L'Oreal searches for young employees on Facebook

Beauty companies are already using social networking sites for their marketing potential but they are now looking to exploit their recruitment potential.

Alongside groups set up to celebrate its brands are pages such as 'L'Oreal at Imperial College' and 'L'Oreal Summer 2008 Interns'.

Targeting graduates Drawing in young and well-educated members, Facebook is a useful site from which to target talented graduates looking for careers in the beauty industry.

Furthermore, unlike conventional advertising, marketing on sites like Facebook and MySpace is extremely cheap and allows participants to notify one another about interesting events and opportunities.

L'Oreal is not the only company to have recruitment orientated groups set up on Facebook with other international firms such as Ernst & Young and Areva also looking for graduates on the site.

Advertising tool Facebook has already proved to be a useful advertising tool for certain companies who have developed significant internet following.

Estee Lauder-owned MAC Cosmetics has several groups on Facebook all with significant membership figures, including MAC Addicts which has 7,942 members.

Hundreds of them have posted messages on the group's wall sharing tips and opinions on its products and discussing upcoming releases.

Potential hazards Although social networking sites present opportunities for marketing professionals they can in some cases be detrimental to brand image.

Visitor numbers to Facebook groups established by companies are often low and some groups are even created to attack firms and spread urban myths about products.

Among the potentially damaging groups on Facebook were "Back in the day L'Oreal kids shampoo lied about their 'No Tears' statement" and "Johnson and Johnson: A greedy corporate giant."