Using New Media to Inform Recruitment Campaigns.
Introduction
Let’s talk about recruitment and its multifaced nature, which makes the process highly complex and often time-consuming for organisations. We don’t believe that this process needs to be as difficult to navigate. Having your talent pool at your finger tips… sounds good, right?
Simon Crowe, Lety Kemp, and Simon Brooks talked us through how, where, and when to engage with your target audience to reduce your hiring time and get the candidates you wish for! With this multi-agency perspective, we offer a collaborative viewpoint on how to recruit the best talent.
Digital Media Strategies
So, why new media? It’s always important to branch out and try new media channels. Channels are constantly evolving, which means their offerings are both developing the prominence of their target audience, whilst also attracting new users. Exemplarily, TikTok, Pinterest, and Reddit have an ever-growing user base, with unique users that aren’t anywhere else.
There are many benefits of utilising new media channels, although it’s important to remember that your audience using the channel is a significant influencer of its opportunities.
- Reddit: The channel has a unique audience, with 26% of UK Reddit users not having Facebook accounts, 33% not using Instagram, 59% not using Pinterest, and 61% not using TikTok. If your target audience is within this niche, Reddit would likely prove a highly effective channel for marketing.
- Pinterest: The channel is powerful as 83% of weekly users of Pinterest have gone on to make a purchase based on pins by brands. If you’re looking for a channel with a high ROI, this is likely it!
- TikTok: The channel has a unique audience, 38% of TikTok’s users are not on Facebook, and 45% are not on Instagram. This channel has such a vast, yet somewhat specific, audience – there are high volumes of alike groups, making your communications effective.
Make it easy to apply! Google is always recommended in order to scoop up the active searchers who are searching for relevant key terms. Google lets you focus on extensions, such as Callouts and Location – extensions will add a visual element to your ads that make them stand out, whilst also easing the application process by sending users to the relevant site link.
There are many other New Media channels that are important, such as WhatsApp & Messenger. The great thing about these channels is that they allow direct communication. On these platforms, you can set automated responses to messages or talk in-person to your customers over the platform. In crowded marketplaces or pools of applicants, direct communication aids in establishing a relationship.
Facebook also supports the application process by providing lead generation forms. These forms keep the user on the platform, meaning they do not need to visit an external link, making the bounce rate substantially lower, and increasing applications. On these forms, you can ask a range of questions, such as multiple choice and auto-fill – these ease the application process, again increasing the number of applicants that you receive.
Web Applications
So, what can technology do to influence and change the time it takes to turn a stranger into an employee? There are four ways to understand!
- Do more online
Online is an incremental time-saver. As internet-based technologies become increasingly incorporated throughout daily life, face-to-face activities are undertaken less. Whether this be the background processes, through to the recruitment process itself, it’s important to innovate alongside society and its utilisation of technology.
- Automate processes
If there’s an event trigger that results in an automated response, the time benefit is great – this time can then be reinvested into other recruitment processes that may not have the potential to be online, increasing efficiency.
- Be responsive
Automated processes give you the option to take a condition and adapt your activities to that condition, so for example, if you have someone querying how to send in validation documentation and it’s incorrect, the automated process will pick this up.
- Carry out actions quickly
Technology speeds up communication, meaning you can reach applicants at a faster and more effective rate. This will allow you to ensure that you retain the top-talent applicants by pursuing the recruitment process more efficiently.
Improving Your Website
There are other factors to consider, especially the platform in which the applicant will apply for a new position. Improving your own website is vital when recruiting, especially as 50% of those looking for a new position would prefer to apply directly to the hiring company. Although your website will not be structured around easing the recruitment journey, its core pillars can support it:
- Establish your KPIs: Decide what you want to achieve, which may be seasonal, and change should be factored in. In terms of recruitment, this can include telling the user about your business, what you do, what you can offer, and why you’re a great company. Additionally, your website should be able to adapt to changes in recruitment demands – exemplarily, towards the festive period in hospitality you may need more staff, therefore the home page would be great to promote roles or provide a link to the careers page.
- User-centric design: Build journeys for your users, and make them obvious, clear, and easy to follow. The user-centric design goes beyond engaging with talent, it involves illustrating why the user belongs at the company through their skillset.
