RECRUITERS' GUIDE TO CREATING SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT

Creating Social Media Content

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There’s a plethora of content you can feature in your social media posts. From how your products are made to what your office looks like, these bits and pieces of stories that talk about your company as an employer can go a long way in painting a picture of how great your company is to work at. 

​For this section, we’re taking a look at Yahoo! Inc.’s posts on their LinkedIn and account to see the types of stories you too can try to capture and share.

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1. Photos and articles that highlight the company’s work environment

2. Photos of company events and employee engagement activities

3. Posts that highlight employee accomplishments and their roles

4. Posts that talk about your employee value propositions (EVPs)

5. ​Posts about special days and holidays your employees celebrate

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There are also many other examples of social media content; here are a few ideas:

• behind-the-scenes photos
• jobgrams (job ad infographics)
• employee stories
• community activities
• inspirational quotes
• employee opinion about popular issues
• social or environmental causes
• career tips
• guide for applicants
• location photos
• words from company leaders
• company news and updates
• employee-generated content

Content Planning

There are at least five benefits for creating a social media content calendar and planning social content ahead of time.

1. It helps you maintain a consistent cadence.
2. You can map time-sensitive content ahead of time.
3. You’ll take your social marketing out of a silo.
4. It serves as a system of record.
5. It enforces the “411 Rule.”

The 411 Rule

This rule refers to a ratio of sharing on social media—4 educational and entertaining posts for every 1 “soft promotion” and every 1 “hard promotion.”

4 – Entertaining / Educational

• behind-the-scenes photos
• employee stories
• community activities
• inspirational quotes
• company news and updates
• employee-generated content
• etc.

1 – Soft Promotion

• career videos
• great-place-to-work ads

1 – Hard Promotion

• job ads

Where and When to Post

According to LinkedIn, if you have a great piece of social media content, promote it everywhere that makes sense. But timing is essential. Post in the wee hours of the night and you’re guaranteed to get lower engagement. Here are suggested places and times to post content:

LinkedIn

Professional-oriented social network, so photos from your family vacation are better utilized elsewhere.

When to post: 7-9am, 5-6pm. Start with 2-3 times/ week. Work up to once per day.

Facebook

Social, not professional network – most people choose not to mix social and professional identities.

When to post: 6-8am, 1-4pm. Start with 2-3 times/week. Work up to once per day.

Twitter

Less professional focus and more news, entertainment oriented; 140-character limit and short life-span due to high post volume.

When to post: 1-3pm. 2-5 times per day.

Instagram:

Not a professional platform. In order to stand out, you have to use high-quality photographs and vary the content.

When to post: Daytime. 2-3 times a week.

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Content Calendar

Preparing a calendar helps you visualize the types of posts that will be published on specific days. This will allow you to see the amount of effort that will go to creating, curating and publishing content as well as where to publish it, and who to target. Here’s a sample content calendar for 1 week prepared by LinkedIn:

Source: 5 Steps to Boosting Your Talent Brand Through Content, https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/c/14/7/content-marketing-guide-for-talent-acquisition

Leverage the Power of Employee-generated Content

Employee generated social media content is exactly what it sounds like: your employees talking about what it’s like to work at your company. It takes the form of images, tweets, blog posts, their LinkedIn descriptions, conversations with friends, etc. The magic of EGC is that it’s much cheaper than what marketing puts together, but can be so much more effective!

Tips

1. Promote an employer brand hashtag. Find a way to encourage employees to use it when posting about what makes your company a great place to work. Hootsuite uses #HootsuiteLife, Adobe uses #AdobeLife, MailChimp uses #MeetMailChimp. (Google: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/googlelife/)

2. Start an Employer Brand Ambassador Program. Select excellent employees (preferably those with a strong social following) who will represent the company and actively share about what’s it like to work in your company.  Make them feel that they are part of something big and prestigious by providing incentives to their added responsibility.

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3. Document company activities. At the minimum, you would want to highlight at least one activity per week. From trainings, outings, events, to your new pantry appliance or coffee, document the moments that make your company unique, fun and interesting.

4. Let employees speak. Either through videos or blogs, let employees contribute and speak out on topics that your company supports such as gender equality, leadership, corporate social responsibility etc. You can pose a question every other week and let employees answer these through their LinkedIn account, a blog post, or a video confessional.

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5. Have an internal contest. Let individuals or groups compete for the title of the best video or most liked photo. Let them share the content they make to their networks and watch the “free” content spread and reach new audiences—fast. Deloitte once had a “film festival” where global offices competed for the best employer branding video. (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD6D4AF033E691F2E)