The power of Facebook is undeniable. What started as a small social network to connect college students has grown into a worldwide phenomenon with over 2 billion users – 223 million of which are in the US.
Facebook has changed the way we engage online with both people and businesses. And, it’s changing the candidate recruitment landscape as well.
So, how can your organization use Facebook for recruiting to connect with and attract top talent? In this post, we’re going to talk about:
- Why Facebook is so important for recruitment.
- Five strategies to help you recruit on Facebook.
- How to get started with Facebook recruiting.
Why use Facebook for recruiting?
Before we dive into how you can recruit on Facebook, we need to understand why it’s such a critical piece of any recruitment marketing strategy.
It isn’t mainstream (yet!)
When you think of using social media for recruiting, your first thought is probably LinkedIn. And while LinkedIn is clearly a very useful recruiting tool, the majority of recruiters are using LinkedIn for recruitment already, making it a saturated channel.
In fact, 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn, but only 55% use Facebook.
This means that by investing in Facebook recruiting, you can help your organization stand out and connect with top talent before the other guys.
Facebook gives a full picture of your organization
Chances are, your organization’s Facebook page is geared toward your audience–meaning your customers, rather than potential candidates–whereas your LinkedIn page is usually more of an employer branding tool targeted to your existing employees and prospective employees.
Because Facebook is targeted toward your customers, this gives prospective candidates a glimpse into what you’re all about. They see how you’re talking to customers, what’s important to you, and how you engage with your audience–something that’s important to many job seekers in today’s market.
Job seeks are already on Facebook
The candidate journey now includes more digital touchpoints than ever. Nearly 60% of candidates use social media to research companies they’re interested in. This means they’re looking at your organization’s Facebook page whether you like it or not. You might as well make it a tool that helps–instead of hurts–your chances at attracting top talent.
One of our recruitment marketing experts says that building your online presence and using social media to communicate your brand values and brand story are two of the most important trends to focus on right now.
Related: Try these 13 talent sourcing strategies to find the right candidates.
How to get started with Facebook recruiting: 5 key strategies
Now that you have an understanding of why you need Facebook as part of your recruitment marketing strategy, let’s talk about how you can use Facebook for recruiting.
1. Build your employer presence
The first step in effective recruitment marketing on Facebook is to build your presence on Facebook if you haven’t already.
You’ll want to ensure every field is filled out on your page to give your audience the best picture of who you are and what your brand is all about.
This includes:
- Your About section.
- Your Facebook bio (we’ll get into this in a minute).
- Adding your logo and a cover photo or cover video.
- Uploading relevant images (and creating albums if applicable).
- Uploading relevant videos.
Once you’ve filled out or updated these fields and uploaded the necessary photos or videos, it’s important to make sure your Facebook page isn’t a graveyard – you’ll want to post regular new content to give prospective candidates posts to engage with.
2. Tell your brand story
Because prospective candidates are using Facebook as part of their job search and research, you’ll want to make sure that your Facebook page gives them a great impression of your organization.
One place you can do this is through your Facebook About section.
This section is meant to give page visitors more information about your business. If your organization’s Facebook page is geared toward both your external customers and prospective employees, make sure your Facebook bio appeals to both in this section.
Think about what’s important to customers and employees–like how your organization gives back, any causes you support, and what both customers and employees enjoy most about your business.
Get some great Facebook bio examples to inspire you here.
3. Share the best career content
In order to use Facebook for recruiting, you want the content you’re posting to stand out and get potential candidates to learn more about your organization.
Here are some Facebook post ideas for your social recruiting efforts:
- Employee testimonials or quotes. These can either be pictures or videos you share to highlight why your employees like working with you.
- Customer quotes or testimonials. People want to work at companies that other people love. Sharing testimonials from your happy customers can give them an idea of what people who are unbiased like about you.
- Awards. When your organization wins awards–whether they’re employment-related or not – make sure to share posts about them on your Facebook page.
- Expert content. Show off your current employees and their expertise by sharing content they’ve created or been featured in. It doesn’t hurt to brag a little about your people!
- Culture spotlights. Highlight company events, nice ways your teams support each other, or even something goofy that happened around the office (or the home office if you’re still working remotely). Give employees an idea of what it looks like to work with you.
- Causes you support. Candidates want to work for companies that care about the same causes they care about. Make sure to share ways you support your community or other organizations.
This healthcare system shared how they’re supporting a cause they care about on their Facebook page.
Sharing a mix of this type of content can help you engage with prospective candidates and build a strong employer presence on Facebook.
4. Monitor your employer brand
Your reputation is important to prospective employees. Facebook is a place that candidates can turn to look for reviews of your organization, so make sure you’re not only monitoring your reviews but are also responding to them. Your review responses can give top candidates a good idea about your brand, your tone, and what’s important to you. If they see that you make an effort to rectify negative reviews and respond in a professional and polite tone, that might positively impact their perception of your business.
Related: Get our tips for responding to negative reviews.
5. Use Facebook ads for recruiting
Building your employer branding strategy, posting regular content, and monitoring your brand on Facebook can only go so far. Your Facebook posts are limited to your existing audience, and while prospective candidates might discover you based on a search on Google, you’re not going to be able to maximize your Facebook recruiting without Facebook advertising.
Facebook advertising gives you robust targeting options so you can reach the exact type of candidate you’re looking for with your posts or ads. This allows you to expand your reach on Facebook, get in front of passive job searchers, and drive top talent right to your organization.
Get started with Facebook recruiting
The right recruitment marketing strategy includes a multichannel approach that allows you to get in front of top talent no matter where they are in the candidate journey. If you know how to recruit on Facebook, you can help your organization stand out and attract top talent on a channel they’re already using frequently.
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