How Social Media Fits Into YOUR Hiring Plan?

I’ve said it countless times: Meet your audience on their platform of choice. We’re no stranger to this tactic in the world of PR, digital and social media marketing agencies..

You use social media for business strategies, but are you making the most of this cost-effective tool in your hiring process?

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How Social Fits Into Your Hiring Plan

At my company, we’ve expanded this theory above and beyond consumer and B2B marketing and into the world of social recruiting.

Businesses know that millennials are the largest generation in the U.S. workforce, and social recruiting uses digital platforms to meet future employees where they are: online.

A candidate’s digital presence serves to supplement a resume, but that’s just the beginning of how social media can reshape your hiring plan.

Social platforms essentially facilitate conversations, be it between individuals or brands and consumers. When qualified candidates are in the final rounds of consideration, social media can serve to show which ones are already contributing to digital conversations.

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What To Look For In A Social Profile

Common sense keeps most candidates from posting questionable content on their public profiles, but that’s just the basics. Identifying skilled candidates means recognizing potential. Are they retweeting articles by industry thought leaders? Do they have LinkedIn endorsements for skills that can add to your agency’s capabilities? What type of content are they resharing or interacting with?

A designer’s Instagram may serve as an unofficial portfolio while an account exec’s blog posts may showcase their aptitude for branded content creation. In many cases, personal profiles show a distinct voice, visual identity or overall brand. A sense of awareness is a sign of emotional intelligence, which is on every recruiter’s radar.

While a social media profile doesn’t need to be sterile or professionally branded, it should convey a sense of that candidate’s relationship with social media. Someone who is passionately plugged-in can bring that curiosity and drive to their work. And, on the other hand, for those who display highly negative or concerning behavior on social media, you should be mindful of how they would fit in with your culture.

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Make The First Move

Your agency can strategically reach out through social channels for cost-efficient results, from directly engaging with passive candidates via LinkedIn to targeting the ideal applicant with Facebook ads. By customizing an ad’s audience on Facebook or Instagram, you can boost messaging to reach a finite demographic.

For example, if you are using social advertisements to recruit for an entry-level position, your agency can pay to target ads to recent graduates as opposed to an experienced audience or passive candidates. You then effectively spend less while reaching more realistic candidates. By targeting likely candidates online, agencies can stretch ad spend while increasing efficiency.

It’s a unique advantage for both the candidate and the employer to connect organically online. Savvy job seekers know to use their public social media platforms as a tool to share their skills; it’s up to your hiring team to identify these standout candidates.

Guest Authored By Kelly Ehlers. Kelly is Founder and President of Ideas That Evoke. An influencer and social media agency focused in the beauty, lifestyle and luxury markets. Follow Kelly on Twitter.

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“It’s a unique advantage for both the candidate and the employer to connect organically online.

Savvy job seekers know to use their public social media platforms as a tool to share their skills; it’s up to your hiring team to identify these standout candidates.."

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

Mortgage Professional Social Media?

Social media is one of the most revolutionary innovations of our time. Within a few short years, billions of people from every corner of the globe have begun using digital platforms to connect with family, friends, colleagues and complete strangers..

This shift in the way we connect with others has also had a profound effect on the way we do business. The rise of social media provides a unique opportunity for lenders to directly reach today's clients. As our market becomes more purchase-driven and millennials make up the largest group of home buyers, mortgage professionals can employ digital platforms to make connections with referral partners and the increasing number of young consumers.

Many of the mortgage industry's most accomplished producers have fully embraced the power of social media and its ability to reach an expanded customer base. Throughout my years of experience working in the industry, I have had the great privilege of holding conversations with many of the nation's top producing mortgage professionals and gathering valuable insights about how they maintain such remarkable success.

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These individuals are not shying away from the digital landscape that is now an integral part of our industry. Instead, they are leveraging technology to achieve incredible results. Here are some of their best practices for mortgage professionals ready to employ social media as a tool for growing their databases and enhancing customer relationships.

Get Connected

One of the primary benefits of social media is its ability to help sales professionals forge new connections. In the past, loan officers have relied primarily on referrals from Realtors for new business.

Now, top producers like Cindy Laffey are using simple methods to get their names directly in front of potential clients. She explains, "We post pictures of every closing and tag our real estate agent, referral source, the buyers and their business pages. It goes on and on. That's really getting a lot of activity and getting me a lot of exposure."

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Joel Mahakian's strategy, on the other hand, involves being on the other end of tagged photos. "I have some great Realtor friends who put their listings on Facebook on a regular basis," he says. "They will tag me in those posts and say customers need to call me in order to get pre-qualified."

Get Personal

Making the initial connection is a great first step, but loan officers can also leverage these platforms to connect with clients on a personal level. Realtors and home buyers are far more likely to do business with someone they feel they can relate to. This is the perfect area to utilize social media. As Jennifer Sims says, "It's a way I can give them a piece of myself. They know who I am, who my family is, my cat's name, my favorite color."

Keith Renno has a similar strategy. He wants his Facebook friends to know that he's not just a lender, but also an individual. "We try to keep our Facebook 65% personal and 35% reminders that we're in the mortgage business. But we do like to keep 65% personal because we don't want to spam people or make them feel like the only thing we're talking about is mortgages."

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For Rosella Campion, social media is also a way to stay in touch with past customers and let them know she still values their relationship. "Sending out e-birthday cards has been a wonderful way to remind people that I'm here and that I am thinking of them," she says.

Shashank Shekhar highlights the importance of making a good personal impression through social media.

In his experience, "When working with a client that has a listing agent I've never met, he or she is still familiar with me because they kind of know me since they've seen me on Facebook.

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Whether forging new connections or maintaining ones with previous clients, social media is a fundamental aspect of the relationship between mortgage professionals and their customers in today's market. By understanding the personal nature of social media, they will build stronger, more meaningful connections with current and potential clients.

Get Educational

Finding the right balance between personal and business posts on social media is incredibly important for lenders, but they also must remember what their most important role is: to serve their clients. Providing helpful, insightful resources that empower the client with industry knowledge will only enhance the relationship between loan officer and customer.

Yvette Clermont finds posting resources on digital platforms gets the best response from her client base. "I'm getting feedback on social media when it's an educational piece," she says. "Whether it's a new program, a new product or a guideline, I get feedback when something is helpful to a consumer.

Get Reviews

Before most people choose which car to buy, food to order, or loan officer to use, they go to the Internet. Getting positive ratings and comments on social media leads to production growth. According to Rosella Campion, "We are asking our customers to review us on different sites, and that has gotten us great leads, which has been a pleasant surprise."

Stuart Crawford says his most important utilization of social media is to share his success. "It's a validation piece. We push clients there to write reviews, to like us. When we get a new client, we have a welcome email that has our Facebook page and says, "Hey, if you want to get to know more about us, you can go to this page and see what our clients say.

Although social media has created a new landscape to navigate, it also presents countless opportunities for lenders to expand their databases and connect with more customers. By becoming more strategic with their approach to social media and incorporating these top producers' best practices, mortgage professionals can harness the potential of these powerful tools to make a lasting impact on their business.

Guest Authored By Casey Cunningham. Casey is the CEO and founder of Xinnix, the No. 1 mortgage academy in the nation. Follow Casey on Twitter.

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"The exhilarating world of social media is constantly evolving and the savviest of business owners keep up with these fluctuating social media trends.. "

"By becoming more strategic with their approach to social media and incorporating these top producers' best practices, mortgage professionals can harness the potential of these powerful tools to make a lasting impact on their business.."

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  Authored by:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

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