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Integrated marketing is the subject for this week’s recruitment marketing podcast and post and for a very good reason.
Recruitment business owners often fail to think about the whole process of their recruitment marketing and instead can get fixated on just one strategy.
As I record this, we are about to deliver an email marketing webinar, which is one strategy which works incredibly well in recruitment – did you notice a subtle word there?
One.
There are multiple strategies that work when they are combined and particularly now when people really want to work with companies they feel they know, like and trust.
The outcome of integrated marketing is your candidate or client sees you everywhere, and you accelerate the process of building trust.
[Important: In our latest trends report, we share 8 of the critical marketing trends for recruitment and staffing companies that are working this year, and you can grab a copy here.]
Integrated marketing is very much about taking your clients and candidates on a personalised journey throughout their experience of building a team or developing their career.
We currently live in a hyper-connected world where people want human interaction. This might be a call, text message, a personalised video or a printed report through the post.
Recruitment Marketing: Where Can You Start Using Integrated Marketing?
Your Candidates
We know that some of the more prominent ‘high street’ recruitment companies operate solely through a one-off email when they have a role to fill and will not pick up the phone to speak to a candidate until the very last moment.
Because of the omnichannel nature of marketing now, a spec email only will no longer cut it. Instead, there should be a combination of email campaigns, reports, video, social engagement, targeted advertising with meaningful content plus personalised emails and phone calls.
Your Clients
As for clients, integrated marketing is about getting back to basics with your collateral.
Here is an idea: Take a list of your top 100 target clients that you would ideally like to work with. Target them with an email to a free, value-added report about a current client issue in your sector.
Follow up with a LinkedIn request and follow their company page (if you don’t already). Like, share and comment on their updates and see how long it is before you get a response. Once they respond, the communication channel is open, and you have become a trusted online acquaintance.
Build and nurture this relationship over time, adding value and being a trusted thought leader in your shared sector. This is what clients are looking for from the recruitment companies they are going to choose to partner with in 2020.
While digital marketing should be driving your campaign, remember the importance of physical collateral. A recruiter we work with shared with us recently an amusing story about the importance of physical marketing material.
A client got in touch with the recruiter about a position they needed filling; a business-critical role in their team. The client had been on the recruiter’s radar, but they had not previously worked together.
The recruitment owner asked the client in their first meeting ‘Why have you chosen now to reach out to us?’ The client replied, ‘Your name has been on a pen in my kitchen for the last year, and I have read a report from one of your recent exhibitions!’
This is such a great real-life example of the importance of using physical ‘old school’ marketing and a reminder not to put all of your eggs into the digital side of marketing.
Here are a few ideas to consider as you start to put together an integrated campaign.
- A useful blog post that adds value like this
- A report related to an issue they have
- A video
- A social media update with advice
- An invite to a local event; online or offline
- An invite to your stand at an event
- A phone call
- A text message
- A webinar
- A branded reminder item through the post; and the list goes on
Take the time to send branded marketing collateral, even just a hand-written card. It will set you apart in a crowded market, and that is what marketing your recruitment company in 2020 is going to be about.
Useful? We hope so.
In Superfast Circle, we support our clients to deliver campaigns just like this, and we even provide the written marketing collateral they can use, too. If you want to find out more about how this could help your recruitment or staffing company grow, call us on +44 (0)1524 784 331 or book a call here.
Thanks,
Denise
P.S. If you haven’t yet grabbed our recruitment marketing trends report, download your copy here.
