Want to increase your ROI with social media marketing? Allow your HR department to recruit on your Facebook page. In this whitepaper, you will learn how social recruiting:
- Saves you time, money, and other resources
- Brings more quality fans and customers to your Facebook page
- Increases the value of your social marketing
1. Mar 2013
The Value of Facebook
Recruiting for marketing
BRAND
1
FAN
#
YOUR
2. Share This Whitepaper The Value of Facebook Recruiting for Marketing // 2
INTRODUCTION
Get Thy Brand a Facebook Page
By now, it has become an undeniable commandment: your brand needs an actively engaged
Facebook page. And it is gospel that the more “likes” you have, the closer you become to reaching
1/7th of the earth’s population with your brand message. But two lingering questions often remain
in the minds of most marketing professionals before they begin following the popular dogma:
1. Why are Facebook fans necessary to the success of my brand’s social message?
2. How can I spread the good word and convert more users into fans?
We can start with number one, since it’s fairly simple to address: your Facebook page is one of
the most powerful tools you have to generate new leads and drive sales. Our online and offline
buying behavior--as well as our ability to discover new products or services and develop brand
loyalty--has always been driven by the power of personal recommendation. More than half of
Americans are more likely to trust user-generated recommendations1
(from family, friends, and
even strangers with the right kind of clout*) than the company itself, so it becomes imperative that
you use your social campaigns as a way to get your fans talking--loud and often.
So how do you find fans and convince them to speak on your behalf? Considering the fact that
75% of people are more likely to make a purchase if referred to a brand, product, or service
through social media2
, along with the fact that there are 1.06 billion people3
who, in 70 different
languages4
, interact for an average of 8 hours each per month5
, Facebook is the marketer’s
platform of choice.
And because every “like” comes with a soft-opt in for your message and every post another touch
along the customer journey, you can’t afford not to build up a dynamic base of rabidly loyal fans
who can convince their friends to “like” your brand too.
The question remains: how can I spread the word and convert more fans? And will those fans be
willing to help convert others?
The answer lies in the quality of the fans you attract--the fans who most want to be a part of your
brand, your company, and your message: the fans who want to work for you.
*i.e. Fans and brand advocates.
1. http://www.bazaarvoice.com/files/
whitepapers/BV_whitepaper_millenials.pdf
2. http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/
tabid/6307/bid/30239/71-More-Likely-
to-Purchase-Based-on-Social-Media-
Referrals-Infographic.aspx
3. http://investor.fb.com/releasedetail.
cfm?ReleaseID=736911
4. https://developers.facebook.com/docs/
internationalization/
5. http://mashable.com/2011/09/30/
wasting-time-on-facebook/
4. Share This Whitepaper The Value of Facebook Recruiting for Marketing // 4
Quantity vs.
quality
While the quantity of “likes” may measure the
popularity of your brand to some extent, if the
people who “like” your page don’t continue to
engage with it, then they are not contributing
to your lead generation or sales growth efforts.
“Likes” can be bought and sold; engagement
cannot. Fans can be accumulated, but they
can’t be forced to care, comment, or eventually
purchase what you have to offer. The opportunity
lies in the quality of the fan: do they truly “like”
your brand?
Are you targeting, engaging, and retaining
your most valuable fans?
LIKE
SHARE
COMMENT
BUYLIKE
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defining a
quality fan
Engagement (n.):
Interaction between users (fans) and your messages.
Engagement is measured by how often how
many people “like,” comment, and share your
posts. Engagement not only encourages
conversation about your brand message, but can
also lead to conversion through calls to action,
such as promotional deals, product/service
information, or redirects to your website/email
list.
Brand Loyalty (n.):
The commitment of a person to consistently
purchase a product or service from a single
company or brand, regardless of the incentive to
purchase from another company or brand.
Brand loyalty is best cultivated through social
media via commitment to good customer service,
two-way communication, personal responses,
and a consistent message. All of these methods
of cultivation stem from a commitment to
showing your fans that your company wants
them to feel a sense of ownership when it comes
to your brand.
Brand Advocacy (n.):
Spreading positive word-of-mouth about or referrals
for a company or brand.
Brand advocates are brand loyalists who, without
incentive, try to convert others into brand
consumers or brand loyalists simply because
they feel passionate about the company or
brand. Brand advocates act and feel as though
they have a stake in the company, product, or
service, and will often be your best marketers
on social channels. Your employees (and your
future employees!) are often your biggest brand
advocates. (For an extreme example of a brand
advocate who used social media to become an
employee, check out the Google Please Hire Me
campaign.)
Social Proof (n.):
The influence of apparent popularity.
Social proof occurs when we assume that the
crowd knows something we don’t--and we feel
that we must join the crowd. An example of social
proof in action would be two similar Facebook
pages, one of which has high engagement, with
many fans who often comment on and share
posts, and one of which has little engagement
from fans. You will be more likely to “like” the
page that has the highest number of fans, “likes,”
shares, comments, etc., regardless of the quality,
because there is proof that this brand is more
popular or worthy than the other.
Quality Fans (n.):
Fans who increase and continue engagement with,
as well as drive lead generation and sales growth
for, your brand.
Higher engagement becomes fuel for brand
loyalty, and brand loyalty becomes brand
advocacy. In most cases, that advocacy becomes
the social proof that attracts more quality fans.
6. Share This Whitepaper The Value of Facebook Recruiting for Marketing // 6
79%BRAND FOLLOWERS
ON SOCIAL MEDIA
FOLLOW VIA FACEBOOK
finding
your most
valuable fans
How can you find the largest number of high
quality fans to help increase engagement
with your brand?
