Facebook Pay-Per-Click Campaigns for Recruitment

Many organizations have joined the social recruitment movement by developing communication channels on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. And now these same employers are saying, “Now what?”

As a firm believer in social media recruiting, I feel the Phase Two answer should be Pay-Per-Click (PPC) targeted advertising campaigns. The ability to target a specific skill set through their online behaviors within a finite geographic radius offers the perfect next step solution.

You’ve built your Fan Page, Twitter Job Channel or talent-centric micro-site. You’re updating the content on a regular basis, communicating with your existing fans/followers/visitors. Now, you need to increase your reach and build a larger audience.

PPC campaigns are available on all the major social media outlets. And, one solution I thought I’d focus on today—Facebook PPC campaigns.

Facebook PPC campaigns:

Structured in a similar set up as a Search Engine Markeing (SEM) campaign on Google, Yahoo! or Bing, Facebook allows advertisers multiple ways to target your advertisements to a very select audience based upon information gleaned from a person’s Facebook profile:

• Geography (US, State, City, Zip Code with a targeted mile radius.)
• Gender (Not that I’d recommend implementing this option.)
• Target people on their birthday (“Happy Birthday – try out a new career!” Maybe not. But, you get the picture.)
• Education (Up to 20 schools and/or 20 majors and graduation year)
• Workplaces (This option is HUGE – imagine creating a targeted campaign to Facebook profiles who currently work for a competitor – create your ads to talk specifically to them and encourage them to visit your Fan page, Talenthub or Career Microsite. Or, feature a specific job you have that’s in demand.)
• Languages (Great for targeting bi-lingual skill sets!)
• Keywords (The sky is the limit with these options – target profiles based upon interests, activities, favorite books, TV Shows, Movies, or job titles that users list in their Facebook profiles. Keywords can also come from groups or Pages users belong to or are fans of…a quick focus group within a department that has multiple openings or hard-to-fill opportunity can provide ‘extra-curricular’ activities that are common interests from which to target.)
• Connections (Target users who are connected to your Fan Page, an Event, Group or Application – by doing a little research this option can provide excellent targeting results!)

My point? It’s scary how detailed our digital footprints have become and how efficiently employers can target their recruitment advertising. Don’t wait – start Phase Two today! Feel free to comment or contact me with questions and/or results you’ve had (or not had) with targeted PPC campaigns.