Point, Aim, Hire: Healthcare Recruiting with Instagram!
While the traditional social media platforms for recruitment continue to be LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, Instagram can be an effective (and fun!) resource to engage candidates to your facility. The visual appeal of Instagram can assist your organization engage the interest of both passive and active candidates and foster increased awareness of your employer brand. Instagram’s visual format enable users to view information in a fast and impactful manner—the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is certainly applicable with regard to getting candidate attention quickly.
An article by Khoros indicates that Instagram has over 500 million active users and attracts 67% of the GenZ and millennial demographic, most of whom use Instagram on daily basis—usually multiple times per day. Even if your target candidate market is broader than younger adults, Instagram remains a highly effective recruitment tool as this same article shows that 47% of people ages 30-49 use Instagram on a regular basis as do 23% of people ages 50-64.
Now that we have sounded the trumpet regarding the appeal of Instagram, let’s discuss how your facility can successfully incorporate the platform into your recruitment strategy.
6 tips for using Instagram in Healthcare Recruiting
1. Promote your brand
Present a professional image on your Instagram account, same as you would do on LinkedIn and other social platforms. Also, make sure the company logo you use is high resolution and resized to fit the Instagram profile. You should also include the careers website link in your profile, which makes it easy for candidates to learn more about your organization and apply for open roles. Last but not least, for brand safety, all content accompanying images should be reviewed for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors before publishing.
2. Showcase your culture
Just like other social channels, you can’t expect to attract talent just by creating an account. Instagram is a great resource to feature videos and pictures which show your organization’s culture and provide an insider perspective. Instagram is a fun platform so be creative and mix things up. Below are some suggestions for photos or 15-second videos:
People – new hire orientation, birthday celebrations, employee stories.
Workspace – layout of offices, hospital floors, consultation rooms, staff break room, comfy sofas. A virtual tour can be created to show each of these spaces.
Events – retreats, conferences, trade show exhibits, community-based activities.
Perhaps you’re wondering why any of this is necessary when all you want to do is recruit talent. However, recruitment is not performed in a vacuum. Candidates want to know something of the culture of the facility and what it would be like working there. Do they see themselves fitting in? Posting photos and videos that promote your culture helps to build brand awareness and engage candidates. When the time comes to post a vacancy, these upfront activities will have already established a strong brand following and talent pipeline.
3. Develop hashtags
A hashtag is a word or phrase to connect social media content to a specific topic, event theme or conversation. On Instagram, hashtags are used to complement photos and increase the number of followers. According to recent Instagram statistics, posts that embed at least one hashtag elicit more viewer response than those that feature none.
Make sure to use hashtags with every photo or video posted. If your facility already has a hashtag for a specific topic on other social media platforms, it’s best to include this on Instagram to ensure brand consistency.
In order for candidates to find your facility, it’s important to embed appropriate hashtags in posts. People engaged in job search will often search for such hashtags as #jobs; #wearehiring” or #joinourteam; e.g. Find a great nursing career at Boston Hospital #WeAreHiring.
Instagram can also be used to search for candidates. Job seekers will often use tags such as #jobsearch, #jobhunting or #opentonewjobs. Instagram’s direct messaging makes it a “snap” to contact potential candidates.
4. Get employee involved
Instagram has a following tab, which will show the actions of everyone we follow (their likes, comments and followers). To encourage employees to follow the company page and be active on the account, they need to be made aware of any current hiring campaigns, hashtag names and brand messaging so they can effectively promote the organization. One way to do this is to place campaign hashtags on all internal communications (e.g. at end of the signature line on email) and social media content. Cross-posting links among social media accounts is a great way to build brand awareness and increase reach. In addition to posting to the organization’s profile, employees should be encouraged to embed hiring campaign hashtags in their posts to personal accounts. It’s also fun to interview current employees as a meet-n-greet for prospective candidates. Endorsements from employees are often deemed more reliable and help spread brand awareness and build your talent pipeline.
5. Attract passive talent
The passive talent pool represents a significant opportunity for recruiters. As many as 80% of working-age adults are not actively seeking a new job. If you can engage them via social media, you will be well-positioned to hire top talent within a competitive labor market. Below is one strategy to find this passive candidate pool.
Let’s say you conduct a resume search and identify a trauma nurse based in New Jersey that seems to be a very good match for your vacancy. There is a search bar at the top of the Instagram home page in which you can type the candidate’s name. If they have a profile it will appear and you can comment/like to start the conversation. This is a fun and engaging way to connect as Instagram takes the focus off the professional to engage on the personal—and makes it easy to do so! Or course, you can utilize this same strategy with most social media platforms but Instagram is all about images which tend to elicit quick, visceral impressions that motivate people to respond.
6. Be active
In order to grow brand awareness on Instagram (or any social media platform) it’s important to remain active by posting engaging content regularly. Don’t limit posts to job announcements but, as we discussed above, share photos of employees with hashtags and embed content; e.g. We are proud to announce our #employee of the month, Jane Smith. Thank you, Jane, for your excellent care of patients on the dialysis unit. Regular posting will build your followers—some which could be people you wish to employ.
Conclusion
While Instagram was not built to be a recruitment tool, it is a fun and unique way to engage with talent and build your pipeline. Create a compelling brand, build following by maintaining an active presence, create linkages with other platforms and you’ll be able to effectively use Instagram to identify and hire top medical candidates in a competitive landscape.
