In today's world, information is only a click away. Your clients and candidates are online every day. They're looking for answers to questions about hiring, careers, staffing issues, and a host of other topics.

That's why it's important for staffing and recruiting firms to provide answers to the questions your clients and candidates are asking. It's also why you need to have a strong presence across the Internet -- so your information gets found.

When your audience is searching for information, where do they go? Answer 1: Google. Answer 2: social media. In fact, for most millennials, social media is the first source used to find information.

So how can you ensure that your company's information gets found?
The answer is simple: create a social sharing strategy.

What is a social sharing strategy?
Just as the name implies, social sharing is about taking the resources your company is already offering -- your website pages, blogs, eBooks, webinars, videos, etc. -- and sharing them on social media.

Where should we share the content?
There are many social media platforms a staffing agency can use for sharing. The most popular platforms are: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube. And for some staffing companies, Pinterest and Instagram can be effective.

Don't fret if you're not active on all of these social platforms. You don't have to be. The key is to understand your clients and candidates. Which platforms do they use? That's where you should spend more of your time.

Most likely, you will want to test sharing content on several platforms to see what works best for your firm. For example, at Haley Marketing, we know that most staffing professionals are on LinkedIn every day, so that's a big part of where we share content. However, when we analyzed our Google Analytics, we found that the most engaged visitors to our website actually came from Twitter, so we are now doing more to use Twitter in our social sharing efforts.

Social sharing on a company level.
On a company level, social sharing is about branding -- creating the impression of your firm that you want to create. And your branding should have two dimensions: one for prospective clients, and one for job seekers. Plan to share a mix of content that positions your firm as both a great vendor and a great place to work.

Ultimately, the goal of social sharing is to bring people to your website. You want them to engage with your content -- and connect with you about your services and to apply for jobs. Most of the content you share on social sites should be linked back to your website. However, it's fine (and actually a smart practice) to occasionally share content from other websites. This shows people that you keep on top of trends and issues in your industry.

When it comes to the writing (and graphics), every company should have a distinct voice on social media. Your company's voice should convey your organization's culture and values. The tone of the writing and style of the images should show off your firm's personality. If you want to be seen as a smart organization, offer best practices and ideas to solve common problems. If you want to be seen as caring, share stories that celebrate your clients' and candidates' successes.

While you want your corporate voice to be distinctive, it doesn't have to be just one voice. Your entire team can (and should) take part in sharing. However, for your company social media pages, we recommend having one person in charge of making updates. This person should be responsible for sharing content on each of your company pages on a regular basis -- at least a few times a week, and ideally once a day or more.

Social sharing on a personal level.
Once your team is regularly sharing content on social media, it's time to take the sharing to a personal level for each individual team member. Your team should interact with all of the content -- "like," comment, and share the posts to your own personal pages.

When your team members share content through their personal accounts, your content will reach each individual team member's connections. So if you have 10 people in your office, and each person has 100 connections on LinkedIn, sharing a blog post reaches 1,000 people (and even more if those people subsequently share your content).

Social sharing on a personal level increases awareness and brand recognition for the company. It's also good for SEO. Google and other search engines use social engagement as a cue for relevance. So the more your team is engaging with content from your website on social media, the better your SEO results will become.

So, what's the point?
Social sharing is about becoming a resource. Providing answers to questions. Fulfilling needs. And positioning your firm as the best solution to your clients' and candidates' problems. The more actively you are engaged on social media, the more you become a resource employers and job seekers will turn to when they need answers.

Need help with your social sharing strategy? Contact Haley Marketing! From blog writing to a full social sharing strategy, we can help.

Social Media: A Game Plan for Staffing and Recruiting Firms
Reprinted with permission courtesy of
Haley Marketing Group
716-631-8981
https://www.haleymarketing.com