First and foremost, it is critical to have a clear intention in mind before beginning. Don't think that because it's Social Media, it doesn't require planning.
Some considerations to bear in mind for Social Media EB
Display your Corporate Culture
People prefer to understand what they are getting themselves into. So, naturally, any glimpse they can get into the day-to-day culture of a business will give them the assurance that they would enjoy being a part of this.
That is why, in the first line, you should focus on showcasing your organization's work culture on Social Media. Post content on your social media channels that reflects your Employer Brand and demonstrates all of the Why's and What's of working for your company.
Consider your company. Who knows the most about what it's like to work here? Who, in turn, can best present a comprehensive picture of your company as an employer? You read that correctly: the employees themselves!
Employees are the most trusted source of workplace evaluation because they are involved in all daily processes. While messages delivered by businesses may lack credibility, messages delivered by a human, an employee, are usually met with open arms.
As a result, incorporating Employee Advocacy into your Employer Brand is unavoidable. Allow employers to express their true thoughts and feelings toward their employers and give them their 15 minutes of fame.
This is also a great way to show your appreciation for current employees while promoting your Employer Brand to potential candidates. Furthermore, employees are very likely to have their own Social Media accounts. Encourage employees to share to their networks whenever possible. This keeps your organization engaged while also increasing your company's reach and popularity!
Social Media world is thriving more than ever before
Because social distancing is the current credo, the Social Media world is thriving more than ever before. And, while it is obvious that regular events cannot be held in person for the time being, you might consider holding them on the internet!
Smaller, company-wide gatherings can be held using platforms such as Skype, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams. Consider holding conferences with tools like GoToWebinar or UberConference for larger events with hundreds of participants.
Overall, this not only ensures that your event management efforts are not wasted, but it also provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how forward-thinking and adaptable your company is.
20 Strategies for Outstanding Employer Branding on Social Media
Keep one thing in mind throughout all of the following tips: Your Employer Brand on Social Media is almost entirely based on your current employees! This means that your employees are your capital, and before you can hope to create positive branding, you must first keep them happy.
1. Create a Careers Page
Your regular Feed is frequently the first point of contact a potential customer has with your brand. So, why not give your prospective employees their own first point of contact?
Which Social Network is best to use here depends on your target audience (of employees): It is possible to have a LinkedIn Focus Page, a dedicated Facebook Page, or an Instagram Account. All of them allow you to focus solely on prospective candidates and share carefully selected content with them that makes working for your company appear most appealing.
Pro tip: In addition to or instead of the social media career page, create a landing page! You can always refer to these to provide curated information to interested parties and to make the application process easier.
2. Account Takeover by an Employee
Essentially, before applying, people want to see what it's like to work at a company. Allowing employees to take over the company accounts on a regular basis can do wonders for demonstrating what day-to-day business might look like. To maximize the potential of a laid-back, casual approach, use Instagram Stories!
Also, who doesn't enjoy following people around during the course of their day?
Pro tip: You can also publish the video as an IGTV or YouTube video if it is a complex production that demonstrates significant company insights. You can also link to this from your own website if you want.
3. Emphasis on Employee Stories
This is especially feasible for smaller businesses with a manageable number of employees! Create an Instagram Story Highlight for each employee in your company.
Pro tip: Not only can all of the stories done by/on this person be saved there, but it also helps potential candidates get to know the heart of your company before meeting them in person. Finally, it feels as if they've known you forever.
4. Employee Testimonials
This does not, for once, refer to Instagram Stories. Employer branding involves a lot of storytelling, and who better to tell a story than someone who has lived it? When it comes to telling stories, look to your current employees for an authentic perspective.
Pro tip: What's great is that Employee Stories can be shared in a variety of formats and sizes across virtually any platform: On Instagram, you have a picture of your longest employee talking about the company's history. Great! A talking-head video of an employee discussing their hiring process on LinkedIn? Better yet!
5. Be a part of My Day
Follow My Day Videos, similar to Employee Stories, are a great way to show what daily business in your organization can look like. Consider making it a series and following around another person or position every week, month, or so to provide a more complete picture.
Furthermore, the CEO or significant employees who have a lot of customer contact can run their own social media channel to allow for cross-posting. People prefer to interact with personal brands on the one hand, but you can show everyday business life from a different perspective - possibly even more casually. This is also recommended for employees who work in sales or customer service. This further humanizes the company and increases connection and interaction points.
