I recently dispelled the 4^rd myth in my Recruitment Marketing series 5 myths of recruitment marketing.  Today, I want to discuss the final, Myth #5: Social media is only read by youth and it’s not an effective tool for recruitment marketing.

During a recent seminar on Recession Proof Social Marketing, I presented challenges business people face and the fear related to this new marketing medium Social Media and how it will impact their business.  I dispelled 8 of the common concerns related to social media.

1. It’s only for college students - A recent INC magazine study of the fastest growing companies concluded that 70% stated that social media was “important part of their marketing strategy.”  Social media is much more than Facebook and MySpace (social networking sites).  It includes LinkedIn, streaming video, social bookmarking, Twitter, and RSS. More than 40% of regular Facebook users are over 30 years old. Facebook’s 18-24 year old segment was around 22% in June 2008. LinkedIn has an older demographic with 25-35 and 36-44 being their sweet spots, attracting more than 20% in each sector. 



2. Social media is difficult and technically complex - Everyone can participate in social media with some effort and training. It has a remarkably low barrier of entry. Also it can be outsourced at very competitive rates.
3. It’s expensive - Marketing is expensive if you use media to market to the mass market when your product is more targeted. It does not deliver results!  Why use print to market a job (e.g., CNN nurse position) when there are often many unfilled positions already listed in the newspaper?  Social media is a low-cost promotional method that can pinpoint your exposure, get you links to your website, high search engine placements, high traffic and return visitors to your site. You are appealing to the community of users that have interest in your job opportunity.
4. It’s time consuming - “I don’t have time for blogging or Facebook conversations!” Yes, networking and failed recruitment calls take time as well. Social media is a new and more effective use of your time to reach a targeted community. Learning social media will take time and but will produce results. Participating in social media can take many forms. You can be a creator or communicator of articles, blog postings or videos; just view the media, make comments and bookmark the sites that you like. Social media is interactive- all conversations take time to participate in.  You need to speak in the language of your users. If your potential employees are from the younger demographic (25-44 yrs), the time you spend learning and engaging with social media will be a worthwhile investment!
5. It doesn’t work - Social media has proven that it can reach your target market with a trusted message. Users trust the opinions of fellow business people, professional colleagues and friends.  It provides quality connections with businesses and consumers for recruitment, event planning, branding, and networking. HCA used Twitter to recruit nurses, Wal-Mart uses a national blog campaign, Radiohead, a rock band released a new album and asked users to name their price. They sold 1.2 million albums the first day at average price of $8.00. LinkedIn has been a huge success for recruiting professional candidates. Logitech successfully filled 22 positions in three months. United Health Group considers it  a “huge success and win for our recruiters.”
6. It doesn’t include my contact network - Social Media leverages years of networking and your personal and business contact network to communicate with your network and their networks of contacts. LinkedIn has experienced huge growth. It is an excellent way to find former associates, friends, students. Your colleagues introduce you to their colleagues and friends; who tell their colleagues and friends. So the networking becomes viral in real time- You get results. For example if you want to reach Physical Therapists, there are 500+ groups of on Facebook.
7. Social media can destroy your company - Social media is open to all users and has a degree on vulnerability for your company. This openness and honesty gives it value and credibility for the user. Companies need to learn to manage the feedback positively and strengthen the company’s services and image.
8. Social media replaces traditional advertising - While social media is a growing factor in current recruitment marketing efforts, we suggest that it complement traditional advertising and online marketing to drive traffic to your website and Talent Hub. An Integrated Recruitment Strategy  leverages other media to make them more effective as a total package.Finally, how well you and your company are reaching your targeted audiences through the Internet is critical. Evaluate your Digital Footprint - your reach and effectiveness via the Internet.

• Google your name and company name to see what the world sees
• View the links to and from blogs, social networking services and other sites as they influence search results… the sum of your online interactions is your digital footprint
• Prospective employers, professional organizations, and others use your digital footprint like a resume
• If you are not happy with the results of your Google search, re-evaluate your online conversations, regular participation and make adjustments

This post has focused on unlocking some of the fears and mysteries associated with social media. Future posts will discuss powerful and cost effective applications of using social media for recruitment marketing.

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Tags: Interactive Recruitment, job boards, recruitment advertising, Recruitment Marketing, recruitment strategy, Social Media

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