If you've ever been responsible for recruiting talent for your company or another organization, you know the frustration of sending out countless LinkedIn messages only to be met with silence from potential candidates. Fortunately, recruitment strategies have significantly evolved in recent years, providing a variety of innovative approaches beyond traditional methods.
One of the most prominent trends is recruiting through social media. With social media now a cornerstone of modern life and business, using these platforms for recruitment has become an essential and rapidly growing practice that you should seriously consider.
In this article, we tackle the evolving world of social media recruiting, arming you with ideas on how to optimize your recruiting success.
How is social media recruiting used today?
At its core, social media recruiting is how companies utilize social media sites to advertise open positions, as well as connect with and learn more about jobseekers and applicants. This process takes place across a growing network of platforms, the most popular being LinkedIn, and extending to others like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and more.
Why is social media recruiting important?
Social media recruiting has seen a sharp rise in recent years, and that’s because of how many opportunities it provides to companies looking to sharpen their job candidate searches. It allows recruiters to reach a broader audience, engage with passive candidates who might not be actively seeking new jobs, and gain insights into potential hires through their social media activity.
Additionally, social media platforms offer advanced targeting options, enabling recruiters to tailor their searches based on specific skills, experiences, and other relevant criteria. This method not only streamlines the recruitment process but also enhances the likelihood of finding the perfect fit for a role.
Diversifies and broadens potential candidate pool
The traditional places to find a job candidate are great, but plugging into a massive pipeline of options is a no-brainer. There are approximately 5 billion people using social media, and although not all of them are seeking jobs or job listings, they may still be open to changing jobs for the right opportunity, making a connection when they come across your company or advertisement.
Recruiting using social media also helps diversify your candidates, expanding the potential demographics of new hires.
Informs users of your brand ideals
Our brand voice can be hard to get across without ample opportunity and exposure. Furthermore, it’s difficult to present our brand the way it deserves without honest communication and opportunity to connect with people. Social media bridges that gap and shows the users on the platform things your brand stands for.
Here are some other typical and important benefits that come from using social media sites to recruit:
Allows companies to target users that are qualified for distinct positions
The social networking aspect offers a broader search of potential candidates
Reduces overall time spent trying to fill important positions
Reduces overall cost per hire
Broadens your candidate pool
Ensures higher quality, higher qualified candidates
Who should use social media recruiting?
Companies who have exhausted other recruiting avenues might consider expanding to social media. Social media recruiting not only helps you connect with a broader range of potential people, but the existence of an advertisement on a particular space signals different things to candidates.
For example, a more tech-savvy demographic might be more likely to use Instagram over Facebook. Advertising on Instagram would not only have a higher chance of reaching these individuals, but may also present your company as better suited for the digitally-inclined.
That brings us to our options when recruiting on social media. Which platforms will work best for your company and why?
Potential social media sites to use
You’re probably already aware of the relevant social media platforms in today’s digital climate. But of these popular sites, which ones are best for recruiting potential candidates? And more importantly, which sites will best suit your company’s needs?
Here is a breakdown of each, detailing the different factors why a company may or may not benefit from advertising on the platform.
1. LinkedIn
We start with LinkedIn, as it is currently the most widely-used social media platform for filling job openings. LinkedIn took the social media model of connecting friends and family, and moved it in an entirely different direction. The LinkedIn platform is a place where business professionals can network, connect with companies, search job listings, and more.
Consider using LinkedIn to recruit if you’re trying to connect with candidates that are business-oriented and generally looking for career opportunities.
2. Facebook
Facebook, one of the first social media platforms that grew exponentially, has some distinct factors that make it a good option. First, in comparison to LinkedIn and other business-heavy platforms, Facebook is more laid back, removing some of the barriers that might otherwise prevent honest communication between companies and candidates.
Also, recruiting on Facebook is made easier with the power to prioritize advertisements based on the demographics you’re searching for. And in terms of Facebook permissions, they do allow the posting of job openings on the platform.
3. Instagram
Instagram is an image-based social media site, and as such, it provides companies with a unique chance to connect with users and show off their company’s creative side, demonstrating its ideals, goals, and overall brand. Instagram is generally used by a younger demographic, but as is always the case, over time, demographics shift.
4. TikTok
TikTok allows for social connections through the use of discovery of shorter videos, such as clips that tell a brief story or show a life event. The demographic for TikTok is generally younger than Instagram and its other social media counterparts.
TikTok provides a way for users to engage with companies using the ‘Resume’ feature, and helps companies find potential candidates through videos and other unique tools and features.
Also, remember that just because some social media platforms are currently more popular for recruiting, doesn’t mean you should neglect others.
It’s hard to predict trends, but one trend that holds true is that times change, demographics change, and the internet landscape changes. What is the most popular recruitment site today could be playing second fiddle by tomorrow.
5. Youtube
Though we don’t necessarily see YouTube the same as we do other social media platforms, it still qualifies as one, and thus, is a prime target for some recruitment activities. A company YouTube page helps funnel new people to your website and promote your brand, but it also helps you connect with potential job candidates, particularly if your industry relates to media.
How to optimize your social media recruiting efforts
Use the following tips to attract the best candidates throughout your social media recruiting campaigns.
1. Build interactive recruiting funnels to maximize your leads
It’s important to utilize all tools at your disposal when recruiting on social media. A funnel-building system can help you attract more high-quality leads, saving your advertising spend and sharpening the focus of your campaigns.
Heyflow is the optimal platform to maximize your recruitment campaigns on social media. It enables you to build interactive, smart application funnels that move candidates through the pre-screening process smoothly, allowing you to effectively qualify them while providing an engaging candidate experience.
Here are some of the benefits in using Heyflow to bolster social media recruiting:
Lower cost per hire. Many companies and recruiting agencies that use Heyflow for their recruiting campaigns have reported a significantly lower cost per hire compared to traditional recruiting methods.
Large library of templates help you get your campaign up and running fast while keeping your messaging on-brand.
Heyflow integrates with the top work application apps.
Automates responses to candidates.
Strong analytics to help you review important data to optimize your application funnel and gain a better overall understanding of your pipeline.
Ultimately, using a tool like Heyflow allows you to bring in higher quality leads from your social media recruiting efforts.
2. Target the right platforms at the right time
Before starting any recruiting campaign, compile a list of the following:
Social media sites you’d like to advertise on
A breakdown of each site, including things like demographics
The types of campaigns you’d like to run and the length of time you’ll run them for
This information helps you map out which social media platforms will best fit your company’s needs, while making sure you have a plan to evaluate your advertisements after a period of time.
Every site is different, and is made up of unique groups of people and potential candidates. Determine beforehand whether or not the time is right to advertise on a platform to maximize your ROI.
3. Build a social media profile that is professional and on-brand
Whether it’s your company’s YouTube profile or an X (formerly known as Twitter) account, the entire layout and personality of the profile should be professional and be a true depiction of your brand voice and company ideals.
Because of the more laidback nature of social media in general, companies are able to show off their fun side by expressing the types of things its employees are involved in and events it attends or puts on. This can spark interest, especially in candidates looking to break free from the norm of traditional job search.
Closing thoughts on social media recruiting
It’s important to take advantage of every opportunity when locating candidates for job openings. And though the traditional approach is still valid, it’s crucial to explore different avenues, particularly social media recruiting, to ensure you find the best fit.