You’ve probably heard about how lots of businesses are now using Instagram as a marketing tool, but have you ever thought about using it for recruiting?
“Social recruiting” isn’t really anything new, though it’s probably something you associate more with ‘professional’ networks such as LinkedIn or even Twitter. However, there’s so much more to it than purely searching databases and advertising jobs and rather about selling yourself as an employer, which is where alternative networks such as Instagram can come in handy.
If you’re not familiar with Instagram, it is an image based social network that allows users to edit and share photos/videos with their followers. Similar to on other platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, users are able to follow other accounts or search for images using relevant hashtags, as well as commenting or ‘liking’ posts. This makes it a great platform for building brand awareness and to complement your other social channels, which can be easily synced with your Instagram account.
These days when searching for a new role, job seekers not only consider the position itself, but also focus on finding a company culture which they feel suits them as an individual and likewise for employers, who strive to hire people who are not only the right professional fit, but also the right cultural fit for their organisation. Social media can often be the answer to this, as it allows companies to build an accessible employer brand for themselves through story telling and exhibiting an insight into their company culture.
Granted, Instagram attracts a certain demographic and it may not be effective for all age groups or industries, however if you are looking to hire tech savvy millennials, particularly in creative industries, Instagram is the perfect tool.
If you’re thinking about introducing Instagram into your recruiting strategy, here are a few tips to help you on your way.
1. Build trust
Instagram is great for showing the human side of your brand, which is an effective way to build trust with your followers, as they feel like they know you a bit better and can relate to the people who work at the company, rather than a faceless brand name.
You can use the platform to give potential employees an idea about what it’s like to work in the company, by sharing photographs of your team at work and giving insights into what a day in the life of one of your employees is like. If you demonstrate a positive work environment and onlookers like what they see, they are far more likely to apply for a role within the business, expanding your talent pool when hiring.
Images and videos do not have to be high quality, it’s just important that they are authentic and capture fun or interesting moments within the company, such as events, celebrations, etc. that will represent your company culture positively.
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By encouraging your employees to share work-related material from their own accounts, as well as the official company account it not only broadens the brand’s reach to each of their networks, but also demonstrates that they enjoy working to the organisation and are proud to share their experiences with others.
2. Use hashtags
Just like on other social networks, hashtags can be used to furthers the reach of your uploads by appearing in searches with other related material. You can create unique brand specific hashtags to showcase your employer brand and utilise these across all of your social channels, so that your content can be easily found by people interested in the company.
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You can also use hashtags to search for other users with relevant interests and connect with potential employees. There are a number of frequently used hashtags on Instagram, so by adopting these and tagging on to current trends you will get your material seen by anyone who happens to search them.
3. Share links
Although links don’t work in your account description or image captions, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t include them.
Instagram images are a good way to draw attention to any blog posts, jobs ads, etc. that you want to direct traffic to and you can do this by sharing the URL alongside other visually pleasing content that will capture people’s attention.
https://instagram.com/p/4yXcDUu9YA/
There is one way that you can get around the non-clickable link issue and this is by placing a link in the bio section and directing followers to it in your captions, however you can only place one link there at a time.
4. Advertise jobs visually
You don’t want to bombard your followers with tonnes of job ads, however it can be an effective way to draw attention to your current vacancies.
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Identify the most significant aspect of a role, such as management, customer service, etc. and place your focus on that by sharing an image that visually portrays the role. Keep information about the role minimal on Instagram, but make sure you let them know where they can find out more and apply.
5. Think quality not quantity
Unlike on other networks where the more frequently you post the better, this isn’t necessarily the case on Instagram.
Keep your posts simple and high quality, with a clear focus and connection with your brand. Users don’t want to be bombarded with dozens of poor quality updates that take up their newsfeed and don’t really contribute any value.
https://instagram.com/p/4XZR6mFPLE/
6. Seek out passive talent
You can seek out passive candidates by searching for relevant hashtags and finding users who have interests in the area that you hiring in. Once you have identified users who could potentially be suitable for a vacancy, you can then connect with them by either following their account or engaging with their content by liking/commenting on their posts.
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Engaging with other users content is also a great way to increase your followers and therefore expand your potential reach.
[Main image: Shutterstock]
