Recruiting staff through social media campaigns in 3 steps

Recruiting staff through social media is still fairly unfamiliar territory for many employers in Belgium. But the holidays are just around the corner, and that means a period of reflection and good resolutions! New plans for the future, including plans about work, are common at this time of year. At the same time, people have plenty of free time and social media use goes up. So lots of time to scroll through Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and LinkedIn, and a good chance of coming across a job marketing campaign there.

A brand-new way of recruiting in Belgium

A good moment to put vacancies out where most people spend their time during this period: their social media feeds. Yet in Belgium this is still not a common approach, despite the current tight labour market. Directors and managers are used to hiring temp, interim or selection agencies at relatively high rates. Or they only share the vacancy on their own website and VDAB. As a result, far too much money, time and energy goes into recruiting new staff.

It is time for change, says Noud Baijens, entrepreneur and director of Pro Contact. Since September, the online recruitment agency has had an office in Kontich, where a team of online marketers, recruiters and salespeople is working hard to conquer the Belgian market. How exactly? He shares three tips on how to spread eye-catching vacancies across the web, and how to find your new employees through social media campaigns.

1. Map out where your target group spends a lot of time

"Only 43 percent of Belgian companies are active on Facebook. Mostly to sell products," says Baijens. "But if you want to recruit young people or blue-collar profiles, for example, Facebook and Instagram are the channels to reach this target group." For instance, 90 percent of young people aged 15 to 25 spend an average of two hours a day on Facebook or Instagram.

"Besides young people, we also focus on recruiting blue-collar profiles, such as mechanics, technicians, warehouse workers, bricklayers, operators, site managers and drivers. In Belgium there are 7.3 million active Facebook accounts, 3.6 million LinkedIn accounts and 3.2 million on Instagram. So the vast majority of the working population is there. White-collar staff, of course, are easier to find on LinkedIn. The great thing about social media campaigns is that you can target very precisely. So think carefully about what your ideal target group looks like."

'By actively targeting people on the channels where they spend a lot of their free time, you create interest in and awareness of your company.'

Age, education, job title, place of residence and online browsing behaviour are just a few examples. "It is good to realise that most people are latent jobseekers. By that I mean the group that is not actively looking for a new job because they already have one. Posting the vacancy on a job site has little effect on them. By actively targeting them on the channels where they spend a lot of their free time, you create interest in and awareness of your company. Your vacancies end up in their feed between their favourite football club, sneakers and influencers."

2. Recruiting staff? Make applying as easy as possible

Once you have caught the interest of a potential candidate, it is crucial to make the application process as easy as possible. "Having to fill in loads of details puts people off, just like writing a cover letter," says Baijens. "You can always find out this information at a later stage. In a tight labour market it is already great if a candidate gets in touch with your company at all. So first make sure the potential candidate can apply as easily as possible. We use application forms for this, where the social media channel automatically fills in someone's name, email address and mobile number. That makes applying super easy."

'We expect that in 2020 recruitment through social media campaigns will be embraced more and more.'

Baijens notices that an application process set up this way is still rare in Belgium. "While in the Netherlands we mainly serve the SME market, companies in Belgium are still somewhat unfamiliar with online recruitment. We work for big names such as Willy Naessens, Sarens, Van Moer Transport, Synergie Jobs and Accent Jobs, but we see that Belgian SMEs still like to stick with their traditional recruitment partners. We expect that in 2020 recruitment through social media will be embraced more and more."

3. Create compelling content for your social media campaigns

Finally, Baijens explains the power of compelling content when recruiting through social media. "This is often underestimated. But the way the vacancy is framed can really make the difference. Because how do you turn a vacancy into compelling content and applications from the right people? For this we have a team of copywriters, designers and advertising specialists who bring the most creative ideas to life for our clients. A 3D tour of the future workplace or applying via WhatsApp? It is all possible and affordable for SMEs." On top of that, you can easily create several texts for the same vacancy and target them in different regions. "This means that in Belgium a campaign can run for the same job in both French and Dutch, at no extra cost."

This interview was published on fokus-online.be

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