Guest PostNowadays, there’s no better playing field in recruiting than the internet. Sure, having a professionally-designed company website and the essential, LinkedIn, are necessary tools for attracting top talent. But there’s also one place recruiters and human resource departments tend to overlook: Instagram.
With 73% of Gen Z adults and nearly 60% of those aged 25-29 on Instagram, the photo-sharing app is one of the most powerful social media platforms for brands today. And with millions of users looking for inspiration daily, with the right content, your company is sure to attract potential employees.
Here’s how you can attract potential hires on Instagram:
Add Employee Testimonials to Your Content Plan
One of the best ways to convince potential talent that your company is a good place to work is by posting actual testimonials from existing employees. You can do this through a casually shot video for IGTV or Instagram Stories, or by using still photos.
To capture your audience’s attention you can add relevant quotes to your photos using photo-editing tools like Instasize. Look for an app that offers a wide selection of fonts to fit your desired aesthetic.
Posting photos with uplifting messages are more likely to resonate with your audience so make sure these testimonials are as natural and genuine as possible.
Post Polls or Questions on Instagram Stories
If you want to find out what your ideal candidate looks for in a workplace, all you have to do is ask them. Instagram Stories allow brands to have a two-way conversation with their audience via the question or poll stickers.
Take Expedia’s corporate Instagram for example. The account is filled with employee engagement posts, which companies can emulate to speak to potential hires.
It is also a great idea to have story segments where interested talent can send in questions which will be answered by employees from specific departments. Questions can be sent via DMs or the question sticker, while answers can be done via candid video.
Responding to questions and getting insights from potential hires shows them you value their opinion and voice, which is a key characteristic of a good employer.
Showcase Your Office and Workplace Culture
Aside from joining a well-known and successful company, one of the main aspects potential candidates look at before considering a company is its workplace culture.
And while outsiders won’t really know how it is to work for your company until they experience it themselves, giving them a glimpse of what it’s like through pictures and videos is one way to convince them to apply.
Showcasing workplace culture with Instagram can be done by:
- Sharing photos of your cool office
- Posting video stories throughout the work day
- Documenting all your fun activities
You can even have departments take over your company Instagram account for the day to introduce interested applicants to the different personalities they will encounter in case they join.
Showing snippets of the day-to-day life in your office will allow potential hires to picture themselves working with you.
Use Relevant Hashtags
Companies like Google use hashtags like #lifeatgoogle when talking about company culture or featuring employees. Since people are aware of this hashtag, they can simply search for it when they want to view all related posts.
If you’re hiring and want people to find your post, simply use #hiring, #nowhiring, and other hashtag or related keywords. This will help your target audience easily find your post, and respond to it in case they are interested.
Make sure to curate your hashtags to ensure that it looks professional and you reach the right people.
Share Inspiration
For many, Instagram is a source of all sorts of inspiration. As a company, having a feed that is a source of inspiration could attract some of the best talent.
If you are trying to sell your workplace culture, you can share inspiration by:
- Posting about your employees’ achievements
- Telling stories about a special individual’s growth in your company
- Featuring each person’s reason for working hard
By doing this, brands are able to sell themselves as a company that cares for its people.
Have a dedicated recruitment social media manager
Original, eye-catching visual content is a must-have for any organization that wants to run recruitment-related activities in social media. However, it’s not only about using beautiful creatives and posting compelling copy. Your representatives must be there for your potential hires, able to engage in conversations or answer their questions and comments in real-time.
Let’s say your company runs multiple employer branding campaigns at the same time. In this case, employees responsible for managing an Instagram account may need extra help with handling all social media interactions with potential candidates.
Make sure your representatives have tools that can make their work easier. One of them would be a solution that collects all social media interactions and gathers them in one place. This kind of a dashboard logically organizes interactions, comments, and direct messages so that your representatives can focus on the most important ones first. Prioritization will allow your reps to respond to more messages and reduce average response time.
A tool that enables auto-comments may also come in handy. Don’t worry—it’s not a suggestion to use bots that only publish “Thanks for your comment” kind of messages. Advanced automation tools use specific, well-defined rules to answer repeating questions intelligently with answers to comments, such as “How do I send my CV?”, “What’s the address of your career page”, etc.
Instagram is an exciting place to build strong employer branding. Being in the platform makes your brand feel authentic, in touch, and within reach.
Just as much as visually appealing content can attract potential customers, posting double-tap worthy photos of your workplace could get potential talents interested enough to seek you out on other channels and apply.
About the Author
Denise Langenegger is part of the team at Instasize – a content creating tool kit for anyone editing photos and online content on mobile.
Josh Tolan
