Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

“People love talking about things that make them happy—including their favorite products and brands.” (Marketing an Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 143) I believe this is very true, most people love talking about something that they love. Whether it be a brand, an activity, or event that happened. So I completely agree with hiring your customers as your employee, people will sell and promote a product that they love to use or that their family loves to use. We do this everyday and most of the time and we don’t even realize it. “Marketers select their brand ambassadors very carefully, based on customers’ devotion to a brand and the size of their social circles. They sometimes search blogs and online social networks to identify individuals who are already functioning as brand advocates. Once selected, the ambassadors are trained with real brand knowledge to go along with their passion for the brand. The ambassadors then tap into friends, family, groups, and broader audiences through personal conversations, blogs, live events, and online social media.” (Marketing an Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 143) I am a great example of this strategy, whenever we get a new product in at work I talk about it. If it is something that I don’t like or I feel I wouldn’t waist my money on, then I don’t usually try as hard to sell it. I don’t even talk about to my friends and if I do, it’s a very short conversation. “Others note that while LinkedIn contains a more comprehensive résumé database, candidates tend to value referrals from their connections on Facebook more.” (Joe Light) I can’t say I completely agree with this because it’s a good thing and a bad thing for both the future employee and employer. Most people are tagged or put things on Facebook that they really wouldn’t want their employer knowing or seeing. However, it is a good way for employers to really check out a candidate, not the best or most accurate information but it is information.