When it comes to attracting talent, it’s a real jungle out there right now.
You only want the best for your business, but the current job market is a nightmare to navigate. As we explored recently, the ‘candidate-rich, job-poor’ job market is a myth, and it takes some real digging to unearth the best talent, and then even more hoop-jumping to attract them to your business.
So where do you go to catch the eye of the talent you need? Social media, of course.
Social media is where most of us now go to get our news, alongside updates from our friends and families. The average person spends 2 hours and 25 minutes a day on social media, rising to 3 hours a day when you only take Millennials and Gen Z into consideration. Bearing in mind that the eldest Millennials are turning 40 this year, this is a very large chunk of the workforce.
But where do you even begin when it comes to attracting social media users to your brand? Well, no fear – that’s what we’re here for! We’re sharing with you our top tips for using Instagram to attract talent to your organisation.
1 – Think about who you want to attract and choose your platform accordingly.
Whilst LinkedIn may be your natural go-to when you think about attracting people to your organisation, depending on the type of applicants you want, you may not find them there. The average LinkedIn user spends only 17 minutes on LinkedIn a month, leaving you just seconds to make an impact. Instagram users, however, are spending an average of 28 minutes per day on the platform.
Instagram has a mostly millennial userbase – 54.7% of users in 2021 are between the ages of 18 and 34, and a further 19.5% are 35 – 44 – making it an ideal channel for talent attraction.
Facebook, as a platform, was once favoured by millennials. However, over the past few years the millennial userbase has been declining – since 2012 users aged 18 – 24 have declined from making up 24% of the userbase, to just 16%, something to consider if you are recruiting for an entry-level or early-career position.
If you want to use all your platforms to attract a mix of talent, it is best to try tailoring your content to each channel. We’ve found that on Twitter, we can be a little more informal in the way we word things. On Instagram, we keep it mostly informal with lots of behind-the-scenes Stories alongside our content. But on LinkedIn, we keep it (mostly!) business.
2 – Produce content that people want to interact with
There is no point throwing up the same old posts, week after week, and hoping for the best. It’s a sure-fire way to disengage your audience! Take the time to plan out your content, and produce good quality, eye-catching graphics, and assets to sit alongside them.
If you have the capabilities, video content is always favoured by social media algorithms and is a great way of catching the eye of your audience as they scroll.
Do some market research. Look into what your competitors are putting out there, and how successful it is with their audience. What are their followers engaging with, and what are they ignoring?
If you don’t know where to begin, a quick audit of your current marketing strategies is a good place to start. There are tools out there to help you with this, for example Mike Pye + Co’s free Marketing Performance Scorecard.
3 – Engage with your audience
Nobody likes feeling that they are shouting into the void, and if you don’t respond to your followers when they engage with you, that is how they will end up feeling. The next thing you know, nobody is interacting with your brand on social media and you’re the one shouting into the void.
Try to respond to comments and questions as quickly as possible, don’t leave it days or even weeks, and get involved with your followers. Comment and like their posts, and be engaged in your community, whether that is a local or online, industry-based community. Set aside 5 or 10 minutes a day to interact with the people you follow, as well as those that follow you. The bonus to this is that the algorithms will love you!
4 – Make your company values prominent
If you’re using social media channels to try and attract people to your business, you want to make sure that you are attracting the right people to apply.
You should make sure that your organisation’s values and purpose are clear and easy to find if a potential candidate visited your social media profiles – and show that you mean them. Unfortunately, there are many businesses that do not truly live the values that they claim to uphold, but if you can show that you and your team really believe in them and are united in your purpose, then you’re likely to become an attractive prospect for a talented candidate.
5 – Show prospective employees what they can expect
Instagram is great for this, showing behind-the-scenes and more personal posts of what life is like at the company.
At We Are Adam, we found that our audience is very receptive when we post about life behind-the-scenes at Adam – whether it’s the office dogs, a Bake Off between the team, or a hiking day, our followers seem to delight in seeing it and it is these posts that are often brought up by potential candidates during the interview process.
What do you love about working for your business, and how can you showcase this? Have you given everyone an extra holiday for their hard work, or sent out a box of treats? Shout about it! With so few candidates on the market right now, it’s these personal touches that will make your business stand out and be more attractive.
Remember, be authentic. Telling a white lie or omitting the truth about what it is really like to work at your company is likely to come back around and bite you when the new hire realises they have been duped! We explored the importance of telling potential hires the truth and why false promises are a false economy in our blog.
If you have a tricky role to fill and need some advice, pick up the phone and give us a call. Our recruitment consultants will be happy to help!
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