Recruitment by its very nature is competitive, that’s just the game we signed up for. It’s what makes the thrill of securing a deal mean more. It does, however, mean that any advantage you can get over the competition is worth its weight in gold.

Your personal brand is your advantage. People buy from people and if you want to excel in your career, it’s time to start scrubbing up on your marketing skills.

Building an image of trust, authority and passion will ensure candidates and clients come flocking to your inbox looking for your help. This isn’t an easy task for everyone though. Some people get nervous, some can’t help but cringe inside whenever they post an update. We’re not saying you need to start channeling your inner Kim K, but an active social media account will help your billings.

If you’re looking to improve your personal brand, need help getting visibility, or simply want to get over your fear of that little blue ‘post’ button, we’ve got you covered. Here’s our guide to honing your super power…

1) Start by asking yourself a few questions

Working in recruitment is so much more than just recruiting. You work in admin, customer service, sales, and in this case, marketing. So your first step is to begin thinking like a marketer. Every marketing campaign needs a goal or objective, it needs an audience, it needs a reason ‘why’.

Begin by asking yourself a few questions to help frame the work you’re doing:

Who is your audience?

This one’s easy. Your audience will be candidates and clients in the market you’re operating in. You already know them inside out. Try thinking about where they hang out online. What publications do they read? What do they care about? What type of content do they scroll through when they’re pretending to work?

Why should they care about what you have to say?

If you can’t answer this, you’ve failed before you’ve even started. Unfortunately, it can be the one thing seasoned marketing professionals can’t answer.

With the sheer volume of content online, you need to find a reason why people should stop doom-scrolling through their newsfeed and pay attention to what you have to say. Having a clear understanding of the value you can offer your community will help you stand out from the crowd.

What does success look like for you?

Are you chasing social media fame or are you looking to improve your billings? These may seem as if they go hand-in-hand but it’s not always the case. Posting regularly and receiving high levels of engagement doesn’t necessarily mean people want to work with you. Having a small but highly relevant audience can be all you need. There’s no wrong answer to this question but it should be used to frame the type of content you’re posting.

2) Golden rules for success

Follow these simple principles and you’ll be on the right path:

Have a clear focus

Don’t go into this blind, take a moment to jot down what your focus is going to be. Decide on a few core principles for your personal brand and stick to these. It may help to draft up a few sentences describing what you’d like your channel to be, who you are and what you stand for. It can help to have a clear picture of your target audience when doing this. This can be used as the basis to instruct the type of content you post and what your tone of voice will be.

Be genuine

Don’t put on a façade for social media – it’s easy to see through and will appear forced. Trust in yourself, stay genuine with your updates and only share content you’re comfortable publishing. Above all, stay true to yourself, the real you will be far more interesting than any persona.

Tell a story

When posting on social media, always use a narrative based approach, this keeps your content engaging and will ensure people actually read your posts. Include a beginning, inciting incident and resolution when crafting your updates. Consider long-term storytelling with your posts – regularly update your audience on projects you’re undertaking, add recurring themes and ongoing jokes. This is an especially effective way to keep people coming back and engaging with your content. If you’re unsure on how to do this, check out platforms like TikTok to see how others are doing this effectively.

Offer value freely

Social media strategies should never be promotional. Avoid content that falls into the ‘me, me, me’ trap. Instead look at how you can give genuine value to your audience without asking for anything in return.

Stay consistent

This is where so many people fall down when they’re looking to build their personal brand. You MUST stay consistent if you’re looking to get any kind of success from this. This can be broken down into three parts:

• Tone – always keep the same tone of voice
• Content types – pick formats which work for you and stick to them
• Frequency – you have to post regularly to make this work

Find a source of inspiration

Successful personal brands are everywhere. You likely follow a few of them yourself. Look for people that you think do it well, study what they do and replicate their formula in your own unique style.

Give it time

Your personal brand is something that will develop slowly over time. You shouldn’t expect to see any huge spikes of engagement after just a few posts. Stick with it, don’t get disheartened and watch your performance grow incrementally each month. Remember, we’re not looking to go viral here, it’s a slow process.

3) Work on your strategy

Everyone needs a strategy. This doesn’t need to be huge, daunting, or even difficult. Just take some time to get a plan in place and you’ll see a big difference.

