With social media taking such a prevalent role in our everyday lives, influencer marketing has become the next big thing in terms of raising awareness for brands. According to Later, influencer marketing is on track to become a $15 billion dollar industry by 2022 and shows no sign of declining. The influencer tactic has been very beneficial whether you are marketing products or various services. As modern content creators, influencers are known for creating content that captures a specific audience. While most influencers are used to drive sales, the tactic can also be used to recruit new employees, increase brand awareness and more.

Influencer Marketing and the Job Market

Currently, with such a tight job market, recruiters are even utilizing influencers as a way to promote their business and obtain top talent. Research from Talent.com, a unique job posting platform with jobs available in more than 75 countries, has found that influencer marketing can be utilized in recruiting by taking advantage of influencers’ reach, younger target audiences and their direct connection with their followers. This allows influencers to reach a fresh audience of potential employees.

According to Mediakix, the ROI achieved from influencer marketing is comparable or superior to other marketing channels. Influencers create content that can be inspiring, engaging, creative and motivating and used for your business’s website, career page, social media, posters, promotional pamphlets and more to help showcase your company and attract quality employees.

How to Choose the Right Influencer for Your Job Market

There are so many different channels for influencers to utilize these days that it’s important to plan accordingly. When it comes to selecting influencers, there are five key qualities to look at.

1. Credibility: Credibility is important in the influencer community because it is an investment you are making for your business. The content the influencer creates needs to align with your organization’s goals and values.

2.) Followers: Some have described followers to be the “currency of the century”, however followers aren’t always the largest factor in determining the quality of an  influencer. With apps that allow you to buy followers, it’s important to verify the authenticity of an influencer’s following. Luckily, there are analytical tools to make sure an influencer’s followers have not been bought.

While some have thought that the higher the number of influencer followers, the better, more recent trends have focused on smaller-scale influencers with a following of fewer than 10,000. According to Business Insider, influencers called “nano-influencers” with a higher engagement are currently trending. Nano-influencers have gained a lot of momentum due to their authenticity and connection with everyday audiences. Nano influencers are also more affordable compared to mega and macro-influencers.

3. Engagement: Engagement perhaps is one of the most important aspects of analyzing the ideal influencer from who to partner. Factors including reach, likes, impressions, shares, saves, and comments are all measures of engagement. The definition of engagement often has to do with the amount of interaction a follower has with an influencer. An influencer may have many followers but if their engagement rate is low, your campaign may not be very effective. The engagement rate of an influencer is typically determined by dividing an influencer’s number of followers by the number of post engagement such as likes, comments, shares, and saves. A high engagement rate is typically between 3.5 and 6%.

4. Connection: Connection is another important factor in deciding on an influencer. As mentioned previously, the influencer needs to have similar values to your organization and a similar target audience that your company is trying to reach. Shared values, goals, and aesthetics are good ways to analyze if an influencer is a good fit for your company. For example,  if an employer at a restaurant is looking to hire an influencer, he or she might look to the Insta-foodie community because they align with the company’s goals.

5. Location: Location is important to consider as well. When hiring an influencer, it’s important to factor in the location of the influencer in comparison to your business. If the influencer is in a different country, it may be rather hard to market the product to your audience. Also, if spreading the word in your local community is important, choosing an influencer within your local community might be helpful.

Reaching out to Influencers:

When reaching out to influencers, it’s important to know your company mission and the goals it hopes to achieve with the influencer campaign. The company’s goals should align with the influencer marketing strategy.

Conclusion:

Influencer marketing campaigns are being used to enrich a company’s recruitment strategy by raising awareness, increasing your employer brand awareness, as well as building trust with your target audience. Social media on its own has many benefits for companies, but utilizing the influencer marketing strategy can take your company’s hunt for talent to new heights.

https://blog.talent.com/en/how-to-use-influencer-marketing-for-recruitment