Even though social recruiting has been with us for a while now and has been embraced by most recruiters, the strategies best practices still confusing to many professionals out there.

And, thanks to a general lack of firsthand experience with social networks, misconceptions about social recruitment abound!

Here are 6 common misconceptions about social recruiting – debunked and explained to help you avoid making mistakes that can hurt your talent brand.

1. Social recruiting is free

Yes, the platforms might be available to you for free, but the time, people, and other resources required for developing an efficient process of social recruiting are definitely not free!

Even if it’s your internal workforce that’s taking care of your social media presence, you are still paying them for their work.

And social recruiting isn’t easy.

You won’t get anywhere without a smart strategy in place – and those change for every season and sector.

Creating and implementing such a strategy takes time and time is money.

2. A couple of social profiles = social recruiting

Regularly post job offers to a Facebook Page liked by only a handful of people is not good social recruiting.

Similarly, creating a profile on LinkedIn doesn’t mean you’re recruiting – especially if you don’t have many 1st degree connections, your profile isn’t 100% complete and you never post any status updates or otherwise engage with candidates.

In order to reach job seekers with your social recruiting, you need to post engaging and interesting content that inspires job seekers to follow you and engage with your posts.

You need to offer them value.

3. Everyone on social media is a job seeker

Many recruiters treat social media as vast candidate pools – repositories of people desperate for a job.

This is just not true.

According to Jobvite, only 51% of professionals in the US are actively seeking new employment opportunities. It’s safe to say that the figure above extends beyond the US.

This means that you must encourage social referrals.

Ask your community to share links to the jobs that you post to their friends, family, and colleagues. Engaging your community in this way is a fantastic way to grow your talent pool.

4. Connecting with recruiters is every candidate’s dream

This misconception is unreasonably widespread among recruiters who expect candidates to be interested in connecting with them without an introduction or even a personalized message.

Even if candidates are looking for a new job, they are not necessarily looking to connect with recruiters.

When you reach out to potential hires make sure that your message is warm, human, and above all make sure that it’s tailored to them and their specific talents.

And remember, a genuine compliment will go a long way!

5. Only LinkedIn is good for social recruiting

LinkedIn might be the largest professional network on the web, but social recruiting can, and should happen on all platforms.

Jobvite’s research shows that 76% of social job seekers found their positions through Facebook. With contacts sharing job opportunities and providing them with valuable perspectives about the company, no wonder this and every other social network could become a perfect choice for recruiting.

6. Social media recruitment works wonders – instantly!

Social media requires patience – you cannot force your audiences to perform specific actions without first making them trust you and recognize you as an expert.

Building your employer brand’s reputation and following can be a slow process, but the payoff is awesome.

Have patience, work your way through the social web and send a positive brand message – that’s what ultimately draws in talented candidates.

Author, Cindy Boesel works as a marketing manager at BizStats. She’s an incurable technology addict and great enthusiast of new branding strategies.

Editing and images by Samara Parker.