The job landscape is undergoing some major changes at present. Typical candidates are behaving more and more like modern consumers by “shopping around” for jobs rather than jumping at the first opportunity that comes along. The birth of “recruitment marketing” has brought about a major shift in focus for all recruitment agencies. Agencies that do not adjust their approaches may fall behind. As is the case with all other forms of marketing, it is crucial to develop a comprehensive understanding of the types of people that are being targeted in order to create an effective strategy that will provide recruitment agency clients with the most suitable candidates.

1. USING CONTENT
MARKETING IN
RECRUITMENT
Nov 2016

2. RUSSELL DALGLEISH
Founder Exolta Capital Partners
“ The hunt for candidates is becoming more
competitive than ever before. A recruiter
competes for a candidate’s attention much
in the same way that marketers compete
for a consumer’s attention.”

3. Understanding the
Recruitment Landscape

4. LANDSCAPE
OVERVIEW
The job landscape is undergoing some major changes at present. Typical candidates are
behaving more and more like modern consumers by “shopping around” for jobs rather
than jumping at the first opportunity that comes along.
RECRUITMENT MARKETING
The birth of “recruitment marketing” has brought about a major shift in focus for all
recruitment agencies. Agencies that do not adjust their approaches may fall behind. As is
the case with all other forms of marketing, it is crucial to develop a comprehensive
understanding of the