Is your recruitment agency’s social media strategy up to scratch?

Social media has completely changed the game for recruiters. 48% of candidates searched for their most recent position via channels such as LinkedIn and Twitter, according to Jobvite, while a YouGov study has shown that half of companies use social profiles in their recruitment screening process.
Despite this massive (and continually growing) opportunity, however, many recruitment agencies aren’t putting the necessary time and resource into their social media strategies. We’re here to change this by offering recruiters some valuable tips on optimising your social content to drive new business relationships…

Tip 1: understand which social channels work best for your business

A typical trap that recruitment agencies fall into is trying to be present on every well-known social media platform, but ultimately spreading yourself to thinly. Some channels are inevitably going to work better for your company, and those are where you should devote your efforts.
For example, agencies recruiting predominantly for senior and B2B roles may find you get good traction through LinkedIn. On the other hand, recruiters looking to drive opportunities for young workers or trendy brands may experience greater success through Snapchat and Instagram.
It’s worth considering industry specific social media communities as well. IT and tech recruiters often discover new talent through platforms like Reddit and Stack Overflow, for instance.

Tip 2: polish your own profile and content first

Before you put further resource into recruiting through social media, spend some time enhancing your agency’s online profile. Microsoft research has shown that the average attention span is now just eight seconds, meaning your agency needs to connect quickly with potential candidates and clients in order to leave a lasting impression.
Ensure your company details are up-to-date across all the social channels you’re focusing on, and that any descriptions provide a clear differentiator between you and other recruiters in the same market. Include good quality imagery and logos on your account as well.
To boost your social presence, you should also put a structured content marketing programme in place, so you’re sharing helpful advice and industry news as well as prospecting for work. This will forge connections and drive engagement even when clients and contractors aren’t in the recruitment sweet spot – so that when they are, your name is top of their list.

Tip 3: learn when your target audiences are most active

The trick to developing an effective social media strategy when you’re running a busy recruitment agency is to use your time wisely. You may have to put in a bit of effort up-front, experimenting with different times of day and tones of voice when posting, but you’ll quickly start to generate data on prospect engagement.
Continuously measure and learn from your social analytics to maximise the responses you receive. There may not be a hard and fast rule about when and what to post – new business messages may follow a different rule of thumb to candidate posts, for example – but the more you understand about when your target audiences are active and responsive, the greater ROI your social strategy will yield.

Tip 4: have a two-way conversation

One of the biggest mistakes that recruitment agencies make when trying to enhance your social media marketing is thinking it’s purely about output. There are lots of companies out there looking to find new talent, and plenty of skilled contractors looking for work online; your job is to discover and engage with them.
There are many (often free) ‘listening’ tools on the market that enable you to track when certain keywords are mentioned, so you can join the conversation. Whether you’re keeping an eye on a particular industry or job title, or monitoring general words like recruitment and job opening, you can use these tools to engage with clients and contractors that are ready to do business.

Tip 5: make time for good quality social outreach

Whether you’re creating a content schedule or engaging with a potential client through social media, all good opportunities take time to come to fruition. For many recruitment agencies, however, this is time you simply don’t have to spare at present.
The best way to enhance your strategy is sometimes not investing in social media tools, but looking at recruitment back office software that can take mundane admin tasks off your hands, so you can focus on higher value activities.
ETZ’s back office software for recruitment agencies automates the key operational processes that keep your business running – from formatting and processing timesheets to managing expense claims and creating invoices.
By handing back office administration over to our platform, you can significantly reduce the time it takes to manage everyday tasks, putting that resource into social media instead.
Book a free ETZ recruitment back office software demo to see how we can cut the cost of essential admin for your agency.