Social Media Marketing Blog

The rise of social media — think Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube — has caught the attention of the business community, which increasingly is using the outlets as online recruiting tools.

Instead of tedious hourly updates about the grindingly dull details of mundane lives, companies across the US as well as job seekers have discovered that social media marketing allows a focused, cost-effective way of bolstering, and in some cases supplanting, traditional print, broadcast and online recruiting.

U.S. Web-based recruiting has grown into a $522 million industry, and it’s predicted to grow at a rate of 8 percent a year, based on 2008 Forrester Research data, reported Cobizmag.com, an online Colorado business magazine.

That includes traditional job Web sites, but it’s harder to quantify the use of purely social networking sites, which typically are free.

 Companies can reach a great deal of people through social networking, and you can also gain a lot more referrals through the use of social media and social media marketing. In addition, the word about the company hiring spreads rapidly, which generates unsolicited inquiries. Instead of incurring the cost of placing an ad through an online site such as Monster, you can use your network or Facebook page to spread the word and help you identify top talent.

Unlike recruiting-specific online resources, such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com, most social networking sites are free. They can be set up in minutes and are relatively easy because they’re designed for general, rather than specific, use.

Those looking for jobs are increasingly turning to their social networking in addition to traditional online recruiting sites.

Many individuals feel uncomfortable looking for jobs on online sites as there is little to no way to stand out with a cookie cutter online job search.

While online savvy with social media is helpful, being qualified for the job is still most important as skills and work ethic still matter.    However, in today’s increasingly competitive job hunt, social media outlets may help to get your foot in the door.  What you do with the opportunity is up to you.