Uncategorized | Level Up Your Social Identity

Hey everybody! I wanted to start out today by thanking everyone who has participated in discussion and given feedback. I enjoy reading over comments and getting ideas from my readers so I can provide the best relevant and useful material that will help you be successful in using social media as a tool to build your business. So thank you!

Ok! Let’s get started, so today I wanted to talk a little about something that I think is going to revolutionize the hiring process companies use for future applicants. Lately, in my social media marketing class we have been talking a lot about our LinkedIn profiles and how we can optimize them in a way that really benefits us when looking or applying to new jobs. So in today’s topic I want to discuss how companies are using social media basically as a tool to weed out and hopefully in the end hire employees. As social media is on the up and up a lot of businesses have jumped the bandwagon and started into this new realm of social media recruitment. Which for some of us can be pretty scary! I mean really, when was the last time you checked what was on you profile? Well, before you open a new tab to check all your social platforms let’s take a deeper look into this topic.

This infographic from Staff.com takes a closer look at social media and recruitment.

According to the inforgraphic 92% of companies are using social media in some part of the recruitment process. Whether that be to check up and see if you are a qualified candidate, post positions for hire, or make sure your not going to be a risk for the company. Either way, the odds your profile makes or breaks your chances to receive a job are almost guaranteed. Social media has become such a huge part of our lives, companies can learn a lot about who we are as people just by perusing our online profiles. Put yourself in the shoes of someone who is about to hire someone to work for their company. If you had a little crystal ball to see everything you wanted to know about that candidate would you use it? Of course you would! Companies are doing just that. Our online profiles being that magical crystal ball that gives them a look into our lives and who we are as people and more importantly future employees.

Something else the inforgraphic points out and something I want to stress is the importance of LinkedIn! For you that have no clue what I am talking about when I say LinkedIn. Immediately head over to Google.com and read as much as you can about creating a LinkedIn account and do it ASAP!!!! LinkedIn is on the forefront for companies seeking job applicants. I can stress it enough how important it is for people seeking a reputable job to be connected and networking on LinkedIn. According to the inforgraphic in 2012 93% of companies use LinkedIn. Thats almost double the amount that use Facebook and Twitter. On LinkedIn’s press website LinkedInPress they say “Two new members sign up to LinkedIn every second.” Below I have attached an image for those who are more visual learners.

I’m not making this stuff up or trying to promote LinkedIn for any personal gain. However, I believe LinkedIn is on its way to being how people find jobs. What am i saying it already is! The proof is in the pudding as they say, but I will let you make the call I am just here to point out where companies are and how they are using social media to find new and promising job applicants.

So what does all this mean for you as a job seeker? Get a LinkedIn account and like the inforgraphic says “for the love of all that is good, complete your profile.” Its not just LinkedIn though, companies still resort to other platforms in the recruitment process so as a person seeking employment make sure your profiles are professional and not saturated with a bunch of pics of you on the weekend out getting smashed.

Social media has become a very powerful tool in the world of business. It has opened up a lot of doors for smaller companies to start competing on the same level as some of these top ranking fortune 500 companies. A lot of these doors, which a mere 5 years ago would have otherwise not been accessible if not for social media. With the such little barriers to entry that are involved with social media almost any company can use it to their advantage. However, not only has social media been a huge benefit for companies, but it is also allowing customers to connect with businesses in a whole new way. One thing social media has changed in the realm of business is the increasing amount of brand awareness companies can achieve with such little to almost no costs. This is extremely important for smaller companies to get their name out there and start driving potential consumers to their products or services. Today I want to talk about how social media can help your company achieve a higher brand awareness and look at some examples and ideas you can use to achieve such possibilities.

The first step to achieving a higher sense of brand awareness is asking yourself “what problems am I or my company experiencing with marketing our brand?” Let’s take a look at a infographic done by NEXT Marketing Agency Inc.

According to this infographic 43% of companies are finding that they have little to no market place distinction what so ever. This means all the efforts these companies are putting in to making themselves known like Facebook posts, Twitter updates, Instagram pics, or what ever it might be; isn’t sticking with consumers. They just aren’t remembering what they read or who they read about. So your job as a marketer is to start garbing the attention of your target audience. Use things that might entice them to either read more, participate into a conversation or better yet consume your product/service. Let’s take Starbucks for example. One thing they are doing to attract customers and gaining brand awareness at the same time is through a new program called “Tweet A Coffee” . Tweet-a-coffee is a new way to send $5 Starbucks egifts to twitter friends and followers. This promotion is attractive to consumers and it is a great way to be remembered. Something of this nature finds a way to burn itself into peoples minds and the next time you go out for a cup a coffee you get that voice in the back of your head saying “Hey, why not go to Starbucks?” This is just one example though, you don’t always have to take it to this extreme. The main thing to remember as a marketer is to make sure to be memorable. Use well crafted wording that is not just easy to remember, but also is intriguing and gets people talking.

The next step or process of increasing brand awareness ties back into what I talked about in a previous post “Consumer Insight: Understanding the Wants and Needs of Your Target Market” and that is understanding your consumers and why they are connecting the way they are. Here is a graph I found over at Barnraisersllc.com in a post about building brands.

This graph shows what motivated consumers to “like” a certain brand on Facebook. This is helpful information for marketers because it provides insight about your consumers and what they are motivated by. Back to the Starbucks example, they obviously saw great results from their promotions because according to this graph 40% of consumers associate with brands because they are looking to receive discounts and promotions. So if Starbucks is giving them what they want of course they are going to stay loyal to their brand. Other than just loyalty, consumer insight also helps give you knowledge about what attracts consumers to your brand so you can grow your online identity. Sir Francis Bacon had it right when he said “Knowledge is the key to success.”

Now that we have be memorable, understand consumer behavior, next let’s move into enhancing your business identity. With this massive movement towards “going green”, we have seen a lot of companies changing their image to focus on being environmentally friendly and socially responsible. This is highly do to the impact a companies image has on the awareness consumers have about their brand.