When you consider that 22% of the world’s population is on Facebook, LinkedIn features over 530 million profiles and 51% of Instagram users access the platform daily – it’s easy to see why social media is essential for businesses looking to market themselves online.
And while social media is useful for attracting potential customers, have you ever considered that it could also be used to recruit new employees?
Unlike the traditional route of finding candidates by posting on job boards, finding new employees via social media increases the likelihood of a good cultural match.
If someone’s already following a brand’s social media accounts, there’s a good chance that they align with the brand’s values, and are interested in their services. When recruiting from social media, you won’t have to ask the candidate what they know about your company – they’ll already be well informed.
Here are some of my favorite tips for attracting high-quality employees on social media.
Post Cultural Insights
Openly discussing your culture on social media is a great way to make your business more relatable. This can have a positive effect on potential clients who’re looking for trust indicators before they purchase, but recruitment candidates will also appreciate this.
Gary Vaynerchuk often remarks that he dislikes remote working arrangements, and in some of his YouTube videos, you can see a bustling open-plan office in the background. Certain people will be repelled by such a working culture, while others will be attracted.
The more information you can publicize on social media about your culture, the better your candidates will align with the ethos of your company. After all, no CEO wants to hire a new employee who has all the technical skills but doesn’t integrate properly into the company’s culture.
Post Images of Your Workforce
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, constantly posts images of his employees and applauds their accomplishments.
Any employee who values his or her career wants to work for a company that acknowledges achievements. No one wants to feel underappreciated.
Also, images of employees can provide an indication of what potential recruits should expect from their new colleagues. If a recruit’s looking for a creative role, yet all of the company’s employee images feature straight edged individuals wearing suits, they might decline the application (saving time for both you and the recruit).
Conversely, if a recruit can easily picture themselves amongst the workers, this can lead to an enthusiastic application.
Employee Advocacy
Everything you post on your official brand channels will be viewed with a bit of skepticism, and that’s to be expected – every brand wants to convey themselves in the best light.
However, you can increase the credibility of your social posts when you get your employees to contribute. Research shows that 52% of people trust a normal employee more than the CEO.
Encourage your employees to share your content and add their own insights. This can convey a sense of unity in the workforce.
In fact, posts shared by workers get 8X more engagement than posts shared by official brand accounts.
People may be distrustful of official posts, but when employees post their unbiased opinions of working for the company, this is treated with higher credibility.
Also, be sure to have your employees share your recruitment posts. People often have friends in related fields with shared values who might be great cultural matches for your organization.
Emphasize Benefits
Do you offer flexible working arrangements while your competitors demand their workforce be in the office from 9am to 5pm? Mention this in your social posts.
Perhaps you have a dress down Friday, or a day where you’re allowed to bring your dog to work. It’s worth communicating this kind of information too.
It’s great to convey the working culture, but the more direct benefits you can broadcast to potential candidates – the better.
Mindvalley is a company with a progressive culture. One of the key attractions for new candidates is that employees are allocated 5 hours of their workweek for personal development activities – such as reading a new book while sitting on a beanbag in the company’s amazing office.
Do you have a USP like this that new candidates would resonate with? Broadcast it on social media.
Consider Paid Ads
With traditional social media posts, you’re limited by your organic reach, which diminishes the chances of your post reaching the best potential candidates.
As an alternative, consider giving your recruitment campaign a boost using paid Facebook ads.
Facebook is a goldmine of user data, which makes the platform ideal for getting your message in front of a laser-targeted audience.
For instance, if you require a new in-house employee, you can use geotargeting to put your ad in front of people in close proximity to your office. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a freelancer and don’t have the budget for someone from the West, you can target developing nations. If you’re looking to hire for a senior position – you can exclude people who are under the age of 30.
You can also target people by their job title, education level and interests.
Post your recruitment ad on your Facebook Page, then click the “Boost Post” button. I recommend starting with $5 dollars a day and see what kind of results you get – if your candidates look promising then increase your daily ad spend.
Your ad copy should emphasize the perks of the job, such as your amazing office, flexitime, compensation and so forth. However, it’s also important to include compelling images if you want your ad to stand out to people who’re scrolling through their News Feeds.
I find that images of happy, engaged employees work well on Facebook – but feel free to split test your images and see which types of ads work best for you.
Hopefully these tips will get you thinking about how you can make best use of social in your recruitment efforts.