Successful branding can lead to more repeat customers, more successful recruiting, and a strong online and offline presence for your business. Many businesses now understand that having their business on social networks contributes to the brand image they want to create. Others understand that social recruiting is a great way to connect with active and passive candidates alike. Permanent employees aren’t your only option; Business.com shares stats from a recent survey about what networks business are using and how they can optimize their social presence to find temps. However, what many don’t realize is that as a part of your social recruiting efforts, you can build a brand that entices customers and job seekers to connect with your business. Here’s how to do it.
Know Your Values and Live Up to Them
Educating your employees, recruiters, customers and job applicants on what your business’s mission is and how the company lives out those values will not only positively impact your branding efforts, it’s often a factor in employee engagement. Engaged employees and a business that lives up to its promises will entice job applicants that want to work for a company that means what it says. Now, where can you share your values and how your employees and business uphold them? Social media, of course! Share your values, mission, and how your uphold each on social media. You’ll build a positive brand image and attract applicants whose values align.
Align Your Application with Your Brand Position
Micro-sites, social media sharing and status updates are all ways to let candidates know you’re hiring. However, that isn’t enough to build better brand awareness through social recruiting. Take a look at what 24 Hour Fitness did. This company is all about improving the lives of individuals through an active and healthy lifestyle. Upon receipt of an application, they offered candidates the opportunity to sign up for a free trial membership. Not only are they living up to their values, they’ve aligned their application process with how they’ve positioned their brand to improve the candidate experience and build their brand.
Keep It Consistent
No matter where a candidate comes across your social recruiting messages, they should have a consistent, positive experience. Tweeting out a job opening won’t be enough if you don’t respond to those who show interest. Not only that, your tone, graphics and content need to be consistent. Your LinkedIn job posting copy shouldn’t differ from the Facebook application app you’ve built out. In a recent post, keep things consistent to build brand credibility. Just as customer experience is a major factor from web design to email marketing, applicant experience is important. Keep things consistent to avoid application miscommunication and to establish your business as a consistent, and credible, brand.
Social recruiting provides businesses with the opportunity to reach active and passive job seekers. It also provides HR managers and marketers the opportunity to further improve and instill their brand among consumers. Branding is key in establishing a business and is often part of the reason customers keep coming back. A brand with a great experience and great service will lead the pack in customer acquisition and candidate recruiting. Use your social recruiting efforts to further brand awareness and recruit top talent.
Photo Credit: Flickr user Jason A. Howie
