Are You Showcasing Your Expertise or Just Going Through the Motions?

Does it seem as though most days your team is spinning their wheels, doing just enough to fulfill clients’ demands? Unfortunately, over the years, the staffing industry has developed a weak employment brand and poor public perception which many staffing companies are currently trying to combat. While there’s no changing an entire reputation overnight, there are many steps staffing leaders can take to create a company that doesn’t just drive sales and placements, but builds long-lasting relationships with both their clients and candidates.

In a recent episode of The JourneyUP podcast, we had an opportunity to chat with David Searns, CEO of Haley Marketing Group, a digital marketing firm specializing in the staffing industry. Running the company for now 22 years, David is a staffing marketing expert who has helped thousands of clients achieve business goals by nurturing relationships through all forms of marketing communications media – including websites, email marketing, social media, podcasts, and video, and more.

In discussing how staffing agencies can successfully improve sales and attract candidates, David explains,

“My very short answer is there’s no silver bullet that’s going to cure all woes. But one of the things we’re recommending people to do is to think about your recruitment marketing through four pillars or four silos.”

According to David, here are the four major recruitment marketing pillars every staffing firm should invest in:

Website Evaluation, Design & Strategy

First and foremost, you must ask yourself a few critical questions. Do your website and online job portal effectively attract candidates? Is it user-friendly and engaging? Is it designed to optimize conversions? Or is it outdated, clunky and difficult to navigate? It’s critical to have a clear understanding of the user experience so you can determine what needs to be improved and adjusted for better recruitment outcomes. If your website is not executed with the end-user in mind, you’re setting your company up for failure before you’ve even captured candidates’ attention!

So, how can you use your website to truly showcase your firm as a leader in the staffing industry? In addition to creating a top-of-the-line user experience, you must invest in your content strategy. Do you publish information that candidates will find useful in their job search and professional growth? Are you serving as a valuable resource to both your clients and candidates, giving them a reason to return to your website again and again? Start looking at your website as not just a job portal, but as a hub of information where your audience can go to be informed, educated and empowered with the tools and knowledge they need to succeed. From there, you can effectively design a website that addresses your audience’s many needs and allows them to learn about your company’s mission.

Job Advertising

With so many job sites and channels, it’s easy to forget about the importance of strategizing when posting jobs. Establishing a targeted advertising strategy is the first step to reaching the right candidates for your clients’ staffing needs. Depending on the positions, some openings will require greater reach and a larger advertising budget, while others will be filled with just a few tactics, such as a LinkedIn job post or Facebook promotion. Evaluating the type of candidate required for each job – and identifying what job board platforms are best suited to reach this candidate pool – is necessary for engaging the right talent and maximizing time and money spent on your recruitment process.

Social Recruiting

Social media is no longer just a recruiting option for staffing firms, but a real marketing necessity. With hundreds of thousands of candidates using social media channels to look for jobs, staffing firms can’t afford not to be active on social media. However, the key to effective social recruiting doesn’t lie in the simple act of using social media – it is dependent on your company’s ability to draw candidates through meaningful exchange of information and relationship building. It involves showcasing your firm’s staff and mission, giving visitors to your social media pages a reason to “follow” or “connect” with you. Too many recruiters are under the impression that social media is an easy fix for finding more candidates. While some basic social media marketing may reap minor wins in the short term, a fully executed social recruiting strategy is essential for achieving optimal results.

Employer Branding

Have you ever thought of your staffing company as having a brand? Hopefully, your answer is yes, but if not, it’s time to rethink how you view your firm. Every staffing entity is more than its services – your company has a story that needs to be told! So, how exactly do you go about doing this? The key is to position your company as an expert in your staffing specialty. Fortunately, there are more communications platforms than ever before to showcase your expertise, knowledge, and experience in conjunction with your mission – including blogging, social media, video and so on. What you need most is to execute a plan that involves every member of your team – from your entry-level recruiters to upper management. When it comes to building an employer brand, content is king. Therefore, getting your staff on board to create content and push it out via their own social media channels is instrumental in this process. This may seem overwhelming at first, but with the right plan, can have transformative effects on your sales leads and recruitment outcomes.

The good news is that content today doesn’t need to be created purely in the written form. In fact, the pairing of video with social media has become one of the most effective marketing tools for staffing professionals. Whether it’s creating a short one-minute video about interview tips or posting a relevant New York Times article on LinkedIn, there is no shortage of content available to your staffing team. What’s most important is that you activate and incentivize your team to make content-sharing a priority, demonstrating to them the benefits it will have on their performance, lead generation and placement goals.

Making a consistent effort to incorporate these four pillars into your firm’s marketing business development plan will give your staffing firm the manpower to strategically attract, recruit and retain your clients and candidates in the most effective and efficient ways. Most importantly, you’ll establish a launchpad for future success in every avenue of your marketing efforts – from social recruiting to building a rock-star employer brand.

Is your staffing firm struggling to attract and engage candidates?

Let our team help you devise a plan that addresses your biggest marketing challenges and positions you for long-term success. Please contact us today and let us help you reach your business goals with our recruitment software.