It’s well known among the recruiting community that a candidate’s online profile can provide insights into their work ethic, character, and integrity, which are all important factors to consider when deciding on job candidates. However, it can be a slippery slope, especially when social media profiles reveal legally protected characteristics such as age, race, and religious affiliation.

Keep useful information from turning into too much information as you source, evaluate, and screen candidates via social media by deploying a written policy and ensuring the entire organization complies.

What is a Social Media Policy for Recruitment?

Many employment law experts recommend establishing a formal policy for using social media as a recruitment tool, which would establish rules for how social media profiles are reviewed and how that information goes into the decision-making process. Typically, such a policy would define both what the employer is and is not looking for when reviewing social media profiles.

Even if gathered inadvertently, information derived from a candidate’s social media profile can put you at risk for a lawsuit down the road. Thus, employers should be aware of learning about a candidate’s protected class information. Federal employment law prohibits employers from basing hiring, firing, and other employment-related decisions on the following protected characteristics:

• Age
• Disability
• Genetic information
• Military status
• National origin
• Pregnancy
• Race/color
• Religion
• Sex
• Sexual orientation or gender identity

For example, a candidate’s social media presence might reveal information about a disability. Later, if the candidate isn’t hired and claims discrimination based on this disability (either real or perceived), the employer’s best defense is ignorance of the candidate’s protected status at the time the decision was made. However, if you learn of this information while looking at social media, that defense is lost.

Your social media policy for recruitment also should address the types of information that can help inform your hiring decisions, without crossing the line. Some examples of legitimate items to look for may include:

• Negative postings about past employers
• Material relating to illicit drug abuse or criminal activity
• Posts showing a lack of judgment or ethical clarity
• Discrepancies between social media posts and resumes or other information submitted by applicants
• Information that illustrates the qualities you are looking for, such as integrity and professionalism

One thing to absolutely avoid is asking candidates for passwords. While it’s just not a good idea to go digging into their profiles yourself, and is not a great start to the employment relationship anyway, many states have passed laws prohibiting employers from requiring applicants to disclose their passwords to social media accounts.

Back Up Your Policy With Clear Procedures

Once you have a social media policy, put it into action by developing a strong process to support it. This might include identifying which social media channels should be checked for legitimate information, and which shouldn’t. For example, some social media sites include work history or project portfolios (LinkedIn, for example, serves as an online resume and referral network), while others are more geared toward sharing photos of friends and family.

If you have adequate staff, consider adding a layer of independent review to help strengthen your candidate review process. This might be someone who is otherwise not involved in the hiring decision who could review social media profiles for items defined in the policy. After reviewing the candidate(s), they can then report back to the decision-maker in writing. This could be part of the overall reference-checking process.

This report could include red flags about behavior or a lack of information that supports the resume. For instance, social media information that directly contradicts what is on the candidate’s resume could be a major red flag (but, since context is everything, you’ll still want to investigate further before making any conclusions). It should most definitely not include any information about protected statuses.

Keep What You Learn in Context

Speaking of context, it’s worth emphasizing that everything you can learn via online profiles is potentially relevant to someone’s suitability for a job opening, but not necessarily. This is why it’s so important to keep what you find in its proper context as you put your social media policy for recruitment to work.

For instance, you may be hiring someone for an important role that requires international travel and the ability to interact with people from various cultures. If a candidate’s social media profile illustrates a genuine interest in (and respect for) other cultures, that information may nudge you to advance their application to the next step. However, disparaging comments made about a particular ethnicity or nationality would probably be a red flag.

Digging a little deeper, though, you want to ensure that any comments or posts attributed to a given candidate actually reflect their views. This can lead you down some rabbit holes, but just be sure you’re not unfairly ruling someone out based on what you see.

In particular, information shared by people other than the candidate may not be the best indicator of what the candidate is like. For instance, something that may be considered a red flag might not be coming from the candidate; it could have been posted on their feed by someone else or they may have even been tagged by someone who doesn’t know them.

Properly Leverage Social Media and More for Your Recruitment Needs

As you can see, drafting a social media policy for recruitment purposes will enable you to leverage this powerful tool without crossing over into dangerous legal territory. Sign up to learn more about this and other crucial recruiting, onboarding, and HR tactics today.

