LinkedIn and Branding: Facebook Falls Short.

It's not who I am underneath... but what I do... that defines me. - "Batman Begins" (2005)

When I think of Facebook or LinkedIn, I have a vague image of a two-sided coin in my mind. This is quite similar to how people function in their everyday lives. An individual may behave a certain way at home or with their peers compared to when they are at work and in a truly responsibility-minded mode.

Facebook has become a social, yet very personal, place. Fortunately or unfortunately, many people believe it okay to post or say certain types of things without fear of consequence. As a result, people will post about their weekend, their love life, their workplace, etc. While most have their privacy settings fine-tuned so that not much of these intimate life details leak out, others have not thought that far ahead. As a result, a prospective employer may decide to check out a person's Facebook profile and find something that does not agree with their ideals. As such,  personal information can be used to the detriment of an individual, even if they conduct themselves very reasonably in impersonal situations. This is not, however, to discount the issue that certain things can adversely affect someone's reputation. Because of this, Facebook cannot and should not be permitted to become a professional tool except for advertising and other similar activities.

LinkedIn has transformed from its initial role as a job search-centered website to a career-oriented social network. What does this mean? Users have the opportunity to socialize with friends, coworkers, family, and even prospective coworkers. News stories can be shared, as can most other website URLs. However, individuals are encouraged more-so to share details more related to their work rather than their personal lives. This includes skills, hobbies, awards, etc. Anything that might showcase their value. As staff members of LinkedIn say themselves on the company blog, "Sharing great companies and products is an excellent way to demonstrate your expertise and knowledge, and it builds good will with your professional connections who value your opinion as a trusted resource."*

As alluded to earlier, people tend to lead double-lives - no they are not superheroes. The quote mentioned before really makes sense when you think about it. People can live a certain way, and that way should often remain in the shadows and not cast into light. However, people should be able to do their own thing, their own way, and as such let it define who they are to the world. It is sort of like switching a flashlight from its regular beam mode to lantern mode. They each have their respective duties.

So what does this mean for using LinkedIn? LinkedIn allows you to brand yourself and express just how you can be in a public, responsible, setting. You want to be allowed to show the world what you can do. Not only that, but you have so many opportunities to prove yourself, whether through sharing stories, commenting on them, reaching out to people you know in the workplace or even those in a place you want to be. After all, it really comes down to who you know.... not what you know.

*    http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/03/04/get-the-most-out-of-linkedin-company-pages/
**    http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/08/linkedin-professional-connections.html

QR Codes: How to increase someone's ability to remember YOUR product or service

Remember that time when you gave your contact information to someone you just met, asked them to give you a call when they had a moment, then found out weeks or months later that they had forgotten your name and to contact you? As technology begins to further embrace the responsibility we give it, priorities we once had diminish.

A more complex QR code containing a vCard with email address,
first and last names, and a useful website to visit (e.g. debloggingcs.blogspot.com)

The question is, do you want someone to remember YOUR brand? Let's face it, if you are showcasing a new product at a trade show or conference, there are literally thousands of people passing by your booth. You have a limited supply of hardcopy materials. Why not have posters with a special vCard QR code printed on them? vCards are a data structure formatted specifically for holding multiple fields of information. Say you are an international recruitment agent in India at a university recruitment fair. The best scenario is that every individual (or at least a significant portion of people) gets in contact with you for more information. You could give them a piece of paper in a digital age, but how long will it last? It is not worth nearly as much to them as their phones or other electronic devices. Imagine a downpour happening and the flyer you handed them crumpling and becoming soggy. Now suppose you can give them a piece of valuable information that they can keep on their person at nearly all times with a better survival rate. With the exception of their device dying (which can be remedied with the fact that cloud synchronization services are available to a large number of people now), they now have a reminder with them wherever they go. That one scan of the vCard QR code just gave them your international contact number, email address, recruitment website, and any other pertinent information. 

Additionally, QR codes in general are very accessible. For instance, imagine the aforementioned scenario. You might have a crowd of people at your booth and the best angle a newcomer has of your flyer is upside down or at a right angle*. They can still scan the printed code, which should be processed correctly unless the lighting in the area is not as good or their camera sensor is lower quality.

The bigger your footprint, the more noticeable you (and your brand!!) will be. The idea may seem cliché, but it actually makes more sense. For example if you are using a vCard QR code, you know that if one field is messed up (perhaps your website URL), the person who scanned it can easily research your name or business and find the website! The possibilities are really endless.

** Denso - Inventor of the QR Code. From QR Code Essentials whitepaper

Social Networking and Security. Keep your brand accessible and safe online.

For the Greater Good? Social Media in all its Glory as a Double-Edged Sword

Social networks are only now becoming a fully-realized factor in the means of presenting a brand or image. As a result, the benefits of doing so are being weighed against the detriments.

Take a recent example. Life's Good (AKA "LG") published "Reality or Ultra Reality?", an approximately two minute video clip, on YouTube two days ago (on September 3rd). In just roughly forty-eight hours, it has already earned at least one and a half million views*. LG successfully produced what is now called a "viral" advertisement. The commercial is as innocent as most on television, but has a funny story to it. Hilarious enough that the video is being shared across many different platforms, including Facebook and Tumblr to name a couple.

Scenes from LG's viral video

This single instance of viral marketing shows how useful the technique has become in the last decade or so. Social networks allow for a rapid spread of information. An advertisement that goes over very well with its online audience can dramatically increase the respect given to its brand. Whether or not the product LG is advertising really does well has no significance - it has likely gained more subscribers to its YouTube channel as well as "likes" for any of its global pages that have shared the video's URL.

When a business wishes to produce some kind of viral media in order to hype up a product or service, they can choose to use special audience-targeting features depending on the platform they are using, whether it is Facebook, Twitter, or another. For example, Facebook can be fed an age range, geographic location, or gender preference when creating an advertisement for a business' page. Facebook already takes some information from the average user's profile and personal information. Perhaps parsing an individual's list of favorite music artists or novel writers. However, this has come under fire in recent years because of the possibility that a person's privacy is being intruded upon. The Los Angeles Times reported on September 5th that Facebook would be holding off on analyzing and possibly using its users' profile photos for more marketing potential.

Facebook's Landing Page for Advertising

The main issue here is that while businesses can effectively reach a large audience, they can also harm their audience. Advertising a new product or service can create positive hype, but if that advertising can be linked to a single user of the chosen platform, then such an issue can prove to be a detriment to the brand. Individuals have rights to their privacy and whether or not they would like advertisements specifically tailored to their interests. If Coca Cola's logo is found in an analyzed profile photo, should that give Facebook the right to deliver Coke advertisements directly to the person who owns the profile?

Viral marketing has become more of a personal tool in that it is meant to be disseminated by the people and for the people. Traditional advertisements are much more targeted, which again leads to possible personal life intrusions. The key issue today is how best to utilize the two while still leaving a brand untarnished. This makes a substantial amount of sense seeing as how 55% of home internet users use social networking sites and 48% share content found online**. Because of this delicate balance between proper and improper use of social media platforms, businesses need to be sure to respect their audience and not simply objectify them.


*YouTube videos' view counts do not update immediately. The given number is recorded at the time of this writing.
**Home broadband use has increased from roughly 1 hour per month in 1995, to more than 15 hours per month in 2000, to almost 29 hours per month today, as consumers find more valuable applications and content online. // Almost two-thirds of the time users spend online is focused on communication, information searching, entertainment or social networking. (broadband.org)