More than 90 percent of company leaders agree that their business success depends on how well they use social data to help drive strategy and plans. By following social listening best practices, organizations can sharpen their competitive edge in recruiting top talent while maintaining ethical, compliant practices.
Social monitoring is the process of regularly tracking engagement on social platforms. These include @mentions, comments, #hashtags, and keywords related to your employer brand. You should be looking at everything from shoutouts and reviews to inquiries and complaints – and then react appropriately. This is where social monitoring and listening coalesce.
Effective Social Listening for Recruitment
Here are some guidelines for maximizing the value of social listening for talent recruitment:
- Maintain data privacy. Respect candidates’ privacy as you monitor and respond to their content. Adhere to all applicable data protection regulations. When necessary, anonymize personal information and/or obtain consent before moving any further.
- Put AI and machine learning to work for you. Utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data. These tools can pinpoint patterns, sentiments and trends that you may otherwise miss.
- Develop and implement a response strategy. Keep communication ongoing as you respond to and engage with your audiences. It’s not enough to simply collect data and then let it sit in a file.
- Evaluate your strategy on a regular basis. This way, you can seamlessly adapt to evolving trends and feedback. Social media is a highly dynamic field.
As you establish your process:
- Set clear goals and objectives. For instance, are you looking to hire a certain number of employees? Target specific skillsets? Or perhaps enhance your employer value proposition? Define measurable objectives related to each goal.
- Select relevant keywords and hashtags. You may want to consider industry-specific terms, job titles, or trending hashtags.
- Choose the right social monitoring platforms. There are a number of options including Brandwatch, Hootsuite, Mention and Sprout Social.
- Determine where your target audience is most active. You may want to monitor LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, or industry-specific forums.
- Set a schedule. Decide how frequently you need to collect data, and whether to do so in real time or at set intervals. Adapt your schedule as needed in response to changing conversations and trends.
Reaping the Benefits
Done right, social media monitoring and listening help you:
- Optimize ROI on your social campaigns. Data analysis enables you to understand what truly resonates with desired talent. It helps you craft more engaging posts, boost brand visibility, run more targeted job ads, and choose the right influencers.
- Gain insight into your industry and competition. Competitive intelligence can be used to set realistic benchmarks for your brand and its ongoing performance.
The tools, technologies, and trends that impact social media evolve constantly. It helps to have a specialized subject matter expert on your team. Find that expertise at Haley Marketing. Let us take your social listening skills and results to the next level, starting today.
