Last week we featured content marketing pro, Megan Lunetta, on the blog. She shared her tips on how to use research and data to create a content strategy that resonates with your target market/ideal candidates.

Megan explained that you cannot simply post “selfish” content, i.e. ads and job posts, and in order to grow your reach, talent pools, and employer brand, you’ll need to have a strategy that includes varied content which provides value to your desired audience.

One of the best ways to set up a content strategy that provides real value, and doesn’t bore your audience to tears, is by following the 4:1 rule. The 4:1 rule is, exactly as the name implies, a ratio for determining what to share, when.

Basically, for every one selfish post that you share, share four “unselfish” posts.

We all know what a selfish post looks like: It’s a job post, a Facebook Ad, or a referral contest, but it’s the unselfish content that often gets neglected in many content strategies. Yet  it’s this unselfish content that is usually the most enticing to potential hires. It’s the type of content that shows visitors what your organization is all about, and gets them excited about the prospect of joining your team.

Even more importantly, unselfish content is awesome because it is the most fun to create… How very selfish of me!

There are so many different kinds of content that you can create to give your audience the value and variety they crave, but I have a few favorites.

Here are the 3 most effective kinds of content for social recruiting:

(In my not so humble opinion!)

Employee Profiles

What

A simple write-up about one of your current team members, preferably accompanied by a quality image, or even better, make it a video! You can present employee profiles in question and answer format, or as a story.

Why

Employee profiles show potential candidates, and your current team, that you value your staff. It’s also a really nice, feel-good way for potential candidates to learn about your business, without having to listen to a recruitment version of a sales pitch!

How

Do:

Make it about the employee, who they are, what they’ve achieved, and what are their goals.

Include a visual. Visual content almost always outperforms text and links. Video is awesome, but a flattering pic of a smiling employee is always a win.

Get them talking about what they love about their job. It’s always nice if you can include some flattering commentary about what makes them a great employee.

Don’t:

Lead with selfish questions, such as: “what do you love about working for our company?”

Shout Outs

What

Again, the name says it all: simply give a shout out to one of the bloggers, experts, or social media accounts in your field (or at least in a similar ballpark) that you think is doing a really good job, and that your audience would benefit from learning about.

Why

Social sharing is caring. People love finding out about cool Twitter accounts and helpful blogs, and your potential hires will love you for helping them to do so! There’s also the added benefit of forging connections with the people whose content you share, and you get a little social media karma to boot.

How

Do:

Follow social media accounts and bloggers in your field, so that you have a wealth of great content to share.

Include personal commentary when you post links, such as a quick note about why you loved the particular article you’re sharing.

Post a variety of content: video, blog posts, re-tweets, all from a variety of sources.

Give credit, and let the person that you are “shouting out” know by tagging them in your post. Then they can re-share it to their own audience, or maybe they’ll even share one of your posts in return.

Don’t:

Share content you haven’t actually read. This can get very, VERY messy. Trust me. At least skim through everything you post.

Don’t shout out terrible content, even if that content’s creator promises to promote you in return. Just like mom, your audience can always tell.

How-Tos and Guides

What

Step-by-step instructions for accomplishing, or becoming better at accomplishing, a task, or a thorough explanation of a topic relevant to your audience.

Why

How-tos are one of the most popular forms of online content. Think about it: why do you use Google? Because you need a question answered or you want to learn how to do something. Same goes for your potential candidates!

How

Do:

Make sure your guide or how-to is relevant, timely, and helpful. To do this, simply ask yourself: Is this a topic that is important to my audience? Is this topic still somewhat unknown, or confusing to people? Does the content I am sharing actually shed light on this topic? If you answer yes to all three, you’re good to go.

Example: “How to get hired by your dream company?”

Don’t:

Dumb things down. If you’re ideal candidates are highly-skilled graphic designers, create the kind of guide that highly-skilled graphic designers would find useful!

These are my top choices for diversifying your content strategy, but there are so many more great types of content you can share. We’ll save those for a separate post though, because another key to creating valuable content is: shorter is sweeter. (And at this rate you may start calling me the sour patch kid!)

Happy social recruiting, and remember to sign up for our awesome newsletter!