I don't know about you, but summer makes me lazy.

It's hot, the beach is nice, it calls out to me saying “come sit on me, eat a bunch of nachos, then take a siesta… you know you want to!”

That's why I think setting summertime goals is so important.

Sure getting shredded for summer is all well and dandy, but you can't just let it all go as soon as the nice weather arrives!

Setting some goals for your Facebook recruiting will keep you motivated to get things done, and act as a buffer against the beach's siren song.

What kind of goals are we talking about? Well, that's up to you of course, but, because we are all rather bossy and think that we know best, the Jobcast team does have a perfect answer suggestion…

Tighten up your content strategy

Not a very specific goal is it?! Well, let's work on that.

Assess your situation

Before you can make a specific strategic goal, you need to know where you're at. This means looking back over your analytics. If you use Jobcast you can go back over the reports we've sent you, and combine that information with the metrics provided by Facebook Insights. If you don't use the Jobcast Facebook Recruiting App then shame on you! I'm kidding, I'm kidding, you can use the info provided by Facebook Insights alone, or combined with any other reports you may have access to.

(This article explains why metrics are so important for successful Facebook Recruiting, and you should also check out Google Analytics, the basic version is free!)

Go over your reports, and make some notes paying particular attention to what kind of content you've been sharing, how consistent you've been with your posts, when and how many times per day you post, and how often you share image-based content like photos and video.

You should also take note of how your community tends to react to the content you share. Pay attention to what type of content gets the most engagement, what time of day your community is most engaged, and whether you notice any correlation between the frequency of your posts and increases in Likes for your Page.

This information will inform how you determine new goals for your Facebook Recruiting content strategy.

Content, still king

The most obvious area to focus on when it comes to content is, drum roll please… content!

Hopefully your handwriting is a lot nicer than mine, so you can check your notes and figure out what kinds of content gets the most engagement from your community, and what gets the least.

From that information you can set up a content ratio goal. Sounds professional huh? I totally made that term up, but feel free to use it in conversation.

For example, we find our clients get the most engagement from job posts (obviously), and posts that express company culture, especially if they include large-scale images or video.

(Check out this cool Webinar, The 3 Pillars of Passive Recruiting, for more info about setting up content ratios)

The reason it’s so important to share images and video is not just because people tend to engage with visual content more, but also because Facebook gives preference to visual content when determining what makes it onto a user’s News Feed. True fact!

One way to really capitalize on this is by sharing an image, then including any content you want to link to in the commentary section, rather than just sharing a link and selecting an image to accompany it.

“Love knows not what time is.” But your Facebook community does

It's important to post consistently and at the right times if you want your content to be seen. Use any data you might have about previous campaigns and this article about how to schedule your Facebook posts in order to set up a solid posting schedule based on when your Facebook community is most active. Then stick to it!

You must be consistent if you want to increase your reach and grow your Facebook community. Now don't be afraid of all the bold lettering and the word 'must'. I'm not suggesting you post every 15 minute, in fact I would highly recommend you don't! But you do need to maintain a social presence by posting regularly.

You’ll definitely want to use a good scheduling tool so that you don’t have to interrupt your day every few hours to put new content up on your Facebook Career Page. We highly recommend using Jobcast Premium for this purpose… But Hootsuite and Buffer are also totally awesome!

Engage

I'll keep this last one short and sweet. Keep tabs on your Page and respond to comments, shares, and Likes in a timely fashion. A simple thank you or even a smiley face emoticon is usually enough to make people feel heard. Make sure to answer your community member’s questions, and always stay positive.

Alright, so that’s actually quite a few suggestions! But, honestly, I probably could have rambled on for twice as long, if it weren't time to hit the beach…

Before I get (swim) suited up, I just want to remind you guys one more time to sign up for The 3 Pillars of Passive Recruiting free webinar on Tuesday August 13th at 10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern.

It's going to be awesome! It was awesome!

Tooooo late! The webinar has come and gone, but you can still see the slides from The 3 Pillars of Passive Recruiting and you can always email us at social@jobcast.net, tweet @jobcastnet or find Jobcast on Facebook, if you have any questions 😀