How (and why) you should use Facebook for employer branding

Most companies have a presence on Facebook by now and understand the sheer power of the platform. It is the largest social media network in the world, with roughly 2 billion monthly users. This makes it one of the most effective tools for reaching and interacting with your customers as well as establishing your professional brand. 

It is also extremely effective for recruitment purposes. Many professionals are not actively seeking a job but will consider an opening if it is an enticing offer. You have the option of using your existing Facebook company page or creating a separate page dedicated to your employer brand as Marriott does. What follows is an analysis of how and why Facebook is useful for employer branding and why you should be using it for this purpose.

Write the perfect job description

You can post job ads on Facebook. This used to be a more informal procedure but now there is a feature on your business page that allows you to specifically post a job ad. However, writing job ads isn't easy and needs to be done in such a way that accurately represents the scope of the role and encourages the right people to apply. 

Because you are trying to sell the role to potential employees, focus on their needs rather than your needs as an employer. For example, you can talk about benefits offered with the position. Be sure to give some basic information about your company. Remember that you can utilize multimedia such as photos or videos to create a more evocative image of the job. Perhaps you can even have employees in similar roles share something about their experience at your company.

Simplify the job application process

Most candidates don't want to jump through multiple hoops or submit too many documents to apply for a job. Facebook allows users to apply to jobs directly from your posted ad, making the process a little easier. This is especially true for mobile users who make up a massive percentage of Facebook's traffic at any given time. Be sure to only ask for essential information and remove or alter any non-essential steps or parts of the application process. 

Try and determine during which step of the application process most applicants drop out and focus your improvement efforts there. Always make an effort to respond to every applicant and let them know the status of their application. This is easy to do over Facebook and improves your professional reputation among job seekers. It helps you stand out because many companies do not respond, to the immense frustration of job seekers.

Create the narrative about yourself

Once you have a strong idea of what you want your brand to be as well as a business website established, your next step should be creating tailored content that can be posted on both your blog and Facebook. Posting to other social media sites is beneficial as well, especially if their userbase is similar to your target audience or the type of content they specialize in lends itself particularly well to your business. 

For the purposes of employer branding, this content should aim to do a few things. The first is to establish what you do and the values you uphold, like Microsoft has done with this post. 

Another is to give an idea of your company culture so job seekers can determine if your organization is a good match for them. Keep these key goals in mind whenever you produce content for your Facebook page.

Target the right people

Facebook has useful “Preferred Audience” and “Audience Restrictions” features under Audience Optimization that help you determine who should and should not see your posts based on the types of people you are trying to attract to your brand. You can target your audience similarly to how you target paid ads - all you have to do is enable it first. 

You can also be involved in Facebook groups that are relevant to what you do. This helps get your brand in front of people and helps develop your professional reputation when you start interesting discussions or answer questions. Finally, you should work to encourage the right people to share your content. They are likely friends with people of similar needs and interests who have never even heard of your company. 

Use Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are a great way to promote your company and they can be used to do so in quite a number of ways - specifically targeted to just about any demographic and interest. Just a few of their uses include promoting your new product, advertising that you are hiring or simply to garner more engagements with your Facebook page by boosting an existing post. 

Facebook guides you through this process so you can set up a goal and target your ad with ease. Use an image, and try a variety of different images to see which ones are most effective. Creating winning Facebook ads entails a lot of trial and error, so try various strategies and combinations until something works.
Promote Your Events

Facebook has a robust events feature that allows individuals and businesses to create their own events. Your business should add any career events that you are sponsoring or involved in. Here is a great example from L’Oreal.  

They have included all information regarding the event, such as when and where it will take place, how to purchase tickets, what other organizations will be in attendance and where users can find more information. If your company will be at an existing event, post on that event's page to make your appearance known and to generate interest.

Leverage video and live streaming

Videos are one of the most effective social media posts because they catch attention more easily and effectively than text posts or even images. A study run by Facebook has even broken this down further - videos that were made for mobile perform better than videos that follow a more traditional narrative. Trulia is one of the brands that has truly thrived by incorporating social media into the home search by using amazing interactive media. Live streaming can also help you build your employer brand. It is especially helpful for purposes such as promoting an event that is going on currently or announcing the winner of a contest.

Enlist the help of your employees

Your employees are likely on Facebook as well. Bring them into your recruitment efforts. You can even offer nice perks to employees who refer quality job candidates to your openings. Having existing employees be brand ambassadors on Facebook is highly effective because people are more trusting of the opinions and thoughts of someone they already know. You can encourage employees to share images and videos of themselves at work to further the development of your brand. 

Facebook is an invaluable tool for creating and maintaining a brand as an employer. No matter how much your company utilizes Facebook and for what purposes, understand that everything you do on Facebook contributes to your brand for better or worse. Take control and consciously use Facebook to build your brand as an employer and attract the best employees to your company. You want to provide a solid, detailed answer to anyone wanting to know why they should consider a career with you.