Barbara Ashton
Anyone who follows me on LinkedIn will see that I’m pretty pumped about social recruiting. And for good reason. By 2016 the number of mobile devices will surpass the world population!
Not yet convinced?
Here are 15 more gob-smacking statistics I’ve gathered to make my point about social - ergo mobile - recruiting:
- 60% of North Americans use a smart phone
- 1 Billion job searches are done per month on a mobile phone
- 9 in 12 job seekers say they will use their mobile device to job search in the next 12 months
- 10% of job board visitors do so using a mobile device AND they spend four times longer reading the ad than non-mobile visitors
- 72% of website viewers do so using a mobile device
- 64% use mobile devices to browse career, social and professional website
- 45% apply for jobs using mobile devices
- 61% of social media visitors and 95% of social media applicants arrive in the first 7 days
- 33% of job views come from a mobile device
- 23% of job applications come from a mobile device
- 58% of job applicants come from social media vs website
- 81% of youth say they’d rather spend their last $10 on their phone than on food. Are we surprised?
- 60% of youth sleep with their mobile phone
- 72% use a mobile device while in the office
- 350 million mobile facebook users are twice as engaged as regular users
- There are 200 million YouTube views on mobile devices every day
And now, drum roll, here are my top 5 Do’s for making the most out of your social media / mobile recruiting campaigns:
#1 Slow down to speed things up
Use data to target the right job seekers. Take some time to research most likely geography, key words, behaviours, technologies and online activities to help you hone your ad and target your ideal candidates
#2 Info-tain!
When you see that jobs are being viewed but there is little uptake, it's time to re-script your message. Personalize your message to be sure your brand is clearly conveyed and that you are speaking the same language as the audience you want to hire. Put other employees on video (ideally those who typify the demographic and cultural fit you're after) to share their story and experiences around working for your company.
#3 Engagement Trumps Click-Thru's
Don't get caught up in counting click-thru rates as they are only telling one part of the story. Click-throughs generate traffic, but these number don't translate to effective messaging.
Relevant content is what engages users. Develop not just your ad, but your ongoing follow-up conversations, using the same target data above. Then, even if you can't hire them all, you will keep them on the "I'm interested in futures" warming tray for the next time you're hiring.
#4 Test, Test, and Test Again
Are your career page and web site truly mobile responsive? With 1/3 of career site traffic coming from mobile, job seekers will want to experience the same across all their devices – desktop, tablet, phone - and it needs to be fast, clear and extremely user friendly. Getting there poses a whole new set of challenges for traditional website designers who aren't keeping up (and lots of them aren't). So be sure to test your site regularly on iPhones, SmartPhones and a variety of tablets to ensure you're not missing out on any of these mobile prospects.
#5 Engage with Individuals
Social media isn’t just about broadcasting to reach the highest number of people as frequently as possible, although it certainly can look that way. It’s about having two-way conversations. This means responding to and messaging with people individually, and keeping those conversations going.
Social media recruiting takes far more time and effort than most people realize. You don’t have to do it all but by incorporating just one or two of these tips will give you pay-offs well worth the investment of your time and money.
Barbara Ashton is a leading executive search consultant and social recruiter with close to 11,000 followers on LinkedIn. To learn more about what Ashton & Associates can do for your company visit www.ashtonassociates.com
or call us at 800-432-6983.
