Want to Connect with Candidates? Get Creative.

Facebook may seem like a great place to start connecting with job seekers. And yes, your company profile’s lurking around on the site.  But beyond creating an account and waiting for candidates to come find you, you’re not sure quite what to do. You’re almost ready to pull a Heidi Montag and bail on the whole thing. How can you get creative in your social media efforts — and make stronger connections with candidates? Let’s take a look at some ways to start thinking outside of that (status) box.

Dunkin’ Donuts

Dunkin’ Donuts has made huge strides through their social media efforts, and their latest campaign ties their new product offering in with their Facebook fan page with their “Keep it Coolatta” sweepstakes. This new campaign allows users to turn their profile pics into prizes by taking pictures of themselves drinking the Dunkin’ Donuts beverage and showing how they are “keeping it Coolatta.”

While this campaign may target many customers, it is also getting Dunkin’ in touch with candidates who may not have known a lot about them before and who are curious to learn more about the company. Dunkin’ Donuts is smartly gaining a presence — and an interactive one at that — by tapping into potential employees’ social networks on sites like Facebook. Facebook, as is Twitter or YouTube, is a very viral platform in which to communicate an idea — and if it’s a good idea, it will travel fast and reach a lot of users. They’ll send it to their friends, and then they’ll send it to their friends… and — yeah, you get the idea.

Dunkin’ Donuts executive chairman Jon Luther recently got into a discussion with us here at CB about the company’s leadership philosophy (more to come on that soon). One comment that stood out to me was Luther’s assertion that “People are to us the most important part of the equation. I tell people we’re not cloning genes here, we’re building relationships and making sure they’re the most profitable they can be so we can be the best franchiser in the world.”

And sites heavy on user interaction, such as Facebook, allow companies to more easily build those relationships  that are hard to come by through the traditional hiring process alone. They also enable employers to more seamlessly integrate their brand into the user experience. Take a look at what Sea World has done, for example.

Think like an employer

Creating a social media campaign is all well and good, but still, you must determine your goals in launching an interactive, viral campaign on a site like Facebook. What are you trying to do — and with whom are you trying to connect? If primarily candidates, take a look at other companies running successful campaigns, and decide how you can focus in on job seekers in particular. Pitching your product or creating a fun game is a good start — but take it up a level. How can you connect with people who may be interested in working for you (and who just may not know it yet)?

A recent BtoB Magazine article lists 5 ways to optimize your Facebook marketing. These ideas, although specific to Facebook, can be applied elsewhere, and they are good starting points in your planning process.

Here are a few (full list here):

1. Have a strong presence: Secure your company name on as many social sites as you can. Not only will you beat others to the punch (Facebook custom usernames, anyone?) and prevent squatters or those posing as your company/abusing your company name, but once you secure your company’s presence, you can start interacting and creating interesting content right away under your official name.
2. Create an application: Build an application to engage job seekers with your brand. An application doesn’t have to be expensive or complex — but consider what type of application will allow you to grab the attention of job seekers most.
3. Throw an event: Get people together in support of your business, brand, or a particular product. Better yet, spreading the word through viral sites is cost-effective — and just plain effective. On Facebook, for example, you can invite fans of your page, and through Twitter, you can “tweet” out the event details and a link to your followers. Before you know it, you’ve got quite a guest list.

This is of course only skimming the surface — but it may trigger an idea and get you brainstorming. Any of your own experiences or ideas to share?

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• Posted by: Amy Chulik on June 15, 2009
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• Categories: Branding, Employee Attraction, Innovation, Social Media, Technology