Legal Disclaimer: This article is not intended as a substitute for professional legal advice. Always seek the advice of an attorney regarding any legal questions you may have.

The post Why You Need a Social Media Policy for Recruitment appeared first on Monster.com.

You can also use social media to recruit and retain top talent. For example, you can show why your company is a great place to work by posting about your company culture, brand history, and accomplishments.

Researching social media marketing strategies takes time, and you’re busy running a business. We did the research for you. Here are the most important metrics to track and how to use the insights to increase company performance.

The Top Social Media Metrics to Track

At the end of each month, it’s helpful to collect these metrics, compare them to previous months, and set your strategy for the following month.

1. Engagement

This is the number of people who are interacting with your content. Depending on the social media platform, you’ll look at views, likes, shares, mentions, comments, and tags.

You could gain valuable feedback from analyzing your engagement metrics. For example, you’ll get a clearer picture of your target demographic and see the type of content that resonates with your followers.

2. Reach

Reach is the number of people who could see your post. Your reach is typically your follower count plus the follower count of any accounts that share your post.

If your goal is to strengthen your branding and gain new customers, it’s helpful to consistently measure your reach. If your follower count and shares spike, try to see what makes that content work so you can replicate it.

3. Impressions

This social media metric represents the number of people who see your post on their feed. Most social media platforms show content with high engagement numbers in the feed.

If your goal is to strengthen your branding and gain new customers, it’s helpful to track your impressions and reach. If your impressions are much lower than your reach, consider creating social media ads or shifting the type of content you share to see what resonates more.

4. Referrals

Most website analytics platforms will show you where people are coming from, such as a search engine, another website, or social media. You can see how many referrals are coming from each of the most popular social media platforms.

You may want to spend more time creating content for your most popular social media platforms. Keep in mind that you don’t need to be on every platform. It takes time to create effective content. If you’re not seeing results from some of the platforms, you could divert your attention to ones that are driving traffic to your website.

5. Conversion Rate

This social media metric measures how many people are taking your desired action, such as signing up for your newsletter, visiting your website, or buying your products or services. Your conversion rate is usually calculated by dividing the conversion number by the referral number. If 10 people come to your site from social media and five people convert, your conversion rate would be 50 percent.

Your conversion rate is important because it shows whether your content is effective. If you are generating a lot of traffic, but your conversion rate is low, it might be a sign that you need to make some changes. For example, you may want to write more compelling calls to action, product descriptions, and other website copy.

6. Share of Voice (SOV)

This is the number of people who are discussing your brand compared to your competitors. You can count your hashtags, mentions, tags, shares, and comments for a given period and your competitors’ or industry’s engagement. However, that can be time-consuming and there are social media listening tools you can use to automate the process.

Look at your main competitors’ social media platforms to see what is and isn’t working for them so you can adjust your social media marketing strategy accordingly. You may discover new competitors to watch.

7. Brand Sentiment

Your brand sentiment is the main outlook people have about your brand. You can use a social media listening tool to automatically evaluate the posts and comments people make about your brand and determine if the sentiment is mostly positive, negative, or neutral.

You can use this social media metric to increase customer satisfaction by making changes based on the feedback you receive. Boost customer loyalty by responding to people who are fans of your brand. If you check your competitors’ brand sentiment, you can make adjustments to your business based on the negative and positive feedback.

8. Brand Mentions

Check the number of brand mentions you get each month to determine whether engagement is growing. Look at direct and indirect mentions and your brand’s hashtags. (It’s a direct mention if someone tags your company and an indirect mention if they say your company’s name or talk about your products but don’t tag you.)

Improve customer satisfaction by quickly responding to customer complaints. You may be able to increase sales by listening to your customers’ requests for new products or improvements.

9. Click-Through Rate (CTR)

This social media metric measures how many people click the link in your social media post. After using a link tracker to find out the number, divide it by the number of impressions for the post to get the click-through rate.

Compare the posts with high CTRs to lower ones to find out what resonates with your audience. Are they more likely to click when you have quippy copy, a high-quality product photo, or a sale that ends soon? Start posting more of the content that is getting clicks.

10. Audience Growth Rate

Your audience growth rate measures how quickly your follower count is growing. Start by finding out the number of followers you gained in a month. Next, divide that number by your total follower count and multiply it by 100 to get the percentage.

