Strategies for Attracting New Hires Through Social Media
Social media should be part of your sourcing strategy because it allows you to grow awareness of your employer brand and connect with passive job-seekers.
Attracting new hires through social media gives the employer a large pool of candidates to search to fill their open positions. Employers using various platforms to recruit have access to the users on each network where they focus efforts. Here are five ways to use social media to attract new hires.
Run Paid Advertising Campaigns
You can use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to create paid ads that attract new hires. LinkedIn is the most popular network for recruiting for the following reasons:
- LinkedIn's purpose is to help people find jobs.
- LinkedIn offers ways to help you plan a recruitment strategy.
- LinkedIn is the platform people most think of when they think of job-searching.
While LinkedIn is the most popular network for recruiting new hires through paid advertising, using other platforms will benefit your overall hiring strategy as you will have access to a larger overall user base.
Recruit on Various Platforms
Some companies will make the mistake of thinking you can only attract new hires on LinkedIn. Recruiting on platforms like Facebook and Instagram allows you to target people who might not necessarily be actively looking for a job. Just because someone is not actively looking for a job, doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be open to accepting a new role if it was the right opportunity!
Use Appropriate Hashtags and Keywords
Make sure to use relevant hashtags and keywords to reach job seekers and potential employees. As an employer, use hashtags such as #hiring or #newjobs, as well as industry-specific hashtags. You should also consider hashtags people would use when searching for a job, such as #newjob or #jobseeker. Ensure that you follow best practices for hashtags relevant to each social media platform.
Create Valuable & Engaging Content
Too many employers make the mistake of creating ads that do nothing to attract their target audience. Make sure the content is relevant and engaging. Simply posting an open position with generic phrasing will not excite users viewing the post.
Content that is personable and engaging will attract job seekers to learn more and to look further to see if the company could be a good fit. A great way to showcase the human side of your company is by using video to give job seekers an idea of the work you do and what the company culture is like.
For inspiration, click here to see examples of unique social media hiring ads in your industry + pointers for making your own posts stand out.
Join Relevant Groups & Make Connections
Find and join relevant social media groups for your specific industry. By interacting with people in these groups, you can find potential candidates. You can make comments on posts and connect with people in the industry. Social media is great for growing your network in general. You could make connections that become new hires in one week, one month, one year, or longer.
If you're in construction , you can find some groups to get started with at the bottom of this article, but if you're not, all it takes is a quick search on your platform of choice to find others in your industry.
Attracting new hires on social media is possible through strategic advertising and engaging content. The more you interact with users in related industries, the more connections you will have to potentially fill open positions at your company. Remember to use relevant hashtags and try advertising on various social media platforms. Good luck attracting new hires through social media!