Could recruiter personal branding be your agency’s secret weapon?

A well planned and executed marketing strategy is key for any ambitious recruitment agency and thanks to the growth in online channels there are now a whole host of ways to build a buzz around your business.

Something that has been increasingly recognised by agencies in recent years is the power of ‘personal branding’ and the many benefits that can be driven through the way recruiters proactively market themselves to the outside world – especially for maximising the potential of platforms such as LinkedIn.

Here, we’ve taken a closer look at the growing popularity of recruiter personal branding, how to get started and the many ways it can impact on and benefit recruitment agencies.

The rise of LinkedIn

One channel that no modern recruiter can live without is LinkedIn. Indeed, it’s thought that more than 90% of recruiters now regularly use LinkedIn and when you consider that over 75% of people who have recently changed jobs used LinkedIn to help them find a new position, it’s easy to see why.

But that’s not all. There are an estimated 20 million jobs listed on LinkedIn at any one time and employees who are sourced through LinkedIn are 40% less likely to leave the business within the first six months.

So, for recruiters, it’s definitely the place to be!

LinkedIn company pages versus personal profiles

While LinkedIn gives you the option to create a company page the platform has long been known to favour the individual over the corporate, with the personal profiles of individual users likely to see far greater engagement levels.

That means that to take full advantage of the site, individual recruiters need to up their game when it comes to their personal profile, their interactions with others and the quality of the posts and content they are sharing.

Which is where personal branding comes in.

What is personal branding?

In the age of the ‘influencer’, personal branding has really come into its own.

In simple terms, personal branding refers to how you present and promote yourself to the outside world and the impression you give of yourself. It’s the process of developing and maintaining a reputation and expressing what you’re all about. Including, positioning yourself an expert in a particular niche or field.

By demonstrating a mix of personality, skills and values, your personal branding should make it clear for your ‘audience/s’ what they might expect from you. And nowadays, authenticity is key.

Why do you need personal branding as a recruiter?

Investing time and energy in building a personal brand can pay back dividends when you’re a recruiter. That’s because, in a competitive and crowded marketplace, it’s more important than ever before to stand out and forge strong connections.

People buy from people and to be successful in recruitment you need to be seen but you also need to build trust. Potential clients and candidates are far more likely to engage with you if they have a good first impression of you and ‘get’ what you’re about.

If your profile lacks detailed information or personality, you have a poor-quality photo and you only ever use the platform to send out unsolicited, poorly targeted sales messages, you’re not going to get very far.

Another way to think about it is to consider what would happen at an in-person networking event, if all you ever spoke about was the job roles you have available, and if you never asked questions and showed an interest in others.

In contrast, if someone spots an interesting piece of content you have shared, clicks on your profile page and sees a fully filled out profile, packed with interesting details and a stream of posts that are relevant, they are more likely to stick around.

4 steps to successful personal branding

1. Be relevant – own your niche

While variety is good you need to ensure that any content you are sharing is relevant for your key target audiences. If it’s not very interesting, don’t post it!

One way to start defining your proposition and to help guide your content choices is to define three key hashtags. If your post ideas don’t fit with those hashtags, ask yourself if they are really relevant.

For example, if you work in recruitment in the financial industries sector, you may focus on content that ties to #fintech, as one of your core topics.

Don’t be afraid to use the search function on LinkedIn to look up any hashtags you are considering using, to see what kind of posts and people are using them.

2. Be authentic

Some of the most powerful and impactful content on LinkedIn today is based around the sharing of a simple video comment, recorded on a handheld camera phone. That’s because authenticity and seeing the real person, is always appreciated.

While it’s important that any photos or videos you share are clear and of a high enough quality, they don’t need to be professionally done.

For example, if you decide to film a quick video on your phone of you speaking to camera – perhaps stood in front of a trade show you’re visiting - it doesn’t matter if you fluff up your words a little and it’s not perfect. Authenticity is far more engaging than some polished, obviously scripted piece.

And never try to be something you’re not. People can smell a faker a mile off.

3. Be human

You may be working in a heavily results-driven environment but if you give off the impression of being a pushy salesperson, you’re not going to get very far.

Don’t be a robot. Make sure you are injecting personality into your posts. Yes, you need to keep it professional but some of the most engaging content on LinkedIn right now has a personal angle to it.

For example, if you find an interesting report you’d like to share, don’t just share the link. Say why you think it’s interesting or why you disagree with it. Try and spark a conversation and to show a little about yourself through your opinion and views.

4. And show up regularly

It’s important, especially when using sites such as LinkedIn, that you are consistent. You need to be using the platform and posting regularly.

Interacting is as important as posting. Follow relevant people, comment where appropriate and if it helps, set time aside in your diary to make sure you are consistent and present. Aim to spend a percentage of your time engaging in conversation.

In summary

In our experience at 3R, employer branding is important but personal branding can be just as powerful at generating new business (if not more so).

People buy from people and even with all the marketing tools agencies now have at their fingertips, the best and strongest route to new business will always be referrals.

If you can establish a good strong personal brand and become known as an authority in your space within the industry, then you are not only more likely to be ‘found’ but to secure warmer leads and build stronger relationships. Because people will get what you’re about and see the person behind the job title.

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