Think back to when you applied for your first job as an adult. Before you even submitted that resume, would you have been able to pick your future coworkers out of a crowd? Would you know how the office celebrated birthdays? What the break room looked like? What cool project your future supervisor had just finished?
I definitely didn’t, and my first job as an adult began only five years ago. Since then, the employment landscape has changed drastically. No matter the size of your company, you can bet that potential applicants are combing your website, scrolling through your social media channels and looking at your ratings on third-party company review sites.
So, if you’re thinking about starting a digital recruitment strategy to attract and hire the top talent in your industry, the first thing you’re going to want to do is to take a closer look at your online presence. Your company needs to have an online presence showcasing your employees and what it’s like to work for you.
Here’s how to do just that in three easy steps.
Digital Recruitment Strategy Defined
A digital recruitment strategy is the process of leveraging technology and the online world to efficiently and effectively source, attract, nurture and hire candidates, while also keeping the candidate pipeline full. It includes tactics such as online ads, social media recruiting, online applications and email nurturing.
Use Company Social Media Channels to Showcase Company Culture
If you have social media channels set up for your company (if you don’t or if you need a little help in this area, check out our social media resources), use those channels to posts employee pictures, videos, events, awards and more to showcase the company culture.
It’s best to have your company culture defined before you do this. Ask yourself, what defines your workplace? Is it humorous? Confident? Caring? That will set the tone for your posts to make sure you’re telling a cohesive story.
Find 4 ways to get your LinkedIn company page noticed >>
Create a Company Advocacy Program
Current employees can be your best asset in successful digital recruitment marketing. After all, which do you trust more to tell you the truth about a company—a polished job description on the company’s website, or a testimonial from a real person who works there?
To make this as successful as possible for your recruitment strategy while also simplifying it for employees, create a process or policy for how they can like and share posts with their friends and family. If there are guidelines in place, they’ll feel more comfortable sharing company posts on their personal pages.
A note of caution though—don’t provide too much direction. As in, don’t provide them with scripted posts and don’t make the advocacy program mandatory. Let them use their own words to talk about the company. It will feel much more organic that way.
Update the Company Website
Does your website accurately reflect who your company is today? If your website is outdated, candidates (and, might I add, potential customers) may see the company in the same light.
You might be thinking, “I don’t have time to redo my website. I want to start recruiting now, not six months down the road.” It’s true that that’s usually the timeline for traditional websites, but Performance-Based Websites are the next generation of websites that take as little as 60 days to go live and gather more leads to boot. You don’t have to wait until it’s launched to start recruitment efforts, but it can’t hurt to get started. As the saying goes, “the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.”
To show you that we practice what we preach (and to avoid picking on anyone), take a look at our recently redeveloped website. We took a good hard look at our website last year and realized that it was time for an update. We weren’t showing our true company culture—innovative, creative and a little quirky, too.
Here’s a sampling of our old culture page:
It was a bit impersonal and text-heavy. We had also grown by leaps and bounds since the page was last updated, so it wasn’t an accurate representation of what it was like to work with us.
To see what we came up with, check out our new page—I’m a big fan!
Of course, if you don’t have the time or budget for a complete website overhaul, that doesn’t mean you can’t start your online recruitment strategy. Make whatever tweaks you can to more accurately display your culture and go from there.
Get help with your website with a free website audit >>
Maintain Consistent Messaging Across Digital Recruitment Channels
Your website and social media channels are all available to your ideal employees. Chances are, those employees are going to be hopping around from channel to channel as they decide whether or not to apply.
This is why it’s so crucial to ensure your brand message is consistent from your website to social media channels. Potential candidates will check out both before applying.
More Digital Recruitment Tips
Want more tips like this? Download our guide to find out how you can implement a digital recruitment strategy to find your next star employee.
