Facebook is a notoriously difficult platform for B2B marketers or recruiters to build and lever traffic and conversions from. This post will look at using Facebook for Recruitment.

Unlike Twitter – Facebook posts are only visible to followers of the page in question, then Facebook, using complex algorithms, limits who actually gets to see these posts. Unless of course you are using Facebook Adverts, in which case you can reach outside your own page, reach all your followers, and build new followers or attract traffic directly to your website via a Facebook Advert. Clever Facebook. Facebook all but restricts business use UNLESS you are paying for advertising, which although not expensive is a bit annoying if you have to use it to reach your own followers.

Depending on what level and sector you are recruiting within, Facebook may not be the platform your candidates use, or if they do – for any professional or career related activity they channel this to LinkedIn, leaving Facebook strictly for family and friends.

So Facebook is a difficult social channel for recruiters – but why should you give it a go?

Facebook is fantastic for visual or video content, if your niche lends itself to imagery, or you take and publish lots of photo’s – Facebook is perfect for showcasing this.

Facebook does help with your SEO, and Facebook pages can rank healthily in the search engines leading valuable traffic back to your website – even if those visitors don’t stop and like your Facebook page.

Your candidates or your industry may expect it, and may not be prevalent on other social platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter or Google+.

You can build and reach your followers on Facebook through a combined on and off Facebook strategy, and if you build a good healthy page Facebook will shine favour upon you and allow your posts to reach more and more as your followers do like, share and comment on your posts. Combine this where relevant with encouraging your audience to follow you and check back for relevant news, views, current/latest jobs and whatever other content you can use to entice them and it’s a great way to build a mini community of passive and active candidates. Many of whom once they follow a page and often lax to “unfollow” later even if they don’t need a product or service right them – so Facebook can be a good way to keep that passive candidate hanging on. Don’t forget to use your Facebook page in any written or digital correspondence, and in every email signature going out from your office.