The face of recruitment in 2021 is faster, more personal, and far more social!
As we spare a thought for old recruitment practices - which by the way, worked wonders - social media has rapidly changed the dynamics of the recruitment game and disrupted the industry.
Social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook have fast proven themselves the Holy Grail for recruitment consultants. They have changed the way recruiters search for candidates, attract clients, and brand their agencies. Inbound Marketing for Recruitment Companies is a must.
Of course, by no means is this a new trend. Recruiters have already hoisted their sails to the social media wind. But in today’s ultra-competitive environment, where job seekers now rank social media and professional networks as their most useful job search source, embracing a range of social media means you're sailing to talented candidates or left dead in the water.
With that in mind, here are the best social media recruitment strategies that recruiters are utilising right now.
LinkedIn Recruitment Marketing
Consider LinkedIn the go-to social channel for recruiters. After all, LinkedIn is an immensely powerful sourcing tool and a way of networking, building strong connections, managing talent as well as forming candidate relationships. But not everyone uses the social media platform to its full potential.
LinkedIn’s range of quality features suits the recruiter. It is one of the best social media platforms for digital advertising opportunities in the B2B landscape. It has interest-based filtering where users can join and participate in groups based on their field of study, skills they self-identify with, and career interests.
It also has the largest global community of business professionals (more than half a billion) meaning the social platform is brimming with precisely the people you want to target.
LinkedIn is rated the top social network for recruitment lead generation and makes it one of the best tools at a recruiter's disposal.
LinkedIn Social Strategy Tip: Successful recruiters may have hundreds of connection requests. Be open to who they may lead you to and engage with passive candidates. The more active you are the more people will view your profile. Check who viewed your profile, it is a great opportunity to connect with them.
40 million people use LinkedIn to search for jobs each week.
Twitter Digital Marketing Strategy
Twitter’s 280-character limit may seem limiting at first, but that’s just half the challenge. The limit allows users to boil their message down to the absolute essentials, resulting in clear and direct social messaging.
This works in recruitment’s favour. You can create concise pitches for potential candidates and companies, and be receptive to feedback. This is not a platform where you can splurge content and fritter away valuable character space with overlong messaging.
It’s direct, and great for connecting with your desired demographic. As opposed to LinkedIn, which is broad in the sense that it’s a platform for entry-level and above, Twitter allows you to hone in on target audiences and thus streamline your search.
Something that sets Twitter apart is its hashtags. They’re incredibly useful for recruiters, and marketing in general. With hashtags, you can start a debate and engage targeted members of your demographic.
Furthermore, you can make it local. By hash-tagging your location, you can target a certain area of the UK and really make it specific.
Exposure is the name of Twitter’s game, and if played right it can mean exponential growth for recruitment agencies in the UK.
Twitter Social Strategy Tip: “Are you looking” and “do you know someone for this position?” Tweets can annoy anyone. Mix up your content, tweet and retweet relevant and interesting industry articles. Start conversations and engage users on Twitter by simply asking questions about what they have posted. After all, they are people first, potential candidates second.
77% of Twitter users have a better impression of a brand when they respond to a tweet.
Facebook Marketing Strategy
A household name in the social media world, and the first-ever social platform for many, Facebook shouldn’t be underestimated - it holds lots of influence for the recruitment industry. This social platform is one of the best for recruitment agencies to reach their target market and audience.
For example, a recent survey revealed that 81% of job seekers want to see job opportunities posted to Facebook career pages.
When you consider that 84% of job seekers have a Facebook profile, the platform begins to be a must-have for recruiters. It spans a whole age range, across multiple sectors and skillsets and allows us to share content to relevant audiences.
Recruitment agencies can also use Facebook to learn more about candidates, and gain insight into the kinds of content they share, like and appreciate.
Using this insight, agencies can then get inspiration from that content, creating similar pieces to attract their target audience. This kind of intel can mean the difference between a successful social marketing campaign and...well, a flop.
Facebook Social Strategy Tip: Make your job posts pop! Remember, you are competing against breaking news, liked pages, and of course the latest memes in your hire’s feed. To stand out, use video or an eye-popping image and inviting copy that is short, sweet, and to the point. Recruiters have the opportunity to get creative. Also, don't forget the "Jobs" tab on Facebook! 81% of job seekers were cited saying they wish to see more job opportunities listed on Facebook.
Facebook posts with images see 2.3X more engagement than those without images.
