Conducting a Search, 3 Things to Consider

Whether you are looking for a high level candidate, or to find a new apartment, search is the way to go. You rely on search when it's something you are looking for, and also when others are doing the looking - with the answer preferably to be your product or service.

In search, you may feel that more choice is a good thing, when in fact less is more - as in more precise and in saving time and effort. True, sometimes you stumble upon an interesting bit while you sort through information, but most of the time, finding exactly what you're looking for is golden.

For those of you who rely heavily on data bases and search to be found - for a job, for an apartment, or even for an experience - consider these 3 things:

1. Word of mouth - and therefore relationships - is still a very powerful system. You cannot game, engineer, optimize yourself onto relationships. You must have them, over time. Except for now these natural relationships are integrated with the online word of mouth. It's about search, but also about impressions at those search points. Recommendations matter.

2. Exact match for something still means a human is involved to determine fit. There are just some clues, like culture and preference that are too subtle for an engine or an algorithm to get. A professional who has been in countless situations like yours gets there first. Experience matters.

3. Results are subjective and situational. What you find depends not just on what you're looking for, but how you filter the results given the time and resources available. I'm inclined to think that there is room for higher personalization in search. With one caveat - context matters.

I agree with Mike, people seem to be programmed to feel that the more choice they are given the more power and control they are receiving - even though it usually ends up confusing them and slowing the process. Less is more. Integrated is better.

When different coordinates meet in one point, your search is yielding better results. For example, this happens when two people recommend the same candidate for a job who a third person inside your company happens to know well and who has developed a relationship with the very recruiter filling the job.

Search is better when it's coming together, rather than when it takes you into several directions. What can you do today to start integrating recommendations, user experience and contextual marketing into your digital properties?

[the future of Internet search: mobile version as designed by Mac Funamizu]

Comments

[Brian DR1665]

This post gets the gears turning...

I'm envisioning those in need of talent first consulting their networks. Thanks to technology, social networks are more diverse than ever before and these connections can shift the referral component of the selection process to the beginning of the hiring process rather than being almost an after thought. What's more, rather than contacting individuals chosen by the candidate (with their best interests in mind), those with a sincere interest in helping the individual or organization will base their referrals upon the actual needs of the position and corporate culture.

It might not even be necessary to come right out and say, "We're looking for someone to [whatever]." Given healthy relationships with contacts both personal and professional, sharing the need in conversation might just lead to someone offering to help. Wouldn't it be nice to have a short list of likely qualified candidates prior to having the need?

Then again, this could lead to the same sort of bureaucracy we've come to expect from politicians, which effectively keeps fresh faces from being considered or even heard about. Even further, supposing there were individuals not connected due to their economic situation or geographic location, they might miss out, leading to an inequality of sorts, but perhaps those not connected wouldn't be likely to be most qualified either.

I'm pretty sure I'm not 100% aligned with the post today, Valeria, but it struck a chord with me; playing up some of the sociological aspects of social media and professional networking. Thought I would share.

[Valeria Maltoni]

I'm a big proponent of working with people you want to work with. I'm also a huge fan of networks highlighting who is collaborative in both doing the work, and taking the credit for it. It all depends on who filters the information, though, as you point out.

My "about you" page idea came from a research that highlights how many are not naturally connective or networked. I created the page to give more people the opportunity to speak about themselves and network.

Good thinking here, Brian. Thank you.

[Rachel Burkot]

Even though there's a huge emphasis on all that the internet can do today, I still very much agree that personal relationships are far from dying out. For the past 2 months I have been looking for a job, and my most promising leads have come from networking. Although I have been searching online job boards as well, I'm not getting nearly the response rate I desire because there is no direct human interaction involved there. Networking and relationship-building is clearly the way to go - not just for job-hunting, but for everything!

[Mike]

Valeria,

Great article, I enjoyed it. Thanks for the mention.

Mike

[Barry A. Martin]

Hey Valeria,

hope it's not too far off topic for you, but this post also got me thinking about Richard Florida and Dan Pink's thoughts on what skills WON'T be outsourced in the future.

Recommendations, UX Design, and contextual marketing require a soft touch, sincerity, and even empathy.

This also makes me think about the decline of the newspaper industry and the debate raging over the value of editorial expertise.
The broader question seems to be whether access to more information is better than filtered access.

Anyway, to get back to where I think you intended to go with this, sounds like old fashioned brand strategy–making a genuine effort to build relationships where your customers are.

The only differences are that Social Media platforms are helping (good and bad) conversations happen faster, and the access to and ease of publishing is giving us access to insightful expertise (like dpreview.com) from other than marketing sources.

Transparency and dis-intermediation are upon us. Ask a travel agent. Ask a (savvy or singed) politician.

And, finally, the answer.
1. Make sure your product doesn't suck. If it does, you may want to start over because it's a tougher slog to market something people don't prize. And there are always bigger companies doing it–it's their specialty–especially in this economy.

2. Focus on a value niche–who could genuinely benefit from your offering?

3. Don't Tell them about it, do something for them that makes the case. (Eg: Fiesta Farms is an independent Grocer in Toronto w/a heavy ethnic and local agenda. We're working on their website. They've never told people about their focus, they spend all their resources trying to be better at it. Search them in your social media dashboard to hear what fans say–yes, an independent grocer has fans). Ideally in a way that makes them want to talk about it, even better if it makes the media want to talk about it.

4. Make the effort to serve them usefully the focus of your ongoing marketing strategy.

That's what we're trying to do. It's also what we sell to our clients. They range from big dogs like Bell Canada and Sympatico to local heroes like Fiesta and the Gladstone, and we all seem to be doing well by it.

Hope the ideas were helpful to someone

B

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Rachel - the biggest technology humans add is the ability to interpret information. What you search for is often not a direct match of what you ask - it's one of the possible outcomes. The human brain is exceptional at figuring those connections out by going for the match vs. the computer system that uses the process of elimination. Good luck with your job search and let us know if we can help.

@Mike - thank you for stopping by.

@Barry - Florida and Pink go together (couldn't help but make the connection with the pink flamingos in Florida :) Good connection between empathy and contextual marketing, thank you. In your point 3 I would add help them do something with each other. Definitely ideas worth exploring and testing!