Having a social media presence is a must for legitimate businesses today. No matter what your industry is, prospective customers almost always look at your website as well as social media accounts during their research. GlobalWebIndex’s report has shown that 1 in 4 internet users follow brands that they are thinking of making a purchase from. With all of these points considered, that’s why social media for recruiters is important too.
How Social Media Mishaps Can Destroy Your Reputation
Through social media, businesses are able to share their important content and casual musing with the world in a single click. However, freedom and ease of use can sometimes lead to social media mishaps. Take Dolce & Gabbana for example: the Italian luxury fashion house came under hot water for posting offensive videos on Instagram as part of their marketing campaign for their fashion show in Shanghai.
These ads infuriated the Chinese market so much that D&G was forced to cancel a multimillion-dollar fashion show. Many people found these videos racist and offensive for perpetuating hurtful stereotypes. To fuel the fire further, there were leaked screenshots which revealed co-founder Stefano Gabbana making offensive comments about China through direct messages on Instagram.
D&G was heavily criticized online and suffered financial repercussions as a result of this social media blunder. Many major retailers in China have dropped the label, and celebrities have distanced themselves from the brand. While D&G doesn’t disclose revenue by region, Asia-Pacific makes up about 30% of the company’s sales. Furthermore, China accounts for nearly a third of all luxury spending globally. This illustrates how a seemingly small mistake on social media can cost a fortune.
Social Media For Recruiters – Why is it Important?
While D&G’s intention to promote via social media was steered in the right direction, their execution faced pitfalls that could have easily been avoided. These days, social media and recruitment go hand-and-hand. For starters, recruiting is a people-centric industry that is largely built on trust and authenticity—all of which are business qualities that can be enhanced through platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Since candidates are looking for jobs and researching companies online, these platforms provide excellent relationship building avenues.
You might already be putting jobs on social media with your recruitment software or sourcing candidates through various platforms. If you want to take your online presence to the next level, take a look at these tips on how to make the most of your social media investment. Here are three social media best practices to act on so that you can do a better job of engaging with candidates online.
Social Media for Recruiters: The 3 Best Practices
1. Post Relevant and Purposeful Content
Don’t share anything that is irrelevant to your industry and audience interests. For recruiters, it’s a good idea to share postings related to job openings, hiring trends, interview tips, and more. A strong applicant tracking system software should enable you to share your job postings to multiple social media networks at once, in order to efficiently maximize your reach. These social sharing features are both vital and convenient since 75% of candidates do their own research online before they apply for a job.
Since many candidates will head to social media while researching your business, be sure to share useful and informative content that helps familiarize them with your brand. Nothing’s worse than having a wishy-washy social media feed that lacks character and authenticity. Start off on the right foot by sharing content that provides candidates insight into your company’s personality and values.
2. Interact With Your Social Media Followers
Make an effort to reply to connections and/or share their content. That’s where the social aspect comes into play—remember that social media isn’t all about you or your content. When you take the time to respond and interact with followers, you forge stronger connections and show that you care. Try sending a unique message to new followers to learn what sparked their interest, or ask engaging questions on your customers’ posts. You can even reply to other people who have commented on their posts.
If you want to find top-notch candidates on social media, a sure way is to interact with them online. This is how to get yourself seen (for free). SHRM’s survey revealed these statistics on how recruiting on social media helped recruiters:
- 71% of recruiters said it was helpful for decreasing time-to-fill for non-management, salaried positions.
- 67% of recruiters said it was effective for management positions (directors, managers)
- 59% of recruiters said it was effective for executive/upper management positions (CEO, CFO)
- 53% of recruiters said it was effective for non-management, hourly employees
3. Show Your Company Culture on Instagram and Facebook
As noted earlier, candidates actively conduct their own research on businesses before deciding to apply to a job. They need to be convinced that the company they’re considering is established and actually exercises the values they claim on their website or job posting. Since people retain visual information much better than text, consider Instagram as a tool to draw in candidates.
It’s the perfect platform to use a mix of photos, videos and stories to showcase your company’s employees and culture. Show the different projects employees are working on or some glimpses of company events and parties. Once you’ve built a following, you can share posts that lets everyone know your company is hiring. With an Instagram feed full of fun and interesting posts, your recruitment announcements will look even more enticing to candidates.
Similar to Instagram, Facebook leaves a lot of room for personality. Share photos, updates about your business, and repost content that aligns with your mission.
Attract More Candidates With Your Social Media Content
If you haven’t actively tried any of these tips, now is the time! Once you get started, you’ll realize how fun social media can be. It’s an excellent way to strengthen your business’s reputation. We know that candidates spend a lot of time on social media, so get ready to watch the applications roll in as you share great content.
Reach out to us if you want to know more about how you can use an applicant tracking software to improve your business’s posts on social media.