The Role of Social Media in Employer Branding

Today, both active and passive candidates on social media are reaching out to employers about potential career opportunities. As a brand, you need to be active where they are, or you risk missing out on some seriously qualified talent.

This is exactly why you need to showcase your culture as part of social media marketing storytelling when building your employer brand. Your brand story represents who you are and what you stand for. It sets the stage for interactions and expectations that your current and future employees will have with your organization.

To put this another way, social media acts as your digital “first impression.” It’s a two-way communication platform that allows for more authentic and engaging experiences. So how do you make the most of it? We’re here to tell you.

Develop Your Employer Brand

If social media’s main purpose is to help us get social, using it to develop your employer brand is critical and can go a long way toward helping you attract candidates who are a qualified fit.

Imagine the benefits of having a brand that “speaks for itself” and can take your recruitment efforts to the next level. When you actively develop your employer brand, you will gain support in achieving the following recruitment goals:

  • Amplify reach to would-be employees who share traits similar to your top talent
  • Build momentum in pull vs. push tactics for recruiters
  • Create clear differentiation to help you stay competitive in the market

Proper employer branding on social media is foundational. Think of it as the footing on which everything else sits. When it’s strong, it can help you do anything else and do it well.

Beyond these recruitment objectives, a strong employer brand also makes it possible to:

  • Reach, engage, and retain current employees
  • Give brand access to prospects & current customers
  • Build trust and credibility within the market

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Use Social Media to Build Trust

In the modern digital world, people want to work with brands they can trust and know treat their employees and customers well. As a result, most companies don’t purchase just a product; they purchase a brand. This explains the die-hard loyalty customers showcase around brands like Patagonia and Apple.

When you use social media to build trust, you manage to create a relationship that customers want to participate in, rather than feeling like they have to. Today’s customers want to be associated with customer-centric, socially-responsible brands and being humans. Authentic, creative, and transparent social media interactions are the best possible way to promote and strengthen these connections.

Understanding Why Social Media Has a Large Impact on Modern Hiring

While social media marketing stands out in the digital world for many reasons, it’s especially essential for hiring. Today, 86% of all job applicants are using social media for their job searches and participating actively on the platforms they’re using is one of the best ways for would-be employers to ensure they’re speaking directly to their audience.

Here are a few of the unique things social media is currently doing for hiring:

  • It allows you to be where your ideal candidates are today
  • It’s a more engaging and authentic medium than job platforms or flyers
  • On-going social advocacy helps messages reach your intended audience
  • It offers an insider look into your company’s culture and values
  • It can help to control costs associated with ad spend and job posting sites (cost per hire, response time, etc.)

All of these elements come from a strong focus on building your employer brand through leveraging your social media presence. The best part is, once you find and hire top talent through these social channels, your new hires will have great momentum to hit the ground running in their own engagement at your organization. This is an excellent place to start, as employees are 87% less likely to leave if they feel engaged, and 76% of employees who feel recognized by their employers say they love their jobs.

What’s more, companies with ongoing employee engagement programs achieve a 26% greater year-over-year increase in annual company revenue, as compared to those companies without formal programs. This is a significant boost, and it just goes to show how impactful engaged employees can be for your business.

Social Media and Employer Branding: Looking Forward

In recent years, social media has emerged as a powerful branding and hiring tool. Today, more than 70% of employers use social media to locate, communicate with, and screen potential hires and that number only stands to grow in the coming years.

Modern social media is about much more than just a place to post timeline photos and share stories. Instead, it’s a place for recruiting, promotion, hiring, and your brand will do well to hop aboard these trends.

Not only is social media a great way to connect with would-be employees, it’s also (when used correctly) an excellent way to promote confidence within your employee base. After all, 59% of employees say they selected their current workplace at least in part because of that workplace’s social media presence.

No matter how you choose to use it, social media is an essential tool in your brand’s overall approach to hiring and brand differentiation. By allowing you to engage current talent, build trust and credibility within the market and connect with the top talent your industry has to offer, social media has become a valuable tool in employer branding. Don’t miss out on the opportunity – leverage it to the best of your brand’s ability now!

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