As a human resources professional, having a social media presence should be a top priority for you and your department. Whether you work for a large organization or a tiny business, using social media for networking and professional purposes is essential to your success. 

A social media plan is the roadmap to identify goals for your social media accounts. However, it is important to use your internal resources before creating your social media plan. Does your company already have social media presence? Ask the team who manages it to help you build an HR page. Be sure to consult with your legal teams to ensure you’re not overstepping your legal boundaries with content. If your company doesn’t have a social media presence, there are many online resources that can help you get started. Google “Social Media Tactical Plan” and find samples that line up with your vision.

Here is a list of five things you should incorporate when building your social media plan:

1. Create an HR page on the company’s major social media accounts (
   Facebook,
   Twitter,
   LinkedIn,
   FourSquare
   flickr,
   YouTube
   ). Having a presence on the most popular social networks increases the credibility and visibility of your company. Each site’s business help page is linked above. You should use all of these sites to share job openings and other opportunities as well as reasons why your company is great, being sure to link to any positive press your company receives.
2. Check out the social media presence of companies similar to yours. Keep in mind that your social media plan may not line up directly with a similar company’s plan. The social media plan will help identify best practices for how to use the different accounts. The HR department may have a separate tactical plan from the rest of the company.
3. Suggest that employees of your department create work accounts on Twitter and Facebook. Your individual work account should only include content pertaining to work. It must follow a strict set of guidelines to make sure you aren’t over-sharing or casting a negative light on the company. Review your legal guidelines.
4. Engage with potential candidates on Twitter and LinkedIn. Use social media to prescreen any candidates you may be considering. Look at the content they’ve posted, the skill sets they consistently showcase and, depending on the type of position you’re recruiting for, consider evaluating their presentation and watch for any red flags.
5. Create a blog or YouTube channel to share HR news and updates. This can be informal press about your HR department in particular. Think: what great things did our department accomplish today? Simple video concepts (a day at your desk, a tour of the cafeteria or even an interview with an executive) can engage potential candidates.

While face-to-face interaction is still the best way to build relationships, the offline world is either going online, or being left behind. Building and executing a social media plan isn’t easy and should happen in phases. You want to make sure you’re doing it right the first time so you can focus on improving rather than correcting your social media presence. But once you’re in full swing, there’ll be no looking back.