INFLUENCER MARKETING

How to Use Influencer Marketing for Recruitment

Did you know that 73% of job seekers aged 18 to 34 found their last job through social media? As social media platforms make it easier than ever to directly access target audiences, their importance in business recruitment strategies has grown markedly.

And so has the leveraging of influencer marketing for recruitment.

In this article, we'll tell you everything you need to know about influencer marketing and how to use it for recruitment — from finding your ideal influencer to writing an effective outreach email.

Plus, we suggest several key tasks for you to complete when recruiting influencers.

Let’s dive right in and begin by defining what, exactly, an influencer is.

TL;DR: Influencer Marketing for Recruitment

• Why Influencer Marketing Works: Influencer marketing offers increased exposure, boosted engagement, improved brand image, and the ability to attract target audiences.
• Implementing HR workflow automation can streamline the recruitment process further, ensuring that the influx of candidates sourced through influencer marketing is managed efficiently and effectively.
• How It Works: The process involves finding influencers, reaching out via email, and negotiating a contract tailored to your needs.
• Best Platforms for Hiring Influencers: Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook offer different advantages for influencer marketing in recruitment.
• Examples of Companies: Big companies like Intuit, TikTok, and Netflix use influencer marketing for recruitment.
• Choosing Niche Influencers: Focus on relevance, audience, credibility, location, and platform when selecting influencers for your recruitment campaign.
• Outreach to Influencers: Determine your budget, contact influencers through email or their management, and make a well-crafted offer.
• After Finding an Influencer: Build a long-term strategy, create a content plan and calendar, write an influencer marketing brief, and track performance.
• Key Takeaways: Maximize influencer marketing for recruitment by researching influencers, selecting the right social media platforms, and approaching influencers with respect and professionalism.

What is an influencer?

An influencer is a person whose professional role is to influence others to take specific actions, buy products or services, or other behaviors that support the influencer’s career.

In general, an influencer’s main source of income is social media. Some influencers will have multiple social media accounts across all of the available platforms, while others stick to building an audience on one or two platforms in particular.

Most influencers specialize in a specific type of content that falls within one industry or niche.

For example, Emma Chamberlain is a social media influencer with more than 11 million subscribers on YouTube alone. Thanks to her success as an influencer, Emma has gone on to work more mainstream media jobs, such as hosting red-carpet interviews for the Met Gala.

Part of Emma’s success comes from her commitment to a particular content niche centered around her lifestyle and fashion.

How many types of influencers are there?

There are different types of influencers that can be divided into several sub-groups depending on two main factors: follower count and industry.

The follower count influencer sub-groups include:

• Mega influencers: 1 million or more followers
• Macro influencers: 500,000 to 1 million followers
• Mid-tier influencers: 50,000 to 500,000 followers
• Micro influencers: 10,000 to 50,000 followers
• Nano influencers: 10,000 followers or less (most social media platforms require at least 1,000 followers before you can begin profiting from business account benefits)

Meanwhile, the industry sub-groups highlight the top industries for influencers. These include:

• Gaming
• Beauty
• Fitness
• Food
• Travel
• Lifestyle

What's influencer marketing and why is it effective for recruitment?

Influencer marketing is a specific type of marketing that relies on influencers to do the bulk of the promotional work for a brand or business.

For businesses looking to recruit new employees, influencer marketing can be a useful method to connect with your target audience and an ideal pool of professionals.

The benefits of using influencer marketing for the recruitment of employees include:

• Increased exposure. One of the top reasons why influencer marketing is so effective is simply the exposure your business gains from it. Influencers have thousands and sometimes even millions of followers, bringing an enormous amount of new eyes to your business.
• Boosted engagement. An influencer’s brand deals and business partnerships are often formed around the agreement that the influencer will use their status to drive engagement toward a sponsoring business.
• Improved brand image. Influencers are generally seen as experts or trusted professionals in their industry or niche. By working with a reputable influencer, you can improve your brand’s overall image, attracting more job seekers to apply at your company.
• Attracting target audiences. For instance, if you're a software development company or one of the leading web development agencies, you could work with an influencer with a tech background who creates content about that topic. By doing so, you reach this influencer’s audience, made up of keen entry-to-mid-level professionals who may have a need to hire software developers for their projects or teams.

How does influencer marketing work?

Influencer marketing may require some flexibility on your side, as each influencer is different in how they work and what types of sponsorships they take on.

However, you can generally follow these three steps to begin using influencer marketing for recruitment:

1. Find the influencer(s). Your first key step is finding and selecting an influencer(s) you want to work with (we discuss the specifics of finding one in a moment). As your first-choice influencer may not be open to new sponsorships currently, it's better to pick 5 to 10 to choose from. If you don't know where to start, try using the inBeat social media database where you can explore a spam-checked database of influencers using metrics and keywords (e.g. location, follower count, engagement, is verified, topics) to find the profiles you need.
2. Reach out via email. When it comes to how to contact an influencer, they'll typically have either their professional email or a management company with an outreach email address. This is generally the best way to get in touch with influencers, as their direct message (DMs) inboxes can get overloaded with DMs from fans.
3. Negotiate a contract. The final step is to negotiate an influencer contract. This contract should always include the following:

• the length of the partnership with the influencer (with dates),
• the amount and type of content the influencer will produce,
• and the compensation for the influencer.

