Wait, what? Instagram can be used for more than just making pretty, filtered pictures and cool Boomerang videos? At first blush it might not seem an obvious fit for recruitment, but it’s not always that obvious. But hey, we’re going to help you see the bright light of employer branding through Instagram.
1. Let’s talk numbers
According to Instagram (or Facebook – if we’re very keen on the details) the main demographic of the current 700 million Instagram users are female. And they’re young females, since 90% of the Instagram users are under 35 years old. And here’s where it gets interesting: 80% of the users follow brands on Instagram – that’s more than 500 million people following all sorts of brands! The biggest chunk of the Instagrammers , about 400 million of them, will post everyday and half of them will also post an Instagram story 200 million. Seems they’re doing all right with the stories after all, since Snapchat can’t keep up with ‘only’ 166 million active users. But enough talk about millions, percentages, users and followers. Let’s turn these numbers into actions.
2. Hiya, Millennials!
Yes, most millennials are on Instagram, most of them are attached to their phones throughout the entire day. However, they are the future, they can be your future managers or specialists. So all we need to do is reach out to them, right? Nope, that’s where you’re wrong. They will reach out to you, if you’re cool enough.
Establishing your employer branding is the first thing to do when you’re launching an account on Instagram. Millennial jobseekers will have an opinion on companies very quickly based on their social media. So, you need to build your company brand with behind-the-scenes snaps, office shots and most importantly: the people! Since they might be the future colleagues, the millennials want to know everything, about everyone. They will do their research on all employees, because that’s what they’re doing all day: browsing and searching. Artistic photos of the workplace and office area will also give your future talents a sneak peek of what it’s like to work there.
3. Using the right #
Another very important detail is the use of hashtags. Some companies might have amazing Instagram accounts, but completely miss the boat on that one. Here’s how you can make your own hashtag.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSQt8rxjLTn/
While you’re at it, you should also add the relevant industry hashtags to your post. But beware: don’t overdo it! Otherwise it might look like you’re spamming, and no one likes spam.
4. Instagram stories
Snapchat 2.0? Well, not quite. They’ve grown quicker than Snapchat already. If there’s one thing we know is that your potential employees want to know everything. Literally EVERYTHING. Once they’ve laid eyes on you, they’ll be in full time stalker mode. Instagram stories are great for documenting a day-in-the-life of your employees. Focus on the jobs you want to fill, for example: give your graphic design team access to Instagram to document their day if you’re looking for a new creative addition to the team.
5. Stream away
If you really want to take Instagram stories to the next level, you should try streaming the stories live. One thing to take into account: always make multiple announcements before you go live. This will remind your potential candidates to come back at a certain time of the day, to find out what’s happening live from the office. An excellent example of an interactive live stream is answering a couple of Q&A’s on the spot. John Mayer extensively used the live stream function to play music and talk to his fans. If John can do it, so can you!
6. It’s not for everyone
Of course, Instagram is not relevant for every role, company or industry. The demographics lean towards the creative industries and candidates. The ones you’ll most likely find on Instagram are media, fashion, art, marketing, PR, communications and those mostly connected to the creative industry. However, this isn’t ruling out the more corporate roles, you just have to work a little harder. Think about the visual aspects of the job description you need to fill and try to mould it into a cool piece of content. Even if it’s not attracting any talent, you’ll always be building (and improving) your general branding on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUtrbTIDeke/?taken-by=shiseido
7. Too many drinks + Instagram (= Nightmare)
Before diving straight into recruitment on Instagram, we’d like to give you a little warning. Do NOT allow access to your entire company. Set up some guidelines and make sure a small, creative team is posting on the account. A few companies didn’t and you can see one of the results below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/b7dffTuGTh/
Let’s just say it isn’t very pretty. Being a bit tipsy during friday’s drinks is OK, however there should be a guideline on whether it’s Instagram worthy or not. Every post will add something to your company’s branding after all.
So, there you have it: 7 tips on how to reach the unreachable millennials through Instagram. Use them wisely and please: don’t overdo it. Keep it real. Also give us a shout if you come across a cool Instagram campaign on recruitment: we’d love to know!
