Branding, product sales, and customer service are just few of the many areas where businesses now rely heavily on social media. However, HR departments aren’t usually encouraged to or instructed on how to effectively use social media technologies throughout the recruitment process. Many companies just post job openings on job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed without making any effort to publicize the vacancies on social media or make direct contact with qualified applicants.
As we go forward into the year 2023, it will be increasingly important for companies to realize the potential of social media to enhance the recruiting process by helping them find and persuade the best individuals. Starting out is easy with these steps:
Promote Your Brand
Social media recruiting strategies that don’t also build awareness for the company online will fail. Brand strength has become increasingly vital to profitability and competitiveness as firms compete to draw attention on social media with unique memes and jokes. As a matter of fact, McKinsey found that strong brands outperform their competitors by a whopping 96%, with the 40 strongest brands in the world providing almost twice as much total return to shareholders as an investment in a Morgan Stanley Capital International World index certificate between 1998 and 2019.
Human resources and recruiting departments gain from and contribute to the company’s overall brand strength when they adopt a social media strategy. Teams in charge of hiring new employees might learn a lot from the marketing department or branding agency in charge of the company. Recruiters who wish to get into social media can benefit from learning from the marketing and communications team, who are up-to-date on best practises and trends.
First, it’s important to assess whether or not the company’s brand is helping or hurting the company’s ability to attract and retain talent. Consistent engagement from staff, customers, and job seekers, especially in the form of likes and clicks on employment ads, is indicative of a well-established online brand.
Content’s value to consumers and staff should be assessed if engagement levels are poor. The corporate culture can be better understood via the lens of staff photos and team building activities, but this may not be enough to draw in a larger audience. The most popular pieces of content are those that benefit the business community by spreading knowledge and offering insights from experts in various fields.
Online relationship cultivation
Recruiters should work on their own personal brands in order to establish meaningful interactions with candidates. As a central location for job listings and a vast network of professionals, LinkedIn is one of the most useful resources for this purpose. Roughly half of those with a bachelor’s or advanced degree (51%) say they use LinkedIn, according to Pew Research Center. To reach a larger audience, recruiters could use their personal accounts to promote job vacancies, rather than the corporate account.
Also essential is an attitude of proactiveness. Don’t pass up any chance to network with prospective employees, expand your audience, and increase your impact. Recruiters may want to encourage a promising applicant to apply via LinkedIn or another professional social media site if they find their profile to be a good match. After an employee has been employed, they should be encouraged to share the news on social media, mentioning their new company by name.
Contribute to the Field as a Resource
Strong social media presences will attract the attention of members of the industry at large, not simply those actively seeking employment. An important demographic for recruiters to target on social media is employees who are now happy in their jobs but who could be interested in a new position in the future.
That’s why it’s important for companies to network online and pool their resources. There is no need for participants at a virtual networking event to actively seek employment, although doing so can boost community ties and brand value. Whenever problems arise in the sector, a panel discussion should be held to help personnel learn to adapt. Contribute to fundraising efforts, share memes, and comment on posts to connect with industry leaders and find opportunities to collaborate.
Think about the perspectives of your intended audience when choosing subjects for panels or social media posts related to your sector. If an engineering business wants to increase the diversity of its candidate pool, it may, for instance, team up with a group that already exists to arrange a networking event for women in technology. Recruitment managers can ensure a steady stream of candidates by building positive brand awareness.
Since social media is still underutilised in the hiring process, in 2023, companies should use it to their advantage to find and hire top talent and build a pipeline of future employees.