Despite initially being labelled as a fad, social media has fast become an essential marketing and PR function. The latest data has revealed that there is now a staggering 3.7 billion people using it as part of their day-to-day lives.Today’s blog is courtesy of TRN Gold Partner, BlueSky PR. BlueSky are specialists in PR & communications for recruitment, HR, business & higher education and other niche sectors. They are the only international PR and communications firm with truly in-depth experience and understanding of the recruitment and talent management arena. This means they are the partner of choice for many of the world’s most ambitious and innovative professional recruitment consultancies, RPOs, in-house recruitment teams and human resources consultancies helping them to engage effectively and compellingly with all of their target audiences through the complete range of conventional, social and new media.
BlueSky have 3 tips to help your recruitment agency implement paid social media into your marketing strategy. Here’s the article:
Despite initially being labelled as a fad, social media has fast become an essential marketing and PR function. The latest data has revealed that there is now a staggering 3.7 billion people using it as part of their day-to-day lives.
And with candidates more passive than ever – research shows that 70-75% of employees are open to new opportunities – alongside the increasing number of digitally savvy Generations Y and Z in the workforce, the role of social media in the talent acquisition process has never been so important.
However, despite social media use being at its highest ever, organic reach for brands is in decline. The major platforms have all been updating their algorithms to help prioritise content from users’ friends, family and colleagues in order to generate more natural engagement at the expense of branded content. This is illustrated by the ongoing decline of organic Facebook reach – in 2012, the average reach for a Facebook page was 16% and in 2016 it plummeted to just 2%, with some analysts speculating that January’s news feed update has reduced reach even further.
With so many brands competing to appear on news feeds it demonstrates the need for recruitment firms to invest in paid social and be seen by their audiences. So how can marketers implement paid social into their strategies? Here are our three top tips.
Achieve buy-in
Arguably the biggest challenge facing any recruitment marketer who is looking to implement paid social is securing buy-in from their firm’s senior leadership team. Our own research shows that just 55% of recruitment firms are using paid social which illustrates the struggle many marketers are experiencing.
To be able to successfully achieve buy-in, you must be able to demonstrate how your social media strategy is currently supporting your agency’s business objectives and how paid social will help ensure that KPI’s, such as lead generation, are being met. This will enable you to present a clear business case to management.
Choose the right channels
Again strategy is key – to maximise your efforts you need to review your social media goals and analyse your audience profile on each platform before deciding what platform/s to invest your paid social budget in. The latter should include the interests and demographics of your existing followers as well as those you would like to attract. This will enable you to understand which types of content will resonate most on what platform.
For example, if you are looking to generate new client leads you should consider whether it would be more effective to create paid posts for Facebook, the world’s largest social media site, or if LinkedIn, with its business-orientation, would generate a better return on investment.
Don’t ignore organic
Whilst the reach of organic posts may be in decline, they should still play a vital role in your strategy. After all social media is meant to be social; you should be producing content that sparks debate, responding to queries and joining conversations.
Organic interactions are essential for recruitment firms as they enable you to provide real-time customer service, develop and maintain relationships with leads and build your brand’s online reputation.
Is your firm using paid social to achieve cut through? Comment below with your tips
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