5 Things to Consider When Crafting an Effective Social Media Strategy

Oftentimes, we hear clients say that they’re interested in “ticking the box” on social media. They know it’s something they should be doing to attract top talent, but it seems like a chore.

We’re here to talk about why social media isn’t just another box to check off your to-do list. It’s worth investing time and effort into getting it right. It’s not enough to say, “We have a Facebook page.” You also need to put in the work to turn it into an effective recruiting tool. That’s why we’ve come up with five things you should know if you want to truly take advantage of everything that social media has to offer:

1. To be successful on social media you need to understand what social media is (and is not)

It’s not a job board.

People don’t go to Facebook to actively search for a job. While that doesn’t mean that job seekers won’t see your content on Facebook, it does mean that they aren’t likely logging in with the intention to learn more about your company and submit an application. Social media does, however, give you the ability to put your personality front and center in a way that isn’t possible on a job board like Indeed or ZipRecruiter. It’s your chance to show the face behind the brand and tell your story. Social media offers unique opportunities not available to you through other recruiting mediums, and, as such, you can’t take the same approach to Facebook as you do to Indeed. 

2. Social media can make or break your online reputation

In an era when online reputation can greatly impact your candidate pool, social media offers you the opportunity to define yourself.

You’re not completely at the mercy of your Glassdoor rating. You can provide context to those ratings, show off your company culture, and attract the ideal candidate who will thrive in your organization. Candidates will go to your Facebook page to research your company. Imagine that you’re juggling job offers from two companies, and you log into Facebook to learn more about the company culture. On Company A’s page, you just see is a handful of posts from three months ago. Company B’s page, on the other hand, is populated with fun videos, success stories from current employees, and thought-provoking blog posts that demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the industry. Now tell me, which company looks more appealing?  

3. Your choice of social platform matters

Facebook is different from Instagram is different from Twitter is different from LinkedIn.

Just because they all fall under the social media umbrella, doesn’t mean you can take the same approach to each of them. The content that’s posted to each social platform and the type of people who consume that content is going to differ wildly from platform to platform. Facebook is still the most popular social platform by far (despite what you may hear about recent controversies). YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter, however, are not far behind. Facebook and YouTube are popular across demographics, while Instagram and Twitter tend to skew younger. And the differences don’t end there. While Instagram is all about visual storytelling, Facebook and Twitter put equal emphasis on images and text. As a result, the way you format content for each of these platforms will need to be tailored specifically for each one.

While we could go into the nuances and conventions of all the major social platforms (because trust us, we’ve tried them all), that’s far too large a topic to cover under this one heading. Thankfully, however, you can learn everything you need to know about social media by simply immersing yourself in it and paying attention to the posts that do well and those that flop.

4. The goal isn't to get candidates to click "apply" - well, at least not right away

Facebook is not a job board. When you begin evaluating your posts’ metrics and looking at impressions, application conversion rates, cost per clicks, and so on, it’s unreasonable to compare those numbers to that of your Indeed job listings.

Social media is, primarily, a platform from which to share your brand. They’re not necessarily going to go straight to ATS and fill out an application. However, just because they don’t immediately click “Apply,” that doesn’t mean it’s pointless. Over time, that brand awareness will lead to candidates who actively seek out your company when they’re ready to make a career change. According to the Last Click Attribution Model, if they perform that search on Indeed, Indeed will get the credit for bringing that candidate to you. However, Facebook is where they really got to know your brand and first became interested in your company.

5. You can't improve it if your can't measure it

Do you know how to set realistic expectations? What do you measure, and how do you know if it’s been a success?

Followers, likes, comments—there’s no shortage of easily accessible data you can use to see just how well your content performs. Utilizing this data, comparing successful posts to unsuccessful ones, and analyzing the differences, is key to tweaking and improving your approach over time. Just don’t let yourself be fooled by vanity metrics! If, for example, you have a few thousand followers but only a handful of likes and comments, it means that overall engagement in your posts is relatively low. If, on the other hand, you have a few hundred followers, and half of them actively like, comment on, or share your posts, that’s a great sign. As we noted earlier, you likely won’t be able to directly track the number of hires you receive as a result of your efforts on social media. You can, however, keep tabs on engagement and see how that correlates to your hiring metrics over time.

The right mindset is key to your success on social media

If you think of it as another “box to tick,” you’re unlikely to get the results that make your social media efforts worthwhile. Social media is deceptively simple in that way. It isn’t difficult to get started, but it can take time and attention to master it. That’s where Wicresoft comes in. We’ll not only take social media off your to-do list, we’ll turn it into the most powerful talent marketing and acquisition tool in your arsenal. Contact us today, and learn what an effective social strategy can do for you