This article is based on research for our recent eGuide, Building your employer brand with social media.
At this point, social media is more or less a must-have for any company looking to reach top talent. After all, there’s 2.3 billion people actively using social media globally, and hundreds of platforms to attract virtually any demographic.
But if you’re still not sold on the power of social media, take a look at some companies that are using it to boost their employer brand – and have the numbers to prove that it’s working.
Here are five employer brands on social media that are killing it:
Microsoft
Microsoft’s employer branding campaign includes extensive activity on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn (which it now owns), but its Facebook account acts as a kind of hub for it all. There, Microsoft posts event listings, photos, videos, content from its job blog, and ample praise from other news sources on its employee life – not to mention links to job postings.
Its second page, Women at Microsoft, spotlights its female employees and encourages women to consider a career in technology. Between the two pages, Microsoft has amassed over 590,000 followers that are constantly engaging with the company and sharing content – and, of course, applying to job openings.
Zappos
A big part of employer branding is giving a clear idea of what it’s like to work for a company on a daily basis. Online shopping brand Zappos uses its Instagram page, insidezappos, to do just that. A lot. The 1,500-employee company has amassed over 2,400 followers by showing off its playful-verging-on-wacky vibe.
Pics and videos showing off all the employee perks – outdoor spin classes, elaborate costume contents, and hot dog eating competitions, to name a few – elicit plenty of comments along the lines of “I want to work here so badly! How can I apply?!”
But what’s really powerful about Zappos’ Instagram content is the parade of photos showing how the company celebrates its employees, from birthdays and anniversaries to other milestones (there’s a lot of balloons). Let’s face it: seeing this many beaming workers is certain to keep the company top-of-mind for top talent.
Questrade
We’ve mentioned before how tricky Twitter can be – if your tweets aren’t trending, they can easily get lost in the shuffle. Toronto finance adviser Questrade overcomes that challenge with its @QuestradeCareer feed by being incredibly active, offering its 900-plus followers a steady stream of job hunting tips, event photos, employee stories, and more.
Its most dynamic feature, however, is its use of Twitter chats, where users meet at a scheduled time to discuss a certain topic using a designated hashtag (check out Twitter chats at #WorkoWednesday, by the way). Questrade’s #ChatQT chats bring together advice-hungry seekers with career experts. One of its most recent chats, for example, covered entrepreneurship in the workplace – and it made #ChatQT one of the top three trending topics in Toronto.
Nestle
As we mentioned in our recent post on how to use Pinterest, the platform is one of the least labour-intensive platforms for companies looking to gain some exposure – especially if they’re pinning well-rounded content suited to their audience. Nestle takes this to an art form with its USA careers Pinterest account, which has a range of boards offering a 360-degree view of the company.
One board, for example, is dedicated entirely to its employees’ takes on business casual, while another highlights the awards the company has won. There’s also pictures from various events – volunteering, office parties, tournaments – as well as employee bios, office photos, recruitment videos, and more
Salesforce
LinkedIn is the platform for brand building and creating a talent pipeline by networking with active and passive seekers – and tech company Salesforce uses it to its full potential, with over 730,000 followers. Its account acts as an abridged version of its career page, with a concise run-down of its culture and mandate, testimonials from current staff members, information about opportunities and growth, and links to other social media platforms.
There’s also “cultural insights,” including a chart showing the languages that employees speak, and another depicting the social causes that employees are involved in (complete with links to the organizations that they support). There’s also content posted from their blog covering everything from increasing productivity to small business advice.
Now that you’re suitably inspired, its time to kick-start your own employer branding campaign on social media. Get started by downloading Building your employer brand with social media today. Here’s a sneak preview:
See also:
Choosing the right social media platform for your business
The do’s and don’ts of digital marketing for small businesses
_______
– Subscribe to the Hiring Insider newsletter
– Follow Workopolis_Hire on Twitter
– Listen to Safe for Work, the Workopolis podcast
– Post a job on Workopolis now