Pro tip: Hiring remote employees (or influencers who work remotely) can include some legal (labor)  regulations. So, plan carefully and take your time when creating this contract.

Now, most influencers love to travel, so it's out of the question whether you should offer paid trips with your contract. Some of the most popular travel destinations they will never say no to include California, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Japan, etc. And you don't even have to do this alone; teaming up with reputable travel management agencies in the Netherlands or whatever your destination of choice is will speed up the process, ensuring seamless and memorable experiences for both the influencer and your brand. This will also give the influencer a sense of safety and security because it shows your level of dedication and professionalism.

The best social media platforms for hiring influencers

All social media platforms have their pros when it comes to influencers.

However, some platforms are simply better than others in terms of audience engagement and community building.

The 6 best social media platforms for finding and hiring influencers include:

• Instagram: Instagram takes the cake for influencer marketing. Thanks to the many forms of content you can share on Instagram (main feed posts, stories, reels, lives, etc.), there are plenty of ways to get your business out there. Plus, influencers tend to be more open and responsive on Instagram, as they're often looking for new business partnerships and brand deals here.

• TikTok: TikTok has soared in popularity over recent years and is now one of the top platforms for video content, even rivaling YouTube. Since TikTok has a younger audience than other platforms, it's an excellent place for connecting with young professionals who are yet to enter the job market (or have only done so recently). It's a great place to advertise internships, apprenticeships, graduate schemes, or entry-level positions.
• Twitter: Though it may not seem like it, Twitter is an excellent social media platform for business and recruitment purposes. Why? First, unlike other platforms, its demographic is pretty evenly distributed. Second, Twitter's algorithm still shows posts in real-time (chronologically). Third, it's a hidden gem for finding tech people. Plus, content for Twitter is fairly straightforward — just stay within the character limit and occasionally post visual media, like video testimonials from an influencer.

• YouTube: YouTube can be a tricky platform for influencer marketing, mainly because influencers expect higher compensation here. Unlike Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram — which all favor short-form content — YouTube favors longer videos, meaning an influencer will put in more work to create content for a sponsor. However, if you choose the right influencer for your needs, this pricier option can pay off greatly in the long run.

• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is specifically designed with job seekers in mind. The influencers on the platform tend to be businessmen sharing insights into their work, workplace culture, or other professional topics. Partnering with LinkedIn influencers is a bit more uncommon but can be highly effective at attracting job seekers to your company. One way to outreach LinkedIn influencers at a scale can be by using a tool such as Linked Helper that can automate sending personalized connection invites and messages. With LinkedIn, you might have a safer bet on predicting employee performance, though.

• Facebook. While also a great social media platform for job recruitment — reputable influencers can be harder to find on Facebook. Instead, try having an existing, media-savvy employee run a branded Facebook account for job recruitment. This is a good way to establish an in-house influencer you can return to again and again.

Examples of companies that use influencers for recruitment

Social media is an essential tool in almost all recruitment strategies.

In a 2022 survey of more than 250 recruitment and branding teams, 96% of recruitment teams revealed that they use social media in their recruitment process.

A further 64% of recruitment teams have dedicated social media recruiting and employer branding accounts on social media platforms.

Here are 3 examples of major companies utilizing influencer marketing for recruitment:

• Intuit: As mentioned before, businesses can sometimes turn to members of their existing team for influencer marketing. Emily Durham (@emily.the.recruiter on TikTok) is both an independent content creator and a senior recruiter for the financial technology company Intuit. Though Emily provides general recruitment advice to her following, she also leverages her following as part of Intuit’s own recruitment strategy.

• TikTok: To promote new job opportunities, TikTok either works with influencers who work for the company already or those who have access to the company’s target demographic. The platform even has TikTok resumes that users can leverage to show off their professional talents directly on TikTok.
  
• Netflix: Along with using a variety of influencer marketing strategies to promote their streaming services and original content, Netflix has also worked with popular recruitment influencers to find talent for their team. One prominent influencer Netflix has worked with is Stacy Donovan Zapar, a recruitment specialist who helps companies with talent search initiatives.

How to choose the right niche influencers for your recruitment needs

Now that you’re ready to begin leveraging influencer marketing, the first step is finding influencers in your target industry or niche.

Here's a quick breakdown of how to choose a niche and find influencers within that niche:

• What to focus on? First, you shouldn't choose an influencer based solely on follower count. For instance, an influencer can have millions of followers but not make any content that's relevant to your business — this influencer likely wouldn't be an effective recruiter. Instead, consider factors such as relevance to your business, their audience & reach, credibility (always look for bad press before agreeing to work with an influencer!), location, and social media platform. InBeat also offers a number of metrics to evaluate different influencer profiles, such as an Instagram Fake Follower Checker & Engagement Rate Checker.
• Where to look? You'll find different types of influencers depending on what social media platform you use. LinkedIn is a popular platform for recruitment, with 79% of recruitment teams using LinkedIn as their main recruitment channel. Alternatively, you can never go wrong with hiring Instagram influencers. Plus, if you don't want to spend ages looking through different profiles, inBeat lets you explore its spam-checked database of influencers using metrics and keywords to find the profiles you need.

