In a constantly evolving digital age, recruiters, talent acquisition teams, and hiring managers are perpetually on the lookout for novel methods to attract top-tier talent. One such innovative tool is Snapchat, a social media platform that might not immediately spring to mind for recruitment but is emerging as a powerful ally in this space. A myriad of businesses has already started using Snapchat for recruiting, thus connecting with younger, tech-savvy generations in a more interactive, relatable way.
As of May 2023, Snapchat has 383 million active users, the majority of which is Gen Z— a generation that recruiters as well as marketers today most want to engage with and appeal to. On average, users spend around 30 minutes on Snapchat. For businesses, this translates to valuable ways to market their consumer brand and their employer brand. Several companies like HubSpot, Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Bumble have amassed a huge following and brand presence on Snapchat. These companies use the fun and ephemeral nature of this channel to showcase their fun side and increase engagement with their customers and even potential employees. This article will explore the value of this platform and provide insights on how you can harness it for your own recruitment efforts.
In this article, we will discuss the following topics:
- How to get started with Snapchat
- How to use Snapchat for recruiting
- What are Snapchat’s best practices for recruiting
- How to refine your Snapchat for recruiting strategy
Getting started with Snapchat
Embracing Snapchat for recruiting purposes involves more than just creating an account. It requires a thoughtful approach to showcasing your company’s culture, engaging with your audience, and leveraging the platform’s features to their maximum potential. Snapchat offers several ways to enhance your recruitment strategy, from creating compelling visual content to using AR filters to communicating directly with potential candidates.
However, let’s start with the basics. For those new to Snapchat, it can initially seem like a daunting platform. However, with its image and video-based model, it’s ideal for showing your company’s vibrant culture and opportunities in a dynamic way. Snapchat also offers a feature called “Snapcodes”, QR-like codes that users can scan to follow your account, which can be shared on other platforms to promote your Snapchat presence.
This guide will take you through the steps to get started with Snapchat for recruiting, helping you to attract, connect with, and hire great talent effectively.
Step 1: Download and install Snapchat
Snapchat can be downloaded for free from the App Store for iOS or the Google Play Store for Android. Snapchat is also available on the web.
Step 2: Create a company account
Create a business account under your company’s name. This account will be separate from any personal accounts and will serve as the official representation of your company on Snapchat.
Step 3: Familiarise yourself with the platform
Spend some time exploring Snapchat to understand its features and user interface. Understand how to create and post snaps, create stories, use filters, and chat with other users.
Step 4: Define your employer brand
Just as you would on any other social media platform, you need to create a consistent employer brand on Snapchat. This includes your company logo, description, and content that reflects your company’s culture and values.
Don’t forget to set the tone of your content according to the platform and your target audience. Snapchat is predominantly playful and fun, so a very formal tone of voice and persona won’t be suitable here. This is something for your team to figure out before you start posting content on Snapchat.
Step 5: Start creating content
Create interesting and engaging content that highlights your company’s culture, the people who work there, and the work you do. This could be behind-the-scenes videos, interviews with employees, snaps of company events, or anything else that provides a unique insight into your company. Whatever style of content you choose, stay creative and consistent.
Step 6: Engage with your audience
Engage with your audience by responding to messages and comments and by engaging with other users’ content. This will help to create a sense of community and show potential candidates that you value their input and engagement.
Step 7: Advertise job openings
Use Snapchat’s advertising features to promote job openings. This can be done through snap ads, story ads, or geofilters at specific locations.
Using Snapchat for recruiting
Snapchat, one of the top ten social media platforms of 2023, is a unique recruitment tool that can be used to attract talent, especially among younger demographics. It offers organisations the chance to connect with potential employees in a casual, interactive way.
Snapchat’s major selling point is its rich visual content. Consider creating a variety of engaging snaps or stories that showcase your company’s culture, team, or a day in the life at your company. This gives potential candidates a genuine idea of what it’s like to work for your organisation. Here are some key strategies to effectively use Snapchat as a recruitment tool:
Advertise job openings
Snapchat allows businesses to place ads that can reach a broad audience. Use this feature to advertise your job openings creatively. Remember to include a call-to-action redirecting users to a more detailed job description or application form.
