What is social media branding in recruitment
Social media platforms are more than popular, they have become indispensable. The modern hiring landscape makes use of these platforms through social media branding to reinforce the company’s reputation online. The wide reach allows businesses to attract active and passive candidates.
However, although the benefits of social media recruiting are plenty, these digitalised recruiting channels may present challenges for recruiters. A social media branding strategy is necessary to ensure the right content is on the right platform, and to lead to consistent benefits.
Related: Tips for growing a company’s employer branding
Social media branding 101
Social media branding consists in sharing customised content across social media platforms. The objective is to increase the brand visibility and to connect with the target audience. The social media brand should be part of the overall business’ branding strategy. It should follow the defined tone of voice, visuals, and values that the brand aims to convey. The distinction with general branding is that it focusses solely on social media platforms.
Employers use social media as a powerful tool to share authentic stories, employees’ achievements and more generally to convey the company’s culture. They promote their diversity efforts and commitment to a positive workplace. As such, they use the platforms to attract talent.
Related: How to improve employer branding with Indeed
4 benefits of social media branding for recruitment
Social media has become the foundation of modern recruiting. In today’s hiring landscape, the vast majority of employers use social networks to source talent. The widespread use of social media platforms for recruiting translates the need for organisations to reach a wide talent pool. It is a necessary step to remain competitive in today’s hiring market. Here are the top benefits of social media recruiting.
Reaching a large pool of active jobseekers
With social media platforms, recruiters get to reach a much larger pool of active jobseekers versus the traditional channels. Most applicants use social media platforms to search for a job. The digitalisation of job openings has made it easier to engage with the recruitment related content or to apply directly to a job posting on social media channels.
Related: How to get more candidates by thinking like a jobseeker
Tapping into passive candidate talent bank
Passive jobseekers are candidates who are not looking for a new role, but they may consider a career move if the opportunity is appealing. Typically, passive candidates are not browsing for job openings but are present on social media. By concentrating efforts on social media recruiting, organisations promote their employer brand and ensure their job listings are being seen, even by candidates who are not actively looking.
Related: How to recruit for the gig economy in the UK
Optimising the hiring process
Social media recruiting has a significant impact on the time to hire. This is because candidates can easily be found. As a result, the costs of recruiting are reduced versus traditional means. Additionally, the cost for advertising a job post on social media is much lower than the traditional job board. The combination of low expenses and speed to market makes social media recruiting a highly cost-effective solution.
Related: How to reduce time-to-hire with Indeed’s recruitment automation
Building reputation and trust
Social media hiring is a good way to showcase the culture of the organisation. The presence on social media demonstrates the business’ values that may attract talent while promoting the brand. Social media platforms are a mean to build trust and to stand out of the crown in the competitive hiring market.
Related: Employee value proposition: why it is important for your business
9 tips for employers on how to use social media recruiting
The use of social media recruiting is a lot more than just posting a job on a social media platform. The ramifications of social media hiring need to be considered by recruiters to ensure its long-term benefits. Here are some essential tips for recruiters:
Reflecting the true employer brand
Being authentic and true to the brand is paramount throughout the social media recruiting process. By being transparent and reflecting the true employer brand, the organisation ensures that candidates who apply for the role match the company’s culture. Recruiting a new team member who does not fit the company culture is a risk when the job posting lacks transparency and authenticity.
Social media may be used to promote the mission statement. According to Indeed eGuide, “A better recruitment strategy makes for a better candidate experience”, 95% of HR leaders say that pay transparency has a “very positive” or “somewhat positive” impact on their employer brand. Additionally, a staggering 67% of jobseekers consider salary info to be the most important part of a job description.
Using the right social media
Although it may seem obvious, using the right tool at the right time is often overlooked by employers. The focus should be made on building the employer brand while keeping track on where candidates are browsing for job opening. Having the best brand profile on a platform where candidates do not look for jobs is highly ineffective. On the contrary, by understanding the audience, organisations can identify which platforms are best to use.
Related: Crafting effective social media policies for employees (with downloadable templates & examples)
Posting at the right time
When posting content, timing is critical. Recruiters need to ensure they post when their target audience is active. Not doing so may lead to their post being lost in the social media feed. For passive candidate, it is also essential to align the job post with the candidate’s online journey.
Promoting the culture through content
The content shared by an organisation reflects its culture. By showcasing engaging content, the business demonstrates its values that may be appealing to active and passive job seekers. Employee advocacy can also help expand the reach of the content that may attract potential candidates.
Related: How 360-degree feedback can benefit your company culture
Ensuring consistency
The social media branding strategy should ensure that the rhythm at which the content is shared is consistent. Lacking consistency will dilute the information and reduce visibility. Companies need to invest and find a balance between quality of the content and frequency of the shares.
Focussing on social media branding strategy
Social media recruitment goes hand in hand with social media strategy. The strategy helps define goals that are essential for the success of social media recruitment. The goals and plan should be shared with all the team members taking part in recruitment to ensure alignment.
Related: A better recruitment strategy makes for a better candidate experience
Keep online content up-to-date
Social media content evolves at fast pace, often making blog post or newsletters redundant. Updating the content on a regular basis may positively impact the audience. The content strategy can also focus on creating ever green posts that won’t be outdated. The use of tools to schedule posts may help increase visibility by ensuring a flow of content.
Make the content engaging through visuals
Visuals often make the content more engaging. Adding those visuals to your post, in line with the organisation’s branding will attract the audience. Videos, infographics and more simply images are an effective way to demonstrate the company culture.
Boost your post with sponsored advertising
Sponsored advertising requires a financial investment. However, this solution helps reach a larger audience through reposts and shares. Job posts can be promoted and gain in visibility. Investing in sponsored advertising may be a good solution to gain exposure and target specific audiences.
Related: Social media recruiting tips and strategies
Social media platforms are a powerful tool for recruiting. They are the source to find talent for the organisation. However, it is paramount that businesses develop best practices for using social media as a recruitment strategy. This will allow them to further optimise their recruitment process and to target highly sought-after talent.