YouTube Video Marketing Strategy
If you're not using YouTube to search for job candidates, you may be overlooking a wealth of resources on the world’s second most popular website.
With one billion unique users every month, you’d place a fair bet that some of them are on a job search. With video content creating such a storm in digital marketing, you’ll want to ensure your recruitment agency cuts itself a slice of the pie.
You can create engaging content with varying purposes. To create brand awareness for your agency, you could do a ‘meet the team’ video, or perhaps some ‘day in the life’ content.
To attract candidates? The options are endless - from tutorial videos to Q&As. Job postings on YouTube can offer exciting content that’s a little different from the written stuff.
YouTube Social Strategy Tip: Find better candidates with a successful recruitment video. A good starting point can be to focus on culture. Take a look at GoPro’s video. While they don’t say ‘Working for GoPro is fun’, the video shows that it is and speaks for itself.
70% of YouTube viewers watch videos for "help with a problem" they're having in their hobby, studies, or job.
WhatsApp Marketing Strategy
By 2019, just one year after WhatsApp launched its B2B initiative, WhatsApp Business, it had already garnered in excess of 5 million business users. The WhatsApp community continues to thrive, and businesses now have a slice of the proverbial pie.
By far, it’s one of the most popular direct messaging apps around today. And as a recruiter, you can utilise this powerful tool in a B2B and B2C capacity - keeping both your clients and candidates happy.
What recruiters can do with WhatsApp is create groups where they can market out relevant jobs to members of that group, and wait for their response. WhatsApp Business can help save time by offering quick replies, providing a more direct communication approach, and rendering messaging statistics that are actually useful to recruiters - like the number of messages read.
It’s direct, and allows you to organise and segment candidates by profession, location and seniority.
Like LinkedIn, WhatsApp also lets you see whether or not your message has been read. This means you have an instant indication as to whether or not your prospects are interested. If you’ve been left on ‘Read’, you’ll know you can move on.
Boost your bonus. If you’re paying to boost your post on Facebook, the platform allows you to include a ‘Send WhatsApp Message’ Call to Action at the foot of your post. You can align this button with the WhatsApp number of whoever is managing a particular role, meaning candidates can inquire with just the click of a button.
WhatsApp Social Strategy Tip: WhatsApp video calling has risen in popularity. Nail down busy candidates with a one-to-one video call. It’s more personal than a regular phone call and less time-consuming, which in the eyes of a recruiter is a win-win.
As of January 2021, the only two social networks with more users than WhatsApp are its parent company Facebook, and popular video platform YouTube.
Instagram Marketing Strategy
For recruitment agencies looking to target a somewhat younger, perhaps millennial audience, Instagram is perfect. With 90% of Instagram users under 35, it poses a great opportunity to reach out to a younger demographic.
Image-based content holds similar potential to that of video - you can use it for a wide range of insights, from staff images to inspirational quotes, aesthetics, and more recently - reels and stories.
The app can also be used to give users a taste of the agency as a whole, exposing themselves further to a waiting audience.
Since images don’t have to necessarily be linked to the content of a particular post, there are no limits to the kinds of things you can post. Think about; promotions, job vacancies and industry developments. All are a fair game where Instagram is concerned.
To summarise, if you’re looking to engage a younger audience then Instagram is your answer.
Instagram Social Strategy Tip: Think about your target audience with each individual post and how it fits into their lifestyle. Do they check into Instagram on their lunch or on their commute home? Knowing when to post at the right time is key to driving maximum engagement with your post.
Over 500 million Instagram accounts use Stories every day, and 4 million businesses use Stories ads every month 58% of people surveyed say they have become more interested in a brand/product after seeing it in Stories.
Periscope (RIP)
Once the live streaming application recruiters fell in love with, Periscope has officially been decommissioned from app stores.
Periscope was acquired by Twitter for $100 million. Formerly the home of live broadcasting, Periscope was a great (although time-restricted) way to engage with younger audiences.
The platform might be long gone, but the trend is still very much around. Use Instagram's Live feature to broadcast in real-time to a captive audience, and showcase your brand all at once.
Livestream Social Strategy Tip: Before starting a live stream, notify candidates in advance. This gives so they are prepared and can tune in at the right time. Be sure to respond to comments otherwise candidates will feel disengaged.
Pinterest Marketing
It may only be an image-based platform, but recruiters would be wrong to write off Pinterest so quickly. Visual content is on track to overtake other formats, and this is where recruiters can leverage Pinterest to their advantage.
