Want to learn how to navigate the tricky waters of Facebook recruiting? Here’s a guide for you covering all you need to know to hire top talent using this popular platform.
By the way, check out the top recruitment communities you need to join today!
What is Facebook recruiting?
Recruiting on Facebook is a strategy employed by recruiters to find and attract potential candidates from this social platform.
With over 2.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook offers an incredibly diverse talent pool to tap into, acting like a job board for recruiters.
Facebook recruiting can range from simple job postings on a company page to ads targeting specific demographics.
Also read: Social recruiting 101: A beginner’s guide for recruiters
How can Facebook recruiting boost your hiring efforts?
1. Broader reach
Your job postings can reach a vast and diverse talent pool, from recent graduates to experienced professionals across many fields.
It gives you a global platform, opening up possibilities for remote working, diversity hiring, and boosting your social network.
2. Direct engagement
Facebook recruiting allows for direct and personal engagement with potential candidates.
As candidates interact with your job posts through likes, shares, comments, or direct messages, you can address their queries, provide additional information, and even acknowledge their applications.
Two-way communication helps build relationships, and fosters trust in your agency, enhancing the overall candidate experience.
3. Targeted advertising
Facebook’s ad platform provides detailed targeting options. You can reach out to specific demographics based on age, location, education, field of interest, and even past job experience.
This feature helps you connect with the right candidates who match your job requirements, thus increasing the quality of resumes received and helping you hire the best talent.
Additionally, you can also join Facebook groups for better reach.
4. Showcase company culture
Your clients’ Facebook pages reflect their brand and culture. Regular updates about company events, employee achievements, CSR activities, or behind-the-scenes moments help project a positive image of their work environment.
So encourage them to post more actively on their Facebook pages so job seekers can get a sneak peek into where they’d be working if they get the job.
These glimpses into the company’s life can attract like-minded passive candidates who resonate with your client’s values.
5. Insights and analytics
Facebook offers robust analytics tools that provide data-driven insights about your audience, their behavior, and how they interact with your posts.
These insights can guide the hiring process, ensuring you have a proper recruitment database and enabling you to adjust your content, timing, or targeting for better reach and engagement.
You might also like: Why social media matters in 2023 & beyond
8 quick steps to set up your Facebook recruiting business page
Step 1: Understand your client’s employer brand
Before diving into Facebook recruiting, it’s essential for you to understand your client’s brand identity. Understand their unique value proposition, culture, and core values.
Craft a persuasive narrative that encapsulates their employer brand. This should resonate with potential candidates, ensuring that you attract individuals who align with your client’s mission and vision.
Step 2: Create a business page on Facebook
Now it’s time to kick off your Facebook recruiting efforts. Start by establishing a professional business page for your agency.
Make sure to include all pertinent details about your business, such as the name, location, contact information, and a brief description of your services.
An engaging cover photo and profile picture will enhance your page’s appeal and professionalism. You can also add text to the image including your slogan or a quote that best represents your brand values to make it even more engaging.
Optimize the “About” section with a compelling and succinct description of your agency, spotlighting your core values, successes, and the benefits of partnering with you for talent acquisition.
Also, ensure that your clients have business pages on Facebook that are well structured and detailed so candidates can learn about their company when they visit them.
Step 3: Use the ‘Jobs’ tab to post about open roles
Once your business page is set up, post your job openings in the ‘Jobs’ tab.
Each job post should have a clear and attractive title, a detailed job description attached, and clear and simple instructions on how to apply.
You can also include the job location, salary range, and whether it’s a part-time or full-time role.
Step 4: Make use of visual content
Incorporate visual content to enhance your job ad’s appeal.
Share captivating images and videos showcasing your client’s workplace, team members, and company events within the job description you attach to your ad to give applicants a quick peek into their culture.
This helps foster a sense of connection and interest within candidates.
Step 5: Engage with your audience
To keep your audience engaged, create a content strategy that aligns with your recruitment goals. Share relevant and valuable content such as industry insights, thought leadership articles, and employee success stories.
Encourage your clients to contribute by sharing their expertise or experiences. Consistently provide fresh and informative content to establish your page as a go-to resource for industry-related information.
Keep your page active and engaging. Respond to comments and messages promptly to build relationships with your candidates.
Also read: 10 email templates to keep candidates warm
Step 6: Utilize Facebook groups
Facebook groups offer a unique opportunity to connect with specific talent communities.
