Periscope and Twitch have been popular for some time among the general public, but have you considered using Facebook Live for recruiting? For those of you who don't know Facebook Live is, Forbes describes it as, "a new feature for its users, capitalizing on the recent trends of online video consumption and in-the-moment updates [which] offers live-streaming video capabilities to users."
Unlike the previously mentioned networks, in theory if you’ve already cultivated a social media careers community for your business, Facebook has a dedicated audience to broadcast to. This is an advantage that is Facebook-specific. It may seem a bit odd to include live broadcasting into your social media recruitment efforts, but so did so many other things like Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon for the first time. Here are some of the best practices Facebook recommends prior to going live!
1. Tell people ahead of time when you're going to broadcast
Just like any event, we recommend building up some buzz about it before the launch. Perhaps consider a countdown (whether it be a few hours or a few days prior) to your event to increase excitement and possible new live followers.
2. Go live when you have a strong connection
This is pretty important. The last thing you want to do is lose followers by dropping out of view from bad service. Facebook says, “check to make sure that you have a strong signal before going live. WiFi tends to work best, but if you can't find a nearby network, you'll want a 4G connection. If you have weak signal, the 'Go Live' button will be grayed out.”
3. Write a compelling description before going live
As with any sort of recruitment or recruitment advertising, half of the battle is writing copy potential employees want to read. In the Facebook example they reference the President’s address and exactly what topic he will be covering. It should also be noted that the president is tagged in the copy. This provides the audience with information about what to expect and who will be delivering the information. In addition, it makes it obvious that the President has an active social media presence.
When it comes to recruitment, consider broadcasting at live employee appreciation events and offer to answer questions or show people the insider’s view of what it means to work for your company.
4. Ask your viewers to follow you and receive notifications when you go live
Just like when you ask people to like your careers page, you will want people to follow you and therefore receive a notification of your live Facebook broadcasts. All potential followers have to do to follow you is, “tap on the Follow button on live videos and videos that were live and then opt-in to get notifications the next time you go live.” Easy!
5. Say hello to commenters by name and to respond to their comments
While it isn’t always possible to say hello to everyone you broadcast to (as your audience grows that number may be too large), calling out a few specific peoples’ names or answering a burning question in order to forge a personal connection is a great idea. Facebook says it best, “your audience will be thrilled to hear you mention their name and answer their questions when you are live.”
6. Broadcast for longer periods of time to reach more people
Facebook recommends staying live for between 10 and 90 minutes if you want to make the most out of your viewership. Not everyone is on the same schedule, so leaving your live up as long as possible will net you the largest audience.
7. Be creative and go live often!
Finding out what works for your audience is going to be a trial and error process. Facebook offers the following ideas when it comes to broadcast types: Hot Topics, Q&A, Breaking News, Interview, Performance, Behind the Scenes, Watch-With and Demo. While this is a relatively new platform and is not being used for recruitment as heavily, it stands to reason that Hot Topics, Q&A, Interview and Behind the Scenes would be good choices for recruiters.
With Hot Topics, you could discuss recruitment trends in your market and with Q&A you could answer questions about specific job types or what makes an ideal cover letter. You could also use Facebook live to interview a prominent figure who can talk about hiring or their role at your company or even offer a behind the scenes look or day in the life broadcast centered around a role you’re looking to fill.
8. Use a closing line to signal the end of the broadcast.
It’s important to let people know that you are concluding the broadcast and we suggest that you do so in a consistent and friendly manner. As Facebook says, “Be sure to finish with a closing line, like 'Thanks for watching!' or 'I'll be going live again soon.' After you've wrapped up, wait a few seconds until you hear the 'ping' indicating your broadcast is complete.”
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As I mentioned, this platform may seem less than ordinary for recruitment, but some big companies have already adopted it! For instance, Hubspot’s recruiting team went live way back on April 28th to give potential recruits an insider perspective about careers.
Are you thinking about going live? Have you developed a dedicated social media careers audience yet? If not, please consider checking out our free E-Book below.
