Get the most out of your recruitment campaigns: a practical guide

Want to get the most out of your recruitment campaigns? We totally get it. In this practical guide, we take you step-by-step through all the essential elements to ensure the success of your recruitment campaign. We explore strategy and show you how to create creative content that really resonates with your target audience. In addition, we discuss the technologies you need to execute your campaign effectively.

Table of contents:

1. Facts & figures
2. Campaign objective
3. Strategy
4. Creative content creation
5. Appropriate technology for running your campaign
6. How to measure ROI
7. Best practices

Facts & figures

To lay a solid foundation for your recruitment campaigns, it is important to understand the current trends and statistics in the job market and recruitment. The figures below are therefore a crucial starting point for your recruitment campaign.

• According to recent studies, more than 70% of recruitment activities happen online. This includes the use of job boards, social media and companies' websites.
• More than 60% of candidates apply via mobile. A mobile-friendly application process is essential to avoid losing potential candidates.
• 75% of jobseekers research a company's employer image and reputation before applying. So strong employer branding is of huge importance.
• Companies that invest in strong employer branding see a 50% increase in the number of qualified applicants.
• Recruitment software can cut the time to fill a vacancy by 30% by automating processes and finding better matches.
• Organisations using data analytics in their recruitment processes see a 20% improvement in the quality of their recruitments.

Campaign objective

Defining the objective of your recruitment campaign is the first and most crucial step in setting up an effective strategy. The campaign’s objective not only determines the direction and focus of your efforts, but also which tactics and technologies you’ll use. Here’s an overview of how to set your objectives, along with some useful tips on how to put them into practice straight away.

Here's how to define your campaign objectives

• Analyse your current situation: Conduct a SWOT analysis to understand your current position and challenges.
• Set SMART goals: Make sure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic and Time-bound so you can work super specifically towards them.
• Engage stakeholders: Work with HR, marketing, and other relevant departments to set common goals and ensure everyone is on the same page.
• Use data and analytics: Use historical data and recruitment metrics to set realistic and achievable targets.

Examples of targeted campaigns

• Brand awareness: A tech company wants to increase its brand awareness among software developers. They launch a social media campaign with interactive videos about their innovative projects and culture.
• Recruitment campaign: A healthcare organisation is struggling to attract specialist nurses. They launch a targeted PPC campaign on medical job boards and organise webinars on career opportunities at their facility.
• Quality improvement campaign: A consulting firm wants to increase the quality of applicants. They invest in employer branding through employee stories and optimise their 'working at' page with detailed information on growth opportunities and company culture.

Strategy

In general, a recruitment funnel consists of five specific steps. They are the following: awareness, consideration, interview, offer and hire. Each step in this process revolves around building relationships and networks with talent so that you can find, identify and hire the best candidates. In an increasingly tight labour market, where unemployment is around 4%, an effective recruitment plan with HR management KPIs is more important than ever.

→ In this article, you’ll find out how to implement this recruitment funnel step by step.

Creative content creation

Creating creative content is an absolute must to attract the attention of the right candidates and strengthen your employer branding. By creating original and engaging content, you can appeal to potential candidates and convince them to apply to your organisation. Here are some steps and tips to create effective recruitment content:

• Know your target group: Understand who your ideal candidates are and what appeals to them. Conduct persona research to find out their interests, behaviours and preferences.
• Tell authentic stories: Use stories from current employees to paint an authentic and honest picture of your organisation. These could be testimonials, interviews or 'day in the life' videos.
• Use multimedia: Make use of different types of media such as videos, infographics, blogs and podcasts. This will keep the content diverse and appealing to different types of candidates.
• Social media strategy: Set up a strong social media strategy in which you regularly share interesting and relevant content. Platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook are ideal for strengthening your employer branding.
• Valuable content: Create content that provides value, such as interview tips, industry insights or career development. This shows your organisation as an expert in the field and an attractive employer.
• Employer branding campaigns: Organise campaigns around themes that are important to your organisation and your candidates, such as diversity and inclusion, sustainability or innovation. This helps to attract candidates who share the same values.

Appropriate technology for running your campaign

Choosing the right technologies has a big impact on the success of your recruitment campaign. There are plenty of tools that can help you work more efficiently, communicate better with candidates and measure the performance of your campaigns - we give you tips. Technologies you should consider are the following:

• Applicant Tracking System (ATS): An ATS helps manage the entire recruitment process, from posting vacancies to tracking applications and managing candidates.
• Recruitment marketing platforms: A recruitment marketing platform like MrWork helps you automate and optimise your recruitment marketing activities. They provide tools for managing job ads, creating career pages and measuring the effectiveness of your campaigns. This is exactly what MrWork can help you with!
• Social media management tools: To manage your social media activities, you can use tools such as Hootsuite, Buffer or Sprout Social. These tools help you plan, publish and analyse your social media content.
• Video interview platforms: Choose a platform that makes it easy to conduct video interviews, especially useful for remote candidate recruitment.

How to measure ROI

Measuring the ROI of your job campaign is essential to determine its success and optimise future campaigns. Here are some ways to do this effectively:

• Track conversion rates: Measure the percentage of visitors to your job page who actually apply. This gives insight into how attractive and compelling your job ads are.
• Quality of candidates: Analyse the quality of candidates coming in through different channels. This will help determine which channels produce the best candidates and where you need to invest more in them.
• Cost per hire: Calculate the total cost of your recruitment process and compare it with the number of successful hires. This will help you assess the efficiency of your campaign and identify areas for improvement.
• Time to fill: Track how long it takes to fill a vacancy from the time it is posted to the final hire. A shorter time can indicate a more effective campaign and better targeting.

→ In this article, you’ll find out how to boost the conversion rate of your job vacancy campaign.

Best practices

Setting up successful recruitment and employer branding campaigns comes with its own set of challenges. From finding the right channels to measuring the effectiveness of your efforts, there are many aspects to consider. Here are some best practices to overcome these challenges:

• Targeted ads: Use data analytics to accurately define your target audience and target your ads to the right segments.
• Authentic stories: Let your employees' real stories speak for themselves. This creates an authentic image of your organisation.
• Continuous optimisation: Continuously measure and analyse the results of your campaigns and adjust your strategy where necessary to get the best results.

By following these best practices and addressing the challenges with a strategic approach, you can create powerful employer branding campaigns. That way, you will not only attract the best talent, but also differentiate your organisation as an employer of choice.

→ In this article, you’ll find best practices for recruitment and employer branding campaigns.