4 Tips to Boost Online Engagement

4 Tips to Boost Online Engagement

Engaging with prospective staff and caregivers online is critical for a successful hiring campaign. From social platforms, like Facebook and LinkedIn, to job boards or even your facility’s website, your online presence is frequently a prospect’s first impression of your facility – and with the right strategy, it won’t be their last. 

Below are four key components to consider when engaging with your target audience online: 

1. Have a specific goal in mind.

Before you start choreographing TikTok dances or trying to go viral, define the goal of your campaign – and make it specific. Is your goal hiring a certain number of caregivers? Are you looking for a specific kind of caregiver? Are you looking to replace an established role, or build your team more broadly?

From there, determine your content’s primary call-to-action (CTA). What do you want your audience to do? Possible CTAs for hiring campaigns include: “Apply Now,” “Start Your Career” or “Work With Us.”

By establishing clear answers to these questions, you save yourself time and energy drafting content that sends prospects down the wrong rabbit hole instead of the right one (going straight to your hiring page).

2. Make the content suit the platform.

Form fits function when it comes to drawing in prospects online. Each one of your facility’s digital platforms are different – and the content that you post should be tailored to appeal to each’s platform’s strengths.

Some best practices for each platform include: 

• X (Twitter)/Threads: Short posts with a clear CTA and a link. Grab your audience’s attention and quickly direct them to an application page. 
• Facebook/LinkedIn: These platforms are more long-form friendly – you can drop more detail about the positions for which you are hiring. Add an image to help get eyes on your post (see our Careers in Caring photos),and don’t forget the link to apply.
• Instagram: Image-first – have a repository of images with human faces to draw eyes and showcase the human impact of working at your facility. Make sure to have a link to your hiring page in your bio (or use a tool like Linktree to have more than one link available to your followers). 
• Website: Place hiring front and center on your website’s homepage and ensure your Careers page is easily accessible in your website’s menu.
• Job Boards: Indeed.com, Glassdoor and other job boards will serve you best if your facility has a filled-out, reputable profile and a clear, concise job description with benefits emphasized outright. See our sample job postings here for inspiration.

Just remember: The more platforms you have, the more platforms you’ll need to keep updated. When conducting your hiring campaign, choose only the number of platforms your team can feasibly maintain – doing good work on two to three platforms is far more effective than a lackluster campaign on six or seven.

3. Be proactive AND reactive.

You have a specific CTA. You have your platforms. What do you post?

It’s important to be both proactive and reactive when it comes to online engagement.

Proactive engagement looks like promoting your job posts on job boards and social media; sharing photos of new hires; or keeping hiring resources updated on your website. Use these social media templates to get you started.

Reactive engagement looks like responding to prospects’ questions about job postings;  sharing a link to an article about your community and adding “Come work with us!”; or staying flexible in the event a platform is underperforming and focusing your attention on other areas.

4. Consistency is key.
Running a long term care facility isn’t easy. It can be tempting to schedule out your posts and “set and forget” your hiring campaign while you deal with real-world, day-to-day challenges.

Think of your online presence like a garden: it needs maintenance to see growth. Consistent posting, regularly responding to comments and questions, adding in retweets or shares when you can, and keeping all job posting up-to-date can go a long way in bringing in new prospects.

With specific goals, tailored content, an intentional strategy and consistent engagement, your hiring campaign will be primed for prospecting. 

Ready to begin? Get started here.