Globally, hiring experts are increasingly challenged to successfully compete in the war for talent. The candidate driven market has created a recruitment landscape where candidates are selecting a job in the same way that they ‘shop’ for a specific product or service. This means recruiters will have to release their inner marketer and create a more marketing-centered recruitment strategy that aligns with today’s candidate behaviors. Let’s have a look at how recruiters can put on their marketing hat and re-energize the way they attract and recruit new talent.
According to Linkedin’s Global Recruiting Trends Report, competition for talent (and a company’s ability to differentiate), is one of the biggest challenges hiring teams are facing today. Gone are the days where recruiters could rely on a job posting, sit back, and wait for highly qualified and motivated candidates to come in. Motivations and expectations have dramatically changed and candidates are increasingly behaving like consumers – making informed choices on where, and under which conditions they want to work. Transparent online marketplaces have disrupted the way we buy and are disrupting the way we apply.
Time to up the hiring game and ‘sell’ jobs in a similar way as marketers sell their products. Here are 4 marketing tactics that can help you attract, engage, and hire your next superstar:
#1 Position your brand While marketers strive on spreading the word about the corporate brand and its products or services, recruiters have to focus on defining and sharing the company’s story as an employer. Create an effective brand message that is tailored to your target audience, reflects your organization’s identity, and differentiates you from other employers (competitors). Dare to be bold, evoke emotion, and let your brand stand out from the crowd. Remember, your employer brand needs to be loved by the people YOU want to attract and engage with – it doesn’t have to appeal to éveryone. Most importantly, it needs to be authentic and believed by the people in your organization. The internet has pulled down the walls between internal and external reputation.
#2 Create candidate personas Just as marketers need to understand their audience, recruiters need to have a clear picture of who their ideal candidates are. What drives these candidates? What do they find important? And how do they search for jobs and information on your company? Creating candidate personas helps to acquire a deep understanding of your candidates, allowing you to optimize your job content and select the best channels. It allows you to create a tailored, personalized approach that improves your chances of reaching (and attracting) the right talent. And please don’t forget to test your persona to avoid recruiting assumption-based stereotypes.
#3 Prioritize the candidate journey Getting the right talent to notice your company is just the first step in reaching the ultimate goal. Similar to marketers wanting to convert visitors into… consumers into… customers, a recruiter’s goal is to convert visitors into… applicants into… candidates into… hires. In order to do this, recruiters need to build relationships with their candidates that supersede the transaction and provide them with a seamless candidate experience that drives engagement throughout the hiring journey. This requires your process (and communication) to be catered to your candidate’s needs and behaviors on all levels, while providing them with an authentic, on-brand experience that keeps them interested in your company.
To learn more about creating a winning candidate experience, check out this blog: How to woo your candidates in the selection process.
#4 Pivot and track Being able to track, measure and optimize your recruitment marketing efforts is essential to stay ahead in a competitive market. Data analytics will help you evaluate the results of your efforts, understand which strategies work best, and invest more in those that produce the best results. Which channels are delivering the most traffic? What type of content attracts the most (and the best qualified) candidates? And how is your recruitment marketing impacting your time-to-hire? Experimenting, evaluating and optimizing shouldn’t be an occasional ‘to-do’ on your list, but an everyday practice utilized to drive continuous improvement.
From segmenting and targeting qualified candidates, to promoting your company brand, and converting ‘leads’ to successful hires by engaging them throughout the process. The possibilities of utilizing marketing practices to power the recruitment process are endless. It’s a journey that won’t happen overnight, but can level up your hiring big time if you just get your head in the game. It’s time to rock your marketing hat! Happy Hiring!
