"We really need to do something with talent pools." A common statement among agency recruiters. In the current market, starting the entire recruitment process all over again with every vacancy is very labour-intensive. Moreover, in the time you are looking for candidates, your competitor might already be one step ahead and submit a candidate. Time is crucial, which is why, as a recruitment agency, you can no longer do without talent pools. Good news: with recruitment marketing automation software, building and maintaining talent pools becomes easy and efficient.
Step 1: fill your talent pools
Talent pools are nothing without talent, so your first step is to attract good candidates. You can do that by sharing your vacancies via your website, your social media channels and on job boards, but in doing so, you are largely actively reaching jobseekers. And that is only a small part of your target group.
Social media advertising: the fastest way to your target group
The large group of latent jobseekers is best reached through social media advertising. These days, almost everyone can be found on YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat. Campaigns on these channels suddenly put you in the picture of tens of thousands of potential candidates. That works a lot faster than sourcing!
Only then the implementation side. Advertising via social media channels sounds technical, complicated and time-consuming. You can therefore outsource it to a media agency, but there are many advantages to doing it yourself using recruitment marketing automation software. Thanks to the link with your ATS, a content library and data from thousands of past campaigns, you are presented with a campaign proposal at the push of a button. All you have to do is check it and press 'start'. Easy peasy!
Also target prospective candidates
You can use recruitment campaigns very well to bring in candidates for your vacancies, but why not extend it wider than that? By also appealing to exploratory candidates and motivating them to come and have a cup of coffee, you increase your target group and thus your talent pools. For talent for which you do not currently have a vacancy under management, you can actively search for suitable employers and vacancies. That offers you as an agency recruiter a fine sales entrance to prospects immediately!
Make responding quick and easy
With recruitment marketing automation software you can quickly and easily set up your own campaigns, but that is not all. For best results, make it as easy as possible for candidates to respond. After all, changing jobs is not an easy thing to do. It is a decision that does not happen overnight and taking the first step can be exciting for candidates. Especially if, as a candidate, you feel like you are being sucked straight into a traditional application process, when in fact you are just looking around.
That's why you need soft conversions. These are low-threshold actions that you offer talent, such as signing up for a job alert, scheduling a (digital) cup of coffee or starting a conversation via WhatsApp. Besides the 'scary application button', you thus create another way for candidates to respond to your ad or website. You thereby make taking action for them quick, easy and non-committal and, as a result, many more candidates will take that first step. Getting to know each other and building a relationship will follow afterwards.
Get the most out of your recruitment campaigns by using soft conversions, or lead generation. We see the conversion on recruitment sites and from campaigns increase by up to 300% with this addition. So it is indispensable!
Step 2: get to know the candidates in your talent pools
With your inbox overflowing with messages and enquiries from potential candidates, the key is to follow up these leads accurately and quickly. To control the time you spend following up contact, use automations for this too. You can think of:
- A welcome message that automatically adapts to the day and time the candidate contacts you. For example, if a candidate asks a question in the evening, you can let them know that you will get back to them the next working day.
- Ask about the candidate's interests and capabilities. This allows you to automatically find out in which field or region the candidate wants to work or how many hours per week he/she is available. Based on the answers, you can even assign the candidate to a specific talent pool so that this is followed up by the right recruiter. That saves another intermediate step!
- With qualification questions, you can immediately check whether a candidate is a good match for the vacancy. For example, if someone responds to a vacancy as assistant accountant, you can automatically ask about the candidate's qualifications and software knowledge. You immediately offer the best candidates the opportunity to schedule an introductory meeting. Candidates who do not have the right qualifications can be referred to other vacancies or be rejected automatically.
This way, recruiters only have to deal with relevant candidates. This saves a lot of time and an added benefit: candidates are often happy with this speed and clarity in the process. Especially if you set up the automatic follow-up as personally as possible.
Step 3: connecting candidates to your agency
Not every candidate in your talent pool will be ready to start an actual application process right away. In addition, you will get candidates in your talent pool who are indeed interesting, but for whom you do not currently have suitable vacancies in your portfolio. Don't let these contacts go to waste, but build a connection with this talent. Manually maintaining contact with hundreds or perhaps thousands of candidates is not workable, but with recruitment marketing automation it can be done.
You can use nurturing campaigns for talent pools. In simple terms, these are automated contact moments, each time after a period chosen by you or based on a different trigger. Via e-mail, SMS and/or WhatsApp, you send the talents in your database valuable content, such as an infographic with market developments, tips and tricks for optimising the Linkedin profile or an invitation to a professional webinar. This way, the candidate regularly hears from the recruitment consultant, making them feel more connected to your agency.
And candidates who notice that you as a recruitment agency are involved, know a lot about the market and have an extensive network of interesting employers, will respond more often to your messages about new vacancies. Or even contact you of their own accord when they are ready to make a move! After all, thanks to nurturing campaigns, your agency is top-of-mind.
The result: more and faster placements
With RMA software, building and maintaining talent pools suddenly does become a viable strategy because it can be done in an efficient yet personalised way. You speak to more candidates thanks to soft conversions and lead generation tooling, quickly distinguish the relevant from the non-fitting candidates and become top-of-mind with the talents in your pools. All largely automatic!
As a result, you do not have to start recruiting from scratch each time new vacancies arise, with the necessary investment in time and money that this normally entails. After all, you already know the best candidates in the market! That means faster placements (less time needed for the recruitment process) and more frequent placements. You are, in fact, one step ahead of your competitors.
Discover more applications of RMA that will help you grow as a recruitment agency? Read our blog on RMA as the success booster for staffing agencies or watch our demo videos.
