Improving your strategy in recruitment marketing

Erin DeGroot

Guest Columnist

October 21, 2024

Cutting through the noise to attract recruits to your organization is a constant battle.

The competition is fierce, but you don’t want to settle for second-best.

How do you stand out in recruitment marketing?

This exact challenge came up in a recent meeting with a family-owned transportation company. 

Its current marketing efforts feel general and broad in nature, and they especially fall flat regarding recruiting.

When I sat down to review the challenges and identify potential solutions, we discovered some insights that will resonate with other organizations in Northeast Wisconsin.

If you’re feeling like your recruiting message isn’t uniquely you, ask yourself these questions below to help guide your recruitment marketing strategy for the year ahead.

What are your roots?

This company began with a young boy who rode in his dad’s semi-truck as he went out on deliveries.

That company grew bigger, and so did that little boy, who now runs the organization after taking over for his father a few years ago.

But the roots are still there.

He’ll still jump in a truck to help out a driver.

He’s accessible to every employee, no matter how green, and is the kind of leader who knows exactly where his employees are coming from. 

When you go back to your roots, you uncover the soul of your organization.

Bringing that to light in recruitment marketing creates an emotional connection with your audience.

Who are your audiences?

Yes, that word is plural.

You likely have multiple target demographics in your recruiting pool.

For a trucking company, there are three:

• Young people who have not driven a truck before
• Current drivers who work for a competitor
• People interested in a career transition into a less stressful, over-the-road job

To succeed in recruitment marketing, we need to figure out how to reach all three audiences with a message that appeals to each of them – and that will look different for each.

Where do your audiences spend time?

This is your chance to think outside the box.

In the case of our transportation company, they need to think about creative ways to reach each distinct audience. 

A 20-something exploring their career options may not be on Facebook, but they might be watching reels on Instagram.

A driver working for a competitor probably isn’t scrolling through Indeed, but they’d definitely spot a billboard with your company’s info while on the road or catch a flyer on the back of a truck stop bathroom stall. 

You need to put yourself in proximity to the people you want.

Don’t wait for them to find you.

Personal emails, paid social media advertising and Google banners are all tactics to get eyes on your message.

Who can you partner with?

One of the unique benefits this transportation company offers is free chiropractic care.

Anyone who sits in a big rig all day is bound to have some kinks to work out.

And that includes one bucket of potential recruits – drivers who work for a competitive company – who could be open to what this company offers.

Talk with your community partners and see how you can work together to bolster your application rates.

You never know where your next recruit will come from.

What are the base expectations of the job?

Every industry has a minimum expectation level from its recruits.

In trucking, good pay is a given, so putting money as the first benefit in your marketing message isn’t going to work.

Instead, this particular transportation company can tout the family-like support systems, the 24/7 driver center and that free chiropractic care.

What differentiates your organization?

Talk about that experience in your recruitment marketing.

How are you hooking them?

Now let’s talk about your actual marketing campaign.

What’s the meat of your message?

Is it your organization’s story?

Or your mission/vision?

Do you have unique employee benefits?

Does your brand have a quirky personality?

Is there something about the working environment that will appeal to people?

If someone is looking for a job, their personal values have to align with the values of your company.

You’re not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s fine.

Let people self-select in or out.

For the previously mentioned trucking company, two of the three audiences need education on what it really means to be a long-haul driver.

That lifestyle won’t appeal to many people, and that’s okay.

They’d prefer to let those people filter themselves out in the beginning, rather than spend time and money training them. 

A video that shows the working environment and has real employees on camera could be incredibly powerful.

This works in just about any industry because videos are engaging and believable – especially when they feature your actual employees.

Are you ready to shake up your recruitment marketing?

Asking questions like the ones I posed here will help you rise above the noise and tailor your recruitment marketing efforts.

Once you learn what matters to your audience and how you can reach them, you can tailor your messages so they emotionally connect with your potential recruits.

In short, stories are what will bring your company’s narrative to life.

Go tell them.