Social Media is everywhere. You would be hard-pressed to find a large brand that wasn’t taking advantage of these free broadcasting platforms. So why aren’t you? Here we’ll address some common misconceptions to those excuses that might be keeping you out of the loop.

1. I am not tech-savvy.

Do you know how to check your email? Good news, you’re qualified and capable to manage your own social media!

Social media is not hard. Personally, the trickiest part to the whole thing is getting signed up & optimizing your accounts. If you have a smart-phone, (and who doesn’t) then you’re actually ahead of the curve.

Once you’ve finished signing up on the social media sites, there are a few tools (applications) out there that turn the most e-challenged recruiters into social media wizards. Here are the highlights:

www.bufferapp.com – After you feel comfortable with how each social media site works, you’ll want to be posting multiple times a day. With this app, you only have to spend a quick 5 to 10 minutes in order to accomplish this task. Sign up for Buffer & present yourself in a professional manner throughout the day. Using their service, you can post multiple messages to both twitter & facebook all at once, and the app publishes these posts throughout the day & week on your preferred schedule. It does what it describes – buffering your shares & eliminating the clumps of overshare that so many are incorrectly doing.

www.hootsuite.com - The motherboard! Connect your twitter & facebook accounts to hootsuite & manage/post/interact all in one convenient location. This is your social media cockpit & control room all in one. Quit wasting time logging in from one site to the next and juggling your attention unnecessarily.

2. I don’t have the time.

With a little bit of education, the aforementioned tools are HUGE time-savers. After initial setup, you could spend as little as 10 minutes a day to place yourself out there all week long. The key is to learn how to maximize your time & then set aside a small block of time daily that you are committed to focus all of your attention on your social media to accomplish these goals:

  • Respond & interact with your audience.
  • Set up your queues for new posts for the next 24-48 hours.
  • Seek out new connections & introduce yourself.

3. I don’t see the value in social media.

There are no magic shortcuts to garnering a large following for your professional brand. The key is being consistent & posting the right material the right way. So, with that in mind, the pay-back is not immediate. However, putting the work in to present yourself in a professional matter across the web is extremely important in this world of hyper-connectivity. You want a relevant sounding board with instant feedback? How about an army of advocates (aka “Brand Ambassadors”) who are paying attention to you & rebroadcasting your important messages? Initiate an effective passive marketing campaign & the ability to reach candidates & clients when you are enjoying your family at home. Social media is the answer!

4. I already have a website that provides my message online.

Let’s take a step back here – even if you don’t have a website, you should! Even if it’s a simple blog that you put together for your professional brand, this is really the core to your social media efforts. Why are we being disciplined enough to spend time daily putting ourselves in front of the masses? Drive traffic to one centralized location where your main message is being shared. Directing people to your website or blog is one of the main goals to a recruiter successfully utilizing social media to its fullest potential. The website or blog should be where you are sharing your open job positions & providing a very obvious way to get in contact with you. You can also provide the information that everyone needs to know. Answers to those every day questions & a billboard for the services & expertise you can provide them.

So, getting back to the original point, when you use social media the right way, your goal is to funnel your audience – regardless if they are on twitter, facebook, linkedin, google +, back to your website to maximize your return. Think of each post you make like casting a net out into the ocean. It’s great if you get fish in it, but ultimately you want to get those fish on board your boat. Without that net & those fish, your boat will be pretty empty.

Questions/comments are encouraged below. And while you’re at it, be sure to connect to us! TWITTER, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, GOOGLE+

Visit this article at its original location on our website by clicking - Twitter & Facebook For Modern Recruiters.