LinkedIn has become one of the most important social media platforms for professionals. It’s a great place to make connections, share content and maintain professional relationships. Over 706 million users in 200 countries use LinkedIn every day to stay connected with people they know, as well as find new contacts or jobs.

Despite this shift in usage, it’s still a major network for recruiters to find new employees and candidates. Whether you are fresh out of school or have been recruiting for years, there is always something we can learn about how best to leverage LinkedIn in our recruiting strategy today!

Social Media Recruiting on LinkedIn

The technique of attracting prospects through social media sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as other websites, such as job boards and blogs. As a result of these factors, the term “social recruiting,” “social hiring,” and “social recruitment” is used interchangeably.

As a result of this, organizations will increasingly use social recruiting to complement more conventional recruitment methods. Organizations have so far generally relied on social recruiting to boost traditional recruiting techniques, but that may change as the practice grows in popularity. According to one research, nearly three-quarters of people between the ages of 18 and 34 obtained their most recent employment through social media.

Social recruiting is effective when done correctly, allowing employers to reach inactive candidates, collect more referrals, target preferred prospects, exhibit company culture, and save money.

Why is social media recruiting important?

Social media is a must-have for businesses, and by ignoring these social platforms, they are losing out on connecting and attracting the greatest talent. Social recruiting makes it simple to contact more potential applicants and explain why individuals should work for your firm. Companies may use social recruitment to find passive prospects who aren’t currently looking for a job but might be interested in a new opportunity.

Social recruiting save companies money in the long run. With automated mass messaging and online tools for finding qualified applicants, businesses can fill positions much faster than traditional methods such as newspaper ads or career fairs. In addition to the ease of use and speed of filling open jobs, many modern recruiters are also taking advantage of the cost-effectiveness of social recruiting.

The ability for companies to have an unlimited number of people seeing their job posts at once is a huge benefit that allows them to spend more time expanding their talent pool and less time managing applications. Social recruitment can help recruiters find qualified applicants, weed out unqualified ones, and speed up the hiring process.

Optimize Your LinkedIn Recruiting Strategy

Optimizing your LinkedIn recruiting strategy starts with making sure you have a complete profile. Recruiters should be using LinkedIn as an extension of their resumes and include all relevant experience, certifications, and education information on your profile to make it easy for recruiters to find you!

1 Define your LinkedIn strategy and conversion funnel

The first step is to have clear criteria for your LinkedIn strategy. This applies both as an individual recruiter and for the company if you’re responsible for your corporate presence on LinkedIn. Who do you want to reach, what are the next steps they will take – and how can you measure your success? The person in charge of enhancing a company’s employer branding would answer differently than someone who usually works on attracting candidates with niche requirements.

Recruiters would be wise to work with social media channels like LinkedIn, as networking can lead to a vast array of benefits–whether they’re new or old. There are many things that recruiters should consider when developing their strategy on the site: cultivating relationships with influencers, becoming recognized publishers in your sector by posting often but strategically sharing content about your company, and being active members of LinkedIn groups and participating in conversations. Ultimately, you want exposure across all these areas converting into increased traffic to your company careers pages―leading to more candidates registering on the company ATS (application tracking system).

A recruiter who concentrates their efforts on specific assignments would have a very different strategy than one who works with generalists. They’d want to establish relationships with as many specialists in that field as possible and become a trusted expert recruiter. The best place for them to post, publish, or comment is where they know their desired audience will find it.

And they want to be experts in researching and approaching candidates in a specific domain, experimenting to see what messaging works best and which tactics uncover more of the right candidates. Their end goal is often maximizing the number of shortlisted candidates generated from LinkedIn activities.

2 Update Your LinkedIn Company Profile

If you don’t have a LinkedIn company page, make one now. If you already have one but haven’t updated it in the past 3 months or more (or ever), start adding new content and uploading your profile image – this is hugely important for recruiters!

Consider a more streamlined, visual one-page profile. It’ll make your company stand out from the crowd and will be easier for candidates to find you on LinkedIn.

• Create a compelling headline for what you do, such as We help companies excel in senior-level hiring!
• Make sure it includes an easy way for people to contact you by phone or email so that they can learn more about your business during their research process.
• Add your latest blog posts to the “Blog” section of your profile
• Include photos that align with your company’s branding and expertise. Make sure they are high quality.

Setting up a profile on LinkedIn is the first step to building your employer brand. Most recruiters agree that you want to present yourself on your company’s page as well-dressed, professional, and passionate about what they do.

Checking the company page for updates is a good way to make sure you’re still ahead of the game.

