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Managing Your Brand Accounts on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Monday, April 27, 2020 3:37 PM | Denise Downing (Administrator)

Submitted by Haley Marketing

If there was ever a time for staffing firms to be flocking to social media to manage their brand voice, reassure candidates and prospects they have everything under control and, most importantly, be a part of the community...this is it.

For seven years, I’ve seen the staffing industry slowly shift to understand the real value of social media in the recruitment marketing mix. But, as I stand on my soapbox in our little corner of the internet, I’m here to say we need to move faster, more deliberately, and more strategically. No longer can we accept a social media “strategy” of posting job after job after job. No longer can we accept a social media “strategy” of fluff content, built around third-party articles, and funny memes and junk.

Given the current state of the country...no...given the current state of the world, we need to be incredibly mindful of everything we post on social media. Incredibly deliberate with every post to make sure we are adding value to the social media ecosystem.

As we look at navigating the next 60 to 90 days on social media, I cannot overstate the importance of humanizing your brand voice. The world doesn’t need more sales pitches. More direct “BUY NOW” links with forced emojis.

The world is scared, nervous, and unsure of what’s to come. As social media users are scrolling on Facebook or Twitter, the LAST thing we want to share right now is a forced sales pitch.

Now that’s not to say you can’t thrive given these circumstances. You can. But, doing so requires incredible attention to detail and mindfulness of what others are feeling and experiencing 

How to Manage Social Media Company Pages During a Pandemic

Below, I share a few tactics your firm can try. If you’d like more, you can read my full post on Managing Your Brand Accounts on Social Media During a Pandemic.

Listen First. Talk Second.

Spending five minutes on any social platform right now will show you something obvious: The world is collectively talking about COVID-19. Uncertainty, optimism, skepticism, whatever it might be – as you look at social media as a user and not a marketer, it’s evident that this pandemic has everyone chatting.

Listen first. Talk second.

No one likes to go to a party and hang out with that friend or family member who is so “Me” focused it drives you crazy.

Don’t be that guy. Instead, be the person who listens. As candidates are reaching out with messages, understand they are concerned and respond to them with empathy and optimism.

When scrolling through the newsfeed on Twitter, join the conversation in the local community. If your county executive is posting updates, share your thoughts on the matter and show your community that you’re in this with them.

Reach Inbox 0

Facebook messenger...the graveyard of leads.

“I’m too busy to answer those” must be a thing of the past. Given the uncertainty of the situations we’re all in, we NEED to be active and listening when individuals are reaching out through Facebook messenger.

Answer questions as they come in and elevate them to the right individual on your internal team if necessary. Ignoring them is not an option.

Be Mindful of the Reader

With millions getting their news and information about COVID-19 from social platforms like Twitter, we need to be overly

critical of WHY social media exists. Every post has a purpose, and before we share our WHAT (the “stuff” we post on social media), we need to fundamentally understand our WHY.

By being mindful of the reader and understanding their WHY (why they are on social media at all hours of the day), we can be sure to align our message to meet them.

Share Local News and Information

Hypothetically, let’s say your staffing firm is a startup. With less than one year of business, you’re the new kid in town.  Some people think you’re cool and want to hang out, some people think you’re different and want to stay away, and many more already have their pocket of friends and don’t even know you exist.

Now is the perfect time to double down on platforms like Twitter and Facebook to show the community that you are one of them.

Post or share local news updates to show you are just as committed to the regional footprint as they are.

...Now let’s say you’re not the new kid in town.

With 20 years in business, most people know who you are, and, because of that, they have an opinion of you. Maybe it’s positive. You’re the friendly company that helped someone’s aunt get a job when they were down on their luck. Or, worse, you’re the staffing firm who couldn’t find someone’s uncle a job even though he’s super qualified for everything.

What if we used this time to double down on being human, sharing local news and information to show the community you continue to be an advocate for them? That you continue to support and worry about the well-being of job seekers throughout the area. What if we use this as an opportunity to reposition your brand as THE staffing firm that listens? That shows after 20 years of redeveloped process and automation and tools...that most importantly, you’re still in business to put people to work in great opportunities.

Share Resources From Your Website

If you’ve been consistently blogging on your website, use this time to share content on your social channels that educates and informs the reader.

Be mindful of the tone and context of each article!

While an article on the importance of a well-developed workspace is timely, now is the wrong time to share an article about the keys to a professional handshake during an interview.

Go Live for an AMA (Ask Me Anything)

Live video is exploding on social media right now. Everywhere you look, another band or singer/songwriter is sharing a live acoustic session from a studio or couch. Local news is cross-posting their live feeds from TV over to social platforms for maximum visibility and reach.

How can the staffing industry get involved in this tactic?

Set a weekly Ask Me Anything (AMA for you Redditors out there) where you go live from your home office on Facebook or Twitter and let candidates ask you questions.

Be the expert your community is looking for and answer their questions as they arise.

Putting It All Together

I’m not saying this is the perfect social media management plan during this pandemic, but, if anything, I hope it gives you just one idea to implement this week.

We’re all in this together.

Be kind to each other.


Click here to download the article in PDF format.

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