When you see your audience growth rate spike, try to find out the cause. It’s possible your engagement increased. Keep up the momentum by creating similar content the next month.

Use Your Social Media Presence to Strengthen Your Business

Now you know the most impactful social media metrics to measure and how to use the insights to gain new customers, build a loyal customer base, and reach qualified candidates. Continue to attract and retain top talent by implementing expert hiring and management advice from Monster.

The post Top 10 Social Media Metrics and How to Leverage Them appeared first on Monster.com.

The word “infographic” is a combination of information and graphics, using text and visuals like charts, maps, and icons to convey information in a concise and engaging way. It takes time to research design best practices and come up with creative infographic ideas. We did some of the heavy lifting so you can focus on hiring top talent.

You can forward this list of best practices and ideas to your in-house or freelance graphic designer. (If you don’t have a graphic designer on-call, you can use infographic design software to make compelling infographics quickly.)

1. Incorporate Your Branding

Incorporate your aesthetic branding on all your infographics by using your brand fonts, colors, logo, and icon or image style. You can also make infographics that improve your employer branding, which is your company’s reputation as a place to work. For example:

• Core values. Share a list of your company’s core values with images that represent each. Reduce copy by providing longer descriptions on your “about” page, “career” page, and in social media captions.
• Company perks and benefits. Similarly, you can share a list of your benefits and perks, such as remote work, flexible schedules, bonuses, and stipends.
• Professional development initiatives. Create a list infographic that highlights any professional development initiatives your company offers like mentorship programs, trainings, career development plans, and learning stipends.
• Employee testimonials. Ask employees from a variety of departments and seniority levels to share what they like best about working at your company, the core value they identify with the most, and to describe the company culture. Create a series of testimonial infographics that share each person’s best responses or how a few people answered the same question. For example, you could superimpose a quote onto an image of the respective employee.

2. Focus on Visualization

Instead of relying on copy to tell a story, the most compelling infographics primarily use icons and visual tools like graphs, charts, timelines, and roadmaps. They should be able to “read” it just by glancing at it. Use infographics to add additional context to your website content and job postings. For example:

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) metrics. Many business owners highlight their DEI commitments and action plans on their website and in blog posts. You could use infographics to show the current workforce demographics, representing these demographics with instantly recognizable symbols such as the LGBTQ flag. Additionally, it’s helpful to share the demographic breakdown for specific groups, such as new hires, seniority levels, and technical and non-technical roles.
• Employee satisfaction metrics. If you run employee satisfaction surveys, you could share positive results on your website’s career page using multicolored pie charts or graphs. In addition to measuring overall job satisfaction, it’s helpful to ask employees to rate the company culture, pay and benefits, leadership, and opportunities for career advancement.
• Create a series of map infographics. If it’s relevant, you could share office and store locations. If you have an all-remote team, you could share where your employees reside using points on a map.

3. Cover a Concise Topic

It is overwhelming to look at an infographic that is crammed with information. The best ones cover a defined topic and are presented in a clean, uncluttered manner. For example:

• Hiring process. If you have a standard hiring process for all roles, create an infographic that lets candidates know the next steps, perhaps in flowchart form, from handing in their application to signing their offer. If the hiring process differs based on the department or role, create customized infographics that you can include in your job postings and on social media.
• Career trajectories. Candidates and employees want to work for a company that prioritizes career advancement and has a clear career trajectory for each role. Create infographics that share the career path for specific roles. It can be helpful to share details like the average amount of time it takes to advance to each level or the average salary for each level.
• Orientation and onboarding process. Share the steps of the orientation and onboarding process at your company so candidates and new hires know they’ll have ample support and training.

4. Diversify Your Content

Create a variety of infographic templates that you can customize based on the information you want to share. Some of the most common infographic categories are processes, comparisons, timelines, maps and locations, graphs, charts, flowcharts, testimonials, roadmaps, instructions, and lists. You could give candidates more background on your company by sharing:

• Company history timeline. Create a timeline infographic that shows key milestones in your company’s history. You could include this graphic on your “about” page and on social media.
• Organizational chart. Let candidates and new hires know more about the organization by creating infographics that showcase the departments at the company, the management team and department leads, and each individual department.
• Products or services list. If it’s relevant for your company, make an infographic that showcases your products or services. Depending on your offerings, you could even make these interactive so users can get more detailed information. If you have a lot of them, you could share best-sellers.

