Insights

Recruitment is Marketing

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Recruitment Marketing

It’s a hiring manager’s or talent acquisition team’s job to attract and identify the best possible fit for an open position. So what’s the best strategy to do this? Use marketing techniques, specifically the “marketing mix” defined by the 5 P’s of product, price, placement, promotion, and the newly added positioning. Recruitment is marketing in itself; you’re selling your company and an open position to a candidate and hoping that they will take you up on that offer.

Positioning is the first P, which focuses on selling points and identifying the target audience. Positioning is important because this is the place where you highlight what your company has to offer compared to others. You should create your message around what your ideal candidate wants and needs; what aspects of this position will interest them? What skills can they showcase? This is you chance to demonstrate why a candidate should pick you and what you can do for them if they join your team.

Price is more than just a salary; it’s about opportunity cost and reputation. This means that candidates are interested in not only what they’ll make monetarily, but the culture and environment of the new opportunity. Now a days people view companies in regards to how they effect their personal brands. So, a candidate is looking at your company and deciding how working there will be perceived by others. What message does it send to friends and family? How might a future company view this career move? This goes back into positioning, where you need to empathize the benefits of your company and make sure you send the right message to a candidate.

Tying into price is Place, specifically the cultural and environmental factors mentioned before. Individuals are influenced by their own personalities, the generation they belong to, and by the culture they’re a part of (for example Americans value individuality and competition). This means that as a hiring manager you need to market your organization in a way that matches what candidates are looking for. If your company is one that runs on a team based approach and is fast paced, make sure to say that. A candidate wants to know what the company values, get idea of potential coworkers, and what type of workplace to expect.

The next P is Product, which is your brand image. With today’s technology a candidate is almost guaranteed to look at your company’s online presence: the official website, social media channels, and review sites, like Glassdoor. They want to know how current and former employees feel about the company and what customers are saying in testimonials. These are all encompassed by your brand; the message that your company has created, as well as what the online world has to add. A great way to strengthen the company brand is to showcase how your company is unique. Make sure to talk about workplace culture, touch upon how much industry experience you have, and make sure to be consistent across all channels (in person interviews, social media, and website). A company’s brand image is the first thing people look at, so if it’s not strong then you could lose out on business.

Promotion is the final P, which refers to how you reach candidates and promote your open job position. There are many available channels, like posting on job boards and social media, asking for employee referrals, or attending events, just to name a few. The trick with this is knowing where your candidates are looking. Are they a generation that uses social media? Are they apart of a niche community that has job boards specific to them? If you’re unsure or your efforts aren’t providing any results, social currency could be a game changer. Social currency is what people gain from sharing information, and it creates word of mouth advertising. By publishing and sharing valuable content, others can push it out into their own communities. This is essential for two reasons: you attract more viewers to engage with and it strengthens your company’s brand.

Following these 5 P’s can make your recruiting efforts more meaningful and successful. As long as you use these to your advantage in a way that is legal and non-discriminatory, recruiting talent should be a little less stressful.

 

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