channels are not my father’s networks built on single malt scotch and stogies.  No, I’m talking about multi-billion dollar, digital entities run by twenty and thirty-somethings who thrive on mojito’s and Red Bull to constantly come up with what’s next for my sleepless eyeballs to consume.

The need for advertising to reach its target audience hasn’t changed, but the target is on the move. Consumers and their personal devices are shifting advertisers’ focus on mobile and digital into the mainstream with metrics unmatched by the traditional outlets.  The audience is still glued to audio and video, but forevermore it will be delivered on a screen size that fits in my palm.  In five years, I expect all content to be five minutes or less and delivered preferably via a pair of hot looking sunglasses with A/V enjoyed up close and personal.  Advertising agencies and their eager yet overwhelmed clients, will have more personal data on my likes, dislikes, and buying habits than the FBI, IRS, and my mother combined requiring 1:1 communications for any message to resonate.

With a plethora of choices vying for the same advertising spend, the determination of the best approach for my clients campaigns with the greatest ROI will still be more “old school” than you might think.  According to a study delivered by the Wharton School of Business there are three conclusions to be drawn on the approach to marketing spend and advertising effectiveness that I believe always has and always will hold true.

First, there is no direct correlation between marketing dollars invested and the results gained in any kind of simple mathematical equation. Which means we can’t expect to provide our clients with an easy answer as to whether or not the budget is justified for our campaigns, but digital channels are getting us closer as we track consumers in ways that are starting to keep me up at night.  The current chatter online to determine ROI for social media drives the need for the tools to follow “me” around and pay attention to what I am consuming like never before while tracking closely to find my offline actions that might correspond to the advertising exposure.

Second, Wharton reports that successful campaign results are linked directly to the message and if our target audience is emotionally attached to that message it will improve sales and brand affinity. That’s kind of a “duh” statement from the brilliant minds at the school.  However, with an endless expansion in digital advertising space, we must remember that the chosen delivery mechanism should not distract the target from the receiving the intended message, but enhance the experience.  Nothing is more important than the story and determining how to grab the interest of the target consumer with the heart of it all.

Third, once our target audience has accepted a message, then consistent repetition of this same message in different and unique forms will generate positive results and deliver on client objectives, justifying more marketing spend with our firm. Myself, and the general population of consumers, are all developing A.D.D. (advertising delivery deafness) therefore campaigns with a consistent message is mandatory to reach any kind of consumer stickiness.  Current buzz-worthy campaigns incorporate product messaging in consistently new ways to be more personal and targeted, less corporate or general.

So if I would bet on anything, it is that I must launch my clients’ passion and stories into varied platforms of highly-personalized, digital conversations with their target audience because the short attention span consumer is truly the one who decides if I have been successful…and if I’m truly getting through the clutter they will tell their friends.  You can bet on that.

ROI for Social Media

Please take the nearly 11 minutes of time necessary to watch the ROI on Social Media discussion in the video here.  Katie Paine breaks it down beautifully in this chat with Jason Falls.

Sandy Schadler - Digital Strategist

ROI – Return on Investment

ROI – Risk of Ignoring

ROI – Real Online Interaction

ROI – Reach Out Idiot

Well…ok…I take full credit for that last one because if your business is advertising, then you have got to start reaching out to your consumers where they are.  They’re finding each other to talk about you, online.  Social media is not just a buzz word.  Its the new way of life for those of us who’ve been living online for a few years.  Updating Facebook, Twitter-hopping, and the five different email accounts I have are just a few of the digital connectivity actions I personally engage in during the day.  There are many, many more. In this discussion I won’t spend time debating what your “R” should be for an equation, Katie does that in the video, but I want to provide real world examples of why you need to reach out and byte your customers in all the best possible ways.

I’ve had wish lists on Amazon.com for my kids seven years running with no signs of stopping.  Why would I?  Family that lives out of town can purchase, wrap, and ship exactly what my kids want right to my door from the comfort of their living rooms…and so can I.  Life in my house with four kids running around, including toddler twins, is just too busy to allow for stressful afternoons of wandering the mall aimlessly “shopping”.  If I physically step foot inside a retail store, then its urgent and I’m on a mission…seriously, move out of my way.  Otherwise, I am well acquainted with my UPS guy and I think my mail lady is annoyed with me because she always has to get out of the car at my house to drop armfuls of packages on my doorstep.  Hey, the post office has great deals for shipping so I use them first. The kicker to all this is that while I work in advertising, I am also susceptible to it. As cynical as I am, I will give kudos to colleagues who manage to sway me enough to check out their product and consider it for myself or my family, but beware!  As soon as I hit the web, I’m tracking down consumer reviews. I absolutely read the reviews and do not just count the stars (as I said, I’m cynical).  If other consumers find my fears and nail them, I will check out the “you might also like” options available to me and if THAT product has a better rating, I’ve just bought it.

For those “highly considered” purchases such as cars, houses, loans, and appliances the job is even more difficult for businesses.  Consumers are armed with all the facts they need before they step on the showroom floor.  I’ve led digital automotive advertising programs for more than a decade so I know more about cars than the average Joe and it amazes me that some car dealers still want to talk to my husband.  Of course, he lost my sale right that second and also had to endure the wrath of my chat with the manager.  What that dealer has to learn if he wants to eat is that like most Americans (male or female), I have already scoured the internet, read consumer and professional third party reviews, and mentally formulated a mix of data and consumer sentiment which will be my very own opinion thus narrowing my decision to kick the tires on only two or three vehicles.  For my laundry appliances, even with all the choices out there, I had already narrowed my selections down to two models of washers/dryers before the unsuspecting kid at Best Buy said hello. In truth, I had him at hello…including an immediate “no, thank you” to the extended warranty.

You’ve got to join the conversation and listen to what people are saying about you, but that’s not enough as you can’t remain passive.  If your business model does not include the ability or agility to alter your products and services based upon consumer insights, then you’ve got some serious business process redesign to tackle and do so right now.  Turn your customer service away from a passive model waiting for the phone to ring and activate it.  Reach out to them via a branded Twitter channel to answer their questions, offer live chat to handle issues right there where the sale is won or lost.  Stop the junk mail coming to my door (its a small improvement for my mail lady) and focus all that direct mail funding on direct consumer interaction.  Businesses must take digital anthropology seriously and utilize truly “now” consumer insights to formulate their objectives or address product inadequacies.  Research online by consumers is being augmented with consumer to consumer discussions about your products.  You’d better get those calculations going to figure out your own ROI and talk to them too.