Employee Recruiting – Rallio – Social Media for Franchises, Small & Local Business

Have you ever felt like you could use a LinkedIn tip or two to make the most of the platform? Let’s be honest: Many of us could use a quick tutorial on how to use LinkedIn as an individual and as a business.

If you have a LinkedIn account, you might already know LinkedIn as a B2B professional networking and recruiting platform. With a personal account, you can connect with other like-minded individuals both in your industry and others.

In addition, brands that set up corporate pages have an opportunity to build B2B relationships and locate candidates for open positions.

Knowing that LinkedIn is primarily a professional platform and treating it as such are two different things, however. All too often, people use LinkedIn to try and “sell” their connections on their products and services.

If you’re approaching your connections like sales opportunities, you may be missing the mark entirely. Actually, this tenet is true on any social media platform. You simply can’t approach people with a “this is about me” attitude and expect them to listen to anything you have to say.

To make your LinkedIn conversations and connections more meaningful, focus on building relationships, not sales. Each LinkedIn tip below will help you collect referrals, not connection counts, and position yourself as an expert in your field.

1. Create Thoughtful Connection Requests

Have you ever received a LinkedIn connection request from someone you don’t know? There was a time when this was unheard of on the platform. Connection requests used to be reserved strictly for people you already know or have a working relationship with.

Times have changed, however, and it’s now more common to get requests from strangers. Whether you find a second- or third-tier connection or someone you stumble upon through search, occasionally you might see someone you’d like to add to your professional network.

LinkedIn tip: The key with these requests is to write a thoughtful introduction and mention something about the profile that sparked your interest. Avoid the generic “I’d like to add you to my professional network.” Replace it with something specific, such as “I saw you work with local charities. I’m looking to step up my charitable giving. Would you be open to connecting?”

If a new request is accepted, resist the urge to sell your products and services. Sometimes people craft a thoughtful introduction, only to have it all fall apart when they immediately send back a salesy message.

Instead, make it about them. Ask them how they get started in their industry, how long they’ve been doing it or any other open-ended question. Build the relationship first. Any sales activity is secondary and is a nice bonus if it happens later on down the line once the relationship is established.

2. Respond to Requests Thoughtfully, Too

Take the same care with your response to connection requests when you receive them. If you get a request from someone who seems like a good fit for your network, accept the request and then send a message back.

LinkedIn tip: Sometimes, these requests won’t include an introduction and you’ll have to take control to get the ball rolling. Not everyone will know just the right thing to say, but there may be potential for a mutually beneficial relationship.

Take a look at the person’s profile to find a common ground. Again, ask open-ended questions to establish a relationship.

By taking a few extra minutes with your new connections, you can actually get to know the person. This is far better than simply accepting or sending a request and then never saying a word to each other.

3. Add Content to the Feed

Once you make a new connection, you’re not going to be sending messages back and forth every day. Unless you’re engaged in an active discussion together, it’s fine to step away from new connections for a bit and focus on building the relationship in other ways.

LinkedIn tip: Post new content a few times a week so you appear in the feed. Here are few ideas of what to post:

Write a short article. LinkedIn has built-in publishing capabilities that let you write a post, add images and video, and publish right within the platform. Focus on topics that relate to current events in your industry and in the world, such as the current pandemic and how you’re responding.
Create a poll. Relate it back to your area of expertise.
Share links touseful articles, such as your own blog posts, industry news and opinion pieces. Tag any relevant companies mentioned in the articles to get their attention.
Celebrate an occasion. Listed as one of the publishing options when you create a post on LinkedIn, this feature suggests occasions you might want to celebrate. Project launches, work anniversaries, new team-member welcome messages, and colleague “kudos” are just a few ways you can throw your own virtual LinkedIn party.
Put out a call for experts. Click on this option when you create a post to publish details on the industry, location and description of the type of experts you’re seeking.
Offer help. Yet another publishing option lets you offer general help, referrals, career coaching and other services.
Create job posts. If you’re hiring, post details on the position and invite job candidates to apply online.