3 Update Your Personal Profile

Check your LinkedIn personal profile for accuracy, go back and double-check it, especially your present job title. In a quick look, will a candidate be able to tell you’re a recruiter? Don’t stop with your present employment history when building your job history. Add in a few more and finish the other profile sections as well.

Your photo is an important component of your personal profile that many people overlook. This isn’t like Facebook or Instagram. You should either hire a professional to take your portrait or include one where you can clearly see your face, even if it’s as small as an avatar image. Updating your profile will only help you improve your lead generation efforts.

4 Keep An Active Company Page

Keep your LinkedIn company page active with fresh content. Post current company and industry news, you may improve your LinkedIn marketing efforts. As a business, you want to establish yourself as an authority in your sector so that potential hires feel confident they’re joining a worthwhile organization.

Take a look at the Life section of the company profile in addition to frequently posting and interacting. LinkedIn has a paid feature called Career Pages that lets you include more information about working for the firm there. This is where you can post additional information about working for the firm, including department highlights and employee testimonials.

Each department has its own tab on the page, and you can add links to helpful articles on your company blog. This helps current employees share their experiences working for this organization while also giving potential hires a better idea of what it’s like to work there.

5 Stay Connected With Your Connections

Connections abound on Linkedin. The higher your connection count, the better your chances of finding a suitable applicant. When you create a personal profile on LinkedIn, you may find alumni in your industry or past and present employees, particularly when previous employers, skills, schools, and organizations are included.

It’s also worth noting that if you’re in sales, you don’t want to be the person who attempts to connect with everyone in your field. With each link, personalize it by describing how you met or why you want to contact them. Take a minute to look at someone’s profile to ensure that your message corresponds with them. If you’re sending a message to someone you’ve never met, mention the person who referred you or give an explanation of why you are reaching out.

Remember to also keep your current connections alive. While a new connection is beneficial, a nurtured one is much more helpful. Share helpful data in your area of expertise, as well as company and individual postings.

6 Post A Job On The Company Page

It’s free to submit an application for a job opening on LinkedIn, and you may enhance it with an advertising budget if desired. This is ideal for small enterprises or people who hire less frequently. Recruiter is a paid program offered by LinkedIn that allows you to create Job Slots that include more recruitment options than the free platform. These services include the ability to filter applicants based on keywords or limit the number of days that a job post will stay active.

While you’re limited in how many people can see your posting with these options, they are great for recruiting larger numbers of candidates more quickly.

You need to cover the basics in your job posting, such as title, description, how to apply, and the best way to contact for additional information. However, you must distinguish yourself. There is presently over 20 million open employment on the network. You want to find the most applicable candidates possible. A simple-to-read job description and company information will attract the right group of people.

The best way to optimize your LinkedIn recruiting strategy is by posting content that readers want to see, and providing them with the information they need in order to make a decision whether or not you are worth applying for. You can also consider adding an option where interested applicants must fill out a form before being able to view the job description.

This strategy will not only target potential employees with your desired skills but also customers who are looking for new products to purchase from you!

7 Linked InMail Best Practices

LinkedIn InMail is a tool that can be used to reach out to potential candidates who might not yet have viewed your job ad. It’s also easier for you to get in touch with them because LinkedIn will send an automated email about your message, and they won’t feel like you’re spamming their inboxes.

However, there are certain rules when using this feature: never use it as soon as the person joins LinkedIn; make sure before sending any messages that the individual has already visited and clicked on something from your company (such as a blog post); and always include content within both emails – before asking questions or requesting action – so people know what you want from them first. This way, they’re more likely to respond.

Make it short. They’ll be less attentive if your InMail is any longer than a few lines. Your contacts will become distracted if your LinkedIn InMails are too lengthy, and they may miss important information in them. Offer to connect on LinkedIn or set up an in-person meeting for people who are receptive to it, or propose some days/times that work. Introduce yourself and explain why you’re sending this email. If they don’t know about you or why you’re contacting them, give them a quick rundown of your firm’s background.

Final Thoughts

There are several tools both free and paid available on LinkedIn that recruiters may use to meet the greatest candidates. A blend of marketing, profile adjustments, and optimization, as well as ongoing participation on the network, can help any business’s recruiting efforts improve. Because new features are added on a regular basis, keep an eye on LinkedIn’s recruiting page to make sure you don’t miss any news and improved additions.

There are many ways to skin a cat, and that goes for recruiting as well. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy, so it’s up to you to decide what works best for your business and company culture. Even if something doesn’t work out the way you intended at first, don’t be afraid to put in some time and effort into a program before deciding whether or not it’s right for you.

If the idea of social recruiting isn’t something that excites you, look to your employees or interns as well. Even if they are not ready to be considered professional job candidates yet, being involved in their development is important for both parties and can help build a strong recruitment strategy overall.