Social Media Recruitment Tactics to Score the Best Talent

Today’s version of word-of-mouth marketing is social media. Social media is a way for words (good or bad) to be spread exponentially faster with exponentially more people. While this reality comes with pros and cons, when used correctly, it can be leveraged to serve your business in significant ways. For example, there are a variety of social media recruitment tactics that can help you attract and retain the best talent!

Know Your Options

There are a number of useful platforms for attracting and recruiting talent: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, SnapChat… Whichever you choose to use, be aware of the opportunities they offer for recruitment tactics, as well as the drawbacks associated with each:

• • Facebook: A social networking site focused mostly on personal content, businesses can also leverage the business to customer (B2C) marketing components of the platform. Facebook casts a wide net regarding reach, so it can be challenging to target exactly the right audience for what you’re looking for. Recruitment tactics like targeting local advertising and smart organic content generation, can make Facebook a good, inexpensive tool to boost awareness of your need for quality talent.

• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a platform that’s designed to connect people in similar industries, based on work and career. This “professional version” of Facebook helps you review and search the previous work experience of potential hires in the form of an online resume and references archive. While this platform offers some of the more expensive ad space out there, you can create blog-like posts to share with the LinkedIn community and drive more traffic to your website to increase awareness of opportunities you’re offering. You can also purchase a premium account for more controls.

• Instagram: Instagram is all about pictures and videos. Using Instagram is good for showcasing work environments, employee spotlights, personality-driven job descriptions, etc. There is some paid advertising available here (similar to the Facebook ad platform), but for the most part using Instagram is easy and free! You’ll want to include a link to your website in your Insta bio, though, since you won’t be able to provide links in your photo/video captions.

• • Twitter: A little goes a long way on Twitter as your posts can be only 140 characters long. However, there is a TON of content on Twitter, so job prospects can easily overlook your content. You can buy ads on Twitter, although they are a little pricey. Use the platform to plug job postings located on your website. Additionally, create relevant hashtags to help your posts show up in user searches for information, such as #jobsinHuntsville or #needajob.

• YouTube: YouTube is a video platform that lets users subscribe to channels they like and search for videos that may be of interest to them. YouTube videos are always included in Google search engine results, so if you are capable of creating quality recruitment videos, be sure to work this opportunity to your advantage. However, if your videos are poor quality or fail to represent standards of your company well, you may risk deterring potential talent, rather than attracting them.

Have A Polished Presence

One of the key ways that potential hires research a company is through social media. Be aware of the image that your presence presents online. If you want to hire quality talent, you’ll need to ensure that the quality of content that you’re sharing and promoting on your pages will lead viewers to the conclusion that you’re a quality company! Simple details, such as correctly spelled words and professionally phrased posts, comments, and phone scripts, along with the appreciation and recognition of employee performance, the celebration of current company awards and accomplishments, and the attractiveness of your job postings should be trademarks of your recruitment tactics and social messaging.

Have You Heard… ?

Use the built-in analytical tools of each social media channel to better see who is interacting with your brand and which topics are the most appealing to your audience. By studying these interactions (including likes, followers, views, comments, shares or messages) you can tailor and target your marketing and engagement to gain better traction with your followers.

Share Your Stories

Video posts are a popular type of social post that garner more attention and allow you to showcase your personality. Using the “Stories” function on Instagram, you can post short videos that last for only 24 hours. This can be a useful tool for posting highlights from company events and outings or brief employee and staff introductions. These recruitment tactics help potential hires get a “feel” for the company and the types of personalities that he or she may be working with.

Make Personal Connections

Social media platforms generally offer direct messaging capabilities. This is an important feature to keep an eye on because more and more people are utilizing this mode of communication. People are especially using social media to ask questions regarding potential employment opportunities. Although their questions may initially feel slightly out-of-place, depending on your industry, this is an approach that is becoming increasingly common. If you’re interested in pursuing the inquiry further, be sure to reply quickly and have clear instructions regarding your preferred next steps in the process.

Finders, Keepers…

One key account setting that can assist you in recruiting talent quickly is found in enabling location settings on your social media. Location settings allow you to better target geographical areas by reaching people within your zip code or other defined area. If you need recruitment tactics that can help you connect with people who might be able to become employees on short notice versus those who live a thousand miles away, this is a good place to start!

Be Social to be Successful

If you’re using the various recruitment tactics available on social media to attract talent, you’ll find there are many ways to go about doing so. According to the 2016’s Global Recruiting Survey, the average recruiter must engage 282 candidates in order to secure FOUR that will come in for an interview. Set your team of recruiters up for success with the best calling and follow-up tools available – Connect with Call Logic to sign up for a free trial of a power dialing system today!