The right candidates are looking for you. Are you using the right tools to find them?
Online recruitment advertising often seems like it requires extensive training in media planning or statistics to track where your money goes. In the age of big data, recruiters have more tools than ever to find talented candidates. But navigating all the options in order to create an efficient and cost-effective recruiting program can be a challenge.
Here are four strategies to optimize your recruitment advertising program:
1. Evaluate the landscape
While some websites will be an obvious fit for your organization based on job type, price, industry, or past experience, consider setting aside 20 percent of your budget for experimentation. Try placing a few jobs on a new website, or taking advantage of promotions (like free sponsored job posting on Simply Hired when you post through SmartRecruiters), sales, and social networks. If one new recruiting option nets you a stream of qualified applicants and results in a good hire, by all means, increase the budget allocation toward that site.
2. Track and measure campaign performance
With tracking and some simple analysis, the best performing sites will become obvious. Move funds from low-performing sites to high-performing sites. There’s no reason to spend more money on low-performing sites “just because we’ve always done it that way,” just as there’s no reason to subscribe to a magazine or an email newsletter you never read.
3. Use data to drive decisions
Recruiters can no longer be dependent on a steady stream of unemployed candidates from corporate restructuring layoffs. Instead, they need to be strategic about how they source candidates, and plenty of data is available to help you make strategic decisions. While your own data on the best sources for qualified applicants helps you make internal decisions for budget allocation, it’s also useful to use readily available industry and marketplace data to help you find new ways to compete in the employment marketplace.
4. Stay on top
Many job websites, including Simply Hired, offer premium placement in the listings for an additional fee. Our research shows that not only that candidates are more likely to click on jobs that are at the top of the listings, it shows that those candidates who do click on the top ads are more focused in their search, and therefore likely to be better candidates.
Advertising your jobs should be easier. After all, your specialty is people — hiring the best candidates to work at your company. And finding the best candidates can be tricky. Let us help you make 2014 the year of performance-based recruiting. Download our free Planning Guide for Talent Acquisition Professionals to help evaluate your options and measure your success.
And now, through SmartRecruiters, you can get a free sponsored job posting on Simply Hired ($99 value, offer valid until January 31st).