Make use of LinkedIn’s myriad publishing suggestions to start building momentum for your profile or company page.

4. Join Groups

LinkedIn has groups for every kind of industry and interest. Whether it’s franchise industry professionals or human resources executives, there’s something for everyone.

LinkedIn tip: Join a few groups related to your industry. Visit these groups often to make your voice heard. Ask questions, comment on other posts, share content and add reactions to other people’s posts.

The more you engage in groups and join conversations, the more your content will appear in LinkedIn feeds.

These conversations can also become a source of new connections. If you come across people who look like a good fit for your network, you can reach out and let them know how you found them. For example, when sending a new connection request, tell them you saw their article in a group and specify what you liked about it.

5. Make Use of LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn has expanded its advertising options in recent years, allowing B2B marketers to set achievable goals with realistic ad budgets. With LinkedIn advertising, you can create sponsored content to increase brand awareness, drive website visits and conversions, encourage job applications and more.

LinkedIn tip: Set your goals for LinkedIn ads, and attach a budget to those goals. Choose from among the following ad types:

Sponsored content. Promote an article or a post from your company page.
Text ads. These typically appear in the right-hand column or under the “People You May Know” section.
Sponsored InMail. These ads essentially let you send a message from your personal profile directly to someone’s inbox. As opposed to a connection request, which should be more personal in nature, Sponsored InMail ads may be more directly focused on a sales objective. Be cautious, be hyper-targeted, and customize the message for the recipient to avoid coming across as spam.
Video ads. With the popularity of video taking off of late, now is the perfect time to promote your video content.

Check out this article or the video below to learn more about LinkedIn ads.

Implement Our LinkedIn Tips Alongside Other Goals

If you’ve been focusing primarily on Facebook and Instagram for your social media marketing, keep doing what you’re doing. But don’t forget about LinkedIn as you’re setting marketing goals for 2021.

The professional network you build on LinkedIn can help you build relationships that lead to opportunities. New recruits, partnerships, speaking invitations and client referrals are just a few of the possible benefits you can achieve by following the LinkedIn tips outlined above.

With many businesses reopening around the country, there may be an increased need for new hires. Social media recruiting is one of the best ways to find the talent you need and streamline the hiring process.

If you’re looking to fill any vacant spots on your team, there are many ways to use social media recruiting to your advantage. It’s not as simple as creating a job posting and hoping the best candidates start flooding in; actually, a lot of the “recruiting” process will happen before you even make contact with a job applicant.

The Muse reports that 92 percent of companies use social media in recruiting — and 29 percent of job seekers turn to social media as their primary job-seeking tool. In a nutshell, employers and would-be employees alike are checking each other out on social media.

As such, getting your recruiting ducks in a row is extra important in order to source the best talent on social media. Our Ultimate Guide to Social Media Recruiting will help you skip common missteps and put your best virtual face forward for your brand. You’ll save a ton of money over traditional job sites — while also furthering your overall marketing goals.

Know Your Platforms

Although LinkedIn is a valuable social media recruiting tool — and one you should be using to connect with candidates — it’s not the only platform you should pay attention to. Here’s a quick overview of how to use each platform to your advantage when you’re looking to fill open positions:

LinkedIn

Create a company profile that’s separate from your personal profile
Search for, screen and connect with candidates via job postings, sponsored jobs and InMail
Network within industry-related LinkedIn groups
Post updates that include any details about job openings
Target passive candidates who look like a good fit and may be open to new opportunities

Facebook

Create and boost job postings from your business page
Join job and career groups related to your industry
Participate in conversations that happen in those groups
Post local content that shows the personality behind your brand, such as pictures and videos of team members, customers, and product or service spotlights (more on that later)

Instagram

Announce job openings via Stories
Include relevant hashtags
As with Facebook, post local content

Twitter

Tweet about job openings
Use relevant hashtags to make your posts discoverable
Grow your following by participating in conversations and retweeting content

The above methods are just one part of your overall recruiting strategy. That strategy needs to incorporate many of the same techniques you would use to build your consumer audience. We’ll get into that aspect of the process in the next sections. Read on!

