Whether you are a recruiter, a human resources leader, or a hiring manager building a talent network, using social media platforms is vitally important. While originally, social media was exactly that—for social purposes—a majority of people are now using social media to access news, information and for professional reasons. Each month, 106 million people visit LinkedIn, and each day, 40% of those people check their newsfeed. If you are a leader in your company, make it a priority to look at these sites as tools and take steps to build your network to include friends, family, coworkers, industry leaders and competitors (yes!). You will soon find that what you have is a Talent Network that when called on, will produce leads, referrals and some of the best hires.

There are many social media sites, but the most obvious for business use is LinkedIn. Many of the same tactics and philosophy also apply to other social media sites as well.

Having a presence (an account) is the obvious first step.  But it takes more than just an account…you have to use it with a purpose! Here are some important things to ensure you make the most of your social media presence:

Make sure your profile is updated and professional
It seems obvious, but many people struggle to have relevant content on their own profiles. Have an updated profile including an updated picture. The selfie in your car five years ago isn’t going to cut it! A suit is not required…but take a pic that is reflective of you and the industry in which you work. Having a professional LinkedIn photo makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed.

Make your page about the candidate
As a recruiter, don’t waste your time taking the, “me, me, me,” approach to building your profile. Focus the language on your profile to illustrate your ability to help others find their next career. They are looking at your profile to see how you will help them, not the other way around.

Curate and share engaging content
Join groups related to your interests and the industry in which you work. By doing this, you can stay engaged with trending and current topics within your industry. This also gives you the perfect place to curate relevant and engaging content to share with your peers. According to LinkedIn’s social recruiting guide, successful recruiters shared 2.5x more job posts through LinkedIn vs. unsuccessful recruiters. If you’re looking for a great tool to find content in your industry, try Buzzsumo.

Build on what you have
Sometimes there are very few degrees of separation between you and that next hire. By connecting with friends, coworkers, industry leaders, AND competitors, you will have a wide audience to share content, jobs, and news. While you may not want to share things with your competitors, your next best employee could be from their company!

These platforms also give you the opportunity to continue contact with other applicants you have placed in the past. Keep in touch with talented people; it’s likely they—or someone they know—will be looking in the future.

Have a Schedule
By creating a social media calendar or weekly plan, it becomes a lot easier to distribute original content across your networks. Sometimes it can be difficult to manage multiple social platforms without a schedule or tool. By using tools like Buffer or Hootsuite, users can post to all their networks on a set schedule that helps cadence your content to your audience.

Build Your Employer Brand
36% of successful recruiters and talent executives have strongly communicated their company brand through social media—it’s a great place to give your company culture a place in your strategy. Align your strategies with your marketing team to help push out engaging content across your platforms and build upon the key messaging that goes to your audience. Putting in 1-2 hours per week building branded content can do wonders for your company persona. By doing so, you designate yourself—and your company—as subject-matter experts and trusted sources of information. All of this helps to build authentic engagement that builds relationships.

At the end of the day, social recruitment and talent pipelining is about engagement, and the only way to achieve it is through quality content and authentic social interaction that builds relationships and communities of people. By following the ideas above, you can begin to build the bases of your talent network and leverage social media to attract and retain talent.

If you are not already, I invite you to please connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanstenvick

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stenvick

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2016-linkedin-stats-you-should-know-updated-katy-elle-blake