5. Make it Shareable

Customize your infographics to be the optimal sizes for various social media platforms. Create infographics that you can pitch to the media and that people will want to share. Increase the likelihood that people will find the infographics you share on your website and blog posts by following search engine optimization best practices. Use keywords in your file name and alt-text. If you run polls surveys and share industry advice on your blog, make companion infographics.

• Poll and survey results. Create infographics to share proprietary poll and survey results that media outlets and individuals will want to share, again using multicolor pie charts or graphs.
• Blog posts. Summarize the key points from your blog post in an engaging list infographic.

Now That You Know How to Implement Marketing Infographics, Learn More

The right infographics, used strategically, can help you recruit and retain skilled employees. Continue to strengthen your recruitment and retention efforts by implementing expert-recommended hiring and management advice from Monster.

The post 5 Ways to Use Marketing Infographics for Recruitment appeared first on Monster.com.

But with such ubiquitous public access to production tools comes a glut of content, from film trailers and product commercials to funny cat videos and hilarious edits of pop culture clips. Question is, how do you stand apart from the crowd?

More companies are now shooting marketing videos for business purposes, including recruitment videos to attract new talent. Some companies are even using video job descriptions to bring their written job postings to life. Whether your company videos will be posted on YouTube, Instagram, or even traditional television, it’s important to pay attention to the details in order to create a professional look. The following business video tips will help you get there.

Prepare properly

Before you yell “action!” you need to take some time to prepare. This preproduction phase of the shoot typically takes longer than the actual filming, but it’s critical to a successful video. Common preproduction steps include the following:

• Storyboard/Script – Don’t wing it, but provide a script for everyone’s lines and actions (or “blocking”). A storyboard, which provides a shot-by-shot illustration of the production, helps those involved visualize the scene(s) from start to finish.
• Prepare your subjects – This may sound obvious, but chances are you’re not using professional actors. Let them know what you’re expectations are, your vision for the finished product, and how they should carry themselves.
• Will you need B-roll footage? Any footage that isn’t the primary shot (for instance, a shot of an erupting volcano) is referred to as B-roll footage. Make sure you have access to this footage, much of which is available from stock footage providers, and decide what you’re using (and how) before you start shooting.

Learn the basics of production

Now that you have your script and storyboard in everyone’s hands, a time and location for the shoot, and your general plan in place, it’s time to shoot. Marketing videos for business won’t be eligible for Oscars, so don’t have unrealistic expectations or spend too many resources making it perfect. However, there are some ways to get the best out of everyone:

• Composition – You’ll want to learn about the “Rule of Thirds,” in which the scene is divided by two horizontal lines and two vertical lines (creating four intersections). For effective visuals, place points of interest (faces, etc.) along one of the four intersections.
• Lighting – The wrong lighting can tarnish all your other hard work, so you want to get it right. For instance, you want to avoid conflicts between artificial and natural light and make sure your light source is consistent (such as avoiding rooms with windows when shooting indoors).
• Sound – What are the acoustics like in your chosen set location? Echoes are virtually impossible to overcome (unless you’re going for an echo effect for some reason). Be sure you have the microphone(s) you need and that they’re set up properly. If you’re filming one or more people simply talking to the camera, it may be worth it to get access to a soundproof room.
• Multiple takes – Don’t be afraid to reshoot your scene(s), especially if it’s not that simple to get everyone together on location in the future. Maybe even prepare several different versions or styles, since you may change your mind or get inspired for a new direction once you’re in post-production.

Be camera-ready

You don’t need a degree from Julliard to successfully take part in your company’s marketing video, but attention to a few key details can make all the difference. The following tips will help you be camera-ready on the day of shooting:

• Relax – Relax your face and the rest of your body, making sure you’re not scrunching your shoulders, fidgeting with your hands, or rocking back and forth. We’re not always aware of our nervous ticks, so make a conscious effort to notice these things before shooting.
• Mind your breath – Almost as if you’re doing yoga, take deep and slow breaths that will help you relax and slow down.
• Use proper posture – One trick is to stand with your back against the wall, and then slowly walk away from the wall while keeping your posture intact.
• If in doubt, overemphasize – This is a performance, not your day-to-day routine, and the camera will respond better to clear enunciation, somewhat exaggerated gestures, good volume, etc.
• Be concise – Remember, most promotional videos are about 30 seconds to a minute or so. You want to get your point across early and in the most concise manner possible.
• Be comfortable – Drink plenty of water, wear comfortable clothes, and be as relaxed as possible. If it’s warm, turn on the air conditioning. If you’re nervous, do some breathing exercises.

