Using social media to promote your employer brand

Social media has the power to spread your message and is a tool to be utilised for your benefit. Promote your employer brand by engaging with your clients and customers across social media platforms – it’s cost effective, quick and far-reaching.

Employer branding is the process of creating an association between your brand and what comes to mind when people think of your organisation. Most candidates want to work for a company they’ve heard of and are familiar with its products or services.

Why should a candidate choose to work for you instead of a competitor? Conduct employee surveys to find out what made people want to join your company and whether they’re satisfied with their careers, because they’re your best brand ambassadors. What about anyone who has turned down your organisation – did you get feedback as to why they decided not to accept your offer? Maybe you’re not an employer of choice...

Whether or not you have consciously developed your employer brand, you will already be perceived externally based on your offering. Candidates you interview are a good way of finding out what this perceived brand is, because they are new to the business and are judging on what they know from hearing about you or using your product.

Social media sites worth considering include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and blog sites. Facebook is the most popular of these sites in the Middle East, with over 90% of internet users active on this network. Just over half use Twitter but fewer are currently active LinkedIn members. However, LinkedIn is a site specifically for professionals and can be utilised for hiring activity.

Share interesting news and industry insights so that people come to you for your product and expertise. Because social media is an online tool, you can direct more people to your company website, where all your content will be hosted, meaning more traffic and an increased chance of people engaging with your brand.

Of course, the speed and ease in which things are shared over social media can also be a drawback if someone decides to say something negative about your organisation.

Another advantage of using social media in your strategy is that there are various ways of tracking your success. Search engine tools such as Google Analytics will show you how many people are clicking through to your website from social media platforms, so you can judge whether your strategy is having the desired effect in terms of traffic, as well as promoting a positive employer brand.

Who is going to be responsible for keeping your message consistent? Your employer brand can be conveyed in every internal and external communication so you should come up with some guidelines for things like tone of voice, imagery used and other brands you associate with online etc.

Partnering with a recruitment agency can also boost your employer branding; find out how Michael Page can help.

Recruitment advice from Michael Page 

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