With the U.S. unemployment rate hovering at 3.8%, finding the right people for your business can be very challenging. Employers need to cover all bases in order to get the word out about their open positions. It’s not enough to court active searchers on Indeed, Monster, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and in newspaper ads.

These days, reaching passive searchers and giving them valuable insight into your company requires having a robust and optimized presence on social media. Here are four reasons why your company needs to be active on social media.

 Brand Awareness
            Many companies, even large ones, tend to fly under the radar when it comes to local awareness, especially if they sell their products outside of the area. Having a robust presence on social media opens the doors to a large percentage of the population who may not know about the brand or what it stands for. It also helps to build trust among local residents who appreciate having an inside look. Companies usually do a lot of good things to benefit the community, and social media is the perfect platform to talk about it. 

Company Culture
           Just like empowered consumers are researching companies online in the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey, empowered employees are researching company culture on social media. Companies who make the effort to show their company culture in interesting, fun, and inclusive ways have a leg up on the competition. Potential employees are on social media and they have a unique opportunity to really see what a company is all about and decide if they are a good fit.

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Good Conversations
            Good social media encourages good conversations. When employers post positions on social media, current employees and prospective ones have the opportunity to engage with one another, ask questions, and share anecdotal information. In many cases, prospects will use Facebook Messenger to reach out directly to companies and ask questions. These conversations can be very casual and enlightening, and it gives each party a chance to get some insight that they might not be able to gather through more formal channels.

Cost Effectiveness
            Job posts on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn can get a lot of exposure for no cost. Facebook has reams of data on users and employers can use this data to target the perfect candidates for their open positions with Facebook ads. For the cost of a couple well-placed newspaper ads, a Facebook job ad can be seen by thousands of people who meet the demographic and psychographic characteristics of target employee personas. Plus, ad metrics will give a detailed accounting of the cost of ads and clicks, and the demographics of potential employees reached.

            With a little imagination, good content planning, and help from experienced social marketing experts, your company can show the community the good things you do and attract potential employees to your company culture with social media recruiting.