In the post, Inbound Marketing for Recruitment Part 1: Set Your Strategy, we discovered the first three key elements to establishing your recruitment marketing strategy: develop your employee value proposition, determine your goals, and develop your personas. In Part 2 we’re going to look at the ways you build your brand and establish your strategy: you’re going to review your competitors, evaluate your channels, check your SEO, and keep measuring that data!
Review Your Competitors
You’re always looking at your competitors in terms of sales. You should also be looking at them in terms of hiring. Are they recruiting better candidates than you? Determine what they are doing well along with where their weaknesses are. What can you offer your candidates that your competitors can or will not?
We have a manufacturing client who offers lengthy plant tours as part of their interview process. Every employee we interviewed to develop their personas told us that long plant tour sealed the deal for them. Candidates got to meet the people they would be working with, and they could see exactly what the work was going to look like. None of the other manufacturers in the area were doing tours like that.
If you’re not sure what your competitors are doing, ask your recent hires. They probably applied and interviewed at some of your competition. They can give you the inside scoop.
Evaluate Your Channels
Inbound marketing for recruitment involves getting the right message in the right channel at the right time for the right people. Are your channels ready for this? Is your website responsive and providing a great mobile experience? 21% of Millennials use mobile exclusively to search for jobs. (Source: Indeed.com)
Are you using the right social channels? The social channels you use for business marketing may be different from the social channels you use for recruitment. Do you have a lead nurturing system in place? Some recruitment funnels are very quick, others are long and drawn out. If you have a longer recruitment cycle, you should consider automated email nurturing to continue your candidates down the recruitment funnel.
Check Your SEO
Of the 3.5 billion searches performed on Google every day over 30% are related to employment. Your ideal candidate is most likely starting their search on Google or another search engine. What keywords are you using? Are you using straightforward job titles and job descriptions? Note: no one is searching for a job as a “guru” or a “ninja”. Don’t use those in your job titles and descriptions. Keep your language straightforward, especially in the headings of your content. You’ll rank higher for the people searching for your jobs.
Evaluate all of your content around your brand and your job listings. How can you more fully optimize that content? Where can you add additional, helpful information? Would a separate careers website make sense for your organization? Would separate social channels make sense? Does all of your content consistently spell out your unique Employee Value Proposition? Your EVP should be very clear on every single digital marketing channel you use for recruitment.
Keep Measuring That Data!
Of course, the final (not final) step of any inbound marketing program is to measure, evaluate, and adjust. You set your SMART goals at the beginning, and you know what you’re trying to achieve. Did you reach your goals? If yes, woohoo! Now, let’s set some new goals.
If you didn’t reach your goals, why not? Evaluate the data. Where did it fall apart? Were the goals simply unrealistic? Were your channels not fully optimized for what you needed to do? Are you certain you’ve clearly defined your personas? Are your competitors doing something new that is attracting the candidates you want to attract?
The key to success of any inbound marketing strategy is continual evaluation and adjustment. You should always be looking at your data and metrics. What story is that data telling you about your success? Even if you met all of your goals, what can be improved on in the next go-around?
Perhaps you need an inbound agency to help set your strategy and develop content that speaks in your brand voice to your personas. Many companies are choosing the knowledge and skills of an inbound recruitment marketing partner agency to bridge the gaps in their organization.