Join or create groups that cater to your target audience, such as industry-specific groups or alumni networks.
Actively engage in discussions, provide valuable insights, and share relevant job openings when appropriate. Building relationships within these groups can help you expand your network and attract passive job seekers.
Step 7: Leverage Facebook advertising
Facebook’s powerful advertising capabilities can significantly enhance your recruitment efforts.
Utilize targeted ads to reach specific demographics, interests, and job titles. Craft compelling ad copy that highlights the unique aspects of your clients and the benefits of working with them. Ensure that you follow Facebook ad policy to limit setbacks.
Monitor and optimize your ads to maximize their effectiveness and return on investment. Analyze their performance and create a social media analytics report, ensuring your advertising efforts are achieving the desired results.
Step 8: Monitor your page analytics
Finally, make sure you regularly monitor the performance of your Facebook page.
The platform provides detailed analytics about page performance and audience. Keep an eye on these insights to understand what type of content drives engagement, the best time to post, and who your audience is.
This information can help you refine your content and posting strategy.
How to use Facebook ads for recruiting?
1. Define your target audience
Before creating an ad, understand who your ideal candidate is.
Facebook’s detailed targeting options let you define your audience based on age, location, education level, interests, and past work experience.
2. Design an engaging ad
An eye-catching ad with clear, concise text and a job title can attract the attention of potential candidates. Ensure your advertisement communicates the benefits of the role and why a candidate should consider the company.
Use concise and persuasive language that speaks directly to your target audience. Avoid jargon and focus on communicating the value proposition clearly.
3. Utilize eye-catching visuals
Incorporate visually appealing elements in your Facebook ads to capture attention in a crowded newsfeed.
Use high-quality images or videos that showcase the company culture, work environment, and employee success stories.
Visuals that evoke emotions and reflect your employer brand can significantly increase engagement and click-through rates.
4. Set up custom audiences
Facebook allows you to create custom audiences based on your existing candidate database or website visitors.
Utilize this feature to target individuals who have already expressed interest in your client’s company, engaged with your agency, or have interacted with your website.
You can reinforce a brand message and increase the chances of conversion by retargeting these potential candidates. By leveraging the Facebook ad library, you can gain inspiration from high-performing ad creatives in your industry for your custom audience campaigns.
5. Optimize ad placements
Choose the most effective ad placements to maximize the visibility and impact of your recruiting ads.
Facebook offers various placement options, including the newsfeed, right column, instant articles, and audience network.
Test different placements to determine which ones generate the highest engagement and conversions, and allocate your budget accordingly.
6. Set your budget and schedule
Facebook provides a great deal of control over your ad spending by allowing you to set either a daily or lifetime recruitment budget.
This means you can allocate a specific amount that you are willing to spend either per day or over the duration of your ad campaign.
In terms of scheduling, Facebook also enables you to choose when your ads will be displayed. This can be particularly beneficial when you know your target audience’s most active hours on the platform.
By timing your ads to coincide with these periods, you increase the likelihood that they will be seen and engaged with.
7. Set clear objectives and KPIs
Establish clear objectives for your Facebook ad campaigns, whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving traffic to your job postings, or generating applications.
Align your objectives with specific KPIs, such as click-through rates, conversion rates, or cost per application. Regularly monitor these metrics to measure the success of your campaigns and make data-driven improvements.
8. Do A/B testing on your ads
Always conduct A/B tests to optimize your Facebook ads for better performance.
Test different variations of ad copy, visuals, headlines, and call-to-action buttons to identify the most effective combinations.
Continuously refine your ads based on the results to improve engagement and conversion rates over time.
9. Monitor and optimize
After your ad is live, use Facebook’s Ad Manager or any preferable Facebook advertising reporting tool to track its performance.
Look at metrics like impressions, clicks, and applications to understand your ad’s effectiveness.
You can tweak your ad content, budget, or audience targeting based on these insights to improve results.
6 common mistakes to avoid while recruiting on Facebook
1. Ignoring employer branding
Your client’s employer brand plays a crucial role in attracting top talent. Neglecting to showcase this on your Facebook page can result in missed opportunities.
So take the time to craft compelling content that emphasizes the client’s culture and values and gather testimonials from their employees. This will provide tangible insight into the company, attracting candidates that align with their brand.
