How to Use TikTok for Recruitment Marketing: Tips and Strategies

If you're looking for a fresh and exciting way to reach potential candidates, consider using TikTok for recruitment marketing. With over a billion active users worldwide, this social media platform is rapidly becoming one of the most popular ways to share videos, showcase creativity, and reach new audiences.


In this article, we'll explore how you can leverage TikTok to attract top talent and build your employer brand. From creating engaging content to partnering with influencers, we'll cover everything you need to know to get started with TikTok recruitment.

Your TikTok Campaign needs to be part of a well-defined recruitment marketing strategy. 

Understanding the TikTok Algorithm

The algorithm used by TikTok is highly skilled at recognizing content creators who are successful and showcasing their videos to the appropriate viewers. Knowing the algorithm's criteria is crucial to understand how TikTok selects its influencers.

User interactions, video information, and device and account settings are the main factors that influence the TikTok algorithm.

We are not going to dive deep into this subject, but if you consider TikTok as a platform to go for your recruitment marketing efforts, then here are some factors to consider: 

• Video length
• Your intro, or “hook”
• Lighting and audio quality
• Audience engagement for the entire length of your video
• Sound (use a viral sound that pairs well with your video)
• Captions with the right hashtags

Create Engaging Content

The first step to successful recruitment marketing on TikTok is to create content that engages and inspires your audience. Keep in mind that TikTok is all about short-form videos, so you'll need to be creative and concise to capture viewers' attention.

Here are some tips and career advice on how to create engaging TikTok content:

• Highlight your company culture: Showcase what makes your workplace unique and why people love working there.
• Provide behind-the-scenes glimpses: Take viewers on a tour of your office or share a sneak peek of your latest project.
• Share testimonials: Encourage your employees to share their experiences and what they love about working for your company.
• Offer career advice: Share tips and tricks for job seekers, such as resume writing tips or how to prepare for an interview.
• Showcase your benefits: Highlight your company's perks, such as flexible work hours, health insurance, or paid time off.
  
  

The most successful videos on TikTok are approachable, says Grant Wenzlau, VP of Story at Day One Agency—but what followers consider to be approachable varies from brand to brand. For example, if being transparent is what makes up a large part of who you really are, then behind-the-scenes videos might be the content you want to create. On the other hand, if your brand’s voice is more humorous and you’re looking for funny people to join your team, creating comedic TikTok videos is the way to go.

Cactus Club, a popular restaurant in Canada, is one example of a company using TikTok to show a behind-the-scenes look of what life is like at their company:

Advertise Your Business

Once you've created engaging content, it's time to advertise your business on TikTok. Here are some tips and strategies to help you get the most out of your TikTok recruitment campaign:

• Use TikTok ads: TikTok offers several ad formats, including in-feed ads, brand takeovers, and hashtag challenges, which can help you reach a wider audience.
• Target your ads: TikTok allows you to target your ads based on demographics, interests, and location, ensuring that your content is seen by the right people.
• Use hashtags: Hashtags are a powerful tool for increasing visibility and engagement. Use relevant hashtags that reflect your company culture and values.
• Encourage user-generated content: Encourage your followers to create their own videos using a branded hashtag. This can help you build brand awareness and reach new audiences.
  
  

On SmartDreamers, you can optimize your TikTok recruitment marketing campaigns and make data-driven decisions to get the best results.

TikTok recruiting has proven effective for some brands. Chipotle, for example, saw a 7% increase in the number of applicants last August after posting their recruitment video. This was part of the fast-food brand’s recruiting strategy to hire 10,000 new employees. And it does help that their content was hilarious and entertaining enough to rope in more viewers and ultimately, allowing the video to reach a wider audience. Check out their TikTok video below.

Jump on the Latest Trends

One of the unique aspects of TikTok is the platform's ever-changing trends and challenges. By staying on top of these trends, you can create content that resonates with your audience and keeps your brand relevant.

Here are some ways to jump on the latest trends on TikTok:

• Follow trending hashtags: Keep an eye on popular hashtags and use them in your content
• Participate in challenges: TikTok is known for its viral challenges, such as dance routines or lip-syncing. Participating in these challenges can help you reach a wider audience.
• Use popular music: TikTok is also a popular platform for music, and using popular songs in your videos can help you tap into the latest trends.
  

Tip: if you don’t know how to find what’s trending now on TikTok, this article has some great tips.

Create a hashtag challenge

Creating a hashtag challenge is one of the most effective ways to increase engagement and reach on TikTok. A hashtag challenge is a call-to-action for users to create their own videos using your branded hashtag.

Here are some tips for creating a successful hashtag challenge:

• Make it fun and creative: Your challenge should be engaging and fun to participate in, with clear instructions on what users need to do.
• Offer a prize: Consider offering a prize to the user with the best video, such as
  a job interview or a gift card.
• Promote your challenge: Use your other social media channels, email lists, and website to promote your challenge and encourage participation.
  
  

You can go creative and wild as you want. For example, Faze Clan turned its recruiting process into a game on TikTok. To join their team, users had to take part in an interactive challenge and convince them why do they want to join Faze Clan and how would they use 1 million dollars paid in crypto – all within just 30 seconds!

Partner with Influencers

Partnering with influencers is another effective way how to use TikTok for recruitment markerting. Influencers have a large following and can help you promote your brand and attract potential candidates.

Here are some tips for partnering with influencers on TikTok:

• Choose the right influencer: Look for influencers who align with your brand values and have a large following in your industry.
• Negotiate terms: Discuss compensation, content requirements, and promotion strategy with the influencer before partnering with them.
• Track results: Use analytics tools to track the performance of your influencer campaign and adjust your strategy accordingly.

While Google does not have its own corporate account on TikTok, there are several informal ambassadors, #influencers, using hashtags such as #google and #worklife to showcase what it’s like to be an employee at Google. For example, this video of an employee taking users on a tour of the San Francisco office garnered over 400,000 likes!

To Use or Not to Use TikTok for recruitment?

Finally, the question remains, should you use TikTok for recruitment marketing? The answer depends on your audience and goals.

TikTok can be a valuable platform for building brand awareness and attracting new talent if you're targeting a younger audience, particularly Gen Z. However, if your target audience is older or in a more conservative industry, other platforms like LinkedIn or Indeed may be more effective.

Ultimately, TikTok can be a valuable addition to your recruitment marketing strategy, as long as you approach it strategically and with clear goals in mind.