Social Media Tips for Job Candidates

After the recent news of prospective employers asking for job candidate’s Facebook passwords, it makes sense that those searching for a job may be a little concerned about what their social media profiles say about them.

But according to an article called “Social Media Secrets from Hiring Managers,” by David Mielach, a BusinessNewsDaily staff writer, a new survey reveals that 65 percent of hiring managers who checked social networks did so to see how job candidates presented themselves while 51 percent wanted to determine whether the candidate was a good fit for the organization.

Only about 12 percent of hiring managers were looking at social media sites to find reasons NOT to hire a candidate.

Mielach writes that the most common strike against candidates was posting inappropriate or provocative pictures online. Information about drinking or drug use, poor communication skills, bad-mouthing a prior employee, making a discriminatory remark and lying about qualifications on social media were other reasons for not hiring a candidate.

Some things that helped job candidates on social media sites were showing off their personality, conveying a professional image, providing background info, showing a wide-range of interests, displaying communication skills, being creative and having people post references about you.

READ MORE: http://bit.ly/ISlmTE

Is Social Media Marketing a "Bust" for Your Company?

The term “social media marketing” isn’t a new term. But many small and medium-sized businesses aren’t entirely sure how to effectively take advantage of social media. Success story after success story prove that some companies are doing it right. However, according to an article by Chris Horton in “Businehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifss 2 Community,” the sad truth is that social media is proving to be a “bust.”

Horton says these are the main reasons social media marketing is a bust for most companies:

Weak Brand Advocacy – Businesses should use social media to build brand advocates. SMM gives companies reach, empowering brands to leverage their content and messaging more effectively than other marketing channels. MORE.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Failure to Drive Web Traffic – SM is the new promotion. And companies that do not integrate their website and SM are blowing a huge opportunity to drive web traffic. MORE.

Poor Lead Generation – The best source of a website lead is a recently-satisfied convert from one of your SM channels. But data from 2011 suggest that 63% of B2B businesses were not generating leads from SM. These companies were generating traffic, but they were not converting that traffic into leads. MORE.

Has social media marketing worked for you business? Share your success story with us!

Would you Give a Prospective Employer your Facebook Password?

In the last week, there has been a social media topic that has really exploded – should prospective employers be able to ask for your social networking passwords? It’s common knowledge that when applying for jobs, candidates should clean up their social networking profiles (e.g. removing photos of questionable behavior from Facebook; removing profanity from Twitter, etc.). And it should go without saying thhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifat employers are most likely not looking to hire someone who practices illegal or dishonest behavior and then publicly boasts about it. But should aspects of your Facebook, such as private messages, be scrutinized and viewed by a company who is interviewing you for a job? Does this infringe upon privacy rights? Many people and companies think so, including Facebook who recently issued a statement saying they don’t approve of such behavior. What do you think – would you give a prospective employer your Facebook password or give up on the job?

Here’s a good article for the argument against allowing companies to ask job candidates for their passwords. http://lat.ms/HhgDQg

B2B Marketing and Social Media

Business 2 Community recently released an article, How B2B Marketers can Embrace Social Media, in which author Dragan Mestrovic uses Sagefrog’s B2B Marketing Mix Survey to highlight the 4 ways companies can leverage social media:

Increase brand awareness
Humanize B2B companies
Establish as thought leader
Connecting with customers and prospects


The article also illustrates B2B social media using infographics, and discusses sites, strategies and tactics that B2B marketers are using in their business social media.

Sagefrog Marketing Group is Now Hiring

Sagefrog Marketing Group is Now Hiring

Looking for a paid, part-time summer internship? Sagefrog is NOW HIRING!

Intern Qualifications:
- Junior, senior or graduate student from a local college or recently graduated
- Marketing or communications major preferred
- GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Commute of less than one hour (we are located near the Doylestown train station)
- Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
- Strong writing and communication skills
- Fast learner with the ability to take initiative and work independently
- Must be available a minimum of 20 hours per week (May - August)

Responsibilities (including but not limited to):
- Support online distribution of agency and client press releases, case studies, etc.
- Research PR and media opportunities
- Support Brand Strategy discovery and research process
- Maintain agency and client contact lists and marketing databases
- Support testing and review of client marketing materials and websites
- Participate in weekly staff meetings

If you are interested, please submit your resume and a writing sample. To learn more, please visit http://bit.ly/GH8D5F.

Marketing Opportunities in Green

St. Patrick’s Day is this weekend. For most, this means green beer, festive attire, shamrock shakes and leprechauns. But according to Charles Gaudet, a marketing expert and founder of PredictableProfits.com, entrepreneurs may have another reason to celebrate this weekend — all of the valuable marketing opportunities.

In his article Small Business Marketing Strategies for St. Patrick’s Day, Gaudet says, that small businesses may want to develop some creative marketing strategies.

He offers several strategies, including:

“1. Using the popular term “luck of the Irish”, business owners could create contests for customers to try their luck at earning a free gift, significant discount or special prize. Another way might be to use: “St. Patrick’s Day is also your lucky day for a one-day only 10% off everything in our store!”

2. Entrepreneurs can offer a special one-time discount on everything that is green inside of their store.

3. Use the leprechauns “pot of gold” in a campaign such as: “Anyone that makes a purchase on St. Patty’s day will be entered to win a ‘pot of gold’.” (And define the prize).

4. Another creative marketing strategy is to offer a bulk discount using the four-leaf clover. “On St. Patty’s Day, we’re celebrating with a special ’4 Leaf Clover Sale’! Buy 3 and get the 4th free on any item marked with a four-leaf clover!

5. Creating green products is creative, but it’s not always possible. In this case, the entrepreneur can create a “Green With Envy” campaign. For example, “Make Your Competitors Green With Envy With a Brand New Marketing Campaign Created By Us!”"

source: Small Business Marketing Strategies for St. Patrick’s Day by Charles Gaudet, http://bit.ly/wyYUXc

Pinterest: Is it Right for your Brand?

If you haven’t joined Pinterest yet, you’ve certainly heard about it. While the obvious draw is for consumers to “pin” their favorite products, the newest social media platform has marketers wondering how “pinning” can affect brands. As you can imagine, there are potentially a host of benefits for having your brand pinned and re-pinned. But what are the best methods? Is becoming familiar with Pinterest truly beneficial to your brand?

Read this article from Forbes titled “Four Pinterest Marketing Tips” and determine for yourself.