Pinterest users spend more time on the social media platform than competing social channels, averaging 75 minutes per visitor. Coupled with its 150 million users worldwide it presents a great opportunity to connect with hard-to-find talent you may not easily reach elsewhere.
Creating boards will attract your talent. Organise, save and share your pins to further your reach. To hire specific candidates, you will need to create as many boards as possible.
Pinterest Social Strategy Tip: Like Instagram, knowing when to pin will help recruiters reach and engage with candidates. 2pm-4pm and 8pm-11pm are seen as Pinterest prime times. Also remember, different topics peak on different days for example, technology typically peaks on Tuesdays.
Pins that show a product or service in action are 67% more likely to drive sales.
Vimeo Marketing Strategy
Compared to Youtube, Vimeo may seem a less effective platform; but with 170 million users, the video-sharing website presents opportunities for recruitment agencies to attract talent where other companies might be missing them.
Vimeo deals with a more engaged audience and a smaller community. In terms of recruiting, this means recruiters can use these niche communities to source more specialised candidates.
Additionally, you can create a brand page on the social channel. Think about creating engaging videos about available job positions that will engage and attract specialised candidates to your agency.
On an important note, people appreciate well-made videos, high-quality content goes a long way.
Vimeo Social Strategy Tip: Personalise your video’s to deliver even greater content. The more engaging they can be, the higher quality candidates you will attract.
Cisco projects that global internet traffic from videos will make up 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022.
Snapchat Social Media Marketing
Recruitment and Snapchat, a match made in heaven? If your agency is not on Snapchat then we recommend including this as part of your social media recruitment strategy.
The smartphone application is used by 530 million people each day. This platform has more users than Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn - and the average Snapchat user visits the app 18 times daily.
You couldn't ask for a more engaged audience!
Unlike other social media channels, Snapchat users are overwhelmingly young people (45% are aged 18-24), so recruiters looking to fill graduate posts and apprenticeships, this millennial demographic is your new best friend.
Snapchat’s is very much built for storytelling. By telling stories, recruitment agencies can focus on things potential candidates desire like the company values of their future employer.
Once your agency builds a steady following, you can post vacancies in innovative ways to get your candidates attention. Exclusive content, filtered lenses, and employer takeovers are a few guidelines to creating great marketed job postings.
Snapchat Social Strategy Tip: Debut content on Snapchat. Offer early access to available job postings that candidates can access before it opens to the wider talent pool.
Snapchat had 249 million daily active Snapchat users as of 2020.
TikTok Marketing
Would this blog be complete without the addition of the newest kid on the block, TikTok?
Users can choose what type of account to have: Personal or Business. Because of their unique and incredibly advanced algorithm, TikTok is able to expose recruiters to untapped audiences and holds the potential to make any video go viral.
Using trending sounds, hashtags, audio and filters, recruiters can offer candidates a highly personalised experience from the outset.
Videos can range from 15 seconds up to 3 minutes, with options to "Stitch" and "Duet" with other users. The demographic is one of the most comprehensive, too.
Roughly half of TikTok users are under the age of 34, while 41% of users are aged 16 - 24. This bodes exceptionally well when you're trying to source candidates for apprenticeships and internships, as well as finding prospects to fill middle-management roles.
TikTok Social Strategy Tip: With TikTok users spending an average of 52 minutes per day on the app, you need to make your content as catchy and relevant as you can - you have less than a second to stop a user scrolling away to the next best video. Use the right hashtags, and consider the Business Account type for access to insights and data on your audience behaviour. Consistency is key with TikTok.
TikTok’s average engagement rate is 17.99%
Conclusion
So, to recap, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are our social media recruitment stars, but let’s not forget about their smaller social relations and other less crowded platforms.
Our social media strategy tips for recruitment are your stepping stones to building and expanding your social media presence. But remember, factors like candidate demographics mean not every social media platform will suit your social marketing strategy. With the right social presence, you’ll gain effective and efficient results for your recruitment company.
If you’re keen to learn more about social media recruiting, book a free online marketing assessment where we can review which social channels work best for your social recruiting strategy.
Social media covered? Learn how to entice potential candidates and download our ebook on ‘Why Candidates Aren't Opening Your Emails’.
Don't forget, social media is just one element of a successful marketing strategy for recruiters. To discover more, have a read of our Inbound Marketing for Recruitment Agencies page.
