Social Media was the buzzword during 2010 with a plethora of conferences and seminars dedicated to this area. This is set to continue gathering pace during 2011 and the recent TruLondon Social Media ‘Unconference’ brought together an exciting mix of case studies identifying how a social media strategy can provide a valuable part of your overall recruitment marketing mix.
Does Social Media Work Though?
This is the question that has been on the lips of many recruitment and HR profressionals I’ve met over the past 12 months. I’ve never been one to accept a recruitment marketing channel as effective until its been measured and I’ve been encouraged to hear several examples recently of where Social Media has been effectively used in recruitment.
Recruiting Teachers Internationally Using Facebook
As International Resourcing Manager at CfBT Education Trust, Adam Templeman was able to show an excellent example of using Facebook to directly target potential candidates with job adverts. Seeking to recruit teachers for Brunei, CfBT needed to be able to advertise to a specific market segment in Australia and New Zealand.
Using the market segmentation tools available in Facebook, it was possible to place an advert in front of individuals who were either teachers or had an interest in teaching/education, matching the personal profile.
Interested candidates were linked to a campaign microsite, where they could find information and register to attend recruitment road shows.
Facebook adverts – The results:
16 candidates attended the events
4 successful hires
Substantial savings in recruitment and advertising fees.
Social Media Targets Specific Graduates
Under the title ‘By Graduates for Graduates’, Unilever’s Future Leaders Programme sees current graduates helping to recruit the next graduate intake by managing the social networks sites.
Outlined by Matt Alder, in his Blog recently, the strategy behind this is to ensure that graduates can engage and have a real conversation with one of their peers. Running across Facebook and Twitter with supporting content on YouTube this is a true social recruitment strategy and one which is being watched carefully.
LinkedIn Targeted Adverts
A Spanish speaking friend of mine used LinkedIn extensively and noticed an advert appear for a company seeking a Spanish speaking business development manager to head up their online education business. This matched her skills accurately and resulted in an enquiry which led to a job offer.
Segmentation – The Secret to Successful Social Media Marketing and Recruitment
Each of these examples have one thing in common. They have all been successful because they target relevant individuals. Social Media allows recruiters to target groups by interest, job types or business sectors, as well as other specific criteria. Understanding and profiling potential candidates will maximisethe success of a social media recruitment campaign.
The more targeted your message the more likely you are not only to attract releavnt individuals, but more importantly the greater the conversion rate.
For those looking for more information on the options available within Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have a look at the following pages, which provide information and some options to try.
Getting Social Media Right in Recruitment
How to use Facebook for Recruitment