2. Failing to engage with interested candidates
Engagement is key on social media platforms. If candidates leave comments on your job postings or send messages in “Messenger,” respond promptly.
Ignoring interactions can leave a negative impression on your agency and clients.
3. Not optimizing job ads for mobile viewing
A staggering 98% of people use Facebook on their mobile devices, which shows just how important it is to optimize your job ads for mobile use.
This means that all aspects of your ads – from image dimensions to text volume, from clear CTAs to the ease of the application process – need to be tailored to provide a smooth experience on mobile devices.
For example, you should use images that display clearly on smaller screens, write concise text that can be easily read without scrolling, use noticeable CTAs, and ensure the application process is straightforward on a mobile platform.
Also, test your ads on various mobile devices and operating systems to ensure a seamless experience. This helps ensure that you are not limiting your potential candidate pool due to technical issues or poor user experience on mobile devices.
4. Over-reliance on organic reach
While organic posts can foster engagement, they may not provide broad reach due to Facebook’s family-and-friends-first algorithm.
On the other hand, paid ads can significantly boost your reach and target specific audiences based on set parameters like location, age, interests, etc. Plus, they offer valuable analytics to help refine your recruitment process.
Thus, combining organic content with paid ads can effectively optimize your Facebook recruiting efforts.
5. Poor ad design and copy
Engaging visuals and compelling ad copy are essential for capturing the attention of potential candidates. But, many recruiters make the mistake of using low-quality images or generic ad copy that fails to stand out.
So invest time and resources in creating visually appealing ads that align with your client’s employer brand.
Also, craft persuasive and concise ad copy that clearly communicates the value proposition and encourages candidates to take action.
6. Ignoring Facebook analytics
Facebook provides comprehensive data about your posts and audience.
It tracks metrics such as reach, engagement (likes, comments, shares, clicks), and even the best times your audience is online. It also provides demographic data about your audience, including age, gender, and location.
By failing to leverage these insights, you might miss out on opportunities to fine-tune your recruitment strategy.
For instance, if your posts are garnering more engagement at certain times, you might consider scheduling your posts for those periods, and if a particular type of post is attracting more engagement, you might want to create more of that type of content.
Also read: 8 recruitment marketing mistakes you should know about
Harnessing Facebook for talent sourcing can totally switch up your recruitment strategy!
With its immense user base, engaging features, and powerful targeting, this social media platform isn’t merely a trend. It’s an essential instrument in the orchestra of modern talent acquisition.
We hope this step-by-step guide helps you get the most out of Facebook recruiting so you can hit all your hiring targets!
P.S. If you’re looking for an AI-powered ATS + CRM solution, then check out Recruit CRM. Book a demo now to see it in action!
Frequently asked questions
1. How to become a Facebook recruiter?
To become a Facebook recruiter, you must first familiarize yourself with Facebook’s functionalities, including business page management, job posting tools, and the advertising platform.
Next, acquire skills in crafting engaging posts and ads, utilizing graphics and compelling captions to draw attention to your job listings. Also, mastering effective communication is crucial to building relationships and engaging meaningfully with potential candidates.
Remember to respond promptly and professionally to all interactions. Finally, keep abreast of Facebook’s continuous evolution, changes, and new features to fully leverage the platform for recruitment purposes.
2. Do Facebook job postings work?
Absolutely. Facebook’s job posting feature allows recruiters to reach a broad, diverse audience and get new employees for the new job. The user-friendly feature lets you detail the job description and qualifications and create a custom application form.
The posts can also be shared, liked, and commented on, increasing their reach. Open positions can be boosted with paid advertising to target a specific demographic, significantly enhancing their effectiveness.
3. How can I build an employer brand through Facebook?
Building an employer brand on Facebook involves various strategies. Share images from company events and celebrate employee achievements to showcase a positive and engaging work culture.
Providing behind-the-scenes glimpses offers an authentic view of your daily operations. Lastly, promote your company’s values and social initiatives on your platform, attracting like-minded candidates who resonate with your brand values.
4. How many candidates should a recruiter hire through Facebook, ideally?
The number of hires through Facebook will vary based on factors like your industry, the roles you’re hiring for, and the effectiveness of your Facebook recruitment strategy.
The key is to focus on quality rather than quantity. It’s not just about how many candidates you can attract but how well they fit your job requirements and the company culture.
