Facebook Graph Search: 2 Opportunities You're Currently Missing

If you weren't one of the lucky ones to get Facebook's Graph Search months ago, it's now officially released to everyone.

I just couldn't resist the temptation to give it a whirl.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg stated, "Graph Search is designed to take a precise query and give you an answer, rather than links that might provide an answer.”

Companies shouldn't put "Graph Search" in the corner. Not only will your consumers see unique results only to them, but it's a great resource companies can benefit from.

Graph Search easily allows companies to find and connect with people who share the same interests, will help you narrow down your buyer personas and find people taking photos of your products.

See what you're missing.

What You're Missing From Facebook's Graph Search

Who doesn't want personalized search results? Now that Facebook has released Graph Search to everyone, they're able to provide their users with personalized search results.

If you're like me and it takes you anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to pick a restaurant for dinner, try using Graph Search.

You can easily search for "restaurants my friends have been to".

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The results give you a list of restaurants that your friends like on Facebook each with a list of which friends like those restaurants. Who wouldn't love getting referrals from their friends? According to a Morpace Omnibus Report, "A whopping 68% of Facebook users say a recommendation from a Facebook friend would make them more likely to buy a specific product or visit a certain retailer."

Think about your experience searching for something on Google. Upon searching for restaurants in my area, I mostly find links to websites and some reviews. To put it simply, I trust my friends opinions more, especially when ten or more of them have liked the same place.

That is just one of the many examples of how businesses can benefit from the new function. Additionally, there are two huge ways that businesses can use Graph Search as a research tool.

1. Understanding Buyer Personas

You should already have a firm grasp on your buyer personas.

Are you trying to tailor your content to your "ideal customer"? Besides knowing very general characteristics about them, it can be hard to dig deeper and really develop a connection with them.

With Graph Search, you will know be able to gather more information about who you're speaking to.  If your target audience is c-level executives, you can easily conduct a search for executives in your area.

Not only can you segment these people by state but you narrow it down even further by their gender, age range, education, hometown, current city, and many more.

To develop content that is targeted to a large portion of your audience, look for common traits. Maybe you've noticed that a significant portion love listening to Beyoncé. Use that knowledge to create content around it. Now you might be thinking, my product or service has nothing to do with Beyoncé. Think outside of the box. Here's a blog article we recently wrote on inbound marketing lessons learned from the pop charts.

Graph Search will also help you to understand what type of content your target audience engages with. Your overall goal should be to create remarkable content your audience will want to share. Unfortunately, they aren't going to share it if it's not related to their interests. What if your audience prefers funny cat videos? Add a little humor to your content. Don't be afraid to be funnier. Showcase your personality in your content.

You might have to read between the lines on this one, but find out what type of content they like to read. If you're using HubSpot's marketing software this is easy. Determine which post have the most views or offers with the most downloads.

Also, with Graph Search you can identify what pages they like. Are your fans watching Jimmy Kimmel Live? This could be a good indication that they stay up late. You might want to try posting late at night to see if you generate more traffic. Are your "ideal customers" liking Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and other local coffee shops? If so, they might be coffee addicts. Maybe those individuals are up early, you could consider posting before 7am.

2. Scouting

Good talent can be hard to find.

If you are looking for new recruits use Graph Search.

Through Facebook's search features you can look for people who went to a specific college or individuals with degrees in  XYZ.

Making it easier for you to find people in your area that fit the qualifications, so you can fill your open positions. Maybe you're looking for a more senior level person, you could search for people in your area who currently hold the position you are looking to fill.

Are you looking for employees that share common personality traits? Whether you are looking for individuals whom are intelligent, ambitious, upbeat, confident, modest, or even detail oriented; you can now find these people through Graph Search. In a recent study out of the University of Cambridge, they showed that Facebook likes can predict personality traits.

For example people who like curly fries rated higher in intelligence, so as crazy as it sounds, if you wanted to hire smart people, you could look for people in your area who like curly fries, went to a certain college and have a specific degree. Yes, Graph Search will let you make that specific of a search query.

The news on Graph Search is user focused, but it does have important business implications. By integrating the new opportunities Graph Search provides, the new feature will become an asset to your business.