Put on the finishing touches

Once your marketing video is in the can, you’ll need to go back and tidy it up in post-production, typically with the help of available video editing software. There is a wide range of options and corresponding price points, but your company may already have image and video editing software as part of a larger creative software suite.

And while it may be tempting to throw every single special effect and graphic at your video, it may ultimately cheapen the final product. Focus on simplicity and minimalism so the subject of your video takes center stage. Similarly, make sure your backing music (if applicable) doesn’t detract from your video or conflict with your branding goals.

Need more help with marketing and recruitment?

As these tips suggest, focusing on the little things will help you attain your larger goals when it comes to marketing videos for business. If you want to take your recruitment efforts to the next level, we’re ready to help. Stay connected with Monster and we’ll provide you with free access to the latest recruiting resources, from job market insights to hiring strategies for your industry.

The post Tips on shooting marketing videos for business appeared first on Monster.com.

What, you don’t have one? Time to come out of the Stone Age. Here are the top five reasons to have a social media policy and one big suggestion about how to get it done.

5. The internet is forever

Facebook has more than a billion users and will keep their accounts online long after they are dead. With videos, blogs, and other posts, that’s about as close to immortality as it gets. If there’s a social media post about your company on the internet, it will never die.

4. Social media is everywhere

People used to pick up a newspaper for information. Then they got it on their television. Now it’s delivered to their phones. With one snap from a camera phone, your business could be all over social media. In other words, every employee at your company is a reporter.

3. Everybody has access to information

If Neanderthals could talk—and didn’t have fat fingers—even they would be in on the conversation. There’s only one thing scarier than a caveman (or an employee who acts like one) with a smartphone, and that’s one with a Twitter account.

2. Employees will talk about their jobs

Social media platforms collect as much information as possible about people, including work information. It drives networking, advertising, elections… Not that any foreign agents have an interest in monitoring your company, but you should care about what your own people are saying about it.

However, tread carefully if you want to take any action against an employee for posting about your company on social media. If the posts amount to a “protected activity,” you could be setting yourself up for a retaliation claim.

1. Employers could be liable for their employees’ social media

Wait, what? You didn’t know your company could be liable for an employee’s obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, bullying, or other wholly inappropriate social media posts? Yes, and it gets worse. They may be spilling trade secrets, or other information that we won’t mention, all over the place. Let’s just say it could get legally ugly. As you build your company’s online reputation, don’t forget the looming danger of lawsuits.

One big suggestion about getting a social media policy

Get one. A social media policy can help an employer avoid most or all of the pitfalls mentioned above. Here are a few areas you may want to cover in your policy:

• The use of personal social media accounts while on the job (e.g., is it prohibited or limited in any way?)
• The need to distinguish personal opinions from those of the company
• Protection of confidential corporate information and brand reputation
• Respect for privacy rights
• Compliance with applicable laws (e.g., copyright laws) and company standards in general
• Corporate contacts for employees who have questions about the policy

Violations of your policy should be documented and should result in discipline, up to and including termination.

“(A)n employer has the right to discipline employees for their online behavior during working hours; an employee is at work to do work, not to send Twitter updates, post on Facebook, or maintain a blog,” says Eric Kinder of Spilman Thomas and Battle PLLC. “The one caveat to this rule is that employers must be consistent in enforcing this social media policy; an employer cannot discipline employees when they make negative comments about the company, but ignore other non-work related activity while an employee is on the clock.”

If that sounds like it was written by lawyers, it’s because it was—and for a reason. Keep this in mind as you utilize all the opportunities social media offers, including the ability to promote your newest product to an eager social audience or to target your recruiting efforts to find just the right candidates.

Building your company’s social reputation starts with building a great team

When guided by a smart strategy and a sound policy, social media can be a great tool for your business, if it’s in the right hands. When it comes to recruiting talent to your organization, keeping current on the hiring market can be a challenge. Fortunately, Monster.com has tools to keep you ahead of the curve. Check out Monster Hiring Solutions for more information on hiring trends, recruitment strategies, and more.

