Blog Content
Recruitment Marketers, now more than ever, need to deliver real value. With Covid creating either distraction, furlough, or redundancy, recruitment agencies are focused on lead generation and conversion.
But where does and should marketing fit in to this landscape? And how are they prepared for the new normal?
The Sales-Led Marketing Challenge
As chairs of the APSCo Marketing Forum, Niomi and I are keen to ensure that the regular meetups and webinars contain content which drives the members to deliver commercial and relevant outcomes. We surveyed APSCo marketing members to find out answers to the following questions:
What were your plans to improve prior to Covid lockdown?
What are your biggest challenges during lockdown?
Where do you see the biggest wins for you in the next few months?
Where do you feel you need additional training / knowledge?
The answers were compelling, and a little worrying.
1.What were your plans to improve prior to Covid lockdown?
The majority said “Brand Improvement”.
This is always a red flag for me and tweaks my “colouring-in department” nerve. What were the businesses these marketers worked for doing before Covid… was lead gen / sales already taken care of?
I get how important brand is, but in a saturated market, where recruiters are often 360+ and have too much to do, (too much data, systems, and not enough process) I love hearing stories about marketers deliver MQLs (marketing qualified leads) or perfect candidates / colleagues into the sales teams.
2.What are your biggest challenges during lockdown?
The majority said “Lead Generation”. So, as soon as lockdown happens all eyes go to marketing to do something that may not have been their priority or skillset pre-lockdown. A reaction that we have all had, but one that may have fallen flat due to the lack of skill / expectation of marketing prior to Covid. Some of them don’t even have access to the database that their recruiters use… so how are they supposed to help with the conversion, or reconversion, process?
3.Where do you see the biggest wins for you in the next few months?
Worryingly, lead generation scored low, and brand and client experience scored high. Kids are back at school, local lockdowns, rules of 6, are the new normal, but to move so quickly away from lead gen feels too soon, or perhaps, inappropriate.
4.Where do you feel you need additional training / knowledge?
SEO and monetisation of the CRM and data scored high. This is interesting, and predictable, as these two areas drive leads. Does this answer tell us that marketers haven’t got the training (or perhaps confidence) to stick their hand up and say:
“leave the leads to me”
When I mentor marketers, I lift the lid on SEO and make it a simple task. It’s about:
persona-led keyword decks,
threaded into content,
which is aimed at the data (you likely already have) and assertively used to convert or reconvert.
Leads are generated and actively handed over to sales. Easy!
So the marketers have spotted their weaknesses… but what next?
What else scored low?
Automation – this is needed to create space and time to attract and convert
Internal comms – this is needed to keep the workforce engaged and motivated
Inbound sales – this is just needed.
Social media – use this to drive content ROI
Candidate attraction – I’m worried that recruiters are being bombarded by the wrong candidates and this is preventing best practice.
Marketers Need to Generate Leads
Going back to lead gen and sales-led marketing…
Marketers, ask yourself:
what are you doing to skill up in SEO and monetising your data and CRM?
Recruitment Leaders, ask yourself:
what access does your marketer have to your data, and your sales team? What needs to happen to turn your marketing into a sales-led, data-driven, lead generative function?
Attend our webinar on 30/09/20 14:00 to find out what Niomi and I think you need to do.
Book Your Marketing Webinar Place
Talking of Marketers Generating Leads for Recruiters...
Could marketing save your recruiters an hour a day, and make an extra £18,750 a year (or £187,500 if there are 10 of you?)
Our high intensity interval training - Recruitment HIIT - helps recruiters source, convert quicker, and develop healthy pipelines, and recruitment marketers attract, engage, and retain candidates, generate leads, and colleagues (3Cs).
TRY RECRUITMENT HIIT 7 DAYS FOR FREE
READ ABOUT OUR MARKETING TRAINING
BOOK A CALL TO DISCUSS MARKETING TRAINING
Extra Content
Blog Image
Extra Content 2
media centre
Read more-
Lisa Jones
Blog
Recruiters! 10 Reasons Why Candidate Engagement is Critical
Recruiters and their leaders who want to spend less time and money sourcing, and more time placing, need to read this blog and think about why they need to create a virtuous circle of talent.On our recent Bullhorn Tips webinar, where we focused on candidate management tips, we asked the attendees about their current candidate management strategy.The results were unsurprising, but also disappointing.They told us that their candidate database was...And that their candidate management strategy was...In other words, not future proof or focussed on creating a robust, easy to deliver pipeline. It's mainly focussed on live, active candidates who are imminently placeable... and Linkedin / Job Boards continue to win at the expense of the recruiter and their profits.Recruitment Data Wealth💵💶💷If we've learned anything (at least since 2008) we need a clean, warm databases to see us through easy and tough times.We need engaged, loyal, happy candidates who are easy to find, happy to recommend, refer, and show up!Some recruiters call this "Data Health" - I call it "Data Wealth".I've seen a lot of tech and data hitting the recruitment market, but still do not see enough process improvements to capitalise on it. We just keep buying more, rather than exploring how we actually need less, but need to work it better.It's Time to Move from Vicious to Virtuous!Recruiters still waste crazy amounts of time sourcing and advertising, but not enough time engaging and managing.And ironically, by not engaging, and letting hot data cool off, the industry creates silos of "cold" data. Hence sourcing is key and reliance on external systems is high, costs increase, placements take longer... Vicious cycle!What if, though, we take a moment? Let the stats below sink in, and engage with our systems and data in a proactive way. Could recruiters create a virtuous circle of engaged candidates staying loyal and placeable, meaning less need for job adverts, Linkedin, sourcing, and insanity?Yes!🔢Candidate Management Stats Every Recruiter Should Know78% of placed candidates are already in your CRM. – Yet many recruiters go straight to LinkedIn or job boards before checking their own database.Only 30% of CRM records are typically up to date. – That means 70% of your candidate data might be incomplete, inaccurate, or out of date.60% of recruiters admit to rarely revisiting past candidates. – This leads to missed opportunities and duplicated effort.It costs 6x more to source a new candidate than to re-engage an existing one. – Save budget and time by starting with your CRM.43% of recruiters say poor data quality negatively impacts their ability to place quickly. – Dirty data slows down sourcing, shortlisting, and matching.48% of candidates who apply to a role never hear back. – Proper candidate management helps ensure consistent communication and better candidate experience.80% of candidates say they’d reapply to a company with a good hiring experience. – Engagement doesn’t stop at “not selected”—it builds your future pipeline.Recruiters spend up to 1/3 of their time on admin. – Automation and smart candidate management free up time for relationship-building and placements.Re-engaged candidates are 2x more likely to be placed than cold-sourced ones. – Prior placements and silver medalists are often your hottest leads.Companies that nurture candidates improve quality of hire by 20%. – Keeping in touch with passive talent builds a stronger, more prepared pipeline.The stats above are from a variety of sources, including IBM, TalentBoard, Bullhorn, and LinkedIn.Even just one of the stats above should be enough to make you stop and think "how can I create a virtuous circle of happy, engaged, and placed candidates?"💻Watch our Bullhorn Tips Webinar and use Bullhorn to manage and engage your candidates.Click to WatchRecruitment and Bullhorn TrainingWe deliver the best live Bullhorn ROI webinar training, and you'll find other tips and tricks in Recruitment HIIT, our online recruitment training platform.Plus, through our Bullhorn Vision service we help generate serious ROI from your Bullhorn, data, and people.TRY HIIT FREE HERECONTACT US ABOUT BULLHORN ROI
-
Wayne Barclay
Blog
Advertise Jobs: The Recruitment Automation That Transforms Your Database
Recruiters should always be looking for ways to move beyond traditional sourcing methods like job boards and LinkedIn. But often, a "hand to mouth" strategy and little time to think outside of the box means that they need to stick to these platforms.Time and money is wasted.Tech doesn't actually give you the edge.Opportunities are missed, and even lost.Job boards and LinkedIn are saturated with supposedly active candidates. Plus clients, competitors, and increasingly, AI all use them, too.So, how can recruiters create a competitive edge and build a unique (and valuable) candidate database so that they can place easier and faster?Enter Advertise Jobs, an automation designed to engage, leverage, and weaponise your existing database of candidates.🔐Unlocking the Potential of Your Recruitment DatabaseOne of the most common frustrations we hear from recruiters is this: “I can’t find the candidates I need on our database.” Yet, many of these databases contain thousands (if not millions) of candidate records. The problem isn’t the lack of candidates—it’s the lack of engaged candidates.The Advertise Jobs automation changes the game by making your database the first stop for every job.Instead of relying on external platforms, it trains recruiters to source candidates directly from the database. This approach triggers an automated campaign to engage those candidates in the background while recruiters focus on other tasks. Over time, this process proves faster, more efficient, and far less frustrating than traditional sourcing methods.❓Why Start with Your Own Recruitment Data?Here are some compelling stats to consider:72% of Candidates Are Already on Your Database: Many recruiters waste time and money downloading CVs from job boards, only to discover they already have these candidates in their system. Advertise Jobs ensures your database stays up-to-date and prevents duplicate efforts. (Source: Daxtra)Database Sourcing Is Faster: On average, it takes 40 days to place a candidate sourced from your database, compared to 60 days when sourced externally through job boards, LinkedIn, or social media. (Source: Bullhorn)By focusing on your database first AKA "Bullhorn 1st", you save time, reduce costs, and maximise the value of your existing resources.🤖How the Advertise Jobs Automation WorksAdvertise Jobs is built to make sourcing smarter and more streamlined. Here’s how it works:Automated Campaigns: When a new job comes in, recruiters start by shortlisting candidates from the database. This triggers an automated campaign that engages those candidates through multiple touchpoints.Engagement at Scale: Over days, candidates receive a number of touchpoints—a mix of automated and human interactions. This ensures consistent communication and keeps candidates engaged without overwhelming recruiters.Enhanced Productivity: Recruiters can focus on speaking with the engaged candidates and other tasks while the automation runs in the background, delivering a faster, more seamless sourcing experience. Nice!Think about a model such as the “10 touchpoints” model: three human interactions and seven automated ones. This balanced strategy ensures meaningful engagement, delivered in a suitable timeframe, without overburdening your recruiters.💗Automate to Humanise!Candidates want to hear from you about relevant opportunities, but they’re often overlooked because your database isn’t being fully utilised and recruiters are too busy to do the right thing at the right time. Advertise Jobs changes that by:Automating engagement.Reducing time speaking to irrelevant and uninterested candidatesCreating a better experience for both recruiters and candidates,And enriching your candidate data.It’s time to stop wasting resources on external platforms and start maximising the potential of your own database. With Advertise Jobs, you’ll transform your sourcing process, boost productivity, and gain a competitive edge in the recruitment market.Arrange a chat with our team of expert automation builders to discuss this automation (and other awesome automations) which can help you monetise your Bullhorn data and pipeline.Arrange a callbackAutomation and Bullhorn1stWe are Automation Buddies and Bullhorn Experts set on helping ambitious recruitment businesses who want to increase speed and sales.Automation: We coach to inspire, and build your automations so you can recruit and sell!Bullhorn: We optimise, train, and improve RoI from your key recruitment system.READ ABOUT OUR AUTOMATION BUDDY SERVICERead about our Bullhorn 1st Service
-
Downloads
Your Recruitment Training Playbook
-
Matt Edwards
Webinar
Recruiter Productivity Series: Optimise Bullhorn Part 2 ~ Source Faster and Easier
-
Rose Megson
Webinar
Recruiter Productivity Series: Optimise Bullhorn Part 1 ~ Engage, Nurture, Place, and Re-Place
-
Wayne Barclay
Webinar
Automation RoI Webinar Series: Unlock Bullhorn Part 1 ~ Source Faster and Easier
