When Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Epic Recruiting, they needed a comprehensive strategy that would reach qualified candidates across multiple platforms, build sustained engagement, and ultimately drive applications. Here’s how we made it happen with paid and organic social recruiting.
Standing Out in a Crowded Market
Albuquerque’s metro area is competitive for law enforcement recruiting. Multiple agencies are competing for the same pool of candidates, and simply posting “We’re hiring” wasn’t going to work. The solution? A dual approach combining paid social advertising with organic content.
Paid Social Recruiting That Gets Results
Paid social media allows you to strategically place your message in front of the exact people most likely to apply. For Bernalillo County, we leveraged Facebook and Google Ads targeting demographics that align with ideal candidates, including age ranges, interests related to public service, geographic targeting for the Albuquerque metro area, and lookalike audiences.
According to research from HubSpot, video content generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined. We used high-quality video content featuring real deputies, eye-catching graphics highlighting benefits, and authentic testimonials showcasing department culture.
The result? The campaign generated 2.3 million views and drove 9.2K link clicks to their recruiting page. October proved particularly successful with significant increases in impressions, clicks, and conversions from both Google and Meta platforms. The campaign drove 1,247 clicks to contact a recruiter, demonstrating strong candidate interest and engagement.
Organic Social That Builds Community and Trust
While paid ads get you in front of people, organic content keeps them engaged. For Bernalillo County, we developed an organic strategy focused on storytelling and community connection.
The content mix included day-in-the-life posts, specialty unit spotlights highlighting K-9 and SWAT divisions, community engagement content, behind-the-scenes training looks, and genuine employee testimonials.
Moreover, Sprout Social research shows that 57% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media. The same principle applies to recruiting. A recent Bernalillo County campaign saw 9.2K content interactions and grew their Facebook following by 3.4K, a 988.8% increase from baseline.
The Power of Integration in Paid and Organic Social Recruiting
Paid and organic social work exponentially better together. Paid ads drive traffic to your organic content, which builds trust. Additionally, organic posts create familiarity, so when someone sees your paid ad later, they already recognize your department.
For Bernalillo County, this integration meant candidates encountered BCSO content multiple times across different formats. In fact, the campaign generated 8.5K profile visits, demonstrating sustained interest beyond single interactions. We tracked everything in real time, amplifying what worked and adjusting what didn’t.
The Winning Formula for Social Recruiting
If you’re still relying on organic reach alone, you’re limiting your potential. Meta reports that organic reach has declined as platform algorithms prioritize paid content. However, paid social without strong organic content is just expensive noise.
The winning formula combines both. Strategic paid advertising puts you in front of the right people, and authentic organic content keeps them engaged and builds trust.
Need help building a paid and organic social strategy that drives applications? Epic Recruiting has launched successful campaigns for departments nationwide. Current clients access the Epic Recruiting app to track campaign analytics like these, plus monthly strategy calls to refine your approach. Contact us about scaling your reach without sacrificing authenticity.
