In a world where news is tied to Twitter feeds, friends are interacted with on Facebook and referrals are made on LinkedIn, it is essential to be up-to-date with your personal brand. At first it is tempting to believe that your social networks do not affect your company’s employer brand, but that just isn’t true.
In the past, social networking was a sideline effort, but now that it has integrated with all parts of peoples’ lives, recruitment marketing success depends on actively engaged social profiles of recruiters. Here are several overall strategies for to consider when interacting and working on your recruiter social networks.
When you are representing a company as a recruiter, it is imperative that you maintain professionalism. Even if your privacy settings are set to just show the minimum amount of details such as a profile picture and the company you work for, it is important that those details are correctly received.
For instance, we have come across profiles where recruiters are wearing (presumably) a tube top and the photo has been shot from the shoulders up. You can imagine what candidates might think of that recruiter and the company they work for. Choosing a professional photo that is clear (not pixilated) is the first step toward projecting the right image for candidates.
The correct size for a cropped Facebook profile picture is 160px X 160px. While you are updating that, make sure to also pay attention to your cover photo, which should be sized at 851px X 315px.
Twitter is a network that is about immediacy. In addition to a relevant cover photo sized at 500px X 500px and a professional profile picture sized to 400 X 400px, this is a network that takes strong advantage of interaction with strangers.
Unlike LinkedIn where you need to message someone directly or Facebook where you can only interact on certain posts until you are friends, Twitter allows recruiters to send notes about and comment on anyone’s tweets. There are of course, privatized profiles that don’t allow direct messaging, but on the whole, if you think your ideal candidate is using Twitter, you can start a conversation with them that could ultimately lead to a more in-depth recruiter-candidate relationship.
The best way for candidates to find you (and know who you are) on Twitter is for you to use your profile effectively. For instance, you get 160 characters to describe yourself and other fields like location and website. Adding that you work for a certain company will definitely make it more obvious that your purpose is either networking or sourcing.
LinkedIn is probably the most important network to keep professional. While some people are starting to use LinkedIn to share funny items on their feed, the general consensus seems to be that those posts are a distraction. Motivational posts are great once in a while, but make sure the content you share is relevant to your industry and the interests of your audience.
In addition to sharing relevant content and projecting the right profile image (400px X 400px) and cover photo (646px X 220px), it is important to work on building lasting, professional relationships. Make sure to reach out in a non-salesy way to people you may want to get to know. For instance, if a candidate looks interesting to you, don’t simply message them about a job; instead consider talking to them about their career interests or other relevant topics first. Candidates receive a lot of “love” from recruiters, so the best thing you can do to set yourself apart is to build a genuine connection prior to presenting a specific offer.
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No matter which networks you are using, try to make an effort to be active regularly. Activity can mean sharing other relevant posts, writing blogs or updates, reacting to other peoples’ posts and responding to inquiries. If you keep your profiles active, there is a distinct chance that candidates may end up reaching out to you directly. Here are some helpful guidelines that are in line with Buffer:
- Depending on who you ask, you can share 1-5 times per day on Twitter without annoying your audience, but the sweet spot is right around 3.
- You can post up to 2 times per day on Facebook without losing engagement steam.
- LinkedIn should be restricted to 1 post per day to maximize your engagement.
Of course there is much more to social media than individual networking. For instance, there are ads! If you want to make the most out of your recruitment advertising on Facebook, consider downloading our one page tip sheet.
