Finding talent in today’s market is challenging. But there are ways to overcome the challenges particularly if you use social media in your recruiting strategy. However, despite the potential to connect with and recruit millions of candidates, many companies still haven’t embraced it. If you aren’t already using social media for recruiting, you should be.
According to Statista, in 2020, over 3.6 billion people were using social media worldwide, and that number is projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion by 2025. In today’s society, a large part of people’s lives plays out on social media, not just their social lives, but all aspects. And that includes looking for new job opportunities. During a recent survey we conducted, we found that one of the best places to find candidates is Facebook, which is the favorite social network of 87 percent of applicants polled. Those numbers alone should encourage you to explore social media recruiting in your organization, but if you’re still on the fence, here are 7 reasons why you need social media in your recruiting strategy:
What is Social Recruiting?
Simply put, social recruiting is the practice of identifying, attracting, engaging, and hiring both active and passive candidates, through social media platforms. It is also commonly referred to as social hiring or social media recruiting. Social media recruiting, particularly when combined with an applicant tracking system (ATS) can turn your company’s social media page into a talent database.
Platforms for Social Media Recruiting
When you think of using social media for talent acquisition, LinkedIn probably comes to mind.
But it is not only about Linkedin. As we mentioned above, Facebook is a top choice, but recruiting trends are also increasing across Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and even Pinterest platforms. When it comes to recruiting there is no one size fits all, and what might work for Twitter won’t necessarily translate to Facebook or TikTok. All of these social platforms have been designed to appeal to different audiences and to be used differently. Take advantage of that diversity and be creative in your approach.
Benefits of Social Recruiting
Now we discussed the what and the who, let’s dive into the why. Here are the 7 biggest benefits of social recruiting.
It Can Boost Your Recruitment Marketing Efforts
Today there is a plethora of mediums and sources you can utilize for your recruitment marketing efforts. From traditional mediums like billboards and newspapers to in-person and digital hiring events, there’s no shortage of options. However, none of them offer the same immediacy or scalability that social media does. Social media can take your efforts to the next level, reaching millions of skilled candidates across the globe or down the street in seconds. The reason it works so well is because of your ability to target those who see your job advertisement. Traditional advertising is a numbers game leaving you hoping that out of the millions of people who view the advert, your ideal candidate is among them. Using defined targeting parameters, and complex algorithms, social media targets your dream candidates with ease.
It Gives You The Ability to Tailor Your Efforts
Some sources say that over 65 percent of companies report that despite attracting candidates for their positions, they don’t end up with enough candidates who are good matches. Social media platforms provide a wide range of targeting options for reaching specific groups of people, allowing you to reach the candidates most suited for your roles. Each platform has its own audience and target demographic providing you with the opportunity to serve the right message to the right candidate at the right time.
It Can Give You Access to More Data & Measurable KPIs
One thing that truly makes social recruiting stand above traditional avenues is the insights and tools they prove for tracking measurable KPIs. Aside from saving you time, effort, and money in your analyzing your efforts, these resources can also better inform you of which platforms and campaigns are performing best with your audiences. With the constant data provided by most platforms, you can quickly and easily pivot a poor-performing campaign and turn it into a top resource for talent.
It Can Increase Your Reach
Unless your company is lucky enough to have candidates lining up, and let’s face it, in today’s market that’s only true for a few, it’s imperative that you reach as many potential candidates as possible. Simply put, the more qualified candidates you reach, the greater your odds of making a quality hire, and social media can help you to achieve just that. Furthermore, by allowing you to define targeting parameters, you can not only increase your reach but increase your reach to candidates who are likely to be the best fit for your company.
It Can Help You Reach More Passive Candidates
According to a LinkedIn-Tallen Solutions report, 70 percent of the current workforce is comprised of passive candidates. A passive candidate is one who isn’t actively looking for work but is still open to new opportunities. Even though these people are open to opportunities, traditional recruiting strategies and job boards will never reach these potential employees.
Passive candidates may not be scrolling through job boards, but they are scrolling through their social media feeds. With social media, potential candidates who are served your job ad can take the time to decide for themselves if they’d be a good fit for your organization. That way, when they do apply, you’ll know it’ll be because they think it’s a great fit for them, not because they’re desperate to leave their current role. Social recruiting helps you get your job listings in front of candidates that you wouldn’t otherwise reach.
It Can Save You Time & Money
Finding job candidates can be an expensive process. Social media recruiting can save your company time and money since advertising jobs on social media costs considerably less than on many traditional job boards. An older survey from Jobvite found that 43 percent of companies were spending less than $1,000 per month on social recruiting. But 60 percent of those companies valued their hires from social media at greater than $20,000 per year. That same study found that hires through referrals and a company’s careers page were more likely to get hired and over three times as likely to stay on board for more than three years. And, those stats have likely increased exponentially since 2013. When replacing an employee costs an average of $15,000, employee retention should be a high priority for any company.
It Can Help You Showcase Your Employer Brand
69 percent of job seekers say that a company’s reputation is a critical factor when considering a new job. So critical, in fact, that 84 percent of people who are currently employed say that they would consider leaving their job if an opportunity came up for a job at a company with a better reputation. Social media is an excellent stage to promote your employer brand to both potential and existing employees. And, speaking of existing employees, they’re a resource often overlooked. Your employees are a big part of maintaining a positive brand on social networks. According to a study done by the Edelman Trust Barometer, employee voice is 3x more credible than corporate messaging. When you partner with Work4 and our Employer Branding products we give you the tools to turn your current employees into your strongest brand ambassadors by leveraging the reach of their social networks. Never underestimate the power of a personal recommendation.
Are You Ready For Social Recruiting?
At its inception, social media was created to be a powerful tool in our personal lives, but over time it has evolved into a major asset to businesses. In addition to being a cost-effective means of job advertising, it’s also key to increasing your talent pool, recruiting top talent, and telling your branded story. With 3.6 billion people using social media worldwide chances are good that your ideal candidates are among them and if your recruiters aren’t, you’re missing out on a vast opportunity. If you’re ready for social hiring but aren’t sure where to start, let Work4 do the heavy lifting. Our HR solutions include a complete lineup of tools to help you reach the candidates you need when you need them. With everything from Employer Branding to Candidate Nurturing and Candidate Lead Sourcing, we have the skills, tools, and know-how to guide you through. Contact us today to see how we can help.
