If you run a business, you need to hire employees, and, of course, you want the best people for the job. There are two ways you can approach this: following old-school practices featuring mediocre job ads in the local paper and hoping for the best, or building a recruitment campaign that reaches and encourages exceptional candidates to apply for vacancies.
Revamping your recruitment campaign takes time and effort. Get it right, and it’s time and effort well spent, servicing your business for the long run. We’ve put together our top recruiting ideas, giving you strategies to take your recruitment planning to new heights.
Understanding Recruitment Campaign Basics
Before we explore a few ideas on how to recharge your campaigns for recruiting top-notch candidates, let’s take a quick look at the basics of what a recruitment campaign entails.
In essence, a recruitment campaign is like a typical marketing campaign. The aim is to communicate a unique selling point to a defined target audience across various channels.
Unlike marketing campaigns that focus on sales or conversions, a recruitment campaign aims to encourage the ideal candidates to apply for vacancies in your business.
Now let’s look at a few ideas for making this happen. Our tips touch on recruitment planning as well as the stages of recruitment.
8 Strategies to Revamp Your Recruitment Campaign
#1. Define A Target Audience
You can’t create an effective recruitment campaign if you don’t know who you want to reach. Think about who your ideal job applicants would be.
Ask yourself questions like:
- Do you want to attract junior-level workers, college or university graduates, or senior candidates with more experience?
- Should they have a specific education level?
- Do they need to display a unique set of skills?
- Do you hope to attract someone from the Boomer, Millennial, or Gen Z generation?
Take a broad approach to your campaign and create a talent pool of candidates ideal for current and future vacancies. Knowing your ideal candidates allows you to refine your campaign’s message and visuals to suit your target audience. It may dictate which channels or platforms you decide to push your campaign, ensuring you meet the relevant people.
#2. Research Brand Perceptions
Defining your target audience is only step 1. You also need to know what people think of your brand. There’s a big difference between how you want candidates to see your brand and their genuine perception.
Research how people perceive your brand, focusing on critical metrics like culture, diversity, favorability, innovation, job specifics, and reputation. Goldman Sachs provided an excellent example of this with the background to their Day in the Life recruitment campaign, which aimed to attract a new generation of bankers.
The firm understood that a growing number of young candidates preferred not to work in places such as Wall Street, so they decided to create a campaign that showcased its culture and presented it as a choice employee.
Goldman Sachs sampled more than 40,000 people using third-party surveys to understand potential candidates’ perceptions better. Even though some of the answers were unfavorable, they used the data to refine their recruiting ideas for the campaign.
#3. Utilize Keywords For Recruiting Online
Think beyond the job ads column in the local paper. If you want to reach as many potential top-quality candidates as possible, you need to take your recruitment campaign online. Ensure Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is at the top of your list.
Research keywords to optimize your ads, especially if you want to use Google Ads, to target your ideal applicants. Spend some time unpacking the terms or phrases candidates use online with Google’s Keyword Planner. You can use it to find the best keywords for your recruitment ideas.
Start by typing in the search terms you think your ideal candidates might use when Googling, and then check out the search volumes on those terms. If a word or phrase has a high search volume, it has the potential to reach a large enough audience to make your campaign worthwhile.
You don’t necessarily need to use the terms with the highest search volume. Those will also be the most competitive terms. Terms with low search volumes also aren’t ideal, given that your reach will decrease. It would be best to find a middle ground to get the most out of your SEO.
You might also want to consider bidding on broad matches, which are search terms that Google thinks may meet the same criteria as your chosen keywords. You’ll need to consistently optimize your SEO to see the best results for your recruitment campaign.
#4. Create Attractive, Clear Job Ads
Creating attractive, explicit job ads that help you get the attention of ideal potential candidates is an essential step in the stages of recruitment. Better yet, use them to help you evaluate those candidates on criteria related to the job.
The best job ads for your recruitment campaign:
- Include clear job titles: The role the successful applicant will fulfill should be clear. Don’t use clickbait-style tags or unclear terms such as “rockstar.” If you’re looking for a deputy manager, be clear about it.
- Include specific, valuable details about the role: Mention current job duties and communicate potential employment growth opportunities. Include around six must-have requirements along with requirements that are nice to have. Nice-to-have requirements are good but not essential. It’s helpful to include them so candidates can get a better understanding of the role.
- Use clear, inclusive language: Use gender-inclusive language (such as ‘salesperson’ instead of ‘salesman’) and avoid discriminatory language (‘young and energetic’ can be perceived as ageist). Speak directly to potential candidates using simple sentences and avoid using slang or jargon. If your brand supports diversity, be clear about it from the outset.
