Angelfish Marketing Blog

The recruitment agency space is hyper competitive… 

…but many recruitment agencies have still managed to grow successfully via traditional marketing and sales methods. As a result, there is lots of space for recruitment agencies to gain significant competitive advantage over their rivals right now – particularly in the search engine space.  

The starting point

As a recruitment agency, getting the right candidates from the right areas is a tricky task in itself, not to mention attracting and retaining the right clients. Throw in a lack of social media presence, sporadic marketing campaigns, poor site optimisation, and an over-reliance on traditional, interruptive marketing techniques, and this task becomes even more of a challenge.

This is the situation our client found themselves in before they came to us. They weren’t hitting their business goals and their website traffic wasn’t as high as most of their competitors’ were. Basically, they needed a marketing plan for a recruitment agency that would boost candidate acquisition - and they needed it fast.

If you’re wise to the inner workings of the methodology of inbound marketing for recruitment agencies, you’ll know that relevant, engaging content is the key to attracting prospects to your website. As a recruitment agency, however, you’ll also be aware that UK recruitment is now the world’s most competitive market - which means that your content is going to come up against a lot of competition!

In one of our latest blogs, we highlighted that Google - among other search engines - makes up 55% of candidate’s job searches. In fact, in 2017, Google launched its very own Google for Jobs suite in America, and shortly afterwards, included a dedicated job search tool as part of the suite. Since then, the feature has been rolled out internationally.

There’s no denying it; competition among recruitment agencies to find the best candidates is growing bigger by the year. In fact, it’s now thought that UK recruitment is the world’s most competitive market. What’s more, unemployment is currently at 3.8% - a 45-year low - and in 2018, the majority of employed individuals were satisfied with their job and weren’t looking for a new one. So not only is this all making finding any candidates at all a challenge, but it seems that finding the very best candidates who have the talent needed to succeed in the roles on offer is especially difficult. In fact, approximately three quarters (72.8%) of recruitment agencies in 2018 struggled to find relevant candidates for their clients, with  45% having difficulty filling positions because of talent shortages. 

The challenge

Five months ago, we started working with a recruitment consultancy, M&E Global, who specialise in subcontracting work for the defence industry. Over the past 20 years, they’ve been offering a range of project solutions, supporting various global military contracts. They take a well-rounded approach to recruitment, not only finding their candidates jobs but also supporting them throughout the entirety of their contracts. This holistic approach to recruitment is what makes M&E unique, working closely with both candidates and clients so that all parties get exactly what they need.

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: 

There are a lot of buzzwords and industry jargon in marketing. From SEO to metadata, PPC to CPC, there’s a lot to get your head around when it comes to effective digital marketing. However, as a recruitment agency, you can’t not have a strategy in place; as we’re sure you’re well aware, the recruitment sector is getting more and more competitive. So, to help you make the most of your marketing spend, we’ve highlighted how to get the best return on investment (ROI). We’re seeing amazing results from our digital marketing for recruitment agencies, so read on to ensure you’re doing everything you can to get the most from your marketing spend.