- Integrate with your ATS: Hiring activity speed greatly improves when applicants can self-serve. CRM software typically comes with an API layer that can be integrated into your website, where you’ll be able to identify touch points where you can really understand the user journey.
- Non-role-based journeys: Create capabilities for speculative applications that will increase your on-hand talent pool. Having an existing talent pool is beneficial, it’s important to encourage users to send their CVs through engagement.
Using AI
AI allows users to better leverage their ATS, which increases the efficiency of the hiring process. The process is supported through shortlisting applicants more accurately, often achieved through screening resumes to identify those that relate most closely with the job description.
Advantages:
- Saves time by carrying out high-volume tasks automatically
- Makes a team with a fixed (or potentially shrinking) head count more efficient
- Creates standardised matching processes to improve quality of hire
Disadvantages:
- Not 100% unbiased
- AI has problems with soft skills, personality, and culture
- Beware circular chatbots
- AI can produce unreliable results if, for example, a key qualification is not met but the candidate has a more valuable proven wealth of experience
Candidate Portals
Candidate portals are a centralised website where applicants can view and apply for positions, they can also submit documents and communicate with the company on any associated queries. There are many considerations when developing a candidate portal:
- Personalisation: A good portal should adapt its user journeys depending on each candidate’s characteristics and push next best actions that will guide them through time-consuming processes.
- Off-the-shelf or bespoke: Although commonly supplied as a bolt-on with and ATS, custom-built portals can be finely tailored around KPIs such as reduced time to hire.
- Take existing workflows online: Portals should not only provide standard features such as job search and application – they can be loaded with onboarding activities, ID checks, and other back-office activities.
- Track and respond: Each activity, page, and action can be tracked within a portal, providing instant insight on the progress of star candidates which in turn allows recruiters to jump in and help if guidance is required.
- Instant solutions: If problems or questions arise during the application process a portal is an ideal channel to engage and provide real-time responses.
Forms
Forms are a key tool used to gather information on candidates for a specific job role, seeking information such as name, contact number, address, and of course, their CV. Increasing the effectiveness of these forms will further inform your recruitment process:
- Reduce the number of form fields: It’s tempting to gather as much information as possible during each contact, but effort and abandonment go hand-in-hand.
- Test forms for a good autofill experience: Auto-filling can help people fill out forms 30% faster.
- Use smart CAPTCHA: Verify visitors only once during multiple visits.
- Language is important: Instead of using button labels like ‘Submit’ try benefits-orientated language like ‘Let’s find you the perfect job’.
Data Analysis
Understanding the recruitment marketing data landscape is important due to a large number of different data sources available. Data can come from as many as 50 different data sources, with over 100 different metrics to track. So, for example:
- Paid media: Instagram & TikTok
- Job Boards: Indeed & Glassdoor
- Organic Social: Facebook & Twitter
- Email: EDM
- Events: Open day
Campaign data lives in many places, which can complicate decision-making, especially when campaigns are live. Live data dashboards are fundamental when running a campaign, as they combine automation together with visualisation. Automation allows you to have live data which is relevant, such as clicks on a company website, which can then be transformed into a visual format. Up to date data analysis means you can adapt your strategy to fit what the data is telling you. Without automation, this process would take 80% of the team’s time, instead, it only takes 20% to analyse the results!
The benefits of live recruitment data:
- Explore your data to identify new opportunities, adopt a fresh perspective and to make decisions based on fact.
- Track campaign progress in real time.
- Use insight into live channel performance to understand cost drive applications and optimise budget.
- Use energy to act, not track.
Data as a driving force:
- Pinpoint the channels and specific metrics that you need to track.
- Automate the extraction and aggregation of data, have a live data environment.
- Use visual data analysis techniques to understand results faster and ultimately reduce your time to hire.
Have a Chat with our Experts
Feeling inspired to use new media but not sure where to start? That’s where we come in.
Crunch Digital Media is made up of experts in the field. When we work alongside your team, you can leave your new media wants and wishes with us so that you can focus your efforts back into running your business.
Interested? Let’s have a chat! You can book a free, no-strings-attached chat with one of our experts today to see how Crunch could provide tailored support for your business.