- Sell your brand: Remember, job ads need to promote your brand. Let candidates know what sets your company apart from others and highlight the benefits and perks to employees. Give your ideal candidates additional reasons to want to work for you. Your recruitment ideas for the ad should go beyond the job description and remuneration. Using an engaging infographic is a great way to grab attention and convey all the necessary information.
#5. Prioritize Recruitment Efficiency
Inefficiency can stifle your entire recruitment campaign. If your HR team fails to adequately handle the applicants the recruitment campaign brings in, it could derail your efforts.
Promote efficiency by:
- Investing in recruiting software tools: Use applicant tracking systems to help you manage the stages of recruitment, collaborate with your recruitment team, and store candidates’ profiles in a searchable database. Use video recruiting software for easier interviewing of remote candidates.
- Using email templates: Writing personalized emails to candidates can be difficult and time-consuming. Use email templates when inviting candidates to be interviewed or asking for referrals. Do not forget to revamp your reference check to ensure you hire top talent.
- Creating standard process checklists: Checklists can help you organize the recruitment process. Create lists that help you ensure you have all the relevant information before screening calls and before you interview candidates.
#6. Enhance Your Candidate Sourcing
The job ads you create for your recruitment campaign are likely to be aimed at active job-hunters – candidates who are committed to finding a new job. Does that mean you should ignore passive candidates? Not at all! Many currently employed people are more than happy to hear about potential new job opportunities.
Enhance your candidate sourcing by targeting passive candidates in the following ways:
- Networking at events: Conferences, industry events, and meetups are great places to meet potential candidates. They provide an excellent opportunity to network and spread the word that you’re hiring.
- Use sourcing tools: The right sourcing tools can quickly help you find potential candidates. Platforms such as Hired let you create a company profile and browse through job seekers profiles, which usually include personal details and resumes, education, skills, and previous work experience.
- Use social media to source candidates: Search for people with skills, expertise, and interests relevant to the positions featured in your recruitment campaign on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Reddit. Follow those people as well as relevant conversations.
- Use Boolean search: Use Boolean strings on Google to find potential candidates’ social media profiles and find candidate resumes. Boolean Operators are words or symbols used to combine or exclude keywords in a search, allowing users to focus their search to generate the most helpful results.
- Leverage referrals: Use referral software to use gamification methods to increase referrals. Create a referral program that offers incentives to get more referrals, which can be a great way to find top-notch candidates.
#7. Improve Candidate Evaluation
Evaluating candidates is another of the essential stages of recruitment. Once you have the applications, you need to screen them to select the best candidates for the job.
Improve your candidate evaluation process by:
- Structuring the interviews: Start by preparing questions before your interviews. Decide on the scale you’ll use to score candidates and use the same set of questions for each discussion so you can compare fairly. Structured interviews are crucial. It’s not easy to predict job performance when your interviews are all over the place.
- Review assignments and work samples: Create assessments for candidates to complete and evaluate the various tasks along with samples of their prior work or portfolios. For example, if you’re hiring a copywriter, ask them to write a sample copy for you to review. If you’re looking for a sub-editor, ask them to complete an editing exercise.
#8. Build Talent Pipelines
Having a pool of candidates that can fulfill future job roles makes it easier to source suitable candidates when the time comes.
Let’s say your current campaign attracts 20 applicants. Five might be ideal for the job, five might be unsuitable, and ten might be suitable for roles that will open up in the future. By building a talent pipeline of those ten potential candidates, you can make recruitment for those positions easier when the time comes.
Hot Tip: Track Your Recruitment Campaign Results
Successful marketing campaigns use analytics and data to track effectiveness. The same principle should apply to your recruitment campaign.
Use analytics and data to track your campaign’s results. Unpack channel performance, focusing your efforts on mediums that deliver top-quality candidates. You can use these insights for future campaigns.
For example, if you’re getting more responses from potential candidates on Facebook and Google ads than you are from those on Twitter and Instagram, focus on the successful channels to gain a higher ROI.
Start Recruiting!
There’s a tremendous amount of competition out there. If you want to attract the best candidates to your company, your recruitment campaign needs to be a top priority. Start by implementing these top strategies to ensure you attract the right talent.
How can HR outsourcing services help?
Use one-to-one HR outsourcing services to assist your business with all things HR-related, including hiring and compliance. Navigating the federal and state employment rules can be challenging for small businesses. Look for a reliable team you can lean on for suitable recommendations and support.