7 Ways to Attract Applicants Through Social Media Recruitment

By Kaitlin Hurtado on January 24, 2020

Job recruitment can be a pretty tough gig. It’s up to you to make a position look as attractive possible and to grab the attention of top talent, with the goal of them securing a position at the company you are working for. Social media has changed the recruiting game, sites like LinkedIn have made it easier than ever to connect with potential recruits, but it’s not the only social media platform you can use to your advantage during your recruitment endeavors.

If you’re thinking of using social media to make the most out of job recruitment, keep reading for some tips on making the most of recruitment.

Photo: Pexels

1. LinkedIn: The Obvious Choice 

As mentioned above, LinkedIn may be the first thing to come into mind when you start brainstorming on how you can use social media to your advantage during recruitment. Many job seekers hit LinkedIn at some point in their job hunt, so why not use that as an opportunity to connect with potential applicants?

The platform makes it fairly easy to connect and network with potential applicants. You get to skip the footwork of navigating an in-person job fair with the help of sites like LinkedIn. Once connected with another user, you can send them direct messages, making direct communication simple. Be sure to build up your own profile, as well. Users are more likely to reach back out to those profiles that have existing content, whether that be sharing useful articles to actual activity from your account – try to stand out from the sea of recruiters on the site!

LinkedIn groups also make it easier for recruiters to seek out talent. These specialized communities are often full of job-seeking talent, why not make use of them during recruitment?

2. Build Your Company’s Online Reputation and Brand 

What makes one successful on social media? Or, what gets followers to engage with their content? It’s their ability to establish and promote their own brand, making it attractive to followers. For example, take an influencer from Instagram – they have an obvious brand behind their name and profile. Their brand gives the power, or influence, on the platform and their audience. You should consider their model when it comes to using social media for recruitment.

There’s no point in dedicating time and effort into social media recruitment if no one is going to view your profile or posts. While your company may already stand out as a consumer brand, it may be lacking accountability as a workplace, and it’s your job to turn that around during recruitment.

What makes a company attractive on social media? Employee benefits, great working environments, large accomplishments…things that would make someone skimming their feed click to find out more. Sharing news about your company’s latest ventures is a great place to start, or sharing testimonials from employees — “success” stories, so to speak, that will make your company worth a click.

3. Use Existing Employees 

Speaking of existing employees, don’t be afraid to include them in your social media recruitment endeavors! While it is your job to recruit potential employees, ask employees to get involved in recruitment. The effort doesn’t have to be much – something as simple as sharing your post on LinkedIn can spread a job post to their own networks, which is made of friends and past coworkers that are likely in the same field you are recruiting for.

However, do be cautious with this approach. Not all employees have brand-friendly social media accounts, which is understandable. Make sure that the employees you want to represent your brand have “clean,” or professional accounts. Sites like LinkedIn should already have been created with a professional air in mind, but platforms like Instagram and Twitter may be less professional. Some employees will have different profiles to separate their career work and personal life, so if they do, be sure to limit any brand engagement on professional accounts!

Infographic by Kaitlin Hurtado

4. Provide Original Content 

While not everything you post to social media needs to be content produced solely by yourself, it doesn’t hurt to have some originality on your feed. You don’t want your profile to seem manufactured or impersonal – you want an audience to be attracted to your brand. You also don’t want your feed to come off as uninspired or as spam.

Put out something worth sharing — you want to publish something and maximize its reach. Try to get a variety of content on your feed, no one wants to read through blocks of text, one after the other. Don’t be afraid to switch up. Here are some ideas:

– Videos. Anything from tutorial videos related to your field (maybe how to submit an application) to a video guide around your company’s workplace.

– Blog posts. Write posts offering job advice, like how to catch the attention of job recruiters like yourself, or ask your employees to write about their own experience, like how they came to work at your company.

– Images. Share photos from the company, whether it be the products you sell or create, the team behind them, anything that can get you a click or a share.

– Podcasts. Podcasts are a great way to build a following on social media.

This is another opportunity to draw from existing employees – you definitely do not need to be supplying all the original content. Use employees’ creativity to your advantage, if they are participating in something like a podcast or video production to promote your company, they can also add it to their portfolio, it’s a win-win.

5. Actively engage

While you may be putting out some stellar content to your followers, it may still not be reaching the right audience. Don’t be afraid to directly engage with others – that’s the job of recruitment, after all. If some people have repeatedly shared your content or liked your posts, try reaching out to them as a start.

