Recruitment has become a lot like marketing. After all, the goal of a recruiter is no different to that of a marketer’s – but instead of marketing your organisation to attract customers; you’re doing it to attract potential candidates.
In fact, talk to your colleagues over in marketing and you’ll probably hear a similar focus around the latest hot trends from branding, mobile and social media to customer engagement and video. The tools and the principles are arguably the same.
So what lessons can recruiters take from the marketing mind-set? Here are just 5 ideas:
- Be across all channels: Just like marketing, there’s no magic bullet in recruitment. Recruiters should use a combination of multiple channels, from job boards and social media to events and mobile, to create an effective strategy. But don’t forget to measure (see below) and ensure that there is a consistent, uniform “brand” and “hiring” message across all channels!
- Copywriting: Creating effective copywriting and powerful messaging is a vital part of marketing. In the hands of a recruiter, effective copy can help to attract better candidates, discourage weaker candidates from applying and reduce time and money wasted on large numbers of irrelevant applications. Good copy should have a strong headline that attracts attention (the job title), a short narrative to sell why the job is compelling (the description) and a clear call to action (how to apply).
- Employer branding: In a world saturated by lots of jobs and fierce competition, basic job ads alone are no longer enough to attract the best candidates. Get creative and use branding to catch the attention of more jobseekers and differentiate from other recruitment messages. What’s your brand story? Why should jobseekers choose you? Does your brand create a connection with jobseekers?
- Lead nurturing: Marketers use the process of lead nurturing to build relationships with qualified prospects with the goal of earning their business when they are ready to buy. This principle can also be applied to recruitment by way of talent pooling applicants. These applicants have shown they are actively interested in your organisation so keep banked/speculative applicants warm and engaged by sharing the latest, relevant news about your organisation and the opportunities offered. Most applicant tracking systems even help to automate this process!
- Measure, measure and measure: Marketing folk are fanatical about measuring marketing campaigns to help them make future decisions. The same applies to recruitment. Measure your campaigns to determine where successful recruits come from. Are your media, agencies & head hunters delivering value for money? You can then use this data to help you spend more time planning for success and less time filtering applications from poor performing channels!
