Staffing your dental practice with the best employees is key to ensuring its longevity. Thanks to the modern world of social media, you can more actively build your employer brand and turn connections into viable job candidates.

Consider the Social Media Statistics

Image via Flickr by Sean MacEntee

So, why not just put an ad out in the local newspaper? That's a good start, but it won't attract the best talent. Each month, 300 million people use Instagram and 320 million use Twitter. As if that wasn't impressive enough, every day 1.04 billion users get on Facebook. Social media simply has the largest audience, so why wouldn't you take advantage of it?

Company recruiters and hiring managers have been turning more and more to social media over traditional forms of job advertising. When done right, these marketing platforms can quickly result in what's commonly known as "social hiring." Think about it: Millennials already view employment much differently than earlier generations, and they rely more on social media than any other group. To tap into the best talent, you need to advertise where that talent is.

Focus on Defining Your Brand

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Every company has a brand. This is how you choose to portray your vision, mission, and employee culture on the Web, which plays a huge role in attracting quality candidates. The first thing to do when recruiting new employees is to fully realize your brand message and make sure that brand extends to every description, photo, image, and video across all social media platforms. Consistency here is key.

Target Your Recruitment Efforts

While tweeting job advertisements on your business's Twitter account might seem like a low-cost way of advertising, it isn't exactly a targeted marketing campaign -- and it can seem spammy. Instead, set up a dedicated jobs page across your social media accounts. Facebook, for instance, allows you to create a jobs tab on any main business page, which lets you to target your message specifically at job seekers. LinkedIn even allows you to use current employees as brand ambassadors to target leads. In this instance, you'll want to encourage employees to promote open job positions on their own pages.

Focus on Building Relationships, Not Just Ads

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Social media is the best way to engage with potential candidates and build relationships by sharing information about your dental practice. If all you're doing is reposting the same type of advertisement over and over, you're missing out on the beauty of social media. Make things more personal by posting pictures of your practice, office renovations, company fun days, employee costumes from last Halloween -- anything to put a more personal touch on your brand message. Think about what potential employees want to see in their ideal job, and present the best of your practice.

When you focus on cultivating positive business exposure across a variety of social media sites, your dental practice will attract the best, most qualified talent. Give potential employees a sneak peek into your company culture, and the brightest candidates will end up coming to you.