Hiring the Right People Using Digital Marketing

Lately, my social media feeds are flooded with job listings. I follow a few recruiters, but these posts are mainly from local businesses. And not just tourism businesses preparing for the busy season ahead but from many different sectors. With so many employers competing for the best available candidates, I am surprised that only some use their most potent tools. While social media is one great way to get the word out, hiring the right people requires you to use all of your digital marketing channels together. 

Benefits of using all of your digital marketing channels for hiring:

• Save on the cost of third-party hiring portals and recruitment agencies. Avoid or reduce the fees paid to third parties by using your digital marketing channels to reach candidates directly. Even if you use sponsored posts or pay-per-click advertising, target these well and keep costs minimal.
• Make recruitment a year-round activity. If you only recruit when you have an open position, you only reach candidates available in that small window of time. On the other hand, if you are always recruiting, you are more likely to find the best candidates.
• Word of mouth and referrals from trusted sources can be the best way to hire the right people. Use a combination of your digital marketing channels to reach your existing community of customers and supporters and drive more referrals.
• You know best what you need in an employee. It may take an agency a while to get to know your business, and who is a good candidate for you, so there is often time wasted waiting for them to find candidates or meeting poor candidates they have sent to you.
• Attract great candidates that are currently employed. Your ideal candidate may not be looking for a position but can be “stolen” away from a current employer if a better job arises. Use your digital marketing channels to let them know you are hiring and why yours is a better job!
• Your brand must get in front of people many times before registering. Using all of your digital marketing channels will increase the chance that the right people will see your position.

How to Use Your Digital Marketing Channels to Hire the Right People

1. Who Are The Right People? Use my “Right People Principles” to develop the strategy to reach and attract the right people for your position and organization. (If you take only one of the suggested actions in this article, make it this one!)
   • Who – Look at your best employees (now and past) and who you think would be your ideal candidate. What are their qualities, interests, and backgrounds?
   • What – What are their needs when it comes to employment? Are they focused on pay rate, flexibility, security, or professional growth?
   • Where – Besides their geographic location, determine the best way to reach them. Are they on social media? Which channel? Do they belong to community organizations, play sports, etc.?
   • When – When is the best time to reach them? When would they be online?
   • Why – What drives them in their day-to-day life beyond what they seek in a job? Is their focus on their family or individual achievement?
   • How – What is the best method to reach them? Social media? Facebook or LinkedIn? Email marketing? Flyers? Traditional advertising?
     
     Use this information to determine where and how to communicate that you are hiring and what details and wording will attract and engage the best candidates, the “right people.” (Find out more about How To Get In Front Of The Right People.)

2. Turn your Website Into a Year-Round Hiring Portal
   Your website should be the base of your digital marketing activities, whether marketing to potential customers or potential employees. So make sure it is accurate, and up to date, paving a clear path for the candidate to take the next step toward working with you.
   • Instead of just listing current positions, include all positions in your organization with reasonably detailed descriptions. Even if you aren’t currently hiring, you will get information on possible great candidates worth keeping in touch with for future openings, stay updated on the hiring landscape year-round, and perhaps decide to create a new position or hire now. Potential employees can see the full range of positions and may be more interested to know there is a possibility of advancement. You may also reach potentially great candidates that are looking to move to the area in the future.
   • Include information on the benefits of working for you. Beyond the pay range, many candidates are interested in other benefits: insurance, paid time off, flexible time, paid expenses, parking, travel, etc.  Highlight areas where you offer better benefits than employers targeting the same candidates.
   • Show off the culture of your organization. By communicating your organization’s culture, you will attract candidates that are the right people for you. Whether you have a company softball team, a helpful employee of the month award, or want your employees to just work hard for their eight hours and go home, the right people for you will also want to work under those conditions.
   • Profiles of Current Employees (especially if they fit the profile of the “right people” you’ve developed above). Besides showing potential employees who they will work alongside, they can better picture themselves working there.
   • Employee Testimonials. Include text and video testimonials from past and current employees showing what their experience is/was like, favorite aspects of the work, and funny or interesting antidotes.
   • Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) & Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
     • CRO – Optimize the site and these pages with a clear path to go through the hiring process. Also, optimize the path from your social media, emails, digital ads, offline PR and ads, etc., to follow this path.
     • Getting high organic search positions for a page takes time, so a job listing that is only on the site a few days/weeks is not as likely to be found in searches as well as a whole section of your site on hiring that’s been online for months/years. Ensure that all SEO techniques are used throughout the site and on each page. Obtain links to this section and specific pages from relevant sites to help boost your reach and SEO.
   • Develop the hiring process to suit the position to make applying the first step to vet the candidate.
     • Include a form with specific questions that will give you information to determine if the candidate will make it beyond this step. For example: Does the position require working the night shift? Has that person worked the night shift before? If not, why do they feel they can handle the night shift? Is their response sufficient to show their suitability for the position? (A hiring issue I’ve had in the past!)
     • Has the candidate followed instructions if you have listed them clearly?
       
