3 Types Of Candidates You Can Reach Through Social Media Recruiting

8 MIN READ

Social media recruiting helps you find the employees you’re missing.

Since the dawn of media, employers relied on the same tried and true methods to find employees and land candidates- and for the most part they worked.  When unemployment is high, a help wanted sign in a window is a legitimate recruiting tool.  Before digital marketing became everyone’s favorite mode of communication, a classified ad worked as well.  But now that unemployment is low, and newspapers have gone the way of landline phones and the Walkman, those old methods don’t get it done anymore.

Social media is a unifying medium.
Everyone (well, almost everyone) in the US is using social media. A staggering 68% of all US adults, across all demographics, are using social media every day. (Pew Internet) It is a common thread that unites us all, for better or for worse.  What this means is that no matter what position you are hiring for, there is a nearly 70% chance that you can find them on any given day, doing exactly what you do: scrolling through social media.

Social media works especially well for millennials.
It should come as no surprise that 88% of all millennials are on social media every day. (Pew Internet) What might be surprising to many is that 62% of millennials report that they visit business social media pages to look for job opportunities and to learn more about the business. (Digital Dealer) Bottom line is- your social media accounts are now an active member of your HR team. Your Facebook is now your number one recruiter.  The internet is your new help wanted sign.

Social media recruiting works when job boards don’t.
Job boards like LinkedIn, Monster and Indeed can still be effective for many situations.  But they also have their weaknesses.  Posts on LinkedIn are not likely to be seen by blue collar and labor recruits, and in Cleveland there are lots of those kinds of opportunities available.  Job boards are also usually only effective when the person looking at them knows exactly what kind of position they are looking for.  The filters try to find something a user might be interested in, but at the same time they might be avoiding jobs that would really interest them. In today’s tough market, there is a good chance that your best recruit is already employed and might potentially be working in a completely different field, but if they knew about your job opening, they might be interested.  With targeted marketing and the robust demographic filters available on Facebook and other platforms, you can find your perfect candidate, even if they weren’t looking for you at the same time.

We thought it might help to give you some social media recruiting examples.
You know you should be doing some social media recruiting, but where do you begin?  It can be intimidating at first.  If you’ve never put together this type of campaign, or if you just aren’t a huge fan of social media in your personal life, it can be hard to picture how it can help you.  So, let us show you how it can be effective tool for different types of recruiting scenarios.  Are you trying to reach these potential employees?

Target #1: He Didn’t Know He Wanted A Change
Let’s say you want to recruit a new landscaping crew, but the lines aren’t forming at your door like they used to. You aren’t alone.  Many young people are looking for jobs that require a little less physical activity.  It can be tough to convince today’s youth to venture outdoors, let alone work in the sun for the summer! But what you don’t know is that there is a young person named Mark who is working an internship at his Uncle’s accounting firm Downtown this summer, and he stares out the window all day wishing that he could get outdoors and do something physical.  Mark’s never worked in landscaping before, and probably thinks that lack of experience would hold him back, so he doesn’t apply.  He’s looking for you- you’re looking for him too- but neither of you know it yet!

What if you ran a video ad on social media targeting people like Mark? What if you ran an ad that said, “We would be bored sitting at a desk all day too, and that’s why we enjoy the summer sun everyday while we’re at work.”  Now that same young man is scrolling through his phone and comes across your ad, and he doesn’t even want to go back to his desk.  The video also had a card with big, bright letters saying, “NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY”.  Now you’ve spoken directly to Mark’s heart.  You’ve created an emotional connection with a person that didn’t even now you existed when he opened his phone.  But through demographic targeting, you appealed to his interests: Outdoor sports, nature, animals, hiking etc.  Because of that targeting, only people that might have an interest in working outdoors saw your ad, but the beauty of it is, it targeted them without even knowing they might be interested in a career change.  That’s something that a billboard or a help wanted sign could never offer.

Target #2: She Didn’t Know an Opportunity Like Yours Existed
Erika always thought it would be cool to work on a road crew, but she didn’t see many women in that field.  Her older brothers told her that women on road crews were just glorified traffic directors, holding a “SLOW” sign all day. She wanted something different. She wanted to be hands-on and do some physical work to break up her day. She didn’t want to be a traffic cop- she wanted the experience of doing meaningful work for her community.  Rather than apply she got a job working at a local retail shop.  Every day she wished she was doing something that excited her more than her current role.

Your department is looking to add women to your crew, and you don’t need traffic cops either!  You need some women that want to roll their sleeves up and get to the dirty work!  So, you run an ad campaign that features a picture of Sheila, one of your most reliable crew members, shoveling asphalt with the sun glistening off of her hard hat.  She looks like a warrior, or an athlete, more than a road crew member.  She is exactly the type of person Erika wants to be, but she didn’t know that positions for women like Sheila existed.  Erika looks up from the phone, takes one look around the retail store and sees how boring it is, and she applies online for you new position.  If it wasn’t for social media display ads, Erika never would have known that this type of work existed for women in her area!

Target #3: He Didn’t Know That Facebook Quiz Would Net Him A Job
Marcus became a mechanic because his father was an over the road trucker, and he was fascinated with big rigs.  He went to tech school and can fix just about any type of vehicle on the road.  He started working with a local mechanic and now all he does is perform oil changes on small sedans and SUV’s all day.  He daydreams about working on those big shiny rigs like his father used to drive, but now it seems like he’ll never get opportunity.  He doesn’t have any connections at any local companies, and he figures he’ll need someone to refer him to get in.  But all of that is about to change, thanks to social media recruiting.

Marcus is scrolling through Facebook and comes across a post that says, “Only 25% of all diesel mechanics can pass this quiz.” Marcus knows he’s got talent, so he is sure he is in that elite top 25%.  He takes the quiz and aces it, and he immediately gets a response that says “Marcus, you are the type of mechanic our company is looking for.  Would you be interested in working on our rigs?”  Marcus didn’t know that this quiz was really a tool your company was using to find employees that know their way around a garage, and around big rigs.  Now Marcus knows that you are looking or him, and he sees an opportunity he never knew existed.  All because he filled out a quiz based on his interests.

Social media recruiting is just one element of a complete digital recruiting strategy like the ones Company 119 is putting together for companies all over Cleveland. Social media works in tandem with your website, email campaigns, paid advertising and video strategies to form an online outreach that produces results.  Stop fishing with a net and throwing back your catch.  Digital recruiting is like fishing with a rod and reel. In your kitchen sink.  With only the fish you were looking for to begin with. Let Company 119 help you find your perfect candidate with our digital and social media recruiting solutions.  Contact us today and find the ones you’ve been letting slip away!

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