Facebook is undoubtedly the biggest social media website out there. It currently has over a billion users - that’s an absolute wealth of potential candidates. Therefore it’s essential that as a recruiter you use the site as well as possible. But how exactly do you do that? After you're up and running on Facebook, what do you even write about?
Here are 10 tips you might find useful:
Emphasise Your Work Environment
More than on sites like Twitter and Linkedin, Facebook is a place to build your brand’s image and engage people. This includes letting people know about the type of fun and interesting environment you work in. Mention staff members by name, if it’s someone’s birthday wish them a happy birthday on the page and even post a picture (more on that later) if there’s a cake... remember, it’s okay to be personal! Make your page less of an officious outlet of information and more of a place that potential candidates actually want to spend time on.
Don’t Forget to Add Some Personality
Using friendly, casual language reminds people that they’re dealing with actual human beings and not a computer churning out automatic messages. This doesn't mean using "text speak" but simply talking in an affable way that makes you feel approachable. For example, starting off status updates with exclamations like “Hey!” or “Wow!” every now and then is a good way to get people’s attention in a friendly way. But don't overdo it - you don't want to seem unprofessional or forced.
Don’t Be Afraid to Brag
Nobody likes a show off but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with bragging about your company’s achievements. Won an award? Reached a milestone? These are the sorts of things that are perfect for posting on Facebook. It can only look good to potential candidates and clients to see that the company they might be dealing with has done well. For example, one of our clients IMultiply Resourcing used their Facebook page to effectively promote the two S1 Recruitment awards they were nominated for.
Post More than Just Plain Text
On top of posting plain text statuses, Facebook also allows you to post photos and videos. It’s often the case that visuals such as posters, charts and video tutorials will catch a person’s eye more than boring old text. It also gives the reader the easy opportunity to share your content and therefore getting the word out there about your brand to their friends - take advantage of that.
Share, Share and Share Some More!
Even though it’s your Facebook page it doesn’t always have to be about just you. Use your page to share interesting and useful links to industry news or details about an exciting upcoming event. If you provide people links to things they find useful they’re likely to come back for more.
Asking Questions Is a Good Thing
People like to give their opinion. By asking questions to your readers you’re offering them the chance to do exactly that. These can range from being directly related to the company to more general questions about the experience of looking for a job. Feel free to use the poll function to create polls that are attractive to look at. Mix it up! You can then leave comments on the answers they’ve given, allowing you to engage with your readers in a way that makes them feel like their opinion matters and you’re not just a company who barks information at them. But remember it’s important to remain polite and friendly when replying, even if they have a problem – manners cost nothing!
Don’t Use Facebook as Just a Job Board
It might be tempting for you to just use Facebook as another kind of job board where you post job after job. While it’s helpful and indeed necessary to post job details, it shouldn’t be what your Facebook presence is all about. Posting jobs in moderation, perhaps around 25% of the time, not only stops the page from being cluttered but makes the jobs you do post stand out a lot more.
Less is More
Don’t try and make your time on Facebook all about how much content you can post in a day. People don’t want to look at pages cluttered with new statuses every 5 minutes. It’s all about quality not quantity – nobody likes spam! Take your time and consider when and what you’re posting, not just how much.
Have a Nice Looking Page
Having a Facebook page that’s nice to look at means that people are more likely to want to stay on it and read what you’ve got to say. It’s important to avoid clutter and have an attractive but not obtrusive cover photo. Check out a great example of this on the Facebook page of one of our clients, Head Medical:
Entice People With Competitions
Setting up competitions can be a fun way to get people involved with your company and make your brand stick in their mind. Don’t worry, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on a fancy and expensive prize but keep it simple and personal to what it is you do. A simple form of competition is to get people to like your Facebook page or specific status update. By saying, for example, that the 500th person to like the page will win a prize. Or similarly you could do the same thing only asking people to share a certain job posting. This gets people engaged and motivated as well as spreading the word about both your jobs and the company as a whole.
