Why You Should SEO Your LinkedIn Profile

If you've been anywhere near these blog posts over the past few months, you'll know how valuable LinkedIn is as a recruitment tool. Indeed, as the number of Talent Acquisition Managers rise, there is a trend for them to use smaller headhunting and recruitment agencies that form closer bonds with their clients and work on a more exclusive basis. These smaller agencies (like PVR), instead of spending valuable capital on expensive bespoke databases that have to be constantly maintained an updated (a full time job in itself) - can use LinkedIn as their main database. LinkedIn self-updates and provides functionality over and above any recruitment database.  But it relies on you, as a potential jobseeker, to keep it up-to-date.

At PVR, we still have a database, but it's a fluid and straightforward process unlike the hulking, creaking old style bespoke databases that many of the larger recruitment firms still use. The problem with those old style databases is that their data is nearly always out of date, especially in fast moving environment like PR, where the average job tenure remains around the 2 year mark. In an effort to reduce manpower in their maintenance, they now often come with CV scanners that automatically pick out words from a CV. With some companies, you even have to upload the data online yourself, direct in to the database, to register with the firm. Of course, this fully relies on the CV to have all the right key words in it. These automatic systems will use these key words to produce a shortlist for a given role and will auto-email the people on it. Ever signed up with a large recruitment firm or job board and received lots of calls and emails regarding totally irrelevant jobs? That's why smaller firms like us don't use them, and rely more on personal engagement.

LinkedIn, by comparison, is more personal, reliable and up-to-date.

Therefore, ask yourself - have you used all the key words that describes your skills and what you do - the clients you work on and what sectors you cover?  Have you added skills to your profile?  Have you used the alternative ways to class your work? (An example might be buzz monitoring, social analysis and insights - all of which can mean the same thing). Even if you aren't looking for a job right now - I'm sure you'd rather be more visible to searches?  Remember than LinkedIn can be used to search, identify and contact skills matches for just 1st degree connections, as well as 2nd and 3rd degree potential contacts.

In the fast-paced, highly competitive market that we now have, having a relevant profile has never been more important.

The PR/ Marketing Consolidation: The Rise of Content

Last week PR week issued a story entitled "Wider remit for PR professionals in a touch job market".  The story is apparently based around what is clearly a release from business analysts Pearlfinders, that suggested two things. Firstly, that the number of senior in-house appointments in Q3 2012 has significantly fallen compared to the same period last year. Secondly, that within that group, the number of communications professionals shifting into CMO or integrated roles has risen by 6% to 8% - giving rise to the headline. So, the market is tough, and roles are becoming more integrated.

Unfortunately, and I have to say this, the figures quoted are laughable. With a tiny and data set of just 57 job moves the sample size is far too small to show any significance. Surely a research firm would know this? Furthermore, 8% of that population would equal 4.56 people. If the increase has been 6%, then last year it was 4.3 people. So if we round those to 5 and 4 people respectively, then 1 more person has taken an integrated role compared to last year. Hardly earth shattering. However, despite the dodgy figures in the article, some respected senior communications figures have shown their appreciation of the suggested trend, including SABMiller Comms Director Catherine May, and  Scott Wilson, UK CEO at Cohn & Wolfe - so we can appreciate that the trend outlined is real.

It was back in October 2010 that I first blogged about the PR/Marketing Consolidation, so it's no surprise that, two years on, this process is still being refined. Digital and Social have required the presentation skills and platform understanding of marketeers, married to the sales, message crafting and network growing abilities of  PR professionals. What this has produced is not some kind of Chief Comms/Marketing Office, but rather the Head of Content - a trend that has been very noticeable within PR consultancies over the last two years or so - including Metia, Bite and Edelman to name just three. Content Strategy is the new "integrated comms" - and a suggest having a look at the blog posts of Margot Merrill at Hot Design Studio who has run an excellent analytical series on the rise of content.

Indeed, it was Bill Gates who coined the phrase 'Content is King' way back in 1996!  A quick read of his article comes across as highly prophetic - which makes the rise of content look like part of a much larger trend, not some kind of market reaction. Indeed, what some people are referring to as web 3.0.