Mastering the art of social media recruiting isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. It’s no secret that the job market was dramatically impacted by the pandemic during the past two years. There are many employers with open positions to fill, and with potential candidates being pickier than ever before, many of these employers are turning to staffing agencies to find quality workers.
Why Social is the New Place to Recruit Millennials
As the younger generations enter and begin to take over the workforce, things like cold-contacting potential new hires by phone or email are becoming a thing of the past. As a millennial, I can absolutely say for certain that this tactic is out. Social media recruiting is the new way to network and connect with others, even for professionals looking for employment or companies looking for candidates.
Staffing agencies’ marketing plans can and should include specific social media recruiting strategies to connect with companies that may be able to use their services and to find employees for the companies that hire them to fill roles within their organizations. I’m going to focus on four specific tips for staffing agencies who want to use social media to connect with companies or find the right person for the job.
4 Social Media Recruiting Tips for Staffing and Temp Agencies
1. Create helpful, entertaining, and authentic content.
I follow many accounts on social media for varied reasons. The thing they have in common is that each provides something of value, whether that is making me laugh, teaching me something new, or motivating me to grow as an individual.
Social media recruiting doesn’t start with a job post, it starts with a relationship. Create and post content that serves more than one purpose. Post the employment opportunities you have available, yes, but also post when you successfully fill a role for an employer. Think of it as the “just sold!” postcard of your staffing agency.
This will show companies that may be looking for a staffing agency that you are already succeeding for your other clients, and in turn show potential hires that your agency has positions in which they may be interested.
Mix it up with your posts to include some entertaining stories and useful advice about job hunting or staffing and recruiting. This will give people a reason to follow you even if they are not currently interested, and gaining followers will increase the size of your network which will result in a wider reach for your content.
2. On Instagram, use stories, posts, and reels to engage your followers and expand your reach.
I use Instagram every day and can state with complete certainty that the different ways to share content each reach people in a unique way. Stories, even if your account is public, mainly only reach the followers you already have. Use these to share entertaining or motivational content that will make them want to stick around to see what you share next.
Posts, on the other hand, will reach users who already follow you along with others who may not have come across your account yet. To reach the maximum number of new users you should use some relevant hashtags.
Stories and Posts are great, but currently, Instagram Reels are the top way to reach new people and expand your audience. They are also the best way to go viral on Instagram, which basically means you are reaching many new users who have not yet followed your account or seen your content.
This is where you should post your most versatile and engaging social media recruiting content, and again, you should use relevant hashtags to ensure you reach as many people as possible. Hootsuite.com suggests using about 11 hashtags to start with, although Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags on Posts and Reels.
The top hashtags for staffing related posts are: #staffing, #staffingagency, #staffingsolutions, #staffingservices, and #staffingfirm.
Pro Tip: Do not share TikTok content to Instagram. Instagram suppresses posts shared from TikTok to encourage posting unique content.
3. Create separate and unique content to post on TikTok.
TikTok is a fairly new app that has grown very quickly throughout its first few years of existence. One thing for sure is that people using this application want first and foremost to be entertained. They also do not want to see the same content that they are already seeing on Instagram or any other social media app.
Creating separate, fresh content for TikTok that is super engaging is the way to go for social media recruiting. Consider using it to share short videos about funny things that happen at your agency during the workweek, or experiences that you or your clients have had while searching for employers or jobs.
It may seem like a waste, but creating content like this could reach many new people. Make sure to keep it professional, but people (especially the younger generations) love relatable and funny content and may follow you to see more. Plus, a wider reach equals more potential to reach clients and potential hires.
The top hashtags for staffing related posts on TikTok are: #recruiting, #staffing_recruiting, #staffing, #recruitingtips, and #staffingservices.
4. Avoid spammy and reach-damaging tactics in social media recruiting.
I think the reasons for this tip are pretty obvious, but I will still go into a bit of detail about what to avoid. Most importantly, do not use bots. There are applications out there for platforms like Instagram that will allow you to use bots to automatically like and comment on posts as well as follow accounts that use specific hashtags.
Instagram can tell when you are using anything like this and will penalize your account by hiding your posts from other users or by banning your account completely. Also, I can always tell when a bot has commented on my post, and the fake engagement does not help me or the account posting the comment.
Plus, it’s annoying.
Hashtag #nope.
Another thing to avoid completely is buying followers. It is a huge waste of money. You will get a boost in your following momentarily, but many of the users following your account will actually be bots that end up getting banned by Instagram or will just end up unfollowing. Creating engaging content and interacting genuinely with other users through likes and comments are the best ways to grow your account.
Growing a following on social media can be a daunting task and for this reason many companies either hire an in-house social media manager or outsource it to a freelance social media manager. As a staffing agency, you may even come across companies looking for social media recruiters and fill these roles for them in the future.
Growing your reach with a solid strategy for social media recruiting is worth it — you can reach way more people this way that would otherwise never find your temp employment or staffing agency or view your open positions on a traditional job recruiting site. My final advice is to remember that the type of people you reach is just as or possibly more important than the size of your audience. Keep your content and hashtags relevant and get posting!
You might also like: 6 Outside the Box Recruiting Ideas for Staffing Agencies
***
Looking for financing to grow your staffing agency? Use temp employment payroll loans and staffing agency factoring to unlock the working capital tied down in your agency’s receivables the first day they are generated. Get a free, no-risk quote from a top U.S. staffing factoring company by filling out the form below.
