During a time when businesses in almost every industry are struggling to recruit and retain employees, we’ve seen many companies enter a unique situation: they want to market themselves, but don’t have adequate human resources to increase their sales or services.
What do you do if you find yourself facing this dilemma? It may seem logical to pause your marketing initiatives until you’re able to hire more people. But that may not be the best decision.
Marketing is an extremely powerful tool in your recruitment and retention toolkit. In fact, recruitment marketing is rising in popularity. According to Glassdoor, 86% of HR professionals say that recruitment is becoming more like marketing.
Here’s why:
Organic marketing tactics such as social media, blog content, website updates and newsletters take time, effort and resources. One of the first impulses you may have when in recruitment mode is to cut back or cut out these tactics to save time and budget.
But, if you’re actively recruiting, you still need a way to talk to potential candidates. Your social media, for example, may be primarily targeted at your customers or clients, but that doesn’t mean they are the only audience interested in your content.
According to a CareerArc study, 96% of job seekers use social media when conducting a job search, and LinkedIn Talent Solutions suggests that 49% of professionals follow companies on social media to stay aware of job opportunities.
To put it simply: job searchers are engaging with your marketing content. To not use your organic channels as a way to talk to them would be a missed opportunity.
Leverage your existing tactics to speak directly to potential candidates. Post about your job openings, give tips for people looking for work in your industry, or showcase what it's like to work for you (e.g. photos of your brick and mortar or office, team profiles, or day-in-the-life blog or vlog content).
The current labour shortage has given job seekers the luxury of choice. This means that you’ll need to stay competitive in your local market when recruiting new staff.
According to a study by Glassdoor, 75% of active job seekers are more likely to apply to a job if the employer actively manages its employer brand, and a LinkedIn Talent Solutions report suggests that a strong employer brand can reduce the cost per hire by as much as 50%.
You’re probably used to leveraging your brand to attract new customers or clients, but your brand is also a key tool in your recruitment efforts. Your brand awareness tactics—whether you use social media, digital advertising or a billboard on the highway—are what keep you top of mind for anyone interested in your business, including potential job applicants.
If you’re struggling to recruit new staff, make a list of everything you think is important to your ideal applicant. Then assess whether your current tactics are positioning you as an employer that meets those standards. If not, consider how you could make small changes to attract the job seekers you want to meet.
According to CareerArc, 68% of millennials, 54% of gen x-ers, and 48% of baby boomers will visit a company’s social media channels specifically to evaluate the employer’s brand. Your potential candidates are not only looking you up to learn about you as a business, but to get a sense of how organized you are, what kind of culture you have, and what it might be like to work for you.
When job seekers see polished, consistent and professional marketing from a business, they’re more likely to have a positive impression of the company as an employer. If your website is out-of-date, your social media posts look unprofessional or inconsistent, and your job postings have typos in them, you may not get off on the right foot with the applicants you’re trying to attract.
Investing resources into polished marketing tactics and materials will benefit your recruitment efforts. Whether you do this yourself, lean on someone on your team, or hire an external freelancer or an agency like ourselves, the work is crucial to being seen as a desirable employer.
Need help? We have worked with many businesses like yours on recruitment campaigns. Here are a few of the services we offer:
Social media management - Whether you just have limited social media resources and need help coming up with ideas, or would prefer we take care of it all from strategy through to execution, we can help you reach your social media goals.
Content writing - Want to maintain a blog but short on time, ideas or in-house writers? We can help you develop a strategy, write relevant, search friendly content, and/or leverage your existing written content to achieve your recruitment goals.
NowCities sponsored content - One of our sister-divisions, the NowCities platform, offers opportunities to have expertly written content about your business posted and seen by hundreds or even thousands of local readers.
Photo, video and graphic asset creation - Need something that grabs prospective employees’ attention when they see your digital ads or website? Our team of expert photographers, video producers and graphic designers can help you create assets that convert views to applications.
Website improvements and landing page design - Nowadays, a strong recruitment strategy starts with a strong website. We can audit and improve your website (or a specific page of your website), as well as design a recruitment landing page for any digital ads that will position you as a highly desirable employer.
