It’s not as simple as it once was to recruit and retain employees.
Since 2020, the pandemic has brought a host of unexpected changes to the global workforce and employee expectations.
Attrition is a growing problem. Many older workers took early retirement in reaction to COVID-19. And younger workers have been quitting their jobs at a higher rate than usual during The Great Resignation.
According to a survey of 1,000 UK workers, 29% of employees are considering moving to a new job in 2022. Companies (understandably) find it hard to hold on to staff with so much movement within the labour market.
Worker expectations have also shifted, with many employees seeking a better work-life balance.
They want employers to prioritise wellbeing, flexible working conditions, and skills development. Employers who fail to meet these criteria find it increasingly difficult to persuade top talent to work for them.
With all that in mind, it makes sense that recruitment is extremely competitive right now. Relying on job boards and referrals just isn’t enough.
That’s why many recruitment and HR teams are leveraging recruitment marketing to fill vacancies and attract the very best talent to their teams.
What is recruitment marketing?
Recruitment marketing involves promoting your employer brand to attract new talent.
It’s a way for recruiters to build relationships with potential candidates, which makes finding and hiring the best talent much easier.
Recruitment marketing is a process that takes place before you even post a job ad. Do it right, and when a candidate comes across your latest vacancies, they’ll already know your company and feel excited at the prospect of working for you.
How to leverage recruitment marketing
Recruitment marketing — like any kind of marketing — requires a strategy.
You need to know how you want talent to progress through your recruitment marketing funnel and how you plan to guide that journey.
Here’s what recruitment teams can do to maximise their recruitment marketing results.
Build a solid brand
Your employer brand should be memorable, appealing and distinctive. But you can’t build a reputation overnight.
You have to commit to a long term branding strategy with recognisable communications across all of your channels. And you need to have your marketing, recruitment, and HR teams on the same page to deliver a consistent brand personality.
Your company website is an excellent place to start.
Create a landing page for prospective employees. Here, you can tell your brand’s story, share your USPs, and give some insight into what it means to work for your company.
What kind of culture do you have? What values get your teams up and out of bed each morning?
A strong employer brand sticks in the minds of prospective employees. It also helps you create engaging marketing materials.
Create an engaging content strategy
Content is the key to building a relationship with your future candidates.
So — as you would for a traditional marketing strategy — think about the different stages of candidate awareness.
- Awareness – who is this company?
- Interest – this company sounds interesting
- Consideration – maybe I should apply…
Think about the questions a prospective candidate is likely to ask at each of these stages. Then create valuable content aimed at answering them.
To do so, create a rich mix of content materials. Produce search engine optimised articles, shareable social posts, ebooks, videos, infographics, live streams, and high-quality photography to catch future candidates’ attention.
Start a two-way conversation
You should be acing your communications before candidates even send an application.
That means coming up with a winning email marketing strategy for the pre-application and the post-application process.
Pre-application, you can share information about your employer brand, your successes as a company, and — most importantly — any upcoming vacancies your mailing list might like to apply for.
But don’t make communication one-sided.
Encourage future talent to get in touch with any questions. You could even allow them to connect with existing employees via email, social media, or live chat.
Giving prospective candidates an insight into the real-life workings of your business and the experiences of your current staff may give them the push they need to send in their application.
Improve candidate and employee experience
According to Glassdoor research, 86% of job seekers research company reviews and ratings when deciding where to apply for a job. Candidate reviews provide social proof for your employer brand, and they’re another critical part of any recruitment marketing strategy.
So how do you ensure good candidate and employee reviews?
Start by examining your recruitment process.
Is it fair? Could the process be shortened? Do you maintain good communication with candidates from beginning to end? Do you offer every candidate feedback on applications you don’t plan to take further?
Respecting the time and effort that candidates put into a job application increases your chances for repeat applications and positive reviews.
When it comes to employee reviews, you have to work on your company culture.
You might like to offer the work-life balance and training opportunities that Generation Z workers crave. Or strive to improve your DEI performance to improve both employee experience and the volume of applications you get from diverse candidates.
All reviews should prove that you value candidates and employees and champion a positive workplace culture to your target talent pool.
How crooton can help with recruitment marketing
Here at crooton, our skilled recruitment team has various tech tools to help engage and attract the talent you need for your company — even in this competitive market.
Our geo-fencing technology allows you to target talent currently working for your competitors. You can also target particular trade events and academic institutions.
This then allows you to tailor your recruitment marketing. You can create communications and paid-for ads that speak directly to that candidate segment.
As part of our fixed price recruitment service, you’ll also get a dedicated account manager who will utilise a broad selection of recruitment marketing channels to ensure active and passive job seekers hear about your employer brand and your vacancies.
Make crooton a part of your recruitment marketing team! Get in touch to find out more about our recruitment services.