How Businesses Use Social Media for Recruiting

You can’t go anywhere these days without being bombarded by social media. Whether you’re reading an online article or shopping in the local mall, social media is everywhere. Tweet It…Like It…Share It…Pin It… How can your small business harness the power of social media for recruiting? Interact with Twitter- Speak to prospective employees just as you would prospective customers. No one wants to be talked AT, instead start a conversation WITH them. Twitter is a prime example; you’ve got 140 characters to make an impact. How you say it makes all the difference in whether or not your message is received. Use #dsi

tags. This will categorize your Tweets and help them show up more easily in a Twitter search. Example: We’re looking to hire the best and the brightest! Sound like you? #jobs #Brand DSI.com/careers LinkedIn Company Profile- Prospective employees are going to do their research. Make sure your company page on LinkedIn is up-to-date. You should include a logo, a brief description of your company, a link to your website and current company updates. Also, encourage your employees to add a paragraph from the company website to their LinkedIn profile. Most prospective employees also research their potential co-workers. Example: DSI is a leader in the Brand Management Industry. With over fifteen years experience in Branding, the company provides services to multiple Telecoms clients in the IT industry. Facebook Content- Your company Facebook page should have new content added on a weekly basis. This page gives prospective employees a glimpse into the company culture. Is it a casual workplace or more formal? Do you have a bring your dog to work day? Do you encourage your employees to get involved in community outreach? Do you have catered employee lunches on occasion? All of these situations could provide great photos and content for the company Facebook page. They also give the potential employee an opportunity to see the social side of your business. The most important thing to remember about social media is to keep it human. As part of the candidate experience, let prospective employees see what your company culture is all about. Don’t forget to keep it fun, fresh, and professional!

Utilizing Social Media in a Small Business

Social media – led by Facebook and Twitter – has revolutionized the way we communicate with one another. Just as e-mails and instant messages changed social interactions in the 1990s, social media, combined with smartphones, tablets and netbooks, now makes communication instantaneous. Posting status updates, sharing photos and creating events has now become so simple that any other method seems archaic. As a small business owner, how can you utilize social media in your business, both within your business and as a tool for product promotion? Within Your Company We’ve all heard every employee’s nightmare – their boss “friending” them on Facebook. While everyone is entitled to their own carefully constructed online persona, you can request employees to connect to you via a limited profile, which blocks off their private photos and comments. If you manage to get all your coworkers connected via Facebook, creating a private group for your office can be a remarkably efficient and fun way to keep things organized. Here are some things you can do with a private work group in Facebook. Schedule events Use the Facebook group to “invite” people to meetings or events. You can include the agenda and details in the invitation or event details. Facebook’s events are conveniently organized into “Attending”, “Not Attending” and “Maybe”, so it is easy for everyone to see who else will be in attendance. Encourage your co-workers to also create social events within the group to boost company morale. Having a shared calendar on Facebook keeps everyone on the same page at all times. Create a repository of shared documents Upload meeting minutes, company policies, or important notes to a cloud-based documents storage service, such as Microsoft’s SkyDrive or Google’s Google Docs, and post the link in your Facebook group. Make sure everyone has access to these documents, and you will instantly cut down on lots of wasted time and paper. Share important company updates and memos instantly Facebook groups allow you to post messages on the group wall, which can serve as a bulletin board for all work-related (or non-work related) issues. In addition, members can also “tag” other members in “Notes” to insure that company memos are received instantly. No more post-its on people’s desks and monitors! Use it as an instant company phone book If your employees have their phone number or e-mail addresses visible in Facebook, creating a workplace Facebook group will also create an instantly shared employee phone-book, which can be invaluable for employees needing to get in touch with each other. As a Promotional Tool Big companies constantly tap into YouTube, Twitter and Facebook for free, viral advertising. Create a customer-based front-end on Facebook, with its “Business Page”, which can increase your company’s visibility for free. This page should contain basic information – contact numbers, addresses and websites, as well as recent product information. Note that this is not the internal Facebook group mentioned in the previous part. If your company has dedicated online customer service representatives, they can also staff the Facebook page and answer questions in real time via Facebook chat. Here are some other ideas to increase the visibility of your Facebook page. Take advantage of the “Like” button Place it on your company's website as well as under your popular products. Encourage visitors to share your products with their Facebook friends. On your Facebook business page, offer raffles and rewards for group members whom join and “like” your page. Keep updates frequent Once members join your page, your updates will appear instantly in their news feeds, which will bring them back if you post an interesting product or discount. Many telecoms companies like MTN, Glo, Etisalat post teasers on their Facebook pages, which in turn gets shared to an exponential amount of users. Use Facebook and Twitter in unison Linking both pages to each other can double your audience instantly by driving traffic both ways. A number of applications currently allow cross-posting across both platforms. Make sure your Facebook and Twitter pages are clearly printed on your business card and other promotional items. These are some simple ideas to help you get started in integrating your business into the fast-paced world of social media, both internally and externally. More info @: diamondstarint.brand@gmail.com or 07093175098