If you're looking for a recruitment marketing edge in 2021, this is it.
We compiled thousands of data points across 27 crucial tactics to see what the Fortune 500 are doing and also not doing to attract, engage, and nurture talent. There wasn't a more obvious area of opportunity for recruiters and talent professionals than this:
Only 7% of companies send any content other than jobs to their talent networks.
What's even more interesting is that over half of these companies already have unique content (like employee stories) on their career sites; they're simply not taking the time to put together a multichannel strategy to utilize it in a compelling way. And given the current workplace landscape (i.e. massive layoffs, hiring freezes, work from home policies) there simply has never been a more critical time to talk to potential candidates in meaningful, brand-first ways.
Start doing this one recruitment marketing tactic in 2021, and you have an immediate advantage over 90% of the world's leading brands. Here's how.
Segment your email database for better personalization
The right CRM makes this a breeze. If you have strong recruitment marketing tech, it allows you to easily bucket talent based on particular work skills and interests. For instance, you can group everyone with writing skills and an interest in marketing positions into one segment. This helps ensure that when you send content, people will receive information that is relevant and appealing to them. If you're a marketer and a company you're interested in keeps sending you content about how great it is to be a software engineer, that's not particularly helpful in a recent survey, 54% of people said they would immediately unsubscribe to a newsletter if they receive irrelevant information. And marketing to potential candidates is no different.
Creating meaningful content starts here.
Automate email workflows to increase efficiency.
If you're still creating one-off emails and sending them out personally every time you want to touch base with your talent network, then maybe you'd like to invite me over to the rock you're living under to listen to Jack Benny on your old-time radio.
Email automation is essential to optimizing your talent network. It allows recruiters to set up email flows based on triggers Ñ like when someone opts in to job alerts or abandons their application (only 13% of companies send auto reminder emails to complete application by the way) Ñ or create drip campaigns that roll out over a specified timeframe. Ecolab, for example, launched a drip campaign in 2020 that was focused on engaging their talent network with non-job content personalized to their area of interest; they generated 7,500 applies, and that was twelve times the amount of all their regular job alerts for the year.
Again, this is done fairly easily with a powerful CRM tool. And not only will it have a major impact on potential candidates, but it will also free up time for recruiters to focus on more important tasks.
Repurpose content from other channels
OK, this is one where there seems to be the most disconnect. In our analysis, we found that 51% of companies feature personalized employee stories on their career sites, yet only a fraction are then sending that content to their talent network. So essentially: companies have the content and they have the talent network, they're simply lacking the means or understanding to connect the two.
How do you solve this? Preparation and a tech foundation. It might sound repetitive, but simply having the right recruitment marketing platform will make multi-channel messaging much more streamlined. However, there is still a level of human strategy required here when you produce quality content for one of your channels (website, social media, blog, etc.) you should be finding ways to quickly repurpose it and get it in front of more people who it can impact.
And if you're worried about coming across redundant or lazy, don't be. People have short memories and also likely don't follow your brand across different mediums. They aren't likely to notice or care that it's repeated content but they will definitely notice the lack of interesting content you send them.
Put your employees in the spotlight
This ties in nicely with the previous one. According to LinkedIn, people trust employees three times more than the company itself. If you're spending a lot of time and resources on video content with professional actors, you might want to consider that your most compelling selling point is actually the people who already work for you.
Again, over half of the companies we researched are putting employee stories (written or video) on their career sites. That's good. Take those and create a personalized drip campaign.
Make it easier and more enticing to apply.
If you've just been sending your talent network jobs, you haven't been solving for one of the biggest hurdles in getting people to apply: the application itself.
Applications are often tedious, complicated, and hard to navigate (oh boy, this is a conversation for another day). And even when someone completes an application and manages to get hired, there's a level of uncertainty and anxiety that surrounds the on-boarding process that can act as a major deterrent. Simply put, finding a new job is scary.
But you can use your talent network to alleviate many of these concerns. Share resources and FAQs for how best to approach finishing an application, and be transparent about the little nuances of your on-boarding process not just the sexy benefits package you offer. If you don't think people are worried about where they're supposed to park or the snacks in the break room, you'd be wrong.
