Virtual recruiting methods have taken over the industry over the last few years. As our workforce begins to truly pass into the hands of the younger generations, social recruiting becomes more and more common. Candidates are online like never before, and recruiters have answered the call by increasing their social media presence and focus. 

If your organization hasn’t jumped on social recruiting — it should do so ASAP. Over 90% of recruiters engage in social recruiting, an increase of 10% in the last decade, and the trend looks to continue as our reliance on technology grows. Today we’re going to be going over everything you need to know about social recruiting.

How to Recruit Effectively on Social Media

Getting into social recruiting is one thing, doing it well is another. Social media has become an essential tool for recruiting and honing your strategy is key to reaching candidates in a noisy social recruiting environment. Here are a few tips to guide your efforts. 

Define Your Employer Brand on Social Media

Online, your employer brand isn’t just a first impression — it’s an identity. Your brand on social media defines your organization in the minds of candidates. Whether that association is positive or negative can cause a candidate to jump on an offer — or ghost you entirely. 

Whether you’re going for a hip, with-the-times vibe, or a more professional tone, developing your voice is key to becoming a memorable brand.

Connect Through Video

Social recruiting is a purely visual process. When developing your brand, incorporating video into your social media strategy will help candidates remember who you are. Using a recruitment video that is fun, engaging, and captures your employer brand well can pay major dividends in connecting with candidates.

Display your company culture prominently in these videos. Take a tour through your main office, interview current employees, and tout what makes your company a great place to work. The more authentic the video feels, the more it will resonate with candidates.

Know Your Industry Platforms

Depending on what your company’s industry is, or what position you’re looking to fill, your social media channel of choice will change. Graphic designers tend to favor platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Behance due to their visually focused nature. Writers can be found mainly on Twitter, and engineers on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Choosing a platform comes with certain norms. Make sure to research posting etiquette, as well as what posts get the most traction.

Employee Advocacy is Key

Involving employee advocates in your social recruiting efforts drastically improves your outreach. While your company’s posts may gain traction, posts from advocates are proven to be more effective at spreading online. People with faces and distinct voices are easier to identify with than organizations, with each advocate capturing unique audiences. As a result, advocate posts are 25x more likely to be shared, and advocacy leads are 7x more likely to result in a hire than other leads.

Popular influencers can make good advocates, but the best advocate is a social presence from your field. If you manufacture tires, get a NASCAR driver or car content creator. Provide insurance? Get a healthcare specialist to vouch for you. The people that advocate for your products/services become a second face for your brand, bringing not only customers but talent to your door.

Maintain an Active Social Media Presence

The most important step to social recruiting, above all others — stay active. Growing a following takes time; don’t expect candidates to start flowing in immediately. It can take years for an account to gain traction, and those years need to be spent posting and reaching out to both advocates and talent. A prolonged lapse in activity can result in a drop in algorithmic activity, and remove months of hard work. 

With a dedicated social media manager working in conjunction with your HR team, social recruiting can grow your talent pool and outreach.