By Brad Bialy
It used to be called “dial for dollars.” You could pick up the phone, dial and after a few calls get an order.
Today it’s more like “dial for pennies.” The reality is that hiring managers are inundated with calls every day from staffing reps looking for open job orders. Cold calling isn’t as effective as it used to be, but by using social media effectively you can turn those cold calls into decidedly warmer leads.
What Are the Best Ways to Use Social Media for Lead Generation?
Don't spam.
Firms that use social media effectively will help break through the voicemail trap and make more meaningful connections with prospects. But that doesn’t mean you should spam the hell out of people with LinkedIn InMail! Instead, focus on consistently posting high-level content and resources. Instead of using InMail to ask about upcoming hiring needs, share local-market salary data and hiring trends, or strategies for recruiting in a tight labor market. By providing a valuable resource, you will cut through the cluttered news feed and position yourself as the leader.
Continue to blog.
Turn your website into the hub of your online marketing effort and drive traffic back there!
How do you get to the top of Google’s coveted page one? You can either buy your way there (with PPC) or earn your way there. Blogging and content marketing will allow you to earn your way there — and stay there.
Google rewards websites and pages that are optimized for search appropriately. For staffing and recruiting firms across the country, written content (“blogging”) continues to be the leading way to differentiate from the competition while also improving organic traffic from Google.
And we have the data to support that. Observing website data from over 500 staffing firms across the country, we continue to see and document one consistent trend: as firms consistently add fresh and unique content, organic search traffic climbs. In a two-year study of a staffing firm located in Atlanta, Georgia, organic search traffic doubled (112 percent growth to be exact) by adding a new piece of content to their website each week.
Get your sales team and recruiters actively involved.
(No really - make it a requirement)!
To be truly effective on social media, your entire team needs to buy into the strategy and support it. Publishing to a company page every day is great, but often overlooked are the personal accounts your team has established on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
We often refer to social media management as a workout program. So, develop a routine for your team where people share consistently Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Challenge them to continue their workout routine. What might start off as a challenge will eventually become routine. And once the results (i.e., job orders and qualified candidates) start pouring in...your team won’t want to stop.
What can your team members do on individual levels?
1. Post to LinkedIn groups.
2. Share content originally published on the company blog.
3. Connect with clients and candidates on LinkedIn and share resources with them.
4. Tweet blog posts or video using relevant hashtags from your area.
5. Like, comment and share content originally published on the company’s social channels.
6. Be social! By growing their personal brands, your employees will consequently grow your corporate brand. If they see relevant content come through their personal feeds, encourage them to share it, comment on it and engage with it.
Need help with your digital marketing?
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