What is Social Media Recruiting? Does my company really need it?
WE’LL TAKE THE SECOND PART OF THAT QUESTION FIRST...YES.
Almost 3 billion people worldwide are on social media. And that number is only going to keep going up. For recruiters and organizations competing for talent, It’s no longer a question of who uses social media (everyone) but rather how best to connect with that top talent through social media recruitment. Basically social media recruitment is engaging with potential talent through social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIN, Snapchat, Google+, etc.). Engagement can include job advertising, company culture marketing, direct messaging, and general employment brand projection via inbound marketing, just to name a few.
Launching a social media recruitment strategy doesn’t have to be as daunting as many people might think. Having a plan for your social media recruitment efforts is important, but keep it simple and appropriate for your company size and industry. Even If your company can’t support a dedicated social media recruitment team or person, you can still use all the best practices used by well-resourced social media recruiting pioneers.
1. SET CAKE-WALK GOALS AND STICK TO THEM
If you can only commit to one post and one platform per week, then make that your goal. If it’s more than you are doing now, then that’s improvement to be celebrated! If you want to reach higher, consider a scheduling application (like Hootsuite or Hubspot) that can manage posts across multiple platforms. Plans can be as low as $20 per month.
2. VISUALS, VISUALS, VISUALS
A picture is worth a thousand words, right?
TalentCMO team lunch
With most platforms imposing character limits, images and short videos are the way to go. Use any smartphone to snap some pictures from a company event, lunch on a regular day, or a group of smiling coworkers.
This has the dual effect of catching the audience’s eye and conveying your company culture.
A DIGITAL BADGE IS ANOTHER IMPORTANT VISUAL.
A simple graphic with a link to a specific opening (always make sure it is clear how to apply) or a general “We’re hiring!” does a great job branding your organization as a hiring organization. You can use Canva or any number of free online resources to create badges if you don’t have the graphics ability in-house. If you want to get fancy or have a need for graphic design support more broadly, companies like Designpickle provide you with dedicated and unlimited graphic design service for under $400 per month.
Apply Now, TalentCMO™ digital badge
3. USE #HASHTAGS TO BETTER TARGET YOUR AUDIENCE
A word about audience targeting...remember the premise of social media recruiting: everyone is on social media. Whether Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn (the list goes on), your ideal hires are there. They may not be looking for a job today, but by actively engaging your audience of product consumers, friends, family, employees, competitors, and everyone in their networks, you are reaching the folks you want to. This is the core of a pre-demand recruitment strategy. For those who may be looking right now, using a location (#dcjobs) or industry-based hashtag (#itjobday), particularly on Twitter and Instagram, can increase targeted reach. Check out a hashtag search tool for some ideas (hashtags.org) or simply try out some examples in platform-specific searches. You can also get fancy with sponsored ads or boosted posts to increase your reach.
4. FIGURE OUT WHAT WORKED BEST AND DO IT AGAIN
Analytics are helpful here. Posts that received the most views, shares, likes, impressions, etc., are considered to have higher engagement. Figure out what they had in common and do more of that!
If you can follow these 4 steps you will be well on your way to creating an effective social media recruitment program.
Written by: Allison Small, VP of Program Development and Execution, TalentCMO
Links and Other Interesting Stuff:
How does top talent perceive your employer brand? Click here to get your FREE 56-point professional audit of your digital employer brand as seen by candidates.
Check out this sweet Career Showcase (a standalone microsite built for candidates to show company's authenticity) that we built for one of our clients.
Need help with your social media recruitment? Contact us - we would love to help you out!