Recruiting the best talent requires much more than posting a job posting on the website’s careers page and waiting for candidates to flood in. To connect with the best people, you have to go where they go, and these days that means social media

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What is recruitment via social media?

Social media recruiting, or recruiting via social media, is a recruitment strategy that combines employer branding and recruitment marketing with the goal of engaging with active and passive candidates on the digital platforms they frequent. If necessary, also read more about the definition of E-recruitment

Is social media recruiting good for recruiting?

Executed properly, social media recruiting can help your company identify, reach and hire high-quality candidates

Research shows, that:

• • 86% of job seekers use social media for their job search

• • 71% of decision makers view social media profiles and find it an effective way to screen applicants

• • 78% of recruiters expect the use of social media to find candidates to increase

• • 70% of recruiters say they have hired candidates through social media

Is social media recruiting more effective than traditional recruiting?

Although traditional recruiting styles are still used, social media recruiting is more effective in many areas. For one thing, looking at reach in relation to cost. Additionally, you can use social media to establish the company’s mission and build a reputation while working toward the primary objective of finding quality candidates. You can also already meaningfully communicate with potential candidates and view their social media profiles. This helps to get a sense in advance of whether certain applicants are a good fit for the company’s work culture. With traditional recruiting methods, you only notice this at the beginning of the application process. For many companies, social media recruiting is the best option for finding candidates

How do I get started with social media recruitment?

Six basic steps for a recruitment strategy for social media recruitment

1. RESEARCH CONCURRENTS AND CANDIDATES

Who should you be competing against? Find out which platforms are most popular with your competitors, determine the type of content they create for each platform and how engaged their network is. In addition, of course, you need to research where your candidates are located

2. CREATE CANDIDATE PERSONAS

Before you can recruit effectively, create candidate personas for the positions you need to fill. Know what personality traits contribute to your company culture and weigh that against the qualifications needed to be successful in the position. Analyze which areas of recruitment your company struggles with the most and prioritize them in strategy

3. GOAL SETTING

Now that you know who and where, you can set measurable goals to benchmark and optimize the recruiting strategy over time. Figure out exactly what you want to achieve that you haven’t been able to do with traditional tactics

4. SET AND MEASURE KPIs

Before you get too caught up in likes and follows, make sure you also track recruitment KPIs. That way you can determine which platforms and strategies produce the highest quality candidates in the shortest time frame. For example, look at time, cost, referral rate, contracts signed and social engagement. Choose the kpi’s that relate directly to the goals and know how to measure them effectively

5. DIVIDE AND MANAGE

Don’t do it alone. The company is a group of people who make up the culture and employer brand, and they in particular can be the brand ambassadors. Create a calendar and assign different people to create content and connect with potential candidates. Also look at the interactive model as we described in our article on types of communication tools. While you want individual employees’ voices to be heard, it’s important to maintain a cohesive voice that reflects the company’s brand and mission. Be sure to establish some guidelines so employees understand what the goal is and will create content with that in mind

6. EVALUATE AND OPTIMALIZE

Go around the table with your team regularly and evaluate the statistics, goals and results of the social media recruiting strategy. From there, you can find the strengths and weaknesses and adjust resources and efforts to better meet your future needs

What platforms are you deploying for social media recruitment?

As soon as you think of using social media recruitment for talent acquisition, you probably think of LinkedIn. But there are alternatives

According to LinkedIn’s own statistics, 50 million people use the platform to search for a new job. In addition, 95 job applications are submitted every second and 6 people are hired through their platform every minute. In addition, LinkedIn offers an overview of a candidate’s work history and provides insight into their interests and recommendations

Facebook (Meta) may not be a dedicated professional network like LinkedIn, but its sheer size makes it an indispensable resource for recruiters. There is a job board and the casual atmosphere can shed light on a person’s personality outside of work. In addition, the platform offers countless ways to find and connect with candidates

 Instagram’s visual format is hugely popular with millennials and Generation Z. These generations are currently the two largest in the workforce and many of them are finding companies they are interested in through platforms like Instagram

With its 280-character limit, Twitter is known for being short and sweet. That brevity is no bad thing, however, as Twitter has become a go-to source for news and events. Everyone from celebrities to major corporations uses Twitter to connect with people worldwide

When given a choice between text and video, 72 percent of Internet users choose video. And when it comes to video, Youtube is the undisputed heavyweight. Tailor video content for potential candidates

TikTok’s video platform has one billion active users, making it one of the most popular social media platforms. Ninety-two percent of TikTok users take some form of action after seeing an ad on the platform

Statistics on social media recruitment

Nearly half of all Millennials and Generation Z workers have applied for jobs they found through social media. 92 percent of employers use social networks to find new talent. 21 percent of recruiters say they will not consider a candidate without an online presence

Organizations with a good social media recruitment plan are more likely to reach (passive) job seekers, can better communicate their company culture, save money on recruitment costs and find better candidates. Also discover what an onboarding program can help with the onboarding or preboarding process for new employees