Feedback is really really important.

Sometimes it hurts, like when I was told that I simply cannot pull-off maxi dresses without looking like a small child who was let loose in her mother’s wardrobe (thank you, Stephanie). Sometimes feedback blows your mind, like when it was revealed to me that my dead-lift grip was too wide, and I narrowed it, and then I was able to throw an extra 20lbs on the bar (thanks, jacked guy at the gym). And sometimes feedback reminds you that not everyone is on the same wavelength. This is the most constructive kind of feedback you can get, as it gives you a much needed perspective shift, and can help you to better communicate with other people.

I got exactly this kind of feedback last week at the passive recruiting webinar, that we hosted with our pals over at Identified. It came in the form of two questions asked by business owners who were contemplating adding Facebook to their recruiting strategy.

Question 1: Does Facebook recruiting make sense for small businesses?

Question 2: Do employers actually reach candidates through Facebook, what are the numbers?

These questions may seem pretty basic, but for me they were a reminder that not everyone is yet sold on the concept of Facebook recruiting. I know, I know… DUH!

But, hear me out!

While writing for the Jobcast blog, I tend to focus on explaining what makes social recruiting different from traditional recruiting, on giving our clients tips for improving their Facebook recruiting, and, obviously, showing off how awesome the Jobcast Facebook Recruiting app is. (Have you checked out our new Enterprise plan yet? It’s pretty much the best!)

For this reason I’m constantly reading Facebook recruiting stats, assessing how well Facebook recruiting works for our clients, and following social recruiting blogs. Basically, I’m so immersed in the culture of Facebook recruiting, it’s easy to forget that not everyone else is too.

It’s like when someone tells me they don’t like chocolate, or Bruce Willis movies. It does not compute!

But these are really important and reasonable questions for employers to ask. I thought it might be a good idea to answer them on the blog, because, as school teachers love to say, “for every one person asking the question, there’s ten more thinking it.”

My answer to question number one is pretty obvious : YES!!! Facebook recruiting totally works for small businesses.

But, that’s far too simplistic an answer to do anyone a whole lot of good, so let’s look at why Facebook recruiting works well for small businesses :

Facebook recruiting doesn’t take a lot of manpower

You don’t need a huge HR team, you don’t need to hire a social media guru, and you don’t even need to enlist the help of your kids to use Facebook effectively. We have a ton of step-by-step tutorials, complete with screenshots that you, or your HR team, can use to get started. With a Facebook recruiting app, the process is even less time-consuming. Good apps will offer plans that let you sync your Facebook Career Site with your ATS or company career site, so that you only have to post your jobs once.

Facebook recruiting has an extremely low entry cost

Facebook recruiting can fit your budget, no matter what that budget is. In fact, the only cost to getting started with Facebook recruiting is about an hour of your time, even less if you use the basic version of Jobcast. You can create a Page, post jobs, and share content completely free. Then, as your business grows, and your need for qualified hires along with it, you can invest more into your Facebook recruiting strategy and improve your results.

Facebook recruiting has great ROI

The smaller your business, the more important it is to make every investment count. The ROI on Facebook recruiting is boosted by the fact that when you use the social network to recruit for specific positions, you’re also growing your employer brand. This builds social trust, which is beneficial for future campaigns and even marketing. It also helps you build online talent communities to draw on for your future recruiting needs. Jobcast Premium offers you the ability to make a fully-branded Facebook Career Page, complete with a banner, custom color scheme, and embeddable video to make your Page stand out from other employers.

Facebook recruiting is targeted

Facebook let’s you target specific demographics with your job posts, in a way no other social network, or traditional recruiting method does. This is great for smaller businesses, who often find their efforts drowned out by larger-scale recruiting campaigns. The best way to reach the candidates you want is by using Facebook Ads. From what we’ve seen with our clients, Facebook Ads are often the difference between just a few applicants, and a landslide of applications from qualified candidates.

We have a simple guide to targeted recruiting with Facebook Ads, complete with screenshots already on our blog, so you can learn how to make them a part of your recruiting strategy. If, on the other hand, you want someone to do all of that for you… The Jobcast Enterprise plan includes full branding, ATS Integration, and the creation of targeted ads and sponsored stories. We’ll take care of everything.

Example Time!

Another thing I learned from the webinar is that examples are very helpful to everyone, all the time. So, here are some examples of businesses making Facebook recruiting work for them:

Corporate Recruiters use Facebook for their own recruiting! They also have awesome branding.

Esquel Group make their Career Page stand out by showing off their company culture and using video.

VM Innovations have used a great banner and custom color scheme to enhance their Facebook employer brand. They also have great pictures, and video, of employees.

Apparently that tiny little question was actually kind of huge! I will save your eyes and answer question number two next time. It will be a shorter answer, well maybe just a little shorter, or possibly twice as long…

Jobcast out!

PS

If you have any questions about Facebook recruiting, employer branding, or Bruce Willis films ask us in the comments!