Recruiters face many tasks when sourcing, engaging, interviewing, submitting and hiring talent. It can often be an exhausting task if you don’t have an organized plan of attack in a candidate driven market.

Candidates have many avenues for their job search whether they are actively looking for new opportunities or passively engaging with a company’s content on social. According to Jobvite’s 2021 Recruiter Nation Report, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are the most used social media channels for recruiting. TikTok is also on the rise for social media recruiting among millennial recruiters.

Where to start in social media recruiting

For social media recruiting to produce the best results, recruiters should begin with defining each candidate persona (we talked about this in last month’s blog here) and matching it up with the right social media platform. Let’s look at some demographics of the most used social media platforms in the U.S. While the table below is not exhaustive of gender, race, or location, it’s a great start.

Think like a content marketer

The best social media recruiters work to get their candidates share of mind with engaging content. In addition, the content should be planned out at least 3-6 months ahead of time with the help of a social media calendar template. There are many free templates on the Internet. A good rule of thumb on content revolves around 1/3 of posts relating to job openings, 1/3 of posts sharing content from thought leaders in the industry and 1/3 of the posts including personal connections with followers. In developing content, ensure you use inclusive language and gender-neutral pronouns so candidates can see themselves in your job descriptions, career stories and company initiatives. Rely on resources like the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies’ Inclusive Language Guide to inform your content strategy.

Content can include anything from:

Bring in strategic partners

To build a successful social media strategy, recruiters can employ the help of hiring managers, colleagues, vendors, job seekers or employee resource group members to cultivate ideas for content and to share the content on their social media pages. Do they have people in their network that are influencers in the industry and if so, ask for an introduction. To gain buy-in, schedule a meeting to discuss the story behind why a social media recruiting strategy will benefit them and ask for their help.

How to know if social media recruiting is working

In recruiting, data is the north star in terms of ROI. Once you have mapped out a social media recruiting strategy, ensure its success by implementing SMART goals. Begin with a specific goal that can be measured, is achievable and relevant and finally, time stamped. Social media management companies like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Social Pilot offer solutions that can help track the progress of social media campaigns by scheduling, reporting and tracking engagement in user-friendly dashboards.

According to Statista, 82% of the U.S. population are active on social media. Whether your next hire is actively or passively looking for opportunities, crafting a social media strategy will strengthen your employer brand, increase your network and invite candidates to apply for your jobs.