In my last blog post I listed 25 things I said at the RCSA Conference that apparently inspired, concerned and irritated the audience in equal part. Read about those in Part 1. This week we tackle 26 through 50. I hope you enjoy Part 2 of the summary of my RCSA presentation.

26. Actually, the main game in social recruiting is about employer branding.

27. A great social recruiting strategy gives passive (non-ignited!) candidates a peek at your corporate DNA.

28. Social Media can build ‘corporate brand’, but it can also build ‘personal brand’. And by doing this, you build a talent community that is your “river of gold” for the future.

29. The future of recruitment depends very much on the ability of you, and your company, to build a brand and a community that resonates with your target talent market, and encourages them to engage with you.

30. Your social media strategy has to be driven from the top. And I mean the top. If your CEO is not active and smart on social media, you should change jobs.

31. Twitter is key. It drives traffic to all our social media platforms.

32. The amplification is enormous. The reach is something a job board or expensive PR campaign could only dream about. And the effect is instantaneous. Google analytics in real time tells us we can drive people to what we want them to look at, almost at will.

33. What you really want is a ‘social organisation’ not a ‘social plan’ run only by marketing.

34. ‘Marketing’ does not own ‘social’, just as accounting does not own ‘cash flow’. The CEO owns both. Or should, although it rarely is the case.

35. Despite all this, surprisingly maybe, only 30-40% of Firebrand staff have embraced ‘social’ themselves. We make it easy for them, but we don’t force anybody. It disappoints me a little, I have to say.

36. Social Media is not a ‘set and forget’ branding strategy. It’s not like paying for a billboard or a print ad, and then it’s ‘job done’.

37. Social Media involves engagement, and it’s very hard work. 39% of my tweets are REPLIES to what other people have tweeted to me.

38. Integration of your social media platforms drives amplification of your message. And when it’s working it’s mega-cool.

39. At Firebrand the recruiters are at the centre of our social media strategy. It’s the recruiter who is the social media rock-star at Firebrand (if they want to be).

40. The Firebrand website is social. Each recruiter has a personal URL. We encourage talent and clients to engage with a person not a number. We make it easy for people to talk to us the way they want to. So it’s not all about the technology. Not by a long way.

41. Weave social into everything you do.

42. We have reduced our Job Board spend at Firebrand by 90% since 2008.

43. Of the last 25 hires at Firebrand (of our own staff), 14 can be identified as having come via social media first.

44. Of course LinkedIn is important; we use it all the time. But, recruiters, hear this, and hear it good, LinkedIn is NOT your friend. LinkedIn want to replace third party recruiters.

45. We recruiters must be very articulate in explaining to clients that LinkedIn is just one channel. It is not the answer, and often it is not effective.

46. It annoys me hugely when recruiters defend LinkedIn. They promote it publicly. How thick are they? You do not want to bite the hand that feeds you, but nor do you kiss the hand that stabs you.

47. Social Media is not a solution. It’s a tool. Another channel. It’s faster. More immediate. Different. But “old school” recruiting skills are still critical.

48. Social Media promotes, identifies, engages and snares. So the technology is critical. But in the end it’s still about human interaction and influencing skills.

49. You want to know what the ROI on social recruiting is? Let me help you with that. The ROI on Social Media is that your business will still exist in 5 years.

50. Online, via social is where the seduction takes place… but offline is still where the consummation happens.