The rise of social media and the ongoing migration of commerce online means that brand has never been more important.

Traditionally, recruiters have needed to chase candidates, but things have evolved. Today, it’s about attraction, and brand has a massive part to play in this.  

 Here are 10 tips for staffing companies that wish to improve their employer brand in the social media age:

1. If all you do is talk about vacancies, then that’s all you’ll be known for, and if you’re a sector specialist, this will have a detrimental effect on your brand.  Make sure that you have something other than jobs to attract and connect with them
2. Consider what your online bios say about your company?  Are they written in the 1st or 3rd person?  Social media is about people, and you may turn connections off by looking like someone’s written your profile for you.
3. Describe what you do for people, and outcomes you can provide. That’s what people buy.
4. Pick up your business card / check your email signature, Read them then ask yourself if it actually says what you do. And, don’t forget to mention any social media names too.
5. The brand of a business is precious and needs to be respected. Yet there are recruiters online who are diluting brands (their own, that of their employers and their clients) simply because they just don’t know how to use this powerful tool to best effect. Think strategically and carefully about your online activities.  
6. The rise of social media means that everyone in the business has a marketing budget, and multiple channels to spread the word.  Have you spoken to your staff and let them know what your message is?  If you don’t they’ll have their own, and it won’t necessarily be one you endorse.
7. Most business is done on the back of the more “personal” touch. Social media gives you a great opportunity to move beyond business speak, and to emerge from behind the company logo through being personable, friendly and human.
8. People like buying from brands that have happy employees - the typical recruiter brand is not one that may be associated with being a “nice place to work”, so what can you do to be different? Look at ways to market your employer brand so it attracts clients too.
9. Take a look at your job adverts - they may say a lot about the role you are recruiting for, and even the client you are recruiting on behalf of, but what do they say about you?  This is a fabulous opportunity to improve your brand.
10. If you have an online community of followers (for example a LinkedIn group) make sure you keep your followers engaged. Groups with very little discussion, or activity are often lose followers and can be very damaging to brands, so make sure there are plenty of lively discussions going on in your LinkedIn group. And if you use Twitter, ensure you regularly update your Twitter feeds.

In summary, if you don’t promote your brand, others in a very public environment will decide what it is, and then you’ve got a huge task to get it back on track.