Attracting high calibre talent is one of the toughest challenges businesses face. In the noisy, transitional world of recruitment, there's one consistency that you can count on: competition is always close behind.
Social media is an invaluable tool for tracking customer journeys and communicating directly with candidates on a deeper, human level. Tracking candidate journeys isn't worlds apart either. Effectively utilizing social media could enhance your recruitment process entirely, from start to finish.
In comparison to professional platforms such as LinkedIn, the weird and wonderful world of Facebook is an unlikely recruitment tool that is still worthy of your time.
Think of it like this: with over 1.59 billion monthly active users, Facebook is filled with potential candidates from all backgrounds and skill sets, providing you with an endless choice of talent to truly complement your business.
If you still need some convincing, take a look at the six unusual yet highly effective ways of attracting the best talent using Facebook.
1. Personalisation
Identify the people you want to hire with absolute precision. Only then can you begin the attraction process with clarity. Take advantage of Facebook's tools and create a custom audience to advertise your company and job opportunities to. Trust me, if you're targeting the right people to begin with, your candidate journey will be much smoother later on.
Of course, connecting on a personal level requires thinking about who your personas are. What sort of language do they use online? What is it that makes them tick? Investing time in understanding these small (but essential details) ignites long-term results for your business.
2. Create communities
Captivating candidates should never stop at the first sign of interest or engagement. It's imperative to cultivate top candidates by fusing them into an online community.
Upload a data base of your best performing talent in your organization to Facebook and create a look alike campaign to find more people with behaviors and interests that align with your current team.
3. Bespoke challenges
Think about the most suitable way of testing your candidates. Tantalizing the right people in the right way can be achieved by creating challenges and puzzles, but these should be designed with your candidates closely in mind.
For example, if you work in accountancy, you may create complicated math problems for candidates. The key is to understand what is best suited for your talent.
4. Six degrees of separation
If your ideal candidates are difficult to find online, it's time to think outside the box. Imagine if your target audience were nuclear engineers (who don't typically spend much time on Facebook). Now, you may not be able to reach them directly through the platform, but you can run campaigns designed to attract their partners.
If you delve into the habits and mind sets of a spouse (or other close family member of your ideal candidate), you'll be moving closer and closer to connecting with the person you're after. So, for example, try offering a free spa day to the wife of a nuclear engineer and see how many respond about their husband's details in a heartbeat!
5. Sharing success
Using Facebook's carousel content format to tell the story of new recruits can showcase talent, create human emotion and highlight your company culture.
Use the carousel content format to tell a story of new recruits in your company. Take yourself outside of the office for a moment and think about the most desirable benefits of your everyday working environment.
How do people typically feel when they start working for you? Tap into emotion and ask questions such as, 'How would you like to feel the same way Jamie does? Click here to start your application'.
6. Get competitive!
Launching a competition around outstanding achievement, particularly in partnership with a credible body or brand, will undoubtedly entice top talent and push your further ahead of competitors.
Launch an awards competition and call for entries / nominations for outstanding achievement. Make sure the prizes you offer excite your personas. You could do this in partnership with a credible governing body, supplier brand or non-competing organization hunting for the same talent to keep costs down. Shift your focus to align with talent rather than worrying about costs. The rest will simply fall into place.
