Jessica Miller-MerrellLike any website or profile page, a Facebook Fan Page is a marketing and communication channel allowing the company to directly connect with individuals who have opted into receiving a company’s message. But a Facebook Fan Page is more than just a communication medium serving as a company’s front porch and customer service platform to engage the more than 750 million Facebook users. A Facebook Fan Page can serve as a recruiting and sourcing tool just like a company blog or Twitter allowing you opportunities to directly engage and educate your target candidate market.
Research indicates that candidates are twice as likely to apply for a job opening if they stay within a Facebook Environment. Simply put, on the next page users are more comfortable with the same interface as the previous page. Plus, traditional enterprise applicant tracking systems are difficult to navigate and aren’t often developed with courting the candidate only extracting information from them.
Because the average US based Facebook user spends nearly 16 hours a month on the world’s most popular site, it makes sense for companies to spend time where the candidates are. The opportunity and challenge therein lies in creating more engaged fans for your Facebook Page and in how to turn a Facebook Fan into a candidate.
While there is no exact science and much conversation surrounding the conversion recipe for success, a company’s hiring manager and recruitment team should consider:
- Providing Value. A Facebook Fan Page that serves as an opportunity to promote your company’s products and services through sharing press releases, isn’t a page focused on the customer or candidate experience. Providing your audience information to help them find a job, better use a product or service is key to establishing a long term relationship with your audience. Most companies fail miserably because they operate under the spray and pray job promotion method without investing in conversations and relationships.
- Asking Questions. One of the most successful ways to engage your audience is to ask questions. Companies like the Hartford ask questions to engage their fans allowing encouraging visitors to explore the site and apply for job openings directly.
- Allow Open Access. One of the most frustrating pieces of most corporate Facebook Fan Pages is their desire to control comments and conversations. Being transparent and open to feedback both good and bad is part of the new Social Power that Forbes discusses in their October 2011 issue. Consider allowing all comments to no longer await moderation. Be open and honest. Both parties realize that companies can’t be perfect and prefer to see how they handle customer feedback before they apply.
Crowdsource Your Recruiting Efforts. Referral based applications historically provide companies with better quality candidates and hires with longer company tenure. Encourage your employees, recruiters, fans, and customers to share job openings with their communities online. This includes adding features like “Facebook Share” and “Google +” buttons throughout your company pages, job postings, and other social networks.
Photo Credit FanPages Unleashed
Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is a HR consultant, new media strategist, and author who writes at Blogging4Jobs. Jessica is the host of Job Search Secrets, an internet television show for job seekers.
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