3 Recruitment Marketing Strategies You Need To Master

By Lucy Hill

It's the classic statement that we've all heard it before; a company is only as good as its people. Finding the most-compatible, high-quality employees is at the top of every manager’s priority list. Thanks to the modern luxuries of social media and the internet, these top candidates are aware of the endless career opportunities available to them. They know their worth, and won’t just settle for the first job that comes their way. This makes securing the best talent highly competitive, and no easy task.

 

So, how do you communicate to job-seekers that your company is where they belong? This is where recruitment marketing comes in. 

 

What is recruitment marketing?

 

Just so we’re all on the same page, recruitment marketing refers to the strategies and tactics that a company implements to find, attract and engage the right candidates for an available job opening. Recruitment marketing occurs in the ‘pre-application’ phase of the talent acquisition funnel, which includes the candidate stages of ‘awareness’, ‘consideration’ and ‘interest’. 

 

Now, Let’s dive into the recruitment marketing strategies:

 

1. Establish a specific employer brand 

 

This should be the first step to consider when implementing a recruitment marketing strategy. Think of your company as a person; Who are they? What is their personality? What do they stand for?

 

An employer brand is a term that describes your company’s reputation among candidates in the job market, and what makes it unique to competitors. Ultimately, it’s all about a company’s identity. Establishing this clear-cut employer brand is especially valuable when hiring Millennials, as 78% believe that the values of their potential employer should align their own. 

 

When evaluating your employer brand, it’s useful to conduct an audit on elements of your company such as:

 

• Company culture
• Employee value proposition
• Mission statement
• Points-of-parity and points-of-difference
• Company objectives

 

The communication of your employer brand will determine what sort of candidates you attract. Be honest - because if you try to please everyone, you'll end up pleasing no one. Don’t be disheartened if your employer brand doesn’t resonate with everybody; if anything, it’s a good sign! You’d rather attract the attention of 10 genuinely compatible candidates, than 100 people who don’t feel excited about your company or the prospect of working there.

 

2. Leverage social media

 

So, you’ve established a concrete employer brand and know what kind of candidates you want to attract. The next step is to implement a super-targeted social media strategy.  

 

Social media is so powerful, as it is the human voice behind your company. It facilitates a direct relationship between you and your potential candidates. Unfortunately, so many companies don’t use social media to its full potential. Let's discuss:

 

What channels should you use? 

When it comes to determining which social channels to focus on, always choose quality over quantity. You’d rather build a strong presence with high engagement across a few channels, rather than implementing a mediocre strategy across every possible platform. 

Know your audience, and what channels they actively use. Of course, LinkedIn is the obvious go-to choice when considering a corporate social media channel. However, if you broaden your horizons, you’ll see that the opportunities for social media in recruitment marketing are so diverse. Between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok, you’re bound to find a channel that is popular among your target candidate type, and supports the medium of content you’re wanting to create.

 

What content should you post?

Let's make this clear: you should not just use social media to post job openings. Job seekers follow companies on social media because they want to see what it would be like to work there! They want a taste of the company culture, perks and workplace environment. Your social media should paint the narrative of what it’s like to be an employee at your company. Be authentic. Don’t just show the fancy conferences; shed light on the everyday operations of your company, from the Monday morning staff meeting to the Friday afternoon drinks. 

 

Top tip: Interact with your audience as much as possible! Answer their questions, respond to their comments and acknowledge followers who frequently engage with your posts.

 

3. Refine your careers site

 

Once a job-seeker is curious about your company as an employer, their first point of call is to check out the careers site. If your site is out-of-date, aesthetically unpleasant, or doesn’t provide useful information, the candidate will lose interest very quickly.

 

Your careers site should be the embodiment of your employer brand, and leave a lasting impression on job-seekers. In order to maximise the impact of your careers site, the following features should included:

 

• Company values
• Employee perks
• Current employment opportunities
• Links to social media pages
• Photos and videos of current employees to exemplify the workplace culture
• Embedded HTML and SEO links to elevate organic visibility

 

Job-seekers want to be able to browse your careers site wherever they are, so they need to be compatible with all devices. Ensuring your careers site is mobile-friendly is especially vital - you dream candidate is likely on the train home from their current job as they’re visiting your site! After all, mobile browsing accounts for over fifty percent of all internet web traffic worldwide.

 

In short, your careers site needs to be interactive, exciting and informative. It’s your number one asset when it comes to recruitment marketing - it needs to be memorable and stand out from the rest! 

 

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About the Author:

My name is Lucy Hill and I am the Content Specialist at MyRecruitment+. I write content that specialises in assisting HR professionals and recruiters through offering advice and covering recruitment trends. You’ll find my recent blogs here. 

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