Plan ahead

Take some time to yourself to work out a plan for what you’re posting and when. Doing a bit of prior prep will help you tell a strong story over time. Any social media manager will tell you that a little foresight can dramatically improve quality.

Make use of key events

Stay up-to-date with new trends and comment on any key events or newsworthy topics. This will likely help you with the LinkedIn algorithm and will also give a boost to your engagement stats too.

Have a social-first mindset

Whatever you’re posting, remember the time constraints and attention span of your audience. Always approach content with a social-first mindset. Think snackable and easily digestible posts that stand out from the newsfeed. Consider how you consume content and keep this front of mind when posting.

Embrace humour

This one isn’t for everyone (you know who you are) as it can often backfire if done poorly. However, if you fancy yourself as funny, don’t be afraid to sprinkle a little humour into your posts. This will humanise you and improve your chances of building a community. Be tactful though, remember you’re looking for clients and candidates here.

4) Get your content right

There’s an old marketing cliche that ‘content is king’. It may be overused but it does ring true, your social media presence and personal brand lives and dies on the content you post.

Outline your content pillars

A great way to ensure you’re posting the type of content that resonates is to set out with a number of content pillars. These will be core themes and topics that you share regularly. Test out new content pillars and see what the reception is. Here are a few examples:

• Insights: Let your experience and knowledge shine through by publishing key industry insights
• Advice: Outline the questions candidates and clients regularly ask and share your answers
• Day in the life: Think shareable TikTok style content on what a day in the life of a recruiter looks like
• Job ads: This is your bread and butter, the content that will actually bring your billings
• Culture: Give a snapshot into the company culture at your agency
• Out & about: Share videos and updates from client meetings, events and incentive days

The problem with LinkedIn…

LinkedIn will always be your main platform, but it’s a mess when it comes to content. It can be seriously difficult to stand out from the crowd. To avoid screaming into the void, consider taking a TikTok style approach to the platform. Publishing engaging, snackable video content will help you get views (but remember to activate your subtitles for anyone browsing from their desks). By taking inspiration from TikTok you’ll offer something unique for your audience and it’ll be a welcome break from the dull posts about promotions and events. Remember to keep it professional though, some trends should stay on TikTok.

Share the love

Actively engaging with content will help you build a community. Like and comment on posts that interest you, and never forget to respond to comments from followers on your own posts.

Post with confidence (even if it’s unearned)

Sharing content on social media can be daunting. Not many people like drawing attention to themselves in this way. Avoid self-doubt and post with the confidence of a middle-aged mum on Facebook (albeit with something more exciting to say). Don’t overthink your posts, everyone started off somewhere.

5) Don’t forget the technical stuff

If content is king, the LinkedIn algorithm is queen. Here’s a hint though, social media managers will try to make it sound like the technical stuff is overly complicated but it’s really not. Follow these simple tips and you’ll be on the right track.

Understand the algorithm

The LinkedIn algorithm favours certain types of content and it does change regularly. If you keep an eye on the level of impressions you’re getting, you’ll be able to understand what is working and what isn’t. Video content, key terms and trending topics are a great place to start.

Post formats

Stay up to date with LinkedIn’s preferred image sizes. This will ensure the images you post will be the most attractive when seen in the feed. When uploading a video, make sure you include an engaging thumbnail, tick the autoplay box and ensure subtitles are switched on.

Review performance regularly

Every week, take some time to review the performance of your posts and make note of what levels of growth you’ve seen. Analyse the performance, quality and frequency of your posts with a critical lens, then set yourself goals for the month ahead. Remember, if you’re getting high impressions but low engagement, the quality of your content needs to improve. If you’re getting low impressions but high engagement, you’ve got great quality content but you might need to improve the format of your posts to ensure it’s picked up by the algorithm. Don’t panic if things don’t work out immediately, a little trial and error can be expected at the start.

Looking for an agency to match your ambitions?

If you’ve got big ambitions and need an agency to match that, we’ve got you covered. We have a wide range of exciting roles with some of the country’s best recruitment firms. Reach out today for a confidential conversation or browse our job board to get a feel for the type of opportunities we currently have on offer.