Comment or share posts that are similar to your own, the creators behind them may just be the perfect candidate you are used to. Make the most of your social media platforms by using them to directly engage with potential talent.

When it comes to directly reaching out to a potential job candidate, try to add a personal touch. No one wants to read through a generic copy and paste message – they are impersonal, sometimes hard to read, and also often appear as just another spam message on social media.

Think of how you can get yourself to stand out, get to know whoever you are reaching out to. If you are on LinkedIn, spend some time digging into their profile to get something to use, such as what caught your eye on them. If they have worked with a certain publication or filled a specific position, point it out in your message. Example: “Hello, I’ve noticed that you have previously worked….this type of work would thrive at our company.” Not only will the potential candidate recognize the personal touch, but they will also feel validated that their efforts have been seen by a potential employer. They will be less likely to feel like they are unequipped for the position and stop themselves from applying.

6. Try out advertising campaigns

As much effort and time you are putting into your different social media platforms. it may not be reaching the audience you want it to be reaching. Rather than relying solely on organic traffic, try out a paid advertising campaign. You can try these campaigns out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Make sure to do research to find the best ad campaign for your company, either for a small test run or for a full-on campaign. There’s plenty of factors that go into a successful ad campaign: the intended demographic, the message or content in the ad, etc. If one paid ad campaign doesn’t work, try changing something and figuring out what could potentially work for your company.

7. Take advantage of the benefits of different platforms

With the plethora of social media platforms out there, it may be overwhelming to pick just one platform to harness all your energy into. However, you don’t need to use just one social media platform for your recruiting efforts. In fact, it’s better to have a few platforms to help promote your brand and extend your reach. Not everyone has a LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram. Different platforms will reach different people, so it is wise to spread your efforts across multiple social media platforms.

Using more than one social media platform is more than just reaching more people, but making the most out of what each platform has to offer. LinkedIn offers the bonus of a professional setting – those active on LinkedIn are more likely to respond to job opportunities, and it helps immensely during recruiting. Not only do you connect with active job seekers, but you get access to their work, resumes, portfolios, etc. Even if they aren’t actively seeking jobs, you are still put on their radar. Even on social media platforms that are traditionally “less professional” have plenty to offer.

For example, Instagram can be used to build up the personal aspect of your brand. It will be much more than the occasional post about the open job position. Instead, use it to build a brand and promote your workplace. If you want to advertise the visible advantages of the job, Instagram is the perfect place to do so. Take photos of the break room amenities, make an Instagram story giving a tour around the office, record team-building events, make a “spotlight” post for current employees (introduce them, have them describe their day-t0-day). Make sure to save any notable stories as a “highlight” so people who visit your profile later on can still access it. Everyone loves an Insta-friendly brand — they may even want to work for one! Make sure to hashtag posts as you see fit so that they can be found by the right people.

Twitter is also another platform you can use to your advantage. While it lacks the stories feature – use its other features to your advantage. Twitter makes it a lot easier to link to websites, posts, videos than Instagram, especially when it comes to individual posts. Promote your brand by making your own tweets, or retweeting other media that covers your workplace, whether it be an employee interviewed for an article or media coverage on recent accomplishments in the company. Also, take advantage of the “trending” topics on Twitter – either a hashtag or a topic – and use it to promote your brand. If it directly relates to your company and field, great, the work is nearly done for you. If not, find a way to attach it to your brand – don’t be afraid to use a little humor. You never know, your next greatest recruit could be searching the trending hashtag and stumble across your account.

Photo: Pexels

In a recent study by Jobvite, 92% of recruiters admitted to using social media to find high-quality candidates. Why not follow the trend and use it your advantage? If you have any tips for social media recruitment that you didn’t see in this article, don’t be afraid to share them down below!

Are you still looking for more tips for your recruitment efforts? Uloop has you covered! Check out some of these posts for further help:

– “3 Social Media Sites You Should Be Using for Recruiting“: Need a deeper dive on some of the social media platforms at your disposal? This article goes into depth about how LinkedIn, Twitter, and WayUp can be some of the best places for social media recruitment.

– “Tips for Recruiting Recent Grads“: This article gives you tips on recruiting recent college graduates specifically. Luckily, many young, recent graduates populate different platforms. Using these two articles will surely help in your social media recruitment.

– “How to Professionalize Your Social Media“: Need help making a “professional” social media account? Have no fear, this article is here to lend you some help. Whether it be tidying up your own account to spearhead recruitment efforts, or getting employees to use their personal social media profiles to promote your company, you will want whatever profile that represents you to still be professional.

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