Legal disclaimer: None of the information provided herein constitutes legal advice on behalf of Monster.

The post Top five reasons your company needs a social media policy appeared first on Monster.com.

Social media is a cost-effective way for small and midsized businesses to generate sales leads, cement relationships with existing customers, and establish their employer brand. And getting started is easier than you might think.

As you plan your social media marketing strategy there’s a lot to consider. You’ll need to:

1. Understand the benefits of social media
2. Target key audience sectors
3. Determine the right message and tone
4. Manage your social media marketing plan
5. Measure results and readjust

1. Understanding the Benefits of Social Media

Social media is a perfect marketing vehicle for small businesses that are looking to grow their profits and establish their employer brand. An effective social media marketing strategy does not need to be expensive, time-consuming, or labor-intensive.

Not only is social media a great tool for driving customer traffic your way, but it can also allow you to engage with loyal fans who can serve as online cheerleaders for your brand. It can allow you to both engage on a hyper-local level and drive interested users from all over the world to your online marketplace.

Compared to traditional advertising, social media posts are quicker and easier to deploy. You can engage regionally or nationally, even globally—daily—without the lag time between message formulation and execution that comes with ads or billboards. Quick messaging allows you to pivot quickly in response to customer input or staffing needs.

As you look to grow your business you can focus on one-on-one engagement with clients and customers, or on broader communication and messaging to your community or sector. You can use a small number of channels that you’re already comfortable with, or employ a more ambitious strategy across a wider array of platforms.

Finally, as an employer, you can burnish your company’s brand by making targeted announcements on issues that are important to today’s job seekers, from DEI policies and initiatives to benefits and work-life balance.

2. Targeting Key Audience Sectors

You should approach social media less like traditional advertising that is all about you and your products and more as a conversation, or even as a set of conversations that you have with a few key audiences. You may consider breaking these key audiences into the following categories:

• Potential leads and customers
• Loyal customers
• Potential employees

Social media is an especially effective way to communicate with right-fit leads, those who are interested in your brand and what you offer, or at least with the products and services you can provide to meet their needs and solve their problems.

You can send out micro-targeted messaging to various target audience members. For instance, post comments and send direct messages to hyper-engaged loyal customers, post on mainstream platforms for potential customers, and provide more business insights on business-targeted platforms like LinkedIn to build your employer brand.

3. Determining the Right Message and Tone for Your Content

Once you know who you want to be in conversation with, you can begin to think about the content and tone of that conversation. The tone you use in your social media marketing strategy should match your brand and your target customer: young, fun, and casual, or principled and dignified?

What are your values and goals as a business? Do you want to convey that your workplace fosters a culture of constant innovation, or steady service and reliability? Determine what tone and messaging you want to share with your many audiences, and then you can begin to decide which message belongs on what platform.

For example, you might announce new services, products, sales, and promotional images and stories on Instagram and Facebook, employment opportunities on LinkedIn, and tours of new locations on YouTube, all with all with ample links back to your company web site.

A great way to build brand loyalty is to share tidbits about your company history and “behind the curtain” sneak peaks with your followers. Make your loyal customers feel like they are part of the team, inviting them to become part of the word of mouth driving your business. If you run a coffee shop, you might post about how beans are roasted; if you’re a restaurant owner, you can create a YouTube segment that includes a tour of your kitchen.

4. Managing Your Social Media Marketing Plan

Depending on the size of your business and the goals of your social media marketing plan you may want to consider hiring a social media manager.

You’ll want to begin the process with an effective social media manager job description. An ideal candidate might have previous experience on the platforms that make the most sense for your brand, as well as a marketing background.

Your new manager will then determine the timing of posts and other aspects of growing your social media marketing strategy. You can start big by making a broad appeal across a wide range of platforms, or you can begin gradually with a small set of targeted channels of your choosing.

One effective strategy is to position yourself as a reliable expert in your sector. Rather than engaging in sales messaging that could sound pushy, you should aim to focus on the needs of your customers. About 70 percent of your content should be about products and services, and 30 percent about fun and culture.

5. Measuring Your Results and Adjusting Accordingly

Once you’re up and running with your social media marketing strategy, you’ll want to measure results using metrics. Some of the most important metrics to monitor on your social media channels are quantitative engagement and reach.

Using popular analytics applications, you can track how many users you’re reaching and how those users are engaging with your content—and how you might choose to create and deploy content that will resonate with targeted audiences. By properly tracking, calibrating, and employing your social media content you can maximize your interactions with current and potential customers and employees.

From Social Media Marketing Strategy to Management Tips, Get Employer-Targeted News

Get hiring news, expert how-tos, and the latest talent acquisition advice delivered to your inbox. Monster has the answers to help you grow your business and manage and grow your workforce.

The post How to Create Your Social Media Marketing Strategy appeared first on Monster.com.

The bigger issue for employers, however, is how social media use impacts productivity and message control. What are companies doing about it? Many are taking a reactive stance by blocking social media altogether, or waiting for employees to “slip up” online, then jumping in with disciplinary action. The problem with this approach is that by the time the organization learns about the situation, the damage has often been done.

A better solution is to create a social media policy so employees know what to expect. “With social media, it’s all one big grey area unless you have written guidelines in place,” said Bob Coffield, an attorney with the law firm of Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso PLLC.

So if you’re looking to create standards on social media in the workplace, here are some best-practice tips:

1. Don’t ban access completely

Even super-restrictive policies can’t change the fact that most employees can still connect to the web from their phone at work. “The best approach,” Coffield said, “is to be proactive and emphasize an understanding of social media and its proper use in the workplace.” In other words, don’t be afraid to give employees access as long as you provide them with clear boundaries.

2. Learn from the best

Search Google for “social media policy” and you’ll find plenty of policies, including policies of the social media companies themselves. Pay attention to how these and other companies address issues related to confidentiality, inappropriate online behavior, intellectual property rights, and so on. Monster also has guidelines on social media policies in the workplace. “The best policies set forth constructive guidance on being transparent and authentic, being responsible for what you write, protecting proprietary information, and using common sense,” Coffield said. “You should also address proper balance between use of social media at work and your other required job duties.”

3. Involve your staff

Careerealism founder J.T. O’Donnell says you’ll have better buy-in if you involve employees from the very beginning. O’Donnell recommends a team meeting that starts with a discussion of social media marketing, leading to further discussion on policy. “By including staff in the development of a great social media strategy, you can then open up the discussion around what they feel are fair rules of engagement,” she says. “You’ll find this approach results in employees volunteering ideas to be outlined so they can all be successful at social media without jeopardizing the company or their employment.”

4. Keep it simple, silly

Author and consultant Alexandra Levit, writing in Success for Hire: Simple Strategies to Find and Keep Outstanding Employees, puts it like this: “Keep the policy as simple as possible while including all of the pertinent information. You don’t want it to be so convoluted that people ignore it.”

5. Take it off the page

Make social media training part of your company’s ongoing professional development and/or orientation for new employees. “Many organizations are providing formal training to ensure that employees not only understand the guidelines, but also comprehend the consequences,” Levit says. “You don’t want to talk down to your employees, but you should ensure that they are aware of the instantaneous nature of social media — once something is said, it can’t be taken back — so usage related to work and the company must be thoughtful and carefully considered ahead of time.”

6. Build company advocates

Avoid creating a social media policy that focuses solely on the ramifications of poor judgment and telling employees what they “can’t” do. Instead, make it easy for them to be advocates for your organization by incorporating a list of company-sponsored social media resources into your policy. Encourage staff to promote your organization through their own networks and provide incentives and rewards for doing so.

When it comes to social media in the workplace, the bottom line is that it’s less about “micro-managing” everything your employees do online and more about giving them the tools needed to represent themselves and your organization in the best way. “The truth is, we all lost the ability to ‘control’ what is said about us a long time ago,” said Coffield. “Therefore, the best thing employers can do is hire the smartest people they can find, give them the basic ‘rules of the road’, and then trust them to drive responsibly.”

Turn social media into a recruiting asset for your company

While it’s important to set standards for using social media in the workplace, it’s also important to recognize what a great tool it can be for finding talented employees. To understand how you can incorporate social media into your recruiting strategy, and for more insights into the job market and hiring strategies, check out Monster Hiring Solutions.

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