Make It Local

As we’ve said many times before, posting local content is the best way to show the personality behind your brand and build relationships with your audience. Photos and videos of your team, your customers, your products or services, and other real-life photos give your followers a glimpse into what it might be like working for you.

Do your posts scream teamwork, collaboration and, most of all, fun? Or do they make you look boring, unapproachable and behind the times? Keep in mind, your local content is working to engage not only your followers, but also potential job candidates.

Examples of the types of local content you should be posting include:

Photos of your best customers when they visit your location
Team member spotlights that highlight the awesome people you have working for you
Photos of the owners and managers
Videos explaining how to do something related to your products or services
Photos or videos that address current events; make it local by describing any of your efforts to address important issues like COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter

Over time, your local photos paint a picture of the leadership, people, customers and culture you’ve created at your company. They make your page inviting — and your business, too.

Leverage Employee Advocacy

It’s not always easy to remember to post local photos or find the time to do it. That’s where you can leverage employee advocacy to improve your social media recruiting efforts.

When you have happy employees (and if you don’t, you might want to find out why), they’re more likely to share about their experiences of working for you on their own social media pages and stories. These types of posts are more likely to improve your reach and engagement than brand-created posts.

While you can and should boost content to improve the reach of your own posts, you should also spend time creating an employee advocacy program.

Employee-generated posts also are more likely to be seen as trustworthy. Social Media Examiner writes, “It’s no secret that employees are some of the most trusted representatives of your brand. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, potential customers trust employees over CEOs, journalists, and celebrities. Internal stakeholders are sincere and accessible, which humanizes your brand.”

So how do you go about getting employees to post? Here are a few ideas:

Rallio offers mobile technology that makes it easy to share any brand assets — maybe some imagery advertising your job openings — with employees that they can share on their pages. They can also upload assets of their own. When you work with our Rallio Local team, they can create posts for you using employee-uploaded images if you’d rather not DIY this one.
Formalize your program and get everyone on board. Consider incentivizing employees with rewards when they post, along with referral bonuses for any successful new-hires. The Rallio technology has a leaderboard so you can easily see who’s posting the most.

The beauty of an employee advocacy program isn’t just in having employees post for you. It’s an opportunity to showcase your company’s core values and correct any areas of the business that may need improvement.

In other words, if your company truly supports employees and has the type of culture that makes them want to stay, they’ll be happy to post about their experiences. If they’re reluctant to boast about working for you, you can take an honest look at the reasons behind that sentiment.

And with a properly designed employee advocacy program, you can generate a positive online reputation and keep attracting the best talent via social media recruiting.

Manage Your Online Reputation and Directory Listings

Ideally, you should have someone on your team dedicated to responding to social media comments, questions, engagements and customer reviews. If you don’t have the time — and you probably don’t if you’re running a business — you can either hire someone to do it or outsource the work to a third party like Rallio.

Keeping up with all your social media engagements ensures that job candidates see the best sides of you when they check you out on social media. And they will be checking you out if they’re considering working for you.

Think of it this way: If candidates get to a page and see unresponsiveness or rude remarks from a company, they’re going to assume that’s how they treat their employees, too.

You also want to be sure your online listings are up-to-date to aid your social media recruiting efforts. Business information like address, phone number and hours of operation need to be accurate so job candidates know how and when to get in touch. Again, Rallio can help. We offer a directory listings service that lets you easily update this information across the web from one central dashboard.

Boost Your Posts

As you’re creating job postings, as well as hyper-local content, boost these posts to reach a wider audience. More potential new recruits will get exposed to your company if you’re paying to get content in front of them.

You can also set up auto-response messages in Facebook Messenger to help with screening and responding to candidates. Set up a series of answers to frequently asked questions so that as candidates apply to jobs and ask questions on Facebook, you can respond quickly to those common questions.

Social media recruiting may seem daunting, but when you have the right systems in place, the process actually becomes easier. Get in touch with us if you could use a helping hand getting those eager new recruits to apply with your company.