Social media is one of the hottest recruiting strategies out there. Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok provide great opportunities to attract new candidates and engage with your talent community. The key is to ensure that you're using the right social media platform when sourcing for candidates. Since not all social media platforms are created equal for sourcing purposes, here's a breakdown of each platform, and some helpful tips on how you can use each social platform to grow your talent pipeline in 2022!
Why source on social media?
But first things first, let me tell you why you should hop on this recruitment trend.
A high percentage of Millenials and Zoomers (Gen Z people) are active on social media and logging in daily, so using it as a platform is a no-brainer. What most social media users say they like best about social media is the ability to stay connected with friends and family; so if you want to attract young talent, use social media to play into that. Social media provides you with a great opportunity for growing your pipeline, speed recruiting, and contact information collection.
Best used if you want to...reach the most number of people possible.
Facebook is the world's most popular social networking site, with over 1.8 billion daily users! That's because people of all ages are on it due to the versatile ways to connect and consume content on the platform. From uploading your own photos and videos, to liking and commenting on others' posts, sending private messages, viewing stories, and watching live videos, there are plenty of opportunities to engage.
Yup, not everyone on Facebook is your target market, but more than half of the users are between the ages of 18-34, putting them in the job market. That's still millions of potential candidates which you can later narrow down to your ideal candidate profile with the help of a few ads. Not only can you target based on demographics but also with trends, interest and so much more (We’re talking about one of the largest data compilations in the world). With that kind of potential reach and demographic targeting, Facebook is a must-have sourcing tool for growing your talent pool! It's a tried-and-tested sourcing channel that many recruitment teams continue to rely on. Clearly, it's a channel that is here to stay.
Quick tips for Sourcing on Facebook
- Create mobile-friendly posts since a whopping 98% of users access Facebook on their phones.
- Video ads perform better than any other ad format on Facebook
- On that note, Facebook Ads Manager is a must if you want business-level insights and full access to ad options. (So don't just Boost Post!)
Want to know more about Facebook ads and how to optimize them? Read more about
the 6 Facebook ad features you need to be using right now!
Best used if you want to... hire Millennial talent.
Every day, there are 620 million Instagram users that spend an average of 53 minutes on the app. Though the number of users is less by comparison, Instagram is still a pretty great sourcing channel especially when targeting a younger demographic. It's great if you're looking to hire interns and other entry-level roles.
However, keep in mind the nature of the app, where users see it as a way to keep up with the trends and consuming content is done at a much quicker pace. Instagram is highly visual and is intended for mobile use, so recruiters need to know how to create a strong content strategy that complements their recruitment process and match the on-the-go nature of its users.
Quick Tips for Sourcing on Instagram
- Use high-performing hashtags. They can increase your engagement rate by 12.6%
- Instagram reels and videos have double the engagement compared to images
- Draw attention to your call-to-action button when doing story ads. They tend to perform better by 80%
Want to know how to get your brand out there? Don't worry, we've got you covered with
these 8 Instagram strategies that you need to help grow your talent pipeline.
Tiktok
Best used if you want to... spot exceptional talent that stands out (without having to read the resume)
Last year, this video-sharing app hopped on the trend and introduced Tiktok's Job Hiring Service, which is a completely new way for companies to discover the best talent. While the program itself is in its early stages and still limited to selected countries, don't let that stop you from sourcing on Tiktok.
With TikTok being the fastest growing social networking app in the market, more and more active job seekers are creating their own Tiktok resumes. Currently, Tiktok ranks #7 on the list of the world's most active social media platforms with at least half a million of its user being aged 18-24.
So it really is the platform for young talent to get creative with Tiktok's built-in creation tools to create what in essence is an elevator pitch of themselves. This gives candidates a competitive edge to showcase what they're really about in a way that is both fun and informative. It's way better than having to manually sift and skim through resumes, which let's face it, doesn't even tell half of the story. Recruiting has never been this fun!
Quick tips for Sourcing on Tiktok
- Leverage user-generated content by creating a fun challenge with a branded hashtag. Duet, anyone?
- Don’t forget to pin to content you want your candidates to see immediately when they visit your profile!
- Lead ads are the way to go! Collect candidate information and re-engage with them later on!
Staying Native with Talkpush
Candidates don't really like advertising that leads them outside the app. It's disruptive to their social media activity and sometimes, loading an external link just takes too much time especially when you're on the go and on mobile data. So the best way to engage with candidates is to make it as easy as possible for them to apply by staying native on the app—and that's exactly what Talkpush can do for you.
All they have to do is to slide in your DMs and our friendly neighborhood chatbots take care of the rest. Our chatbots allow candidates to learn more about the employer, explore job openings and locations, and even answer open-ended candidate inquiries in real-time. And when they're finally ready, candidates can apply right there and then through their choice of social media. Recruiters can collect information on the candidate through text, audio, and even video answers.
Beyond the Application
But then what happens next if they do apply? Is it over? Is the relationship with a candidate now entirely on your career websites or via email, and you're not going to talk to them on Facebook and Instagram anymore?
With Talkpush, it doesn't have to end. You can still message your candidates across different messaging channels like Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, email, text, etc. without ever leaving the Talkpush CRM. This makes it easier for both you and the candidate when you chase them for the next steps—whether that be collecting their resumes, scheduling an interview, or taking an assessment. And so social media does not have to be purely an advertising platform, but instead, it can also be a channel to manage your relationship past the point of application.
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