Smart businesses have started to embrace the value that social media can bring to the recruitment process. After all, developing an engaged audience can ultimately provide you with a huge pool of top talent right at your fingertips.

Most organisations choosing to leverage the power of social media within their hiring processes are currently using it to enhance some of the more traditional methods of recruitment. But as social recruiting continues to rise in popularity, we could see many more businesses using it to action their primary hiring strategy. A study from 2014 found that as many as 75% [1] of those aged between 18 and 34 secured their most recent job with the help of social media. Furthermore, 90% [2] of recruiters state that they have found a suitable candidate for a role on LinkedIn.

Social Media Recruiting Tools

One of the greatest advantages of social media is its versatility. In addition to allowing businesses to focus on the platforms that attract their ideal audience, each platform is equipped with an integrated selection of social media recruiting tools that can be leveraged in different ways.

LinkedIn

Almost 90% of all recruiters use LinkedIn, largely because it has more than 675 million monthly users. In addition to optimising your business profile, joining and actively participating in relevant groups can also be an excellent way to connect with potential candidates.

You could also choose to further optimise this arm of your strategy by using a tool such as Improver.io. This browser extension can make the pre-screening process more efficient by automatically matching candidates’ profiles with open positions. But as it can’t find matches on profiles that lack information, relying on this alone could mean you miss out on some promising candidates.

The Power of Video

Video is an ultra-engaging medium that can help your business to connect with passive candidates. In fact, more than 50% of marketing experts [3] across the globe agree that video content delivers the best return on investment (ROI). Video is also a versatile medium, and your business could use it to host a live Q&A session or take candidates on a behind-the-scenes tour that will provide them with a bit of insight into your company’s culture.

YouTube is a powerful search engine in its own right, and uploading optimised video content here can help you to increase your recruitment reach. Facebook is another excellent platform for video content, and it also has the added benefit of attracting around two billion active users every month.

So when executed correctly, a social recruiting campaign could help your business to connect with passive job candidates and increase your recruitment pool, drive additional referrals, showcase the culture of your organisation and target the most desirable candidates. You just need to ensure that you’re using the right social media recruiting tools and software that will allow you to streamline the hiring process and save money.