Employers have reported that using social media to source candidates has improved candidate quality by 49 percent. The big three social networking sites used to source and attract talent are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. LinkedIn takes the lead at 93 percent of companies using it for recruiting purposes, followed by Facebook (66%) and Twitter (54%). However, is it Twitter’s time to shine in social recruiting? Well, the release of Twitter Analytics just may be the social recruiting game changer.

Now available to everyone, whether you have a Twitter Ad account or not, Twitter Analytics allows any user to access a dashboard of pertinent data. The best thing about this new feature from Twitter: it’s free and easy to access.

Let’s take a look at how Twitter Analytics works, what it provides and how recruiters can get the most out of their social recruiting strategy with the least used network of the top three.

How it Works

If you’re already logged into your Twitter account you’ll automatically be enrolled. The Twitter Analytics dashboard is capable of showing you data compiled from two sources: your tweets and your followers. Both are useful to your social recruiting efforts, but for very different reasons. So pay attention to the following:

Your Tweets: Recruitment Messaging

Starting now, each tweet you send out will be tracked to your Twitter Analytics dashboard. The tweets are tracked for a 28-day period, and you can export the data. (Hint: Mark your calendar every 28 days as a reminder to export the data and effectively track your progress to ensure no data overlaps.) Your tweets will now be measured for three things:

1. Impressions: the number of times users see the Tweet on Twitter

2. Engagements: total number of times a user has interacted with a tweet (this includes all clicks anywhere on the tweet) retweets, replies follows and favorites

3. Engagement Rate: the number of engagements divided by the total number of impressions

The impressions data is important because it shows how your tweets are reaching across the social network. Obviously, the higher the impressions the better, but what really counts is the action! The action is represented in the engagements, which shows that your tweets are attracting talent, spreading your recruitment messaging and even building your talent pool.

Why Tracking Your Tweets is Important

Now you can identify what your audience responds to the most. Tweets that have been retweeted, replied to, and/or favorited are more likely to have higher impressions from being displayed on more newsfeeds. Look for trends in the data, and you’ll notice that your audience may be responding better to a specific style or tone. Are you finding that tweets including images are garnering a higher engagement rate? Take it a step further, and look into the types of images that are gaining more attention. Identifying trends in your engagement rates can serve as the framework for constructing your social recruitment messaging.

Your Followers: Your Potential Talent Pool

Twitter Analytics tells you everything you need to know about your followers. Your followers most likely consist of people in your industry, the organizations you recruit for, and ahhh yes… your potential talent pool (if you’ve built one).

Pique Their Interest

Twitter Analytics shows you what your followers top interests are. For example, my Twitter followers’ unique interests break down like this:

• Comedy (Movies and Television) – 41%
• Leadership – 39%
• Human Resources – 37%
• Career News and General Info – 37%
• Music – 36%
• Job Search – 36%

This makes sense, especially because my entire Twitter audience consists of CEOs, HR pros, recruiters and my little sister. However, comedy wins in my case, and it may win in yours. Whether you find comedy, music, technology or (cross your fingers) Job Search at the top of your list, your tweets need to reflect those top interests in your recruitment messaging.

In addition, Twitter Analytics breaks down your audience by gender. While being gender-specific in your tweets is not advised, you can construct messaging and images that will speak to the majority of your followers.

Home is Where Their Heart Is

Twitter Analytics tracks the top countries, states and cities of your Twitter followers. Obviously the majority of my followers are from the Heartland, where I reside. However, I’ve picked up a considerable amount of followers from Washington D.C. and California. Why is knowing the location of followers important? Because you’re a recruiter, and in sourcing, location is everything. Knowing the location of your followers can help dissect your efforts and see if you’re wasting time and resources on Twitter.

For example, if you’re recruiting for a company in Boston, but finding out that the majority of your followers are in the Big Apple (and you actually have no followers in Boston), then you’re going to want to change your entire recruitment messaging. Instead of focusing specifically on that particular job position, you may opt to tweet about why living in Boston is so great. What are the benefits of being a Boston resident? Why should someone in New York consider a job in Boston? Get creative with it, but make sure to remain impartial and not offend any followers.

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Originally posted on Recruiter.com

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