3. Write Compelling Emails to Get Candidates and Referrals
   • If you already have a mailing list, include information on open positions in your mailings and ask for referrals or to “forward to a friend.” In addition, regularly include information about the organization that will interest leads, customers, and potential employees, i.e., employee profiles, information on your organization’s culture, etc.
   • Use the “Right People Principles” to draft an engaging and motivating email to past candidates. You are probably already contacting some past candidates that may be suitable now, but don’t just rush off a quick email. Make it compelling.
   • Consider starting a separate category of your mailing list solely for recruitment purposes and send monthly mailings with job openings, updates on your organization, employee profiles, testimonials, etc.
     
4. Strategically Use Social Media
   • Use the “Right People Principles” to draft engaging and motivating social media posts.
   • Ensure you provide clear information on how to get more information and apply.
   • Post frequently to ensure your followers and others see your posts. Switch between text-only posts and using images and videos. In some include only the most appealing details and point them to the complete information on your website. In others, allow them to take the next step directly from the post if you wish.
   • Regularly post employee profiles and testimonials to your social media channels.
   • Encourage your staff to include your organization as their place of employment in their profiles, especially if they are on LinkedIn, and ask them to share your posts.
   • Remember to include a Call to Action (CTA) in your posts: Click Here, Call Now, Email Us, Share, etc. It’s also vital to include CTAs in your graphics and videos!
   • Ensure the most interesting points and the Call to Action appear at the top of the post before the “read more” cut-off point.
   • Ensure your posts are “Public” and shareable. Don’t forget to ask your followers to SHARE!
   • Using social media to check a candidate’s suitability. You may want to review candidates’ social media posts and do a search to see what else may come up. Look at what is directly relevant to your position, your organization, and what you need in a candidate. I used to feel bad about doing this, but I found one candidate I was about to hire who was planning to move abroad in a few months. That information saved me time and money training someone who would be leaving shortly.
     
5. Online Advertising, Pay Per Click, Sponsored Posts, etc.
   • Use the “Right People Principles” to draft engaging and motivating copy for your ads/posts. (Sorry if this is getting boring, but it is crucial to success here!) This information will also help you determine how to strategically target your campaign by keyphrase, geography, age, interests, timing, etc., and keep costs to a minimum.
     
6. Still using traditional Help Wanted Ads and Online Hiring Portals?
   • These will work best for you with a boost from your digital marketing. Candidates will be checking out your website and social media channels for more information and to get a feel for your business. Get them on your mailing list to keep them engaged; if not to hire them, then as a potential customer.
   • Don’t forget to use any local free job listing sites your county, region, or local Chamber may offer. For example, the Lake George Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau started the site Lake George is Hiring to help businesses in the region struggling to find candidates.

Whatever you choose to do from this list and in what order, there is one crucial step to ensure that you are getting in front of the right people: Monitor Progress and Adjust As Needed

• Ensure you have access to the analytics for your website, email marketing, social media channels, etc.
• Determine the stats to track to ensure your efforts are working, i.e., referrals from emails, social media posts to your websites – and which have completed a form to apply or an email to contact you, etc.
• It is especially important to track results from third-party portals, paid listings, and any advertising to ensure you get good results from your spending.
• Check these stats regularly to see what is working (do more of this) and what is not (try something else or adjust and see if there is an improvement).
• When you receive emails and applications through different channels, make sure to ask and note how they heard about the position so you can track these as well.

Finding the right people to work for your business is a challenge, even in the best of times, but if you use all of your digital marketing channels to get your business in front of the best candidates, you are more likely to hire the right people.