Beat your Competitors to Top Talent with these Recruitment Marketing Strategies

Today’s candidates are more information savvy than ever. When considering a job move they use social media, review sites like Glassdoor, conduct online searches, and scrutinise company websites and communications to help them identify who they want to work for. As companies compete to attract talent in the employees market, owning the messaging and online conversations about your company has never been more vital. 

What is recruitment marketing? 

Think of recruitment marketing as part of your talent acquisition process. It’s about building and communicating your organization’s brand and value as an employer and presenting that in such a way that attracts targeted talent.

Recruitment marketing is useful tool for the following stages in the talent acquisition process:

• Awareness: to enable you to reach a wider pool of talent
• Consideration: to encourage candidates to establish an interest in your company
• Interest: to convert candidate interest into applications

Recruitment marketing allows you to create strategies that meet potential candidates at these different ‘touchpoints’ in the process. It also encourages potential candidates to move through these stages by providing them with content that meets their needs.

Taking a proactive approach by using recruitment marketing strategies:

• Helps you take control of the conversation and ensures you are communicating the right message to potential candidates
• Increases awareness of and interest in your company to potential candidates
• Enables you to convert this interest into new hires, develop a talent pool and attract better quality candidates
• It also gives you a competitive advantage by putting your messaging which enables candidates to read about your company and interact with your content before your competitors. This makes you a well-known employer and puts you top of mind

6 strategies to ensure your company stands out

1. Define your target audience

   As with any marketing strategy, the first step is to clearly define your target audience. Think about the values of your organisation and the types of personalities you want to attract to your teams and create profiles of your ideal candidates. Research the interests of these candidates and where they spend time on line. Next define how you are going to appeal to them in communications, and find out what your competitors are already saying! 

2. Review your online communications from the perspective of potential candidates.

   Research shows potential employees want to learn about your company culture, flexible working approaches, diversity, and staff development. Does your website offer all the information that today’s candidates are looking for? Is this information well organised and easy to access? Does your website and other online communications such as LinkedIn convey the image you want potential candidates to take away of your business?

3. Create shareable online content

   Social media offers endless possibilities to highlight your company’s culture and give candidates a feel for what it’s like to work with you. Rather than limiting your social media to job vacancy postings, share content that’s relevant to your company. Link to content from your own blog or share insightful articles from influencers in your industry. Try starting discussions on pertinent issues in your sector and content that celebrates current employees’ achievements. Video can also be very effective in communicating why candidates should consider your company.

4. Create staff advocates and get them involved in networking

   Each sector has a multitude of online meet-ups and industry events. Joining into these conversations boosts your awareness of your company and can be an effective way to reach and engage with a wider talent pool. By encouraging your high-performing employees to take part in these events, they can act as spokespeople and brand-ambassadors for your business and attract similar candidates.

5. Host your own industry events

   Hosting your own events, such as live streamed discussions on the important issues to your industry is another way of increasing your chances of encountering new talent. It also helps elevate the position of your company to that of ‘thought leaders’ increasing the chances of attracting interest in your other brand communications and improving the visibility of your company.

6. Invest in the future

Whether or not you currently have student or graduate hiring programs, getting involved in initiatives like mentoring programmes or industry career talks for upcoming generations or shows passion for your sector. It also boosts the image of your company to potential employees by showing you are willing to give something back to the community.