According to an Edison Research study, 56% of
people follow a brand on social media because
they like or support that brand6
(and 79% of
people who follow brands on social media,
follow those brands on Facebook7
). Your goal is
to nurture that 56% toward your sales funnel,
and to leverage the social proof (and the 56%
of fans who also say that they are more likely to
recommend a brand once they begin following
it8
) of your brand’s value to help convert the
other 44%.
Your task is to find the fans that are going to
engage with and share your Facebook page.
These are the people who use and stand behind
your products and services, who breathe your
company culture, who live and die by your brand:
your employees, their friends...and the people
who want to work for you.
Think about it: candidates who are actively
searching for, or even passively considering,
a job with your company are doing so for a
reason. They show up on your page not only to
research your company and to interact with your
employees, but also because they simply like
your brand and want others to know it.
6. http://www.edisonresearch.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/10/Slide047.png
7. http://socialhabit.com/secure/wp-
content/uploads/2012/07/The-Social-
Habit-2012-by-Edison-Research.pdf
8. http://www.seoinc.com/seo-blog/
facebook-engagement-statistics/
56%
FOLLOW
BRAND FOLLOWERS
ON SOCIAL MEDIA DO IT
BECAUSE THEY LIKE AND
SUPPORT THE BRAND
7. Share This Whitepaper The Value of Facebook Recruiting for Marketing // 7
Suggested
Solutions
for Building
a Network of
Quality Fans
How do you build quality fans?
It’s simple:
Allow HR to recruit on your Facebook page.
Find a solution that allows candidates to
apply directly from your Facebook page in
1-click.
Draw your active and passive candidates to
your page with targeted Facebook ads.
Leverage your employees’ networks to bring
in quality users with automated referrals.
Cultivate a talent community in which your
employees and your future candidates
engage with, discuss, and share your brand
and your message.
8. Share This Whitepaper The Value of Facebook Recruiting for Marketing // 8
What are the
costs?
You may have to invest resources at the outset
to include HR in your Facebook marketing
campaign. If you choose to set up a separate
careers page within your Facebook page, you
will need to monitor and update it to ensure
consistent branding, which means more time
and manpower spent on engaging fans and
maintaining a consistent brand message.
However, if you’re already working with a
Facebook page, then you already have resources
allotted for engagement and branding, so the
inclusion of a careers site or a careers link on
the main page shouldn’t require a large extra
expenditure.
For example, one large retailer’s marketing
department was resistant to letting HR post
anything to their Facebook page, because they
were concerned that posts about jobs would
negatively affect engagement with their millions
of fans. As an experiment, they let HR post a
single job-related status--and within four hours,
14,000 people had “liked” it. In fact, it was their
highest engaged post to date.
You may also want to invest in targeted job ads
to specifically draw potential candidates to your
page. Those ads, however, can help with your
conversion because candidates are, in essence,
fans who have extra incentive to “like” and
become a part of your brand. And while those
ads may require an investment now, they have
the potential to pay you back tenfold.
In another example, a multinational retailer with
traction in Asia and Europe, recently opened its
doors in the US with limited brand recognition
and a limited budget. However, by using targeted
Facebook ads, the company was able to recruit
several hundred new retail employees for their
San Francisco stores--while also generating over
3 million ad impressions. These free impressions
led to increased brand recognition and
awareness, as well as more traffic on both the
careers site and the main Facebook brand page.
News of this success reached the C-Suite, and,
due to the low cost of recruiting and the high pay
off, budget for the marketing department was
dramatically increased.
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The Value of
Recruiting
on Your
Facebook
Page
There is a high value attached to recruiting
your potential candidates to become not only
employees, but also fans of your Facebook
page. The better the quality of fans that visit and
interact with your page, the more likely others
who are researching your company or product
will do the same. This social proof, coupled
with the opportunity to consistently engage
consumers who have “opted in” to hear your
message, can make your Facebook page even
more powerful than your email list when it comes
to broadcasting a message to your truest fans.
You can find your quality fans by asking those
who want to work or would consider working for
you to take ownership of the brand message by
applying for jobs through your page and hitting
“like.” These are the users that are more likely
to spend time with and invest energy in your
company, and they are also the people most
likely to spend money with and invest energy in
recommending and taking ownership of your
company, product, service, or brand!
So, I will ask again:
Are you targeting, engaging, and retaining
your most valuable fans?
You can find them now by “sharing” with
your company’s HR department.
10. Share This Whitepaper The Value of Facebook Recruiting for Marketing // 10
SOURCES
http://www.bazaarvoice.com/files/whitepapers/BV_whitepaper_millenials.pdf
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30239/71-More-Likely-to-Purchase-
Based-on-Social-Media-Referrals-Infographic.aspx
http://investor.fb.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=736911
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/internationalization/
http://mashable.com/2011/09/30/wasting-time-on-facebook/
http://googlepleasehire.me/
http://www.edisonresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Slide047.png
http://socialhabit.com/secure/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/The-Social-Habit-2012-
by-Edison-Research.pdf
http://www.seoinc.com/seo-blog/facebook-engagement-statistics/
11. Share This Whitepaper The Value of Facebook Recruiting for Marketing // 11
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
contact@work4labs.com
+1 (877) 509-0403
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ABOUT
WORK4™
Work4 develops the #1 Facebook Recruiting Solution, which enables tens of
thousands of companies — including VMware, Gap, and L’Oreal — to hire qualified
candidates across industries, geographies, and pay-grades. Our award-winning
products help recruiters easily launch branded corporate career sites on Facebook
and mobile devices, and drive traffic, job applications, and employee referrals from
the network’s 1 billion users. Work4 was founded in 2010, and is headquartered in
San Francisco with an additional office in Paris.
Read: Facebook Recruiting Basics: A Guide to 21st Century Employment Branding
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