If a recruiter wants to fully exploit the opportunities of searching for employees on the Internet today, he should be familiar with the concept of viral marketing. Viral marketing involves the planned communication of advertising messages via social networking sites aimed at getting the so-called sharers, people who will discuss the messages and share them with their more or less extensive networks of contacts. There are many examples of recruitment campaigns going viral. For instance, lately you may have noticed the campaigns of McDonald's, Heineken or the Technical University in Brno.

The aim of viral marketing in recruitment is not only to reach talent, but also to develop employer brands. How should you ensure that your job ads will be spontaneously spread over the Internet while not becoming a laughingstock or damaging your business in another way? According to Recruiter.com, a strong employer brand is the essential prerequisite. People will simply not talk about you (at least in a good way), if you do not offer them an attractive working environment and remuneration. Have you ever wandered why everyone wants to work for Google? Because the company can offer opportunities their employees are passionate about; and, it can express these points in their job ads, too. A job ad has a greater potential to go viral, if it emphasizes a positive corporate culture, career development, or flexible work.

Recruiter.com further recommends:

Search for influential sharers

If your job offer should spread in right direction, it must first get the attention of key figures in the industry. These people could be local employers, students, representatives of professional organizations or professionally oriented media.

Use video

Short videos are now a regular part of job offers. Employers have already noticed that the ads accompanied by videos attract more traffic and are shared more often. Recruitment videos should be funny, surprising and thought inspiring.

Make the sharing of your content easier

Each job ad on your company website should include easily visible buttons for sharing on social networks. Users will not try to work out any complicated ways to share your offers.

Facilitate real-time communication

Today's Internet users expect immediate interactive communication. They will not wait a long time to receive your answers to their questions. So if you still do not have an online chat on your website, it is high time to set it up.

Actively ask for sharing

This works very well on social networks such as Twitter. Just add a request to forward your message when publishing the information about your new job offers. This is the same rule as in any other fields of marketing - do not forget to include a specific call to action.

Run an employee referrals program

If you are still not using the recommendations of your present employees when searching for new ones, start now and include social networks. A good bet is to try making it a game. For example, there can be a competition among the employees to see who finds the most interesting talents for the company and follow it online in real time.

Reward the sharing of your job offers

First, determine how to best motivate your employees to share your job offers. Reward them with something they are interested in and which will support their further involvement.

Teach employees how to develop their social networks

Educate your people how to build up their professional networks, for example by contributing to industry-related discussion groups and sharing interesting news from the industry with their contacts.

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