Employees should be labelled.
Don't forget to tag the employee featured in the piece of content in all of your Employer Branding efforts. Keep in mind, however, that you should always ask if they are okay with being tagged!
7. Employee Involvement
Sharing content about your employees is great, but sometimes one thing is missing to boost credibility to the max: the Social Proof of said employees!
This is easily accomplished by ensuring that your employees engage with and share your company's content. After all, why would they like, comment, or repost if their views differ from those of the company?
8. Distinctive Employee-Hashtag
While Electronic Arts is the most well-known example, creating a unique Employee-Hashtag has proven to be a great strategy for many businesses. Here's how to go about it:
Create a unique universal (meaning it will work across all of your platforms) hashtag. Then, simply encourage your employees to use this Hashtag whenever they discuss workplace culture.
This will help to raise awareness of your company's culture and connect your global workforce!
This is especially true if the team is large or dispersed.
9. Employee-Generated Content
Use this advantage at all costs if you have creative, Social Media-savvy employees. Use employee-created content to its full potential with their permission.
If your employees are not, but would like to be more involved, we recommend internal or private training. in order to make the best use of the available resources.
10. Employee Accomplishments
Employees do amazing things from time to time, and it's important to recognize that.
However, celebrating individual successes on social media with the following does two things: On the one hand, it demonstrates to the employee how much they are valued. On the other hand, it provides insight into the support an organization provides its employees!
11. Company Conferences and Events
In general, not everything out of the ordinary is worth sharing. People are usually very interested in these topics at large business events and conferences.
So, the next time an employee attends an event, assign them the task of gathering some content as well, to demonstrate that working at your company does not only entail sitting at a desk all day.
12. Internal Company Events
Working at a company, contrary to popular belief, entails more than just working. It may also include gathering with coworkers to discuss or celebrate something, or simply to unwind after a long day at work. Take a picture or two during these moments!
Remember that while larger events, such as a Christmas party, are great, smaller outings, such as a Birthday Wishes for Employees, are usually more authentic.
13. Daily Tasks
As previously stated, anything out of the ordinary is excellent for Social Media content. However, when you think about it, what potential candidates really want to know is the company's work culture.
As a result, it is a good idea to share honest insights into your company's daily operations in order to make the right impression and attract the right employees.
You can do almost anything with this: Instagram Stories or Posts, Facebook Posts, Videos, you name it!
14. Display the Workspace
Wouldn't you like to see your future workplace before starting a new job? That's almost certainly a yes, so don't hold back on taking pictures of the office, break room, and other areas. Bonus points for photographing in the morning - good lighting illuminates all rooms!
Yes, Home Office works as well.
People enjoy seeing content that is down-to-earth and realistic. Because of COVID-19, the most practical option right now is a home office. So, don't be afraid of clutter, and take a picture of your (team's) home office spaces to demonstrate your adaptability.
16. Have some fun at work and show it!
We all need breaks and a little fun every now and then. So, when these careless moments of bottle flipping or office banter occur, capture them for the most authentic type of content!
17 Employee Live Videos
Nobody knows what it's like to work for a company like yours better than your employees. Why not capitalize on that? Encourage your followers to submit questions for them to answer in a Live Video! Make sure to publicize the event a few days ahead of time so that interested candidates can attend.
18. Inform people that you are hiring.
As previously stated, 49% of all professionals use social media to stay up to date on open positions. (2019, LinkedIn)
As a result, once you've hired, make sure to inform your followers about the open positions, when and where they can apply, and what you expect from a future employee.
19. Advantages and Benefits
While you're at it, it's also a good idea to highlight the perks and benefits your company has to offer in an elegant, non-brash manner. Even better, tell stories about how the perks and benefits you provide actively improved the lives of your employees.
20. Have you run out of ideas?
Think back to your most recent job interviews whenever you're feeling uncreative or your vast pool of content ideas has run dry. What types of questions did the candidates pose? Then, use these prompts to generate ideas for future content!
Are you already utilizing Social Media for Employer Branding in your company? And if you haven't already, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and take your company to new heights!
Please share your thoughts in the comments! We can't wait to find out!