5 Tactics to Kick-start Your Recruitment Marketing

Approaching the development of a recruitment marketing strategy to drive results

Recruitment marketing is a broad and ever-evolving field.

There are hundreds of approaches you can use to execute a recruitment marketing strategy - some tried and true, and others a little less so - here are just five of our favourites.

1. Build your employer brand (from the inside)

Know how you want to be seen by candidates and use the platforms and tools that will allow you to accurately reflect that image.

Some of the world’s largest companies, including Microsoft and IBM, have had to reinvent their employer brand in an attempt to compete with newer, more “exciting” companies when trying to recruit the best talent.

In order to create an employer brand that authentically reflects your workplace, you must build it from the inside. Work on your culture and the employer brand will follow.

2. Manage your online reputation

With the growing adoption of online platforms allowing people to share their opinions of a workplace online (think LinkedIn and Glassdoor), it’s never been easier to find real opinions about a business as an employer.

While you have less power in controlling what is said about you in these environments, there are measures you can take to manage the impact of comments and reviews online.

As a starting point, you should:

• Evaluate your reputation - use the platforms available to understand how people are talking about you as an employer and where.
• Respond to reviews - good and bad! Thank those that are kind and respond to those that are not. Don’t just bury your head in the sand.
• Make interactions fast but personalised - a simple “copy and paste” message will get the job done quickly, but it won’t do anything to support your reputation. Act fast but take time to make responses considered and helpful.

3. Encourage referrals

Word of mouth has always been lauded as the most valuable marketing tool, as consumers if we like something we talk about it and recommend it to others!

The same can be said for our professional lives. If we enjoy our job and are happy in our current workplace, we’ll tell our networks.

Encourage staff to be your employer brand ambassadors. If budgets allow, create a formal referral program that incentivises staff to take part, otherwise simply communicating that you’d like them to share opportunities with their networks will often drum up some action.

Of course, all referrals must then go through the same pre-employment processes as any other candidate, but they’ll have come from a trusted internal source and will be starting their journey with you with a positive first impression.

4. Create great content

To find the best talent you need to think a little differently about how and where you promote your brand.

Job ads still serve a purpose and, when done well, they can do a good job of engaging the right people. But think outside the box to catch the eyes of even those that aren’t actively seeking a new job.

Consider using digital tools, such as video or social media, to communicate using visual and engaging content that accurately portrays your workplace. Get other staff involved! There’s no better way to demonstrate company culture than to display it publicly.

5. Leverage data

Use the data generated by online, tech-based tools to understand your candidates.

The data insights provided by tools such as Google Analytics will enable you to create a picture of your ideal candidate and how you can engage with them, based on:

• Where they are online; what social media platforms they’re using
• The content that they are drawn to
• The journey they are taking to end up at your careers page or job ad
• Where they are geographically

It will also help you to monitor and measure the success of your recruitment marketing efforts, and allow you to test new approaches to find those that deliver the best results.

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