• Explore other industries. Sometimes, the key to finding the right influencer for your needs is to look outside your industry. For example, if you're a software development company, but you're hiring a communications specialist, it's better to look for influencers who work in or target the communications and PR industries rather than the software development industry.

Pro Tip: The inBeat social media database has a built-in influencer analytics tool that allows you to know exactly who you’re working with and gain insight into their general performance and past collaborations. This can be helpful to anyone who’s unsure where to start looking. The picture below is a preview of how this tool works.

How to reach out to influencers for recruitment purposes

We discussed earlier the importance of reaching out to influencers via email or DM.

Here are the 3 tasks you need to complete when reaching out to an influencer:

1. Determine your budget beforehand. When it comes to influencer marketing costs, the amount of money you spend is highly dependent on the influencer and their pricing model. Coming into negotiations with them with a clear budget in mind and letting them know how much you're willing to spend right off the bat ultimately saves everyone time. To give you an idea of what influencers charge on different platforms, here's a quick overview:

• YouTube: On average, prepare to pay $20 for every 1,000 subscribers of a YouTube influencer.
• Instagram: On average, an Instagram post from an influencer with 100K followers costs approximately $1000. However, micro-influencers charge from $0 to $2000 per Instagram post.
• TikTok: Some influencers charge a flat of  $200 to $20,000 for a branded video on TikTok. Cost per sponsored video view ranges from $0,01 to $0,02.
• Facebook: Expect to be charged $250 per post of a Facebook influencer with 10,000 to 100,000 followers.

1. Contact them. Always look first to see what contact information the influencer lists publicly and their bios for instructions. Most larger influencers will have management teams that handle business dealings for them, while smaller influencers are more likely to work with your directly.
2. Make an offer. It’s now time to make your offer. Below, you'll find an example of an initial contact message that includes an initial offer for the influencer. But remember, influencers like to negotiate, so keep a flexible attitude (to an extent) throughout the process.
   

Example of an outreach email to an influencer:

Hi Jane,

I am John Doe, a recruitment marketing specialist at XYZ Company. We are currently in the process of hiring new employees for our health and wellness team. To achieve optimal results from our hiring process, we are seeking a talented influencer in the health and wellness space to help us with recruitment.

As a prominent influencer in this space, we believe partnering with you for our influencer marketing needs is the ideal next step. Our current budget for influencer marketing is $1,500.

If this sponsorship is something that interests you, please email us back with information on your marketing services and pricing model. We would ideally like to receive a minimum of three promotional posts on Instagram as part of this sponsorship.

Thank you for your time & we look forward to hearing from you!

John Doe, Recruitment Specialist at XYZ Company

What to do once you've found your influencer?

So, you’ve found your influencer and signed a contract — what comes next?

• Build a long-term strategy together. If the influencer you've chosen proves to be a highly beneficial recruiter, you should work on building a long-term and ongoing strategy with them. This can include monthly meetings where you set month-long objectives for both you and the influencer to work toward. If the collaboration works well, consider asking the influencer to work on promoting your business as well.
• Create a content plan and calendar. Content planning is always crucial for keeping social media engagement numbers up. By creating a content calendar, you can keep your social media recruitment strategy more organized and also provide your influencer with key deadlines and content expectations. Consider how many people you want to recruit, for which positions, etc.
• Write an influencer marketing brief. An influencer marketing brief is a document that covers your marketing campaign goals, as well as what types of content you wish to receive from the influencer. Think of it as an instruction manual. It should also contain explicit guidelines on any privacy policy and legal terms.
• Track and measure your posts. It's the best way to find out how effective your influencer’s recruitment posts are and how well your overall influencer marketing strategy is working. Plus, this can give you greater insights into what your target audience responds well to.

Key takeaways: Maximize the benefits of influencer marketing for recruitment

For businesses struggling to recruit, influencer marketing can be an excellent strategy for connecting with eager professionals looking for their next job.

To make the most out of your influencer marketing strategy, remember these 3 key points:

1. Always research an influencer before reaching out. There’s nothing worse than signing a contract with an influencer only to find out they've been receiving negative press for weeks over a scandal.
2. Pick the best social media platforms for your needs. Not all social media platforms work the same, though they all have their strengths. While Instagram may be great for finding photographers, LinkedIn and Twitter may be better for finding software engineers.
3. Send a respectful outreach message to influencers. Remember that influencers are also professionals worthy of respect and fair compensation. If you approach an influencer with a low price point or a lack of professionalism, you’ll end up having a difficult time nailing down a contract.

With that said and done, start searching for your ideal influencer to boost your recruitment efforts today!

This article was provided by Kickresume

Kickresume is a popular online resume builder that also aims to connect companies with the right remote talent. With their resume builder alone, they’ve already helped more than 2M people worldwide land jobs. Their remote jobs board takes that one step further by automatically matching job candidates with relevant remote roles.

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