Nowadays, Social media recruiting is far from just publishing the open job opportunity and piling up the applications. A social media recruiter must know the answers to the following questions:

• What is social media recruiting?

• What are the social recruiting best practices?

• What are the steps to implement recruiting via social media?

• What are the other terms social media hiring known as?

In the previous decade, social media became one of the backbones of recruiting due to its capacity for outreach and availability. Over time, social media channels will only gain power, and 2021s will see more creative solutions and hiring ideas on these virtual platforms.

In fact, 92% of recruiters use social media to find high-quality candidates. Indeed, social media are among the most effective and affordable methods to attract top talents and communicate with them. That's why recruiters often rely on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram to achieve the best results in their hiring process.

However, to have a quality presence, one needs to keep up with the trends and select the most efficient strategies. Because of that, we present you with the definition and meaning of social recruiting along with ten best practices for social media recruiting.

What is Social Media Recruiting?

Social media recruiting is also known as social recruiting. It is a popular recruiting strategy for hunting top talent.  

Social recruiting is a methodology that utilises social media platforms for attracting, sourcing and hiring candidates. Hence, social media channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and many more play a critical role during the various hiring phases. This is what social media recruitment strategy is.

Social media recruiting is a crucial part of recruitment marketing. As per the survey, 92% of recruiters use social media in their hiring process, whereas 4% do not, and the remaining need to be sure.

Thus, social media recruiting definition is quite simple and understandable.

Top 10 Social Media Recruiting Best Practices

Social media recruitment may be the popular form of digital recruitment - but something can serve you the desired outcome once that has been implemented in the best way.

Thus, if you want to become one of the recruiters who are happy with the result of social media recruiting, then you have to think beyond the thought about social recruiting.  

Below are the ten (10) best practices for recruiting via social media that help you to attract active as well as passive candidates.

1. Online reputation development

Due to the digital revolution, Millennials and Generation Z seek information online, so creating a strong online presence that speaks to the company's mission and values is essential. Don't only offer facts because millennials love emotional connection.

Embrace showing what your company stands for through powerful storytelling. Demonstrate that your employees don't have to choose between ethics and beliefs, and showcase that everyone is welcome.

Besides, use social media to establish your company as the authority in the field and be consistent - let one message flow through all your values. Enhance brand value with the help of social media recruiting.

2. Networking with the right people

Although it's beneficial to be open to everyone, if you want to take your strategy to the next level, you ought to target the right people. Therefore, ensure that all your social media profiles are industry-specific and work on developing connections with leaders in your field.

However, don't fall into the trap of a generic approach. Instead, be intentional and individualise your communication, tailoring it to a specific person or company.

Thus, you have to address their interests if you want to achieve the best results. Clarify what it is that you offer and why collaborating would be fruitful for both of you.

3. Live video streaming and passive candidates engagement

In the process of social media recruiting, make use of applications and social media that allow live streaming to engage with passive candidates but also with all the professionals and like-minded people in your field.

Live streaming allows you to tell your story and hold Q&A sessions. You can personalise the stream and give a glance at the organisational culture to the audience.

Besides, you can adjust the content to your target group and alter it according to their response and feedback. What matters the most is that live streaming will show your audience that you care and that their opinion is important to you.

4. The power of hashtags

This is one of the best practices of social media recruiting. Using the right hashtags will help you spread your message and increase its scope. It's recommendable to determine what are the hashtags on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram that job seekers follow. 

However, these hashtags will usually be generic, and you will have to examine and narrow them down. But don't lose hope if there are no relevant hashtags in your industry. - Make your own and create a strategy that will get them trending. Make your hashtags unique and clear enough to convey the message of your brand.

5. LinkedIn groups

Polishing and updating the company's LinkedIn profile is one of the essential tasks of recruiting because this platform is number one for candidate sourcing. Yet, it's not enough to optimise it and show that the company is recruiting.

Join industry-relevant LinkedIn groups, be active, and participate. That might be the place where you will find the next top talent as they try to draw attention to their skills and expertise.

6. Diversify your social media platforms

Many companies feel like they need to follow an invisible set of rules and avoid having some social media platforms. Yet, it's recommendable to be bold and different.

If you can use every platform in advance and convey a professional message on LinkedIn and Instagram, you will have a greater outreach. Instagram and Snapchat will help you reach a younger audience of candidates, and you can use them to create content with strong visuals. 

Every social media channel has a diverse purpose. Thus, instead of focusing only on a single social media platform, use many of them to make social media recruiting highly fruitful.

7. Employee network is vital for social recruiting

Employers must remember that Employee referral is always an advantage, and you can also use your hires in social media recruiting. They can share the company's publications and recruiting adverts on their profiles to maximise outreach. That way, your recruiting messages could have viral potential.

However, creating a corporate social media policy beforehand is recommended to prevent sending conflicting messages.

8. Paid social media advertising

Sometimes organic efforts don't give the expected results, and it's necessary to shift to paid advertising as most social media platforms allow their users to expand their message that way.

If you worry about the price, Facebook is quite affordable, with the average ad being 0.64 dollars per click. Nevertheless, try only to use paid advertising when you're actively hiring.

9. Post quality content on social media

Although it's a logical requirement, as this might be the essential step, it's necessary to note that you need to pay attention to the quality of the content you post. You might be posting frequently and investing a lot of money, but if the content doesn't satisfy standards, the exposure won't bring the desired results.

Hence, ensure that all your campaign material and posts are useful, worthy of sharing, and entertaining.

10. Get to know your candidates

There are no quality strategies if they don't target the right people. The internet and social media give you enough material and opportunities to get insights into the digital footprint of candidates from your industry. That information can help you discover what they need, what triggers their attention, and how to modify your content and tailor it to their needs.

Final Thought about Social Media Recruiting

If you are going to implement social media recruiting for the first time, then you should be patient with the whole recruitment process. The reason is social media recruiting takes time, Roma wasn't built in a day, nor your branding presence will.  

Recruiters don't need to think twice before adopting a social media recruiting strategy. It benefits you and your candidates only if it has been well-planned.