How do I use Digital Advertising for Recruitment?

"Why is it so hard to find employees to come work for my company?" "We’ve had these positions open for months." "We can’t find the right people to fill this position." "What do we do?"Sound familiar? So many companies, large and small, are having difficulty filling positions. These positions range from general customer service roles, to food servers at restaurants, and then specifically the higher up positions that require experience, certain certifications, etc.Why is it so challenging?According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the latest data shows that there are 8.5 million job openings in the U.S. but only 6.5 million unemployed workers. Also, in 2022, the U.S. Chamber surveyed unemployed workers and found some insight as to what’s keeping people from returning to work:

• Two-thirds (66%) of Americans who lost their full-time job during the pandemic say they are only somewhat active or not very active at all in searching for a new job.
• About half (49%) are not willing to take jobs that do not offer the opportunity for remote work.
• More than a quarter (26%) say it will never again be essential for them to return to work.
• Nearly one in five have altered their livelihood, 17% have retired, 19% have transitioned to homemaker, and 14% are now working part-time.
• Almost a quarter (24%) say government aid packages during the pandemic have incentivized them to not actively look for work.
• Younger respondents, aged 25-34, are prioritizing personal growth over searching for a job right now; 36% say they’re more focused on acquiring new skills, education, or training before re-entering the job market.

Now, more than ever, it seems like recruitment for companies in most industries is at a standstill. There are challenges when it comes to finding the right candidates.This is where Digital Recruitment Advertising can come in and help alleviate the weight that sits on the shoulders of business owners, HR Directors, and even Recruiting Agencies.Before we dive into how to best use digital, here are a few tips on recruitment:

• 51% of talent professionals recruit throughout the calendar year for positions that may open up later on
• 51% of job seekers are more attracted to an organization that had posted job listings with visual elements (images & videos) than to others that didn’t.
• Mobile-friendly job applications receive 11% more submissions
• Job ads that include a salary range got 75% more engagement than the job ads that don’t
• 89% of job seekers agree that an employer’s webpage is important for finding key information.
• (sources: https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/recruitment-statistics/#gref; https://www.adaface.com/blog/recruitment-statistics/#job-ad)

• The candidate application rate goes up by 34% when a job post includes a video
• 83% of candidates say it would greatly improve the experience if the business provides a clear view of the hiring process.
• The median employee tenure in the US is 2 years and ages 25 to 34 average is 2.8 years
• Employees are 3x more trusted than employers
• 75% of professionals are passive job seekers.
• Sources: https://blog.aspiration.marketing/recruitment-marketing-statistics; https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/recruitment-statistics/#gref

Since these people are hard to reach, may be passively job seeking, and are looking for some kind of image/video in the job that they look for, using digital advertising for your recruitment purposes is a win-win. When you’re looking at Recruitment Marketing, it’s important to understand the Marketing Funnel, as it relates to recruitment:

When we analyze the recruitment campaigns that we’ve run over the last few years, there are a few products that are utilized more often than others to help with the Awareness and Interest mentioned above: Social Mirror, Display, Mobile Conquesting and Facebook/Instagram. While these aren’t the only products we see being used, these are the most common that we’re seeing.Each Product can be used for different purposes as well, depending on your goal.Facebook/Instagram and Social Mirror can be used for goals like filling part-time jobs, reaching college students, people with general skills, entry level positions, text heavy ad creative and if you’re tracking conversions, these are two great products to use.If you are in need of highly specific skill sets, advanced degrees, and tracking conversions, then you may want to use Social Mirror and/or Display Ads as the behavioral targeting categories available are very specific to the job you have.If you are trying to reach the blue color audience, moms, entry level positions, maybe targeting a competitor’s employees, and if conversion tracking isn’t that important, Mobile Conquesting may be your best choice.The beauty of using Digital Advertising is the ability to be really specific when it comes to who you want to see your ads. When recruiting for specific roles, it may be more of a select pool of candidates you’re looking for.For Social Mirror and Display, here are some common behavioral categories used to find potential employees:

Career Changers > LikelyEducation>Graduating CollegeEducation > College Graduate DegreeLife Stages – Recent College GraduatesLifestyle > Unemployed/Looking for a jobNeutral On Looking For Job In USActively Looking For Job In USJob SeekersUS Hispanic Job SeekersIn Market > Recent Graduate, Job SeekerBy Job TitlesJob Search & Career OpportunitiesMid-Career SwitchersEmployment Status – UnemployedAdministrative JobsArts & Entertainment JobsBusinessBusiness Decision MakersBusiness ProfessionalsCareers & EmploymentC-Level ExecutivesCommunications JobsConstruction JobsContinuing EducationCustomer Service JobsEducation JobsEducation ProfessionalsEmployed Part TimeEmployment SearchEngineering JobsEntry Level positionsExecutive PositionsExpect to Change JobsFinance JobsFinance ProfessionalsGovernmentHealth Care JobsHome Service JobsHR and RecruitmentHuman ResourcesInsuranceIT ProfessionalsJobsLevel of Education – Advanced DegreeCollege DegreeHigh School DegreeSome CollegeNew Hires or Recruitment ServicesRecruitmentSmall Business ProfessionalsYoung Professionals

You can even target by industry that people are working in:

Industry > AccountingIndustry > Agriculture > Animals & LivestockIndustry > Agriculture > CropsIndustry > Agriculture > FishingIndustry > Architecture & DesignIndustry > AutomotiveIndustry > BankingIndustry > Banking & FinanceIndustry > Banks & Credit UnionsIndustry > Business Services > AccountingIndustry > Business Services > Commercial PrintingIndustry > Business Services > Graphic DesignIndustry > Business Services > HR & RecruitingIndustry > Construction > ArchitectureIndustry > Construction > ContractorsIndustry > Construction > Residential BuildingIndustry > Consumer Services > Hair SalonsIndustry > Consumer Services > VeterinaryIndustry > Cultural > Performance ArtsIndustry > Education > Colleges & UniversitiesIndustry > Education > K-12 SchoolsIndustry > Energy, Utilities & WasteIndustry > FinanceIndustry > ForestryIndustry > Government IndustryIndustry > Hospitality/HotelsIndustry > Hospitals & ClinicsIndustry > Investment BankingIndustry > Manufacturing > Boats & MarineIndustry > Manufacturing > Building MaterialsIndustry > Manufacturing > Textiles & ApparelIndustry > Museums & Art GalleriesIndustry > Non-ProfitIndustry > Real Estate > ResidentialIndustry > Retail – GroceryIndustry > SportsIndustry > Staffing & RecruitingIndustry > Transportation & Travel

For Mobile Conquesting, here are some commonly used behavioral categories:

Employment Agencies & Opportunities VisitorsCareer & Vocational Counseling VisitorsDance School StudentsEducation Center StudentsIndustrial Technical & Trade School StudentsJunior & Community College StudentsBarber SchoolsLanguage School StudentsMedical Assistant StudentsMedical School StudentsNursing School StudentsReal Estate StudentsTennis School StudentsTutoring Center StudentsCulinary School StudentsCollege & University StudentsBusiness & Vocational School StudentsBeauty School Students

And, for Meta (Facebook/Instagram), here are some commonly used behavioral categories:

College gradUnemployed Looking for workApplication for employmentCareerCareer developmentEmploymentEmployment agencyEmployment websiteEntry-level jobJob huntingJob interviewRecruitmentAccountingAdvertisingAdvertising agencyAffiliate marketingAgricultureAir conditioningApprenticeshipArchitectureAutomobile repair shopAutomotive industryBiotechnologyBookkeepingBusiness administrationBusiness developmentCall centerCar dealershipCar financeCoachingComputer engineeringComputer programmingComputer scienceComputer securityConstructionConsumer electronicsCustomer relationshipCustomer serviceData securityDay tradingDigital marketingDog trainingEconomicsEducationElectrical engineeringElectronicsEmail marketingFacility managementFoodserviceFranchisingFreelancerFundraisingGraphic designGrocery storeHigher educationHome businessHuman resource managementInformation securityInformation technologyInterior designInternshipJobJob fairJournalismLandscapingLawLogisticsManagementManufacturingMarketingMechanical engineeringMedicineMetalworkingNonprofit organizationPart-timePerforming artsPersonal developmentPersonal financePhotographyProduct managementProfessional DevelopmentProject managementPublic relationsPublic transportQuality assuranceRecruitmentSalesSales managementSecurity (finance)Self-employmentSemi-trailer truckShift workSoftware engineeringStock marketSupply chain managementSystems engineeringTechnologyTelemarketingTemporary workTrainingTrucksUrban planningVeterinary medicineVocational educationVolunteeringWarehouseWeb design

There are several ways to target your ads, including behavioral targeting mentioned above. But, I think more importantly, or just as important is the messaging/creative. Below, we’ll take a look at some different samples of creative that we’ve seen have a lot of success.

This piece of creative has a few key ingredients:

• People – people love people and using actual employees in your creative can go a long way
• Pay – people pay attention to the pay scale and look for that as an initial interest point
• “No Experience Necessary” – this limits hesitation for applying

Key Ingredients:

• Uses a Story Ad to convey more information
• Clear call-to-action button “Apply Today”
• Benefits of working for the company

Key Ingredients:

• Video – when you have video available, use it! Video typically sees higher clicks
• Social Mirror allows you to take advantage of multiple pieces of creative at the same time, leveraging multiple messages to the same audience

Key Ingredients:

• Mobile Conquesting creative using .gifs – this client didn’t have video, but utilized the next best thing
• Social Mirror creative using multiple images to create a carousel looking ad to highlight multiple positions available

Key Ingedients:

• Mobile Conquesting using a .GIF ad and also using people in their creative

Key Ingredients:

• Using Facebok/Instagram, but also using Social Mirror – taking their social content and expanding the reach beyond Facebook/Instagram.
• Showing people having fun at work

As you can see, there are a lot of ingredients that can make up great creative that converts. But, in order to have the best chance of getting those applications submitted, we also have to look at the bottom of the Recruitment Marketing Funnel.

That being said, we want to share some tips that can help increase the amount of applications that you receive.

Here are a few more tips for Landing Pages that WORK for Recruitment campaigns:

• Consider what info a job seeker wants to see and hear.
• Give the “elevator pitch” on your company (company history, what makes you special – how you are different from competitors, company philosophy, values, etc.).
• Show pictures or videos of your staff in work situations, outside-of-work get togethers, what your environment looks like in “real life”.
• What are the great things about working for your company?
• What attributes you’re looking for in new team members?
• Testimonials from existing staff.
• Does your page “inspire” people to want to work there?
• List a thorough job description of the open position(s).
• Explain what your hiring process is like.
• Optimized for mobile devices.
• A simple contact us form.

In a time when people are passively looking for jobs, or are being so much more specific in regards to what’s important to them, your messaging should make them excited to work for you. Highlighting benefits and pay, using people, and having video share your message are just a few key ingredients that can help move the needle. But remember, you also want to make sure that your website/landing page is ready for the traffic that’s on its way.Happy Recruiting!