Using Twitter to Strengthen Employer Brand | Part 2 of 5

Two thirds of FTSE 100 firms use Twitter, however, research shows that it is often neglected within their employer brand strategies (People Management, 2011). This is a missed opportunity. Why? Twitter currently has 100 million users with 50% logging in every day (Mashable, 2011). The potential for you to use this tool to attract talent to your organisation is off the scale. So why not beat your competition to it and get tweeting in 2012? Here are some pointers to help you:

Your Twitter profile - the trick here is to be as visible as possible. Here’s how:

• Your profile page must have a professional look which reflects the branding of your company.
• Choose your profile picture carefully – we would recommend you use your company logo. Again, this will ensure you are easily recognisable.
• Choose your Twitter name carefully – be sure to include your company name and possibly the words ‘jobs’ or ‘careers’ too. This will attract the most targeted and relevant followers.
• Profile text: Here you have 160 characters to play with so you need to make it good. Here are some suggestions:

1. Write about your company and the service it provides
2. Write about how people can benefit from following you
3. Include your website URL
4. Include relevant keywords to help people find you

Tweets:

• Mix it up a bit: Try to avoid using Twitter to only shout about job vacancies you have open. Whilst these can certainly feature, it is important to mix your tweets up a bit to keep your followers engaged. Try tweeting industry and company news, as well as careers advice. It’s all about giving your followers value-added information and creating the impression that you are a great company to work for.

• Get everyone in the team tweeting: This gives a good perception of culture, collaboration and personality which are all attractive traits from a jobseeker’s perspective.

• Set up a schedule for your tweets: Tweeting too regularly can be annoying, whilst not tweeting enough may mean people will start to forget about you. So try to get the balance here. We recommend once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening (if you’re ultra keen!).

• Re-tweet others: Remember, it’s not all about you. To build credibility and trust among potential employees you must re-tweet posts from key opinion leaders in your industry.

About the Author: Catherine Gutsell is the Group Marketing Manager at the CK Group. She is passionate about all things digital, especially when it comes to recruitment and HR practices.