When you are looking to attract the best talent, you should ensure that your offer is similarly attractive. Potential hires should know why working at your organisation gives them the best employee experience. A good marketing strategy that can showcase not just the roles on offer but also your company’s brand is the only way to go. It is an essential part of the hiring process. Mistakes can and do cost time, money, and valuable talent for the organisation.

What is Recruitment Marketing

In general terms, any marketing activity proposes to position the goods or services on sale as attractively as possible for the potential customers even before there is a need or interest for the product. Recruitment marketing is no different. Organisations use multiple strategies to attract, engage, and nurture potential job candidates much before the jobs are posted for recruitment. The ultimate aim of marketing is to project an image of the organisation as an employer of choice. Applicants should perceive the company as a great place to work.

The aim of a successful marketing campaign is to ensure the open jobs, when advertised, reach and influence top talent to apply for those vacancies. With this in view, organisations may employ many marketing methods, including revamping their brand, campaigns on social media, and posting jobs on all major job sites and their own careers page.

Every organisation aims to recruit top talent aligned with the company’s culture and values in a short time. When properly done, recruitment marketing enables just that.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Here are some common mistakes made while performing recruitment marketing:

1. Undefined Employer Branding

The top mistake to avoid is to not invest in creating a clear and distinct employer brand. If your company’s employer branding is unclear, potential candidates may not be attracted to your organisation. Recruiters should work with the marketing team to create a strong employer brand that actually reflects the company’s values, mission, and culture.

2. Ambiguous Job Descriptions

Most often, job descriptions are the first point of contact for potential candidates with the company, and poorly written ones can spoil the first impression. One of the common mistakes while writing JDs is to set unrealistic expectations by mentioning irrelevant skills in the job post. Job descriptions should always be clear, succinct, and highlight the skills & qualifications required for the position. Refer to online guides to ensure you understand the importance and how to write great job descriptions.

3. No Visible Career Path

It is important to have an updated careers page that lists the current openings as well as a clear career path the organization can provide. For many, it is important to understand where they stand in the organization and the potential to grow. Lack of such information may lead to candidates becoming unsure of their future with the organisation.

4. Inconsistent Messaging

This can happen across different job portals and social media platforms creating confusion and mistrust among potential candidates. There could be many forms of inconsistencies including expectations from the role and job description. Recruiters should own up to the responsibility of making sure that their messaging is consistent across all platforms and to avoid creating unnecessary confusion.

5. Ignoring the Importance of Social Media

In this age of everything digital, if you are an organisation which is ignoring social media to market your open roles and your brand, it could cost you dearly in terms of missing out on top talent. These platforms are essential tools for recruitment. Therefore, recruiters should engage on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

6. Relying Only on Traditional Recruitment Methods

Traditional recruitment methods alone like job boards and classifieds can limit the reach. While those should be still used, it is imperative that recruiters explore digital space. Employee referrals are another great source of talent. So, recruiters should engage the employees in the marketing plans and encourage them to share success stories of the organisation and the job roles whenever they are published.

7. Not catering for mobile

The primary devices that are used to consume digital content of late are mobile devices. Since the orientation and screen space on mobile is different to laptops or desktop screens, every digital marketing campaign should be tested on mobile too to ensure it is optimised for viewing on smaller screens.

8. Ignoring passive candidates

Passive candidates are potential hires who aren’t actively looking for a job. Recruitment marketing efforts should address the way to reach out to them. In the worst case, they could potentially refer their friends who may be the right fit for the role.

9. Not Focusing on Candidate Experience

If recruiters view attracting candidates as the end of the recruitment marketing process, it would be very wrong. Much of the marketing happens thru word of mouth from those who had good candidate experience. The market strategy should have a plan for providing great candidate experience starting from the job application process till they are onboarded. They should provide transparency around job roles, salary, benefits and the hiring process. Recruiters should use software tools that simplify every step of the process and provide timely updates.

10. Ignoring Past Recruitment Data

The majority of decisions these days are data-driven. Collecting data during process execution and analysing it to understand if there are any gaps or opportunities for improvement should be a key recurring activity. There are a number of metrics that indicate the effectiveness and efficiency of the recruitment process. Recruiters should gauge the impact of their marketing strategies by looking at these metrics and adjust their plans to optimise the next marketing drive.

Conclusion

Recruitment marketing is an essential part of recruitment cycles. By avoiding the above-mentioned mistakes, you can create a successful marketing strategy to attract top talent and have a smooth recruitment process.