Recruiting Battalion Explores Possibilities With Social Media

By Mr. Jorge Gomez (USAREC)February 24, 2011

Recruiting Battalion Explores Possibilities With Social Media
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Recruiting Battalion Explores Possibilities With Social Media
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Leaders from the Milwaukee Recruiting Battalion learn the new rules established by Facebook and how the U.S. Army Recruiting Command is implementing them during a training session Feb. 10. Maria Hernandez, USAREC social network administrator, reviews... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

MILWAUKEE -- Staff Sgt. Jeremy Lawrey, a recruiter in Rhinelander, attributes at least six enlistments over the course of four months to social media. He uses the technology to learn something about his prospects so he can better address their interests and goals.

Lawrey and the Milwaukee Recruiting Battalion are leveraging social media to reach their target market and centers of influence in new ways. As the rules of social media, such as Facebook, change and the U.S. Army Recruiting Command provides guidance accordingly, the Milwaukee Battalion is exploring these new modes of communication.

"We've been shifting gears with every change made by Facebook but that's just the nature of today's technology," said Lt. Col. Robert L. Cody II, battalion commander. "Social media is spreading and evolving rapidly. We have to be part of this fluid and creative process."

Recruiters are learning how to tap the potential Facebook provides as they are working through the changes and limitations imposed by the platform. Battalion leaders received Facebook training in October 2010 and again in February 2011 reflecting new rules and USAREC's standards. Shortly after February's training, the battalion was alerted to another round of changes.

In spite of the volatility, Facebook is becoming the choice method of communication for Future Soldier Squad Leaders. E-mail and phone calls are still used but the events functionality in Facebook gets more responses about upcoming training events and spreads the news to friends of Future Soldiers.

Staff Sgt. Justin Stuckart, a recruiter in Fond du Lac, takes photos of Future Soldiers working out with recruiters and e-mails them their photos.

"The Future Soldiers post the photos to their Facebook page and comment about how cool it was to work out with Soldiers," Stuckart said. "And that raises Army awareness among their friends."

Not all friends join the Army, but becoming friends with Soldiers helps the decision-making process. Stuckart said it sometimes makes the difference to prospects if they can talk with a Soldier who is doing what he or she wants to do. Social media lends credibility to recruiting efforts by providing a voice to those Soldiers who are not recruiters.

"I can't personally speak about every program in the Army, but I can find Soldiers with that specific experience through Facebook and have them link up with prospects," Stuckart said. "Most of the people I have enlisted now have made some connection with (non recruiting) Soldiers of like mind."

Recruiters such as Staff Sgt. Thomas Miller, a recruiter in Appleton, are seeing the immediate impact of connecting with prospects through Facebook. He handed out a business card with a Facebook address to a student during a recent school visit. The student became a fan of Miller's station page as he walked away using a smartphone.

"Only 10 minutes later the kid had already posted that school was boring but that he had to finish school in order to join the Army," Miller said.

The incident illustrates how Army awareness can quickly spread to circles of friends by inviting prospects to fan or "like" their page, he said.

For Staff Sgt. Marc Weier the best part of Facebook is keeping abreast with events and activities of his station's schools. He manages Facebook pages for Green Bay and Shawano Recruiting Stations and has "fanned" all 28 schools in their footprint.

"Instead of having to dig around a school's Web site to find out what they're doing, that information comes to me through Facebook," Weier said.

Collecting information is not the only function of fanning a school Facebook page. Station pages can also message other organizational fan pages, said Mark Howell, USAREC public information officer.

"If a school has a Facebook fan page then there's probably a student savvy enough to create a separate fan page for a student club or sports team. Recruiters should find those fan pages and make a connection. Then they can message that group such as notify them they are coming to the school," Howell said.

Sgt. Adam Parsons, a recruiter in West Bend, has been communicating with school sports teams, yearbook committees and several niche groups through Facebook.

"If a school's golf team announces they won a game then I learn about it through their fan page and it becomes a great way to talk to the team when I visit the school," Parsons said. "It make things more personable when I go to the schools."

Although knowing something about a team before meeting them in person is practical, messaging that team's fan page has the potential of spreading beyond that network of golfers, Howell said.

These social media features form part of what the battalion envisions for engaging prospects.

They represent the initial stage of adapting to new modes of communication and a new way of recruiting.

"Only by exploring the technology creatively within USAREC boundaries can we further unleash the full potential of social media," Cody said. "We've yet to see how far this can take us."