Gone are the days when social media were just treated as just social media – a space on the internet where people from different parts of the world converge and commune for social reasons. What thought to be just a simple venue for personal interaction soon became an effective place to “influence” others. Soon after, product brands, distinguished personalities and small businesses begin to flock the social media and with success. It is no wonder that companies looking to build employer brand are now also leveraging on the use of social media for various purposes such as recruitment, talent acquisition and employee engagement. Acknowledging the influence of social media help companies create a standard employer branding models to meet business objectives.

By leveraging on social media to have a strong employer brand, potential talents are instantly “pulled” in for consideration. This becomes an effective strategy, especially when real talents are hard to come by.

Multi-channel strategy works

The thing about social media is that no two platforms are alike; somehow these are created to fit the personality demand of the user. Potential employees likewise do not always prefer one platform, so it is important to create a  corporate presence in the every social media sites that are highly populated by target talents. This strategy hits many birds in one stone, in that potential talents are not the only ones companies can engage with but also their existing employees. By anchoring the corporate brand in emotional attachment, the employer-employee relationship becomes stronger, altogether making the employees become corporate ambassadors themselves.

Stay flexible

Companies must remain flexible in their social media strategies in such a way that it becomes useful for recruitment, retention as well as to address a need in productivity management. Flexibility therefore calls for varying yet appealing community messages to stir personal interest – to make the community think that your company is the best company to work for.

Go out of the social media box

Companies must aim for positive word of mouth because a one-way, self-advertisement won’t cut it. Get people to talk about you and your corporate achievements because this is the better and believable way. PR, therefore, is relevantly critical – compelling all members of the organization to act well at all times. The same is also the best way to make candidates and referrers notice the company leading to engagement.

Don’t allow negative feedback spread like wildfire, especially in social media

Companies must keep it real because candidates are “customers” too that feel they have the right to rant. Don’t mislead them into anything you are not willing to provide; even recently-hired talents will not think twice about leaving right away if they feel they’ve been led to believe for something the company will not even provide now or in the near future. Worse is when these same talents take their disgust in social media to eventually smear the employer brand reputation. This then translates to wasted resources not only in recruitment but also in marketing the brand. The harder you work for your employer brand, the more you should be careful in acquiring talents you cannot keep or whose professional objectives you cannot satisfy.

Read also: How Can Employee Relations Improve Employer Branding?

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Article Contributed by HR in Asia‘s Team.

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