With approximately 79% of applicants using social media to find jobs, there is no doubt that these channels are integral in the recruitment process. 

As a company owner, how do you get the most out of these social media platforms? How can you utilize social media to enhance your employer brand and stay on top of your applicant’s minds? 

More importantly, how do you improve your reach, engagement and fill in more job vacancies? 

Employer Branding Defined

Employer branding is the process of making people associate your company with a good brand experience.

These days, job applicants prefer to work in a company that is aligned with their values. This is in addition to better compensation and employee benefits.

In other words, employer branding is presenting your company as a desirable employer. This is to attract higher-quality candidates. Nonetheless, it is likely that your existing and previous employers already have a perception of your company.

That said, here are eight practical ways you can use social media for employer branding and attract top talents: 

1. Pick the right channels

When it comes to social media employer branding, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Nonetheless, you can maximize one channel to attract top talents to your company. 

Make sure that you’re sharing the latest news and industry insights so that people will be coming for your products and expertise. You can also drive traffic to your company site using social media. The more traffic you have, the higher the chance that people will engage with your brand.

Launching a dedicated social media channel for employer branding lets you create a compelling company story. It allows you to get in front of prospective employees, as well as engage your current employees.

2. Curate and create relevant content

After you’ve picked the social media platforms you wanted to be in, the next thing you need to do is curate great content. Fortunately, social media makes it easy to be visual with your storytelling. Plus, you can get ideas from these branding initiatives by famous companies.

You want prospective employees to envision themselves working for your company. To do this, you can share photos and videos across all your social media platforms. Make sure that the visuals you’re sharing are consistent with your brand colors. 

You can show off your employer brand by sharing photos and videos of: 

• Your employees
• Your office and workspace
• Corporate, educational, and recruitment events
• Exciting projects that you’re working on
• Awards and recognition that you’ve won 

Remember that no matter what type of content you choose, make it engaging, interesting, and relevant to your audience. Don’t bombard them with boring and irrelevant content. 

3. Build a consistent identity

To create a memorable and easily recognizable brand, you need to adopt a consistent style, tone of voice, and story. You can do the same for your employer brand. 

By building a cohesive brand identity, you can create a much stronger, recognizable employer brand on social media. This best practice applies to any employer branding content. 

Whether you produce company content, develop branding channels, or showcase employees, see that your visual style and messaging are consistent. 

4. Display your values

Social media places a significant emphasis on authenticity. To create a successful employer branding on social media, you have to be honest about what your company is all about, the direction you’d want it to take, and how you plan to get there. 

It would help if you also talked about the core values of your company.

Don’t try to advertise yourself as something that you’re not. Instead, emphasize what your company stands for and let everyone know about it. 

You have the power to create the kind of culture that you want. That way, your core values are aligned with your company’s goals. Moreover, the employees that you hire become active participants in that culture. 

So, show them a glimpse of the day-to-day culture of your business. This will assure your prospective applicants that they would want to be part of your company. 

5. Encourage engagement

When your employees like a photo, or comments on a press release, respond, or engage, they will feel heard. They’re also excited because their brand voice has been publicly acknowledged. 

Usually, companies that are well ahead of the curve are leveraging the power of employer branding. They do this by empowering their workforce on social media.

One way to do that is by featuring them on your social media post. Another is to encourage your employees to share your social media content.

6. Turn employees to online advocates

Word-of-mouth is a powerful marketing tool that you can use in your arsenal. So, why not ask your workforce to be social to start sharing your stories for you? 

Ideally, you need to train your staff in a wide range of social media topics, like optimizing their presence on LinkedIn. You can also provide them with the knowledge and the freedom to share their stories online while encouraging your employees to engage with your brand. 

One way to show their pride in the organization is when employees like and share your content. Thus, make sure that you give them the skills and permission to go for it. 

7. Create honest conversations with people

Social media isn’t a broadcast. Instead, it’s a two-way conversation. 

Therefore, everything you’re posting is an excellent opportunity to create dialogues. This shows that you’re approachable, dynamic, and responsive. 

Even having minor conversations can help you build relationships that may cause people to apply for a job. 

8. Analyze results

Another benefit of social media to your strategy is that there are different ways to track your success. Web analytics tools can give you insight into how many people click through your site from social media platforms. 

This lets you know whether your current social media marketing strategy is generating results. In this case, that would be shedding a positive light on your company as a desirable employer. 

Building an effective employer branding on social media takes time and effort. Following the tips and tactics mentioned above makes it easier to stay in control of your branding. That way, you can attract top talents to work for your company.