At a time when the number of global users now exceeds 3 billion, it’s perhaps more important than ever that agencies are using the correct platforms to engage with their target audiences. So here are our top five tips for how to use social media for brand building:
1. Don’t ‘spray and pray’
Too many companies adopt this approach with their social media activity and, put simply, it doesn’t work. Take the time to establish which platforms your target audiences are using and what content they seek. From here you can not only reach the people that matter to your business, but you can also devote the necessary time to developing your presence on these channels. Using one or two platforms effectively is far better than being on each and every one out there!
2. Move away from automated job feeds and inactive accounts
Far too many recruitment companies (largely those with limited internal resources) make the mistake of using social media as automated job feeds. If this sounds familiar, put yourself in your target audiences shoes and ask yourself would you follow a Twitter account that just churns out jobs? Or would you rather follow an account that tweets industry insights and career advice interspersed with the occasional job post? I suspect it’s the latter – one which adds value to your experience as a social media user and provides you with the information you seek. Secondly, and this is a real bugbear of mine, is inactive social media accounts with high follower numbers. We used an example in the webinar of a LinkedIn Company page with 700 followers yet it hasn’t made a single post! Now I’m pretty sure that if this business had 700 people on its CRM opted into receive newsletters, the business would certainly be sending them regular content. Well the same applies on social media – after all these individuals have followed the account for a reason – they seek content and expertise.
3. Bring your brand to life
Social media users are not only time short, but they are also bombarded with content from a plethora of different sources. Yours needs to stand out so ensure you are using imagery that cuts through the noise and reinforces your position as an authoritative voice in the market. We cited two examples of companies that do this very well – take a look at Clayton Recruitment and One Way to see how.
4. Don’t ignore enquiries & complaints
More people than ever before are using social media to issue enquiries and complaints. In fact statistics show that 1 in 3 social media users prefers using it to telephone or email. And with their posts visible for all to see, it is perhaps more important than ever to provide first class customer service that leaves them feeling satisfied. Despite this, however, there is still a tendency to ignore questions and complaints hoping they simply go away. Never be tempted to do this – not only will it give a bad impression to the person making the complaint, but it also offers others to jump on the bandwagon and what was a small gripe is far larger and damaging for your brand. Try and use the one hour window as a rule of thumb for responding to enquiries.
5. Move away from ‘vanity metrics’
Last but by no means least, avoid the temptation of simply reporting on standard metrics – such as likes and follower numbers – when analysing social media activity. Instead of reporting on these in isolation, tie them back to your social media objectives. If one of your main goals is client acquisition, instead of simply reporting on new Twitter followers, look at who these people are and feed their details back to your recruitment consultants as part of your ongoing BD cycle.
If you’d like more information on how to use social media for brand building and how BlueSky can help your recruitment business with its social media strategy get in touch today.
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Author: Steph King
