Engagement

I have had some success at social media marketing since my earlier blog post.  The type of marketing that I do is different from most other types of marketing in that I do not sell a product or service.  I recruit interviewers for a market research and public opinion research firm.  Still, I am in the online marketplace offering something in exchange for something else.

My supervisor told me a few weeks ago that my recruiting efforts through Facebook and Google+ plus were a good idea, and that they had produced some good results, but that they were not enough.  We have several large projects that need to be completed by the end of the year.  So, I got busy again.  We were slow over the summer.  During that time I built my networks on Facebook and Google+ and worked at practicing engagement.  I Liked and +1ed comments and pictures.  I engaged in discussions about some of these posts.  I remember spending most of a morning arguing with Facebook friends about President Obama’s “You didn't build this” comment.

The engagement paid off.  I got my first Google+ referral as a result of sharing a blog post on Google+.  I sent emails to several Facebook friends.  Here is what I sent them:

Saperstein Associates recently started a very interesting and worthwhile project.  It must be done sooner than I expected so that we can start on several other interesting and worthwhile projects.

I need to recruit a few more people to fill our phones through the holiday season.

Please take a look at the link below and let me know if you can help out and make a little extra money over the next few weeks.  If not, please pass the link along to anyone you think might be interested.

Thanks for your help.

John

http://www.sapersteinassociates.com/default.asp?contentID=514

Not everyone responded, and not all of those who responded were able to become interviewers, but the email campaign resulted in several good hires.  I got a phone call from a Facebook friend about an hour after I posted my letter to the editor of the Columbus Dispatch.

We could still use a few more interviewers, especially for our Saturday and Sunday shifts.  Please give me a call if you are interested.

John C. Stevens

Saperstein Associates

(614) 261-0065

jstevens@sapersteinassociates.com

Social Media in Market Research

I read about social media marketing, and have some experiments going.  I recruit part time telephone interviewers for a small market research firm.  My experiments involve using my personal Facebook page and Google+ page.  I have also placed ads on local college job boards.

I still have more experimenting and learning to do.  My goals going into it were to avoid spending money on advertising in the local newspaper or online forums.  I also wanted to avoid advertising on Craigslist.  The volume of the responses through the college job boards, Facebook and Google+ has been much less than the responses we have seen from Craigslist ads, but the quality of the applicants has been much higher.

I am usually quite skeptical of coincidence.  That is why it surprises me that some of the people who have applied for jobs over the summer have been people who did not respond to any advertisement.  One person worked for us three years ago, one person ten years ago and another person worked at the firm 18 years ago, before my time.  Another person lives in the neighborhood and wants to practice his interviewing skills as part of his education in the social sciences.  Perhaps these people heard through the grapevine that we were hiring.  They heard that I sent emails and posted ads from other people.  Perhaps it is coincidence.

All of this gives me the impression that any kind of effective social media marketing will be an adjunct to word of mouth advertising.  Facebook and Google+ can make the process more convenient, but having something that people want and a good reputation are what gets people to pick up the phone or come in the door.

This leads me to believe that the same principals apply to conducting research via social media;  Facebook and Google+ may make the process more convenient, but someone will still have to make sure that a sample is representative of a population and phone calls will still have to be made to ask people to participate in surveys.  The survey might be on a Facebook page, but interviewers will need to call people to direct them to that page.  The chat function may be used to clarify responses to open-ended questions.  That part may be fun.