“I hate these damn job boards!”
“We spent HOW MUCH on job postings last month?”
“Why aren’t we getting better results from [name the job board(s)]?”
These are some of the complaints I hear when talking to many of my staffing clients and friends. Yet, they all continue to post more on the same job boards, expecting to get different and better results. We know the definition of that practice.
While the average cost-per-click of job boards might seem reasonable (say, $2-5), the actual price is much higher when factoring in the considerable number of ‘clicks’ it takes to generate enough quality candidates for a single job order. That cost adds up quickly. Even worse, you're fishing in the same pond as everyone else by relying on the same job boards as every other staffing firm. There are only so many fish in that pond.
It’s time to step up and diversify your recruiting strategy and embrace innovative digital advertising approaches to attract more of the right candidates.
A targeted digital recruitment campaign allows you to reach candidates who represent the audience you are seeking where they already are. Through well-planned demographic, psychographic, and behavioral targeting, you can go directly to potential candidates with your singular message, rather than waiting for them to come to an over-populated job board.
With traditional job boards, you are primarily reaching active job seekers and completely missing out on the more valuable, passive candidates. Any recruiting program that isn’t playing the long game and seeking passive talent to add to its recruitment funnel is missing a significant source of candidates.
A broader, and very significant benefit of a targeted digital recruiting approach is the ability to promote and build a distinctive employer brand.
Doing so will help elevate your staffing firm to an ‘employer of choice’ by showcasing your company culture and values, just as you would for prospective clients. This helps draw new candidates to you through word of mouth, rather than relying solely on trying to find and capture them yourself.
So, you may be asking, “ How do I get started?”
Making this transition doesn’t have to be an all-in strategy. Take a portion of your traditional job board budget and reallocate it to a pilot, targeted recruiting campaign. You will be able to obtain detailed metrics, such as cost per application, quality of applicants by source, engagement metrics, and conversion rates. Compare the results of this effort to your job boards, and, like many of my clients, you’ll find that it’s a way to spend less on recruiting while finding more qualified candidates to fill your roles.