Social media can seem quite complicated, which is why I have put together a list of 6 things you can focus on in order to grow your small recruitment business using social media.
1 Determine your goals
It’s difficult to design a strategy without deciding what you want to achieve, so this is where you should start.
Would you like to attract candidates?
Are you looking to engage clients?
Do you hope to generate leads?
Would you simply like to build a community on social media?
Don’t set 20 aims because it will be too much to focus on. Decide on 3-5, then set a timeline, and share them with your team. Even if you have a small office of 5 people, when everyone knows what the goals are, they’re much easier to work towards and achieve.
2 Define your audience
You’ve set out help people, but you can’t help everyone, so you must decide whom it will be.
Who are your ideal candidates?
What field do they work in?
How old are they?
How do they get their information?
On what platforms do they connect with people professionally?
Once you have identified who you’re marketing to, even if you’re not currently actively creating content or designing campaigns, you’ll start making more informed choices about how you’re attracting, how you’re engaging, and with whom.
3 Have a professional website
Once you’ve attracted and engaged your audience, you need to direct your client or candidate to a location (your website) where they can discover what your business has to offer and find out additional information.
No matter the size of your business, it’s important to make a good impression because a bad website can leave people with a sour taste, or simply confused. Which is why it must be as good and straight-forward as you can get it. For some, your website is likely the first interaction a potential lead will have with your business. Even if you have a brick and mortar location, people are likely to look you up online before they actually stop by. So, your website has to be aesthetic and fit for purpose to entice people to explore further and reach out.
These are some things to consider:
Is it functional?
Is it compatible with various screen sizes?
Is it simply for a candidate to find your contact information?
Is it easy for a visitor to identify the services your business offers?
Of course, there are many more things to consider in order to have a great website, but those four essentials should get you started on the right foot.
4 Be consistent
People have many misconceptions about marketing, but truth is that consistency is what gets results.
Sure, flashy ad campaigns help, a bright and shiny new website doesn’t hurt, and on-brand imagery for your social media accounts is essential, but people won’t know about it unless you put in the time (consistently) to promote it.
The secret to growing your small business with marketing is to pick something, and stick with it.
The more consistent you are about your marketing efforts, the faster you’ll get a good feel for what works and what doesn’t. And when you know what works, you can keep improving upon it to grow your small business.
5 Try new things
There are new things popping up everyday from TikTok and Reels, to new information on how Google ranks your website. Use this to your advantage as new platforms are more likely to boost newcomers, and old (established) platforms are likely to boost users implementing their newest features.
As long as you consistently put effort into those few marketing tactics I identified earlier, you should also give yourself the freedom to try new things.
As a small business, you’re agile. You have a close team who can get things done quickly. So, when you’ve got a handle on the basics and your marketing efforts are starting to deliver the growth you’re looking for, don’t be afraid to try out some new things, too. This will keep the platforms’ algorithms and your followers on their toes and excited about your content.
Every business is different — what works well for some companies, doesn’t work for others. The only way you can what works for your business is to let yourself try new things, and be comfortable in the knowledge that when something doesn’t work you can try something else.
6 Focus on what you have time for
The crux of marketing a small business, as I’ve already mentioned, is making time to put in the work. If you’re like many other small businesses, you’re short-staffed, and most people on your team wear many hats. No one has time to learn how to set up a complex Google Ads campaign, or figure out the inner workings of Instagram Reels.
Take whatever time you have, whether it’s 5 hours a month or 5 hours a week, and put it to the tactics that will deliver the greatest results. For example, if you’ve set aside 5 hours a month for your marketing efforts, building out a complex email workflow is not the best use of your time. It’s a great marketing tactic, and it would do a lot to help you nurture leads who are already in your system, but firstly, you might not even finish the workflow in 5 hours, and secondly, it’s not going to deliver the best return on your investment.
There are a lots of lead generation tricks and marketing tactics available to small and midsize businesses, such as:
- Blogging
- Email marketing
- Testing and optimising your website for lead generation
- Social media marketing
- Paid advertising
- Conversational marketing (that you can automate using chatbots)
- Event marketing
There are many other things aside form these, but you don’t have time for everything, so think back to your small business goals.
How did you want to grow your small business?
Which one of these tactics will best help you get there?
Identify the tactics that are most aligned with your goals and your target client or customer, and start there. It’s not worth spreading yourself thin, choose one or two tactics you know align with your goals, and focus your efforts there until you start to see results.
Marketing a small business is no joke. You’re already busy with your actual job, and now you’re adding on a consistent marketing workload on top of it. Your team is stretched thin. If you’re not sure you want to handle marketing too, talk to the ThinkinCircles team. We’d love to help!
