In today’s digital world, social media offers a powerful tool for employers to connect with potential employees on their journey to a new job. In fact, a study found that 86% of people used social media of some kind when searching for a new job, making social media advertising a key component of any employment advertising campaign. As a social media marketing agency, we’re here to provide our top tips for running successful employment advertising campaigns and finding your ideal hire, all whilst navigating tricky ‘Housing, Employment and Credit’ policies .
What are HEC policies?
Housing, employment and credit, or HEC for short, policies are essential restrictions placed upon advertisers on social media platforms, designed to promote fairness and prevent discrimination in advertising related to housing, employment, and credit opportunities. These policies restrict targeting ads based on specific criteria, with the main three being age, gender, and postcode, ensuring a level playing field for all. While these guidelines might seem limiting, they are in place for a good reason and there are plenty of ways to ensure you still get your advertising campaign in front of the right people.
Choosing the Right Social Media Platform
In light of these policies, selecting the right social media platform is more crucial than ever. Each social media platform offers something different, with a unique demographic spending their time on each one. There are no hard and fast rules and many, especially younger, people split their time across multiple platforms. However, some assumptions can be made when crafting employment ads.
In the UK;
LinkedIn is home to older professionals and is ideal for professional and corporate roles,
Facebook has an enormous user base but people aged 25-34 are the largest demographic.
The two biggest groups on Instagram are 18-24 and 25-34.
TikTok and Snapchat are most popular with Gen-Z
Aligning your campaign with the right platform can lead to more effective results without relying on narrowed targeting.
Craft the right content for your audience
Narrow targeting options can make for lazy marketing, and whilst we always recommend crafting content that resonates with your target audience, it is especially crucial in the case of employment advertising. By picking the right platform, employers can start to dial in their targeting, but creating content that their audience resonates with and wants to engage with is the true key to a successful campaign.
If you’re looking to hire for a management position through LinkedIn or Facebook ads, consider a sleek, professional ad containing all the crucial information in an easy to digest ad, perfect for the busy professional to take in. After a younger hire and considering TikTok? Be aware that the overwhelming majority of content on TikTok comes in the form of User Generated Content (UGC) and anything that looks too professionally produced is likely to encounter a quick skip from most viewers. Cleverly blending your employment ad into the kind of content that viewers are looking for on the ad will result in much better traction.
Take some time to familiarise yourself with the kind of content your target audience connects with, if it seems a little overwhelming or too time intensive, find a local social media marketing or digital marketing agency to help you out.
Our top tips for successful social media ads
Generally, we recommend using high quality professional content (the only exception here is on TikTok)
For TikTok – consider working with established influencers or putting together content that mimics the kind of UGC content that TikTok users like to engage with.
Use video ads to maximise awareness on Instagram and Facebook – both of these platforms favour video content at the moment, meaning video ads will get your offer in front of more people with less ad spend. Consider partnering with a video production company to help you make content that converts.
Include the key offerings in your ad – get inside the mind of your perfect hire and tell them why this job is perfect for them. Solve their pain points and you’ll find applications flowing through the door.
Build an engaging landing page for potential applicants to arrive on. Social media advertising is only stage one of taking potential candidates through to hopeful applicants. Having a quality landing page on your website for the ads to link to will keep viewers engaged and informed and boost applicants for your employment opportunity.