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Today, we’re going to talk more tactically. In our first episode, we discussed the challenges that recruiters face. In our second episode, we covered creating content for two distinct groups. Whether you’re in a candidate-rich market, a candidate-short market, a client-rich market, or a client-short market, you need content that speaks to both groups.
Content Formats That Deliver Results
Our industry’s content works across the spectrum for both candidates and clients. You can often leverage content for both groups, making life much easier.
When you think about recruitment, it has both B2B and B2C elements but generally operates more like a B2B environment. What do I mean by that? Purchasing decisions in a B2B environment often have multiple stakeholders and several reasons why people buy. It’s not the same as going to Amazon, checking which air fryer has the most reviews and the best price, then clicking to buy.
Thought leadership really makes a difference in this environment when it comes to influencing content. We’ve discussed short-form versus long-form content in the past. The great thing about working in recruitment is that you can create longer-form content—informative reports, videos, webinars, and blog posts—all thought leadership content that positions your company as an authority.
These can then be leveraged, sliced and diced, and used differently on all your social channels. Thought leadership positions your company as an authority in your recruitment space, building trust with both employers and candidates.
Industry Reports And Salary Guides
First, industry reports and salary guides. Any chunky piece of material will be read by a CEO or MD because it positions you. It could be about interview skills – either for candidates going for their first interview or for employers looking to improve their interview process. Reports on building culture, creating high-performing teams, or succession planning are all valuable.
These cover the soft skills of building teams and developing careers—questions people have that can be addressed in excellent short reports. We’ve been working with recruiters for nearly 18 years, and our experience (backed by data) indicates that well over half of decision-makers consider white papers and in-depth reports to be extremely valuable sources of information.
These reports serve dual purposes – attracting employers who need benchmarking data and candidates researching compensation expectations or career development. For those who’ve looked into working with us at Superfast Circle, you know we provide these for our clients, who use them incredibly well.
Salary guides are particularly effective on both sides. Candidates want to know if they’re being paid enough, while clients want to know what they need to pay to get the right people. Creating a salary guide may take work, but it will be downloaded multiple times from your website.
Think about a 2025 tech salary guide that includes compensation ranges for different roles, insights on the evolving workplace, how remote work has affected compensation, skill demands, and emerging roles. This elevates you from supplier to trusted advisor because people value the information you’re sharing.
Educational And Value-Add Content
Educational content like how-to guides will always be popular. These can be created as blog posts, reports, or snippets shared on social media. The great thing about recruitment is that educational content serves a dual purpose – building awareness while providing genuine value to prospects.
Frank Kern, a marketer I admire, has a motto: “Show people you can help them by actually helping them.” That’s what value-added content does. We give away lots of free content. I always tell Sharon, if people went through all our blog posts and podcasts and put the pieces together, they’d never need us (though they’d still need to do the work and write the content).
Think about the value you can add. People want to “touch the coat” – they want to work with someone they recognise as an expert. For hiring managers, you could create guides on writing effective job descriptions, conducting structured interviews, improving onboarding (many companies get this terribly wrong), or building inclusive hiring processes.
For candidates, career development resources are valuable. Our research reveals that career growth and skill development now rank higher than salary when it comes to switching jobs. You could create skills assessment frameworks, career path mapping for emerging roles, professional development roadmaps, or guides to transitioning between industries.
Webinars And Video Content
Webinars and video tutorials are a bit more advanced but hugely impactful. LinkedIn prioritises video content. One of our clients, who does pro bono work helping people from underprivileged areas prepare for the job market, is converting her PowerPoint presentations into videos.
Webinars and video tutorials work incredibly well and aren’t as difficult to create as people think. They help you stand out because people get a different experience of you – they see and hear you, creating a closer connection. You can also slice and dice all that content into short-form videos for LinkedIn.
Video allows you to tell more complex stories through visuals and audio. We’re human beings wired for stories – we all love a good tale. By creating video content, you can break down complex topics in a more engaging format. You can explain hiring processes, demonstrate interview techniques, showcase company culture, or present market research findings.
Social Proof Is Critical
Social proof is critical in any market, particularly recruitment. When we share testimonials and case studies, they’re always among our most-viewed content. We have heat maps on our websites that show which pages get the most attention.
I call this “horse’s mouth content” – it’s much better if somebody else promotes you rather than you promoting yourself. Take the time to create a structured process where you share testimonials and case studies in your marketing.
For example, after an initial conversation with a potential client about supplying people for a project, send them several case studies. This works well in a B2B environment because those case studies will likely be shared with other decision-makers in the department.
Personal Branding Matters
Personal branding is important. You can choose to do it or not, but be mindful that if you don’t, somebody else will. The market has shifted to a more collaborative environment. People buy from people and like to know who you are, your values, vision, and mission.
Make sure that alongside your other content, you’re creating personal branding posts. Not about what you’ve eaten for dinner or your deepest secrets – people don’t need that. They can form connections with you in many other ways. Be authentic but strategic. Look at the personal branding posts Sharon and I share to get a sense of who we are.
Many people who start working with us have accessed some of our content, particularly our personal branding posts. So when considering what content works well, don’t overlook this aspect.
Email Marketing And Automation
I won’t say too much about this, as we have extensive content on our website about these areas, but email marketing still delivers the highest ROI of any marketing activity. People always open their emails, and both candidates and clients will engage if your emails add value.
Email marketing makes a massive difference because you’re in constant connection with people. You’re not just working with the 3-5% who are ready to buy now – you’re building and nurturing relationships.
Similarly, LinkedIn messenger campaigns can be effective. Sometimes it’s easier to reach people on LinkedIn than by phone. You can have meaningful exchanges and build connections.
Think about how you can adapt and repurpose your content. You can use AI tools to cut blogs into smaller email campaigns. Consider using automated sequences, particularly for email marketing.
Your Website As A Content Hub
One thing we always emphasise is building awareness on social media, but your main asset is your authority website. We want people landing there because it’s a repository of all the ways you can help them.
Your website is your content hub, housing all your blog content (which Google will pick up), downloads, videos, and other resources. Remember, you own your website, unlike your LinkedIn profile. No matter how much you pay for a recruiter license, you don’t own your LinkedIn presence.
On our website, we have podcasts that are all transcribed. I get the audio recording transcribed, then summarised in a document with all the key points, and publish it on our website. This is really useful for people.
Think about all the content you can create that answers the questions your clients and candidates have when you’re not actually there. Next week, I’ll pull this together and look at content planning frameworks, thinking about the matrix of awareness, consideration, evergreen content versus just-in-time content.
Thanks
Denise
How We Can Help
If you’re struggling to create consistent, valuable content that positions you as an expert in your recruitment niche, we can help. At Superfast Circle, we provide our members with ready-to-use content, from industry reports and salary guides to blog posts and social media updates. Our members don’t have to worry about what to post or when – they have a steady stream of quality content that attracts both clients and candidates. If you’d like to have professionally written recruitment-specific content that you can customise for your market, check out Superfast Circle at www.superfastrecruitment.co.uk/superfast-circle.
