With everyone turning digital, traditional outbound marketing methods aren’t as reliable anymore. No one wants to be pestered with cold calls and direct advertising just isn’t as effective – in fact, according to research, 30% of all internet users now use ad blockers on their internet browsers to stop the constant flow of ads flashing up on screens. As a result, the marketing funnel has shifted due to changing buyer needs. Before this change, marketers used a ‘funnel model’, which looked a bit like this:
The problem with this is that the focus was on ‘attracting’ new customers to the business. This involved reaching out to them and fighting against others to get their attention. Now, the focus has switched to ‘delighting’ customers, engaging with them more and offering them super useful and relevant content so that they actively choose you over competitors. For recruitment agencies, this means fundamentally shifting the way in which you market yourselves.
But with such a saturated market and so many other recruitment companies doing the same thing, what’s the solution?
Delight your candidates
Gone are the days of searching your local newspaper for job postings. Now, everyone’s first port of call is Google, where there is a wealth of information and infinite opportunities on offer. With so much noise to cut through, getting your recruitment company out there is quite a battle. Buyer behaviours have changed, so your marketing methods need to, as well. Essentially, you need to become a magnet, attracting leads in by offering them something they can’t refuse, rather than fighting to get their attention. Think: value, value, value!
Create great content
The main way to offer value is to write useful blog posts with catchy headlines so that, as your potential candidates search Google for more information, they come across your website and are enticed to read your posts. Continually producing high-quality content will also boost your authority on the topic, making you more attractive to candidates who want to be confident in their choice to pick you over your competition. Once they’re on your website, make sure you have clear CTA (call-to-action) buttons leading them to further useful content. For example, if you write a blog post on your top five interview techniques, why not offer further value by creating a downloadable guide on the topic too? The benefit of this is that, in order to download this guide, the reader would need to submit their details – turning them into valuable leads.
You have to nurture potential candidates, so, once you have their email address, you could then start offering even more value by sending out occasional updates on your job vacancies and blog posts. Your efforts will keep your agency at the forefront of their minds, meaning that, when they decide to take action, they choose your agency to submit their CVs to.
Be active on social media
Social media is an essential tool for any business and sharing your blog posts and engaging with people on social media is a sure-fire way to help grow your following. One of the most effective ways of generating more candidate applications is by running a social media advert as you have access to such a wide range of people.
At Angelfish Marketing, we’ve had great success in generating leads through Facebook ads. It’s a great way to get in front of potential candidates as you can set the audience to your own candidates’ criteria. For example, if you’re looking for candidates in the IT industry, you can select an audience who work for IT companies or have an interest in this sector so that your ad gets shown on their timelines.
For one recruitment company, we generated 1,349 unique clicks through to our client’s website in a single Facebook advert, proof that this really works! That’s 1,349 ‘warm’ people who can be retargeted with a conversion ad (which generated 229 new contacts for our client at a cost of £3.49 each).
Optimise your website
It’s also important to make yourself more visible in search engines by optimising your job board with SEO techniques. If this is new to you, here’s a quick checklist:
- Choose a keyword with a good balance between volume and difficulty
- Implement this keyword throughout your website content
- Use your keyword within your blog posts, including:
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- Headings
- Meta description
- Image alt tags
- Within your copy
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- Clear your website errors
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- Use software such as SEMrush to identify and fix any errors
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For further details on implementing SEO techniques, why not download our guide to inbound marketing? It’s full of helpful information, such as:
- How to optimise your website
- Creating great content marketing
- Social media tips
- Turning visitors into leads
- Nurture leads into customers
Optimising your website is such an essential part of getting in front of your audience. With everyone turning to Google for more information rather than a sales rep, you need to ensure your site can be found. Implementing these techniques will, over time, see positive results as you climb the search engine results page.
Where to start?
Generating more candidates, especially in this day and age, is not an easy task. But with the points outlined above, you will see a big difference in results. At Angelfish Marketing, we specialise in inbound and digital marketing for a wide range of clients, having particular success with recruitment agencies. We work with clients to take the stress out of marketing and provide effective solutions to generate the leads you need. As a starting point, why not get a free site audit from us?
Our report will review your website’s:
- Links and authority
- Technical fix recommendations
- Search rankings
- Local listings
- On-site SEO
- Social channels
This report will not only enable you to see where there are areas of improvement, but the free one-hour consultation with one of our expert marketers will also help you to recognise how we can help improve your results. Sound good? Simply click below to register your interest.
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