The idea of mixing career related matters with your personal interests didn’t make much sense a decade ago, but a decade later it means everything, so much so that recruitment via social media itself has become a channel for employers. This has been the trend over the past couple of years as more and more people tend to join the social media networking race, companies also have adapted to seeking talent through campaigns where they can attract the right talent for their company. 

As more companies have added social platforms to their channels of sourcing and attracting the right talent, businesses need to attract talent not by marketing their vacancies but through posting personalized content that relates to the person and what the job entails for which employeers seek talent.

1.    Where do I start?

•    Study social media platforms, with facebook, twitter, Instagram, linkedin, reddit, quora and so many more different platforms on the internet, sketch out a plan where you want to begin. Each social media platform is different and has different vantage points, audience and the way you would receive response to your campaigns. 

•    For example, Instagram and facebook lean more towards video and photo content, so creating visually appealing content for hiring for a new role is beneficial versus a text only content post. While twitter is a on the go social platform and fares well with live events and posting regularly upto even several times a day if necessary, it can be leveraged for live conference events or keep candidates updated on company events.

2.    What do I do?

•    Designing job descriptions that are simple to understand, communicate the responsibilities clearly but also has a creative edge to it which gives the candidate an idea of what it would be like to work for you. For example, what does a typical day at office look like? Is there a casual dress Friday or any office outings? What about special bonuses and perks? Adding these to your job description not only helps convey the requirements but also gives a glimpse into your company in addition to any other brochure or ‘About Us’ section you may have.

•    Use key phrases or interesting language to portray culture and people at your company.

•    Studies have shown that almost close to 45%-50% of the total people visiting social media sites tend to check out advertisements (Pew research, 2017). Use this space wisely to craft personalized ads for any open roles.

•  Campaign design can make the difference between a successful campaign that generates interests and one that runs without any response 

•    Get creative by employing effective copywriting, visual content and memorable designs that prompt candidates to take action.

•    Studies have shown us that over the coming years, around 90% of the companies and other ad agencies are going to run their offers through video ads which has already seen success on social platforms.

Using the hashtag #internswanted, Mastercard Canada gave college students the chance to compete for an internship on social media. Applicants each submitted an idea for a product, app, or technique to help the company move towards creating a cashless future. Contestants were judged on the amount of 'likes' and 'retweets' their ideas got. They received 532 qualified candidates, and expanded their program to hire an additional intern due to the talent quality.

3.   How to stay engaged?

•    After posting your social media campaign, remain vigilant on the campaign’s engagement in the form of likes, shares and comments/responses. Some comments may require a response from your social page such as location, salary and other relevant details. 

• Tracking analytics will also help change strategy or create better campaigns when engagement is low and a new strategy needs to be adopted

•    Almost 48% of people tend to lose interest and stop pursuing a social media targeted campaign when there is no response from the employer within a week or less (Fluid Surveys Team, 2014). And this  makes it important to ensure there is constant monitoring to promote employer brand image online.

 

5.   Analyzing results

•    After successfully designing, executing, engaging and receiving results from social media campaigns, businesses should track the effectiveness for a given campaign on various platforms. This gives employers, the insights on platforms that is target rich and platforms where tactics will have to be fine tuned to receive higher engagement and applications subsequently.

Social media hiring has been a top trend for the last two to three years primarily due to factors such as growth of social media platforms, rise is mobile users and the higher presence of people on social media who are active on a daily basis. With such a large database of users, candidates are passively and actively available with the right