The UK jobs market peaked at over 1.3 million live jobs after the pandemic. Today that number has dropped to ‘just’ 800,000 but it remains a candidate-driven market.
So recruitment marketing remains a constantly evolving landscape that requires employers to consistently review their approach, process and actions in order to attract and retain the talent they need.
Our experience shows some key areas where employers can improve their activity to achieve success:
- Employer Branding
Your employer brand is the ‘golden thread’ to your recruitment marketing that runs consistently through your attraction activity, showcasing your values, culture and how you will resonate with your potential employees. Well defined and crafted, it will also show how you differentiate yourselves from those organisations after the same talent as you. Employer branding not only needs to be at the forefront of your campaigns, it also needs amplifying in all employment content, from your careers pages to your social media feeds. This creates what we call valuable ‘background noise’ about you as a potential employer and needs to be consistent throughout the entire candidate to employee journey, ensuring new hires feel engaged before they join and aligned to the same beliefs and culture after they join. There’s plenty of research showing that a consistent employer brand helps to deliver and retain more engaged, higher performing employees who – in turn – can be more effective advocates of the company (see below).
- Refreshing Job Copy
A recent job board survey said that candidates spend an average of eight seconds reading a job advert. If your copy starts with two paragraphs on the history of the company, you’ll have lost them already… to your competitors! The first sentence needs to tell them exactly what they want to hear to get them reading further, then create interest and desire. Break up the copy with a few bullet points on the key demands of the role and always make sure you present the full benefits package. To finish, make sure there is a clear and intuitive apply process, rounded off with a line on what happens after the completed application. Candidates will keep more engaged if they know what happens next and when, your recruitment marketing should capture the entire process.
- Video Content
Video content is a brilliant way to engage potential candidates and showcase your company’s culture. Whether it is a product, a service, or a job, we’ll all read a bit of copy, we like looking at images but we LOVE video… providing it is short, relevant, and authentic. You can optimise your video to enhance the employer branding, really selling the job to the right candidates in an authentic manner.
- Showcase Earning Potential
Part of your planning process needs to include benchmarking your offering in the marketplace to ensure your salary and benefits package is competitive. In this way, you can reflect the correct level of skills and experience you are seeking, whilst still offering a package that matches, thereby mitigating overqualified applicants. And be transparent on the salary on offer. Some stats suggest over 75% of people will no longer apply for a job if the salary isn’t shown, so you don’t want to miss out on high-quality candidates for a simple sentence.
- Employee Advocacy
Linked to the power of a consistent employer brand as above, let your employees do the talking for you. Make your campaigns authentic and get your employees involved in videos, photos or simply quotes. This will enhance your credibility and resonate with the candidates at deeper level. And those employees who feel properly aligned to the brand will always be receptive to and enthusiastic for any referral scheme you put in place.
Just some of the moving parts that need attention to deliver a successful recruitment marketing strategy. Overall, you need to continually optimise your opportunity within the industry and skills sectors you’re searching.
Don’t be afraid to be bold, differentiating, boastful and stand out against the other roles out there from your competitors. Showcase why you are the employer to work for and not them. Using a mix of the above will allow you to do this.
Are you ready to be optimised? Contact us today or fill in this form for a FREE recruitment marketing audit.