Utilise Snapchat’s AR features using filter ads
Snapchat is well known for its Augmented Reality (AR) filters. Consider creating a custom AR filter that reflects your brand identity or relates to a specific job role. Encourage Snapchat users to use the filter and share it with their network, thus increasing your brand awareness and potential reach.
Engage with potential candidates
Snapchat’s chat feature provides a unique opportunity to communicate with potential candidates directly. Respond to their inquiries promptly and take time to engage with their content as well. This personal interaction can leave a lasting impression and build a positive image of your company.
Use geofilters for events
If you’re hosting a recruitment event or a job fair, consider creating a custom Geofilter specific to the location of your event. Snapchat’s Geofilters feature allows you to create a unique filter specific to your event. Attendees can use this filter in their snaps, making them feel more connected to the event. Also, as these snaps are shared, it can help increase your brand visibility.
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Best practices for Snapchat recruitment
Not all approaches to Snapchat recruitment achieve the same results. Certain strategies will maximise your success, while others may fall flat. In this section, we’ll explore proven strategies for effective recruitment using Snapchat.
Letting candidates peek into your live events
Live events can be an excellent way to showcase your company’s culture and provide a firsthand experience of what it’s like to be part of your team. Snapchat’s features can be particularly effective in giving potential candidates an insider’s look into these events.
Giving prospective employees a look into your live events can greatly enhance your recruitment efforts. We’ll delve into the reasons why in this part of the article.
Live snaps
You can use Snapchat to share real-time updates from your live events. Whether it’s a company meetup, a conference, a workshop, or a team-building activity, sharing live snaps can help potential candidates get a feel for the event atmosphere.
Stories
Snapchat’s Stories feature allows you to compile multiple snaps into a single narrative, lasting for 24 hours. You can create a Story around your event, documenting the progression from start to finish. This not only engages your followers in real time but also allows users who missed the live snaps to catch up later.
Behind-the-scenes content
Snapchat’s informal nature makes it perfect for sharing behind-the-scenes content. Show your followers how your team prepares for the event, the setup process, or even some fun, candid moments. This can make potential candidates feel more connected to your company and its people.
Q&A sessions
Consider hosting Q&A sessions during your live events, where followers can ask questions about the event, your company, or job opportunities. This can be done using the Snapchat chat feature, which allows for real-time interaction with your audience.
Cross-promotion
If you’re active on other social media platforms, promote your Snapchat account and let your followers know you’ll share exclusive content from your live event. This can help drive traffic to your Snapchat account and potentially attract more candidates.
Remember, the goal is to present an authentic image of your company and make potential candidates feel included. The more engaging and interactive your content is, the better you can connect with your audience and attract potential talent.
Refining your Snapchat for recruiting strategy
As with any talent acquisition tool, effective use of Snapchat for recruiting requires continuous refinement of strategies based on data analysis, market trends, and user feedback. A refined Snapchat recruitment strategy not only ensures that you attract the right talent but also enables you to leverage the platform’s unique features most effectively. Understanding the platform’s evolving dynamics and user preferences is essential in order to adapt your strategy accordingly. Let’s look at a few interesting ways you can finetune your recruitment strategy on Snapchat:
Giving candidates a behind-the-scenes look at your company
A unique way of leveraging Snapchat for recruiting is to provide a behind-the-scenes look at your company culture. Showing potential candidates the inner workings of your company via Snapchat can help them understand your corporate culture and get a feel for what it’s like to work with your team. Here are some strategies you can use to give candidates a behind-the-scenes look via Snapchat:
Share day-to-day operations
Capture candid moments of your team working on projects, brainstorming sessions, or enjoying their coffee breaks. A sneak peek into your daily operations helps potential employees imagine themselves as part of your team.
Employee takeovers
Invite different employees to take over your company’s Snapchat account periodically. They can share their typical day at work, interact with followers, answer questions, and even show off their workspace. This helps candidates understand different roles within your company and the diversity of experiences among employees.
Using Snapchat to show company culture
Are there fun traditions at your company? Weekly team lunches, birthday celebrations, office games, or team outings? Sharing these events shows that you value a positive work environment and team spirit, which attract potential employees.
Your corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and employee growth programs can all be showcased on Snapchat. Showcasing your values helps candidates see if their values align with yours.
Rolling out new ideas on Snapchat
Snapchat’s playful and creative nature makes it an excellent platform for rolling out new ideas. Whether it’s a new product, an internal initiative or a job opportunity, Snapchat can be a powerful tool to spread the word in a fun, engaging manner.
Snapchat’s features, like its chat function and stickers, can encourage users to interact with your content and form a closer connection to your brand. This interaction can be invaluable in transforming viewers into potential recruits.
A unique feature of Snapchat is that everything shared on the platform disappears after a short while. This can be turned into an advantage, as it induces a sense of urgency. This means potential candidates are more likely to act immediately. However, remember to always be genuine—Snapchat users appreciate authenticity. Use the platform to show the real people behind your business and to connect on a deeper level with potential recruits.
The importance of monitoring recruitment marketing campaigns
Just like any other recruitment strategy, it’s crucial to monitor and measure the success of your Snapchat recruitment efforts. By tracking what works and what doesn’t, you can make necessary adjustments to your campaigns. This can lead to more compelling content, better engagement, and, ultimately, more successful recruitment.
Even unsuccessful campaigns can provide valuable lessons. Tracking your Snapchat recruitment success performance of your campaigns allows you to measure their success. You can understand how well your content resonates with your audience by looking at metrics such as views, engagement rates, screenshots, and chat responses.
Monitoring your recruitment marketing campaigns on Snapchat is critical for several reasons:
Measure effectiveness
Tracking your campaign’s performance allows you to measure its effectiveness. Key metrics can include the number of views your snaps receive, how many times they’re screenshot, the number of followers gained during the campaign, and the number of engagements (such as replies or uses of your custom filter).
Understand your audience
Monitoring your campaigns can provide insights into what type of content resonates with your audience. Do they prefer behind-the-scenes content, employee spotlights, or Q&A sessions? Understanding this can help tailor your future content.
Identify areas for improvement
Tracking your campaign’s performance can also highlight areas for improvement. If certain snaps are not getting the desired engagement, it could be a sign that they need to be reworked. Maybe the content isn’t interesting, the message isn’t clear, or it’s not being posted at the optimal time. By learning what worked and what didn’t in your campaigns, you can use these insights to optimise future campaigns. Maybe you’ve found that videos perform better than images, or snaps posted in the morning receive more engagement than those posted in the afternoon.
Calculate return on investment (ROI)
Monitoring can help calculate the return on investment for your recruitment marketing campaigns. By tracking metrics like the number of applications received through Snapchat or the number of successful hires, you can determine if your investment in Snapchat as a recruitment tool is paying off.
Optimise future campaigns
Snapchat provides analytics tools to help you track your campaign’s performance. You can also use third-party tools to track more specific metrics if needed. To monitor your Snapchat recruitment campaigns, use Snapchat’s in-built analytics tool, which provides a range of metrics such as Story Views, Story View percentages, and Audience Demographics.
Snapchat offers a multitude of recruitment opportunities. From providing a peek into live events to showcasing behind-the-scenes moments, this platform helps build a sense of community, inviting potential candidates to envision themselves as part of your team. But like any recruitment method, success on Snapchat requires commitment, creativity, and constant monitoring of your efforts.
By integrating Snapchat into your recruitment strategy, you are embracing modern communication trends and opening doors to a new pool of talent that appreciates authentic, engaging and rapid content. Snapchat’s unique format can help foster a stronger connection between potential candidates and your company, ultimately enhancing your recruitment efforts and strengthening your team.
