Have your campaigns become invisible?
Heading to the supermarket after work? How many times have you forgotten the grocery list at home?
The supermarket is every marketer’s dream – How much detailed packaging, quick titles and advertising is enough to convince customers to ad to the cart? Before you even hit the veggie section, you are surrounded. In fact, the first stand claims centre stage as you walk into the store - standing out amongst the remnants of discounted wares with appealing prices - with another stand reminding you to complete one more lap, just as you’re about to queue for the checkout counters.
It’s the classic, yet dependable sales tactic called one on one point of sale marketing! The goal is simple: draw the customer's attention to your product when they’re ready to make a purchase. When done strategically, it provides a last-minute way for retailers to influence the purchasing decision.
Whilst point of sale strategies works, you only have a small window of opportunity to maximise sales before the customer loses interest in your product. That is, when a product is ‘seen' too often it starts to become invisible.
So, what does this have to do with your recruitment campaigns?
The exact same thing can happen when you are constantly recruiting for the same position, time and time again. If your ad content never changes and the same creative and copy is recycled, you reduce the visibility of the ad as candidates become used to seeing your ad and – this is key – know exactly what to expect if they were to engage with the ad again. In effect, your business has become invisible to the job seeker.
So, what can you do about it?
Step One: Stop using your position description as your job advertisement!
A position description is NOT the same as a job advertisement (to read more on this click here). Simply put, a position description describes what the job entails while a job advertisement sells the role. One tells candidates what you want from them while the other convince them why they should want to work for you.
It’s also worth asking yourself if candidates weren’t enticed by my offer the first few times, why would they change their minds by seeing the same ad come up ad nauseum?
Step Two: Capture interest quickly and don’t let go!
Competition for attention is stiff regardless of where you’re advertising. So, it’s important that you’re hitting hard and fast when it comes to grabbing candidates’ interest. Don’t leave the ‘good bits’ till last but rather have them front and centre. This could be using a great headline like, “Looking for somewhere you can thrive, while making a difference – congratulations you just found it!”, sharing the salary range on a Facebook ad or moving the WIIFM (what’s in it for me) points to the top of the job ad.
Step Three: It’s actually not all about you!
The difference between a superior and inferior job ad is that the former makes the candidate feel like the hero in the ad while in the latter, the candidate is a mere drudge, there to serve the employer’s needs and wants (to read more on this click here). While realistically speaking, it is true that candidates are there to work for you, how you frame this experience will either have candidates flocking to your ad, excited to hit APPLY NOW or leaving without a backwards glance.
Think more: “We know how important having a positive working environment is for you, that’s why we’ve invested heavily into our people and our working spaces, we promise you’re going to love it!”
Less: “Supportive work environment. Great office culture”
Step Four: Make the candidate journey simple and easy!
An easy application process is crucial if you are really wanting to increase application numbers. Candidates are spoilt for choice when it comes to jobs on offer and more employers are accepting non-traditional application methods such as the use of LinkedIn Profiles or not requesting a CV or cover letter. It’s no wonder then candidates today are not going to stick around for an application process that requires creating an account, filling out a 20-question application form on top of re-typing out their CV and attaching a cover letter. To find out more on how to streamline the application process, check out our blog post here
Final Step: Leave the crowd to stand out!
Stop relying on generic job boards such as SEEK to deliver your message, and advertise in a space where your competitors are not. To do this is simple: to ensure you are the first organisation a job seeker comes across, leverage social and digital media and you’ll guarantee you’ll be front and centre for any job seeker.
If you’d like some inspiration and advice, feel free to contact us here at Big Splash. We manage over 2,000 campaigns every month, so we know what candidates are looking for and where they’re searching for roles.