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Today’s hourly workforce lives online. They share their lives, connect with their communities, and most importantly, search for information on social media. In fact, 79% of job seekers use social media during their job search, and 92% of companies are already using social media for hiring.
Quick-service restaurants have been slower to jump on the social media train. But with hiring a top challenge for restaurants nationwide, there’s never been a better time to start building up your social media presence and attracting employees to your business.
4 steps to creating and maintaining a social media presence that attracts applicants
1. Start with one social media page
Social media is overwhelming, but everyone starts somewhere. If your QSR doesn’t have a social media page yet, create one. You don’t have to be on every single platform on day one. Pick a platform you think your target audience is on, and master it.
TikTok is the trending social media platform, which has now surpassed Instagram in popularity among Gen Z users (born between 1997 and 2012) in the United States. Users are also majority female, coming close to 61% for TikTok users in the U.S.
On the other hand, Twitter is the most popular among Millenials, where men between 25-34 years of age make up the largest age demographic, followed by men between 35-49. 44% of U.S. adults aged 18-24 use Twitter.
2. Master the platform you’re starting with
The best way to know what gets attention on any social media platform is to get on it yourself and see what catches your eye. Create a personal account if you don’t have one already and start playing around.
For example, you’ll notice that TikTok is filled with short-form video content and trendy music. Posts are short with attention-grabbing visuals and captions. Instagram allows single-photo posts (rather than purely video content) and provides more flexibility for lengthy captions, which is great for storytelling and explanations.
We’ve curated tips for recruiting on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram to give you a headstart on the best strategies and features on each platform.
3. Create content
Now that you know the types of posts that are successful on the platform you’ve selected, it’s time to start creating your own. Throwing up the equivalent of a “now hiring” sign is not going to get people to stop scrolling and pay attention to you.
Here are some tips:
1. Keep it simple: Use imagery with striking colors, photos, and designs that are consistent with your branding. Keep the words short on the image itself.
2. Use platform-specific features: Many platforms have their own unique features. From Instagram Stories and Reels to Twitter Spaces and YouTube Shorts, these features help your content go out to non-followers’ explore pages, getting you in front of a larger audience.
3. Engage with the community: Post polls and Q&As to get your audience interacting with you. Remember to reply back as well so they feel like they’re talking to a person, not a corporation.4. Always include captions: Captions should be concise and include brand-relevant hashtags. The tone of the caption should also be in line with your brand personality.
5. Add a call-to-action: Social media shouldn’t be a dead end. It should push people to keep engaging with your brand. Remember to always link the post back to your website or hiring page.6. Sponsor posts: Building a following organically takes time and patience. If you’d like to jump ahead, sponsored posts and paid ads are a way to pay to put your post in front of people outside your current follower base, increasing the chances you gain new followers.
4. Determine a posting schedule
if you’re starting from zero, your main goal is to build followers. Posting every day (or almost every day) gives you more opportunities for people to see your content.
And while that frequency might sound time-consuming, it doesn’t have to be. There are many tools online that let you schedule posts in advance. Set aside some time once a week to schedule your content and it won’t feel like a daily burden.
Keep in mind that posting frequently in the early days is a good strategy as long as the content is good. If your posts are repetitive or boring, you could lose followers.
Social media will become second nature in no time
After a while, creating compelling content, scheduling posts, engaging with your community, and sticking to a posting schedule will get easier and take you less time. Once you’ve successfully maintained your social media channel for six months, you can even start building up a second channel to attract more customers and prospective employees to your business.
If you want to learn more about how to use social media as a hiring tool for your QSR, check out this on-demand webinar with restaurant marketing specialist Bruce Irving.
