We’re all beginning to realize the power of social media and social media marketing for business. Notably, the most popular social media platform in the world is also a great place to advertise for new employees.

Traditional job boards, such as Indeed, Job Monster, ZipRecruiter and more, are the first place many business owners go to place help wanted ads. While many of these online job boards allow you to advertise your open position, they all have the same fundamental flaw: Only those actively looking for jobs see your ad. What about all those perfect candidates not looking for jobs on those job boards?

We all know the best potential employees are often those not looking for jobs. Furthermore, those who are looking for green industry jobs often don’t use job boards geared toward office workers. That’s why Facebook is one of the best places to post your job. You can reach potential employees where they’re already spending time.

The Facebook job post

With more than 200 million active users in the U.S., Facebook is the perfect place for a job listing. Job ads, which look exactly like regular Facebook posts, appear in users’ timelines. This format allows potential employees to learn more about the opportunity and your company by linking to your business page and providing more  information. Users can apply directly from the post. Facebook does much of the heavy lifting, allowing candidates to answer specialized questions and providing a place to upload work history.

Additionally, Facebook has a special “jobs” portion of the platform—a section that allows users to scan for jobs in their area. Job posts also will appear in this section, which is sortable by location, industry and job type.

Monitoring and responding to applicants on Facebook is easy. The platform allows you to review, reject or schedule interviews from your desktop computer or with Facebook’s mobile app. You also can use Facebook Messenger to contact the applicant and schedule interviews or request follow-up information.

Boosting your job post with paid ads

With Facebook, sometimes the biggest problem is getting people to see your post. Organic reach for businesses always has been a problem. We find that businesses who post on Facebook organically (without paying for an ad or “boost”) only reach 2-3 percent of their followers. What good is a job post on Facebook if no one sees it? That’s where the “pay-to-play” portion of the platform helps get your post noticed.

Boosting posts on Facebook allows you to reach more of your fans and to target people who are not fans of your page. While posting your job for free is nice, boosting it to reach those who are not fans of your page is important. In addition to expanding the reach of your post, you also can target people who are most likely to respond to your ad. You can target by location of the audience, in addition to work and experience details.

Tips for writing a Facebook job post

• Write an easy-to-understand, concise job description;
• Provide details about your company and company culture;
• Use a descriptive picture that demonstrates the work;
• Provide as much detail as possible about salary, benefits and other important factors;
• Customize additional questions that will allow you to segment applicants based on skill or knowledge; and
• Follow up promptly and professionally, making sure to send well-written responses.

After you start with Facebook job posts, be sure to keep the post “fresh” and experiment with different text and images to find the perfect combination. With Facebook’s large audience, various ad formats and targeting methods, it’s a great place to post your next open position.

Want to learn more? Check out this tutorial video on how to create a successful Facebook job post.