In today’s digitally driven world, social media is a vital component of any recruitment marketing strategy. However, whilst most firms are more than competent at sharing content such as job posts and blogs across their firm’s channels, at BlueSky PR we’ve found that they are often missing out on some of the key opportunities that social media has to offer.
Here are five of the most effective ways recruitment marketers can use social media to amplify their PR efforts.
How to use social media to amplify your PR
1. Share your press coverage
While this sounds like a rather obvious recommendation, we regularly witness recruitment agencies not posting the media coverage that their in-house teams or agencies have worked so hard to secure.
However, it is important to understand that your social media followers are following you because they all have an interest in the services your recruitment business offers - and with the effective use of hashtags you can also put your coverage in front of audiences who are actively searching for those topics.
Putting positive press mentions directly in front of your key audiences will not only enhance your credibility in their eyes but it could also be the touchpoint that generates a new client or candidate for your business.
Top tip: Rather than simply posting the article or feature once and never again, look at how you can stretch and repurpose your press coverage. For example, could you pull out a key quote from the article to use as the basis of the post? Or could you create an infographic based on any of the statistics that are covered?
2. Use Twitter to develop media relations
According to the JOTW Communications Survey, 83% of journalists stated that Twitter is the most valuable social media platform for their profession and 78% like it when PR and marketing professionals follow them.
This shows just how important it is to use the platform to research, follow and engage with journalists that cover topics relevant to your firm. Taking time to carefully nurture relationships will help keep your firm front of mind and lead to media opportunities in the future.
Top tip: Journalists often use the hashtags #JournoRequest and #PRrequest on Twitter when they are seeking expert comment or insights for articles they are writing. Monitor these hashtags regularly and you may come across a piece that your business could contribute to.
3. Encourage your CEO to actively use social media
As the most senior and respected member of your recruitment firm, what your Chief Executive says and does can have a huge impact on business. Encouraging your CEO to share and post company updates on LinkedIn and Twitter can be a fantastic way to develop their profile as a thought leader, reach a different segment of your audience and generate enquiries from journalists.
Top tip: If your CEO is pressed for time or simply not comfortable coming up with their own content to post on social, you should draft posts that they can copy and paste before pressing ‘send’. This has the added benefit of ensuring that what they say is on-brand and reflective of your firm’s overall messaging.
4. Manage your reputation
While social media can be incredibly effective at amplifying positive PR, it is also essential that you use it to manage your brand’s reputation and as a channel to deliver crisis comms.
The real-time nature of social media means that accusations - whether they’re true or not - can quickly bring your organisation into disrepute. Rather than waiting for a crisis to occur, you should be proactive and monitor mentions of your brand so that you can engage with your audience and respond where necessary.
Top tip: When tracking mentions of your recruitment firm, you should include variations of your business’s name and common misspellings alongside your social media handles to ensure that any negative comments do not slip through the net.
5. Reach a wider audience by using paid social
To further amplify the reach of your press coverage you should consider incorporating paid social media into your strategy.
Social media advertising allows you to reach a much larger audience than is possible with organic posts. The vast array of targeting options available means that you can drill down into your client and candidate personas to reach the right audience at the right time with the right content.
Top tip: Plan your campaign in advance and have it ready to launch as soon as the coverage goes live. High levels of engagement on a recently published article can cause it to trend on the ‘most viewed’ section of a publication’s website.
These are just five of the ways in which recruitment firms can use social media to maximise their PR activities. For more expert advice or to find out how we can help your company grow, view our range of social media services today.
