The Great Migration, the Great Resignation – whatever you want to call it, the post-pandemic return to work is quickly revealing what the new normal is. Staffing agency marketing is changing too. Here are six marketing ideas recruiters and staffing agencies need to get comfortable with to grow and thrive in the months and years to come.

95% of workers are now considering changing jobs, and 92% are even willing to switch industries to find the right positionDid you know? 95% of workers are now considering changing jobs, and 92% are even willing to switch industries to find the right position, according to Monster.com.

Four million people quit their jobs in April 2021, per US Labor Department data. And while that number is impressive, a post-pandemic return to work isn’t just stimulating job changes, it’s creating (or recreating) jobs. More than nine million jobs are available right now, a higher number than ever before.

Seven out of ten employers say they’ll be fully back to the office by fall, per LaSalle Network’s 2021: Office Re-Entry Index. In recognition of the changing mindset of employees, however, a return to work doesn’t necessarily mean a mandate to return to brick-and-mortar offices. 70% say they plan to bring employees back in phases rather than all at once, and 77% believe they will have a hybrid workforce, including employees working in-office, from home, or in combination.

The workforce of the future is going to be different than the workforce of the pre-pandemic, including changes in how candidates source job openings. Your staffing agency marketing plan needs to change now in order to take advantage of all of the opportunities available right now. Not only to set yourself and your agency apart in the current competitive marketplace, but to set yourself up for success going into the future, as well.

Get Comfortable – 6 Staffing Agency Marketing Ideas for a Post-Pandemic Job Market

Get comfortable with email marketing and drip campaigns

If you’re only using email to communicate with candidates after they’ve applied for an opening you’ve advertised, you are not even scratching the surface of what you can do with this not-so-new staffing agency marketing tool.

Sure, you know there are a lot – A LOT – of people actively looking for new positions right now. But just like an iceberg, there are a lot more potential placements you can’t see. These are who are referred to as “passive candidates.” It is estimated that 70% of those currently in the workforce are passive candidates. And remember, every time one a passive or active candidate makes a move, they aren’t just filling a job opening, they are creating one, too.

Your staffing agency marketing plan can speak to both active and passive candidates with regular updates, such as a weekly email listing job openings tailored to general verticals, such as marketing, finance, operations, sales, retail, hospitality, and so on. You can also improve the experience for candidates by sending a series of drip email emails with coaching tips, such as:

  • How to find the jobs they want
  • How to write a resume that gets noticed (and gets past automated resume reviews)
  • How to do research about a company before applying and/or before an interview
  • Interview preparation
  • Video examples of interviews
  • How to follow up after an interview

The great thing about these drip campaigns is you only have to create them once, but you can use them over and over. It’s also a good idea for you to reduce candidate reading fatigue and include mini-videos in your emails covering some or all of the content. Not only will candidates who prefer videos be more likely to engage with your content, but they will also going to feel more connected with you and your staffing agency since they have real people providing helpful advice.

Encourage sharing! Your email marketing doesn’t have to stop at the inbox. Invite subscribers to share emails listing “hot jobs” with their networks via email and social media.

Get comfortable with business email alternatives

Email is a great tool for communication; however, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, and can actually be cumbersome in some cases. When it comes to ongoing communication with candidates and employees you have already place, scheduling appointments, or keeping track of and moving candidates through your process to the next step, there are more efficient tools you can use, many for free or at a low cost, making them attractive for staffing agency marketing teams of all sizes.

  • appointment scheduling software to automate candidate interview scheduling and sync calendars with appointments and reminders to reduce no-shows
  • mobile-friendly communication tools like slack, to check in, send personalized job openings, assign tasks, and stay in touch once you have a candidate in-process, and for on-boarding, notifications, reminders, and other communications once you have placed a candidate with a client
  • low-cost visual project management tools like Monday and Trello, to assign tasks to individuals so you can efficiently move candidates through processes

Get comfortable with video calling

If you aren’t comfortable with Zoom calls yet, it’s time. Candidates expect to be able to complete the entire recruiting and hiring process virtually. They don’t want to drive to your urban office, sit in the waiting room, fill out a paper application and HR forms, sit through one or more interviews, and then repeat the process again at a prospective employer’s location.

And they don’t need to! Apps with Video Calling tools abound, and many of them can be used for free. However, if you want to leave a professional impression, forgo the app and use Zoom for video calling. An annual subscription for business is not that expensive, and it enables you to do other things besides calling, such as online team meetings, webinars, and more.

Get comfortable making 60-second videos for staffing agency marketing

Did you know? The majority of hirers (96%) are on at least one of the “big three” social media sites. 77% of recruiters are on LinkedIn, and 63% are using Facebook. But there are other platforms out there that can be helpful in your recruiting efforts.

We already touched on video as a staffing agency marketing tactic that can be used for email marketing. Video, and especially mini videos (30-60 seconds), are ideal for social media. You could use mini videos to highlight topics like hot jobs, helpful and engaging tips and advice for candidates, tips for employers who are struggling to fill open positions or control turnover, industries that have a lot of job opportunities, and what high school and college students can do to prepare themselves before entering the job market.

These mini videos can be tiny little powerhouses! You only have to make them once, but then you can use them over and over again in email marketing, social media, and on your own website. You can also create engaging video business cards that showcase your worth to employers and candidates alike. While some of your mini videos can be done through a Zoom recording or even a smartphone, others, like video business cards, should be produced professionally.

Get comfortable with SEO copywriting (or find someone who is)

You are listing job openings online – on your website, and probably on online job boards like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and more. If your job listings aren’t returning the number and/or quality of candidates you were hoping for, your copy could be to blame.

Writing SEO copy for job postings is a must. Candidates use job board search features in some of the same ways they use Google search. In fact, some candidates even use Google search to try to find jobs they want using keywords. Ensuring that your job listings are search-optimized can increase the number of candidates entering your pool (and getting onto your email marketing lists!) and improve the quality of candidates.

Improving the quality of candidates responding to a job posting isn’t just about their qualifications. It’s about whether their qualifications and experience are a good fit for the specific job opening posted. We don’t have to tell you that chasing the wrong candidates – whether they are over or underqualified – is a waste of your time and resources, and theirs.

Job postings that include a salary range got 75% more clicks than those that did notDid you know? Job postings that include a salary range got 75% more clicks than those that did not, according to G2 stats.

Get comfortable using social media, more, for staffing agency marketing

We have already talked a little bit about how you can up your social media game using video, but that’s not the only way to leverage social media as a staffing agency marketing tool. First and foremost, to use social media effectively, you have to be sharing and interacting on the platforms on a regular basis.

It’s pretty obvious to social followers whether your profiles are worth following. Even if you’re automating posts, someone on your team needs to be engaging with reactions and engaging with the posts of other people and companies. You can further expand your social media marketing with:

Groups: Publish a group page for your company on Facebook and LinkedIn. People who join your group are going to get notifications for the group, including your job postings and other important announcements.

Advertising: It’s still fairly inexpensive to advertise on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and other social platforms, especially when compared to other types of digital advertising. Plus, with advanced targeting tools, you can reduce the chance that your ad spend will be wasted by programming it to be shared only with those individuals who match your criteria (location, interests, employer, job title, and so on).

Engagement: Social media simply isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a set it and forget it staffing agency marketing channel. If you want “real people” to engage with your brand, follow you, like, share, and comment on your posts, and visit your website when you post job listings, then they need to perceive that a “real person” is on the other end of that content, and that your team is ready and willing to engage with them in real time.

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