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Facebook: A Necessity for Recruiters Building and Maintaining Relationships with Prospects

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Digital technology has left many Americans "too old, too fast and too smart, too slow," according to Lt. Col. Oliver Walton, 2nd Medical Recruiting Battalion commander.

He describes any recruiter who isn't on Facebook as too smart, too slow.

"Facebook is happening right now and helps to build and maintain relationships," Walton said. "So if you aren't someone who's involved in it, you too, may be getting too smart, too slow."

Walton shared his battalion's Facebook marketing techniques at the deputy commanding general's battalion commander training in January at Army Recruiting Command headquarters.

"In the medical recruiting arena, generally speaking, the folks we go to see are at work and can't take real time off to listen to us, so they aren't fully receptive," he said.

So Walton's recruiters get the attention of these busy professionals through Facebook. Part of their prospecting is to "like" the Facebook pages of various medical programs and schools of prospects. Many of these pages list times of these organization's meetings, so, Walton's team can determine best opportunities to promote Army Medical Department careers.

"Just having a page doesn't guarantee leads; you have to have a plan," Walton said as he listed some best practices.

Quick Response (QR) codes are something his group places on flyers and literature to allow prospects quick access to more information on Facebook. All an individual needs is a smart phone with the barcode reader application to read the QR codes.

Brigadier Gen. Henry Huntley, deputy commanding general, USAREC, stressed the impact of social media all over the Army.

"Social media is a virtual muscle movement that has gone through the Army like a hot knife through butter," he said. "Using these tools can't be about the 'have' to do this but rather the 'want' to do this. As leaders you have to be the one leading the charge. We need to develop our teammates and share the importance [of using social media]."

Walton also voiced some suggestions in order to better manage time on Facebook by using sites like hootsuite.com to schedule posts on certain times and days. He encourages stations and recruiters to set weekly social media activity goals.

It is also important to get people to "like" the fan pages, Walton said.

"Be creative. In real life, people need to be interested in what you talk about," he said. "So if your station mission is to bring in more social workers, get one of your social workers to post something on your page about what they are doing in social work in the Army."

Battalions market the events of their recruiting stations by sharing and reposting upcoming event news. This allows a heightened increase of awareness in the surrounding communities and an increase of Facebook traffic as well.

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