Long gone are the days when securing a new job would involve checking in the local paper, replying to a job announce after a few days or weeks have passed, and sitting an interview over a cup of tea. Nowadays job seekers have many resources for searching and securing the job of their dreams; and they expect results fast. Prospective employees have the complicated and difficult choice to make between the different job opportunities in the many diverse companies and businesses around the world. Finally they also have to be totally convinced to apply for these ads, showing the recruiters why they chose their company above the rest and demonstrating that they are the right applicant for the job.
Turning a potential candidate also known as a lead, someone who has the qualifications and is suited to the job but may not know about the position or are not even aware of the company, into an applicant can be a very difficult and frustrating process for recruiters. This is when it is time for your business to step up the pro-activity and start using the marketing knowledge that you have available to you; in particular the principal of recruiting marketing.
What is recruitment marketing?
Recruitment marketing for those who do not know is the way in which companies and recruiters attract leads and convince them to apply for positions that they have to offer. The recruitment marketing strategies source, attract, engage and nurture talented individual’s right up until they apply for the position so that the recruiters have a more talented selection to choose from; this is also known by many as the pre-applicant phase of talent acquisition. As times are changing and the way companies find and recruit talent is shifting to suit the modern and virtual world, so are the recruitment campaigns. It is no longer enough to put out an ad on an enterprise’s Facebook page or in a specialist magazine to attract talented individuals. Marketing recruiters need to study market data and audience figures to find where these leads are, learn how to dynamically engage with them in a way that will make your company stand out from the crowd, communicate your employer brand and then turn them into a successful applicant all whilst convincing them your value as an employer.
Targeting the right audience
Just like in marketing, knowing who your ideal candidate is and what makes them tick will help market recruiters find the right environment for sourcing future employees. Once you start to think as an applicant, you can then work out the best place to create your company’s branding and hopefully catch these leads. Take for example a firm looking to recruit students and new graduates, they should be looking to publish information online on sites like Facebook or reaching out to university career services, whereas when looking for IT or tech professionals, a technology specific website or magazine may be more suitable. International market recruiters need to be aware of various recruitment channels and social media networks specific to certain countries and not available internationally. This market research ensures that you are not losing money or wasting efforts looking in the wrong place. It guarantees that your positions are being viewed precisely by the people you are looking to attract; plus it means you are more likely to secure the top talent.
Employer branding & company message
When you have found the right place to create your company’s presence, it is important that the people viewing your brand take something from it. What do you want your potential applicants to remember about you? This is one of the basic questions associated with employer branding and when coupled with the work of a recruitment marketer; the communication becomes vital. Your company’s message is the one thing that could influence the decision of an applicant; ruining all of your hard sourcing work. Employer branding also involves promoting the enterprise to external and internal audiences and is an integral part of strategy recruitment. Social media pages and media outlets are essential when creating the image of the company, especially as most information is transmitted online nowadays. When you couple this advertising with the sharing of content on social media pages, such as LinkedIn and Twitter, which promotes your business as a certain type of employer and shows the current employees in roles that appeal to the audience, then the target audience gains a sense of trust and familiarity with your brand.
Channels of communication
The use of social media during a recruitment marketing plan should not just be confined to when there is a position that needs filling, but it should be a continual and daily act of sharing content to your followers. As you need to create an online space for your business to develop its brand, this is a gradual process and cannot be rushed. A lead needs to be aware of the firm’s name, so when they see a position available there is a sense of recognition and the candidate is more likely to apply. Job seekers depend more on friends’ opinions and what is being tweeted on social media than what the job advert description is. It is advisable to use not only LinkedIn and Facebook to post a job ad on but to post all over social media pages, including Instagram, YouTube, and Flickr as it will increase the audience range and you never truly know where you will find your next candidate.
Recruiters who are having difficulty with finding the right place to transmit their job offers online should check out Jobboard Finder, the world’s largest search engine and comparison website for job boards. It is a tool to help recruiters find the right job board for their campaign around the world. It is a purchasing and posting tool and service for job adverts all over the globe.
If you take into account these marketing recruitment strategies and tips when starting a recruitment drive then the quality of applicants you will receive will be high and this will make finding the perfect hire a lot easier. It is important also to analyse the success of your past recruiting techniques to find which platform secured your most talent and where your applicants are coming from. This will mean the next time you launch a recruitment campaign, you already know the best approaches to use. Last but not least, it should not be forgotten that creating a successful employer branding is paramount as it can make or break your business and potential employees who are already familiar with your company will be more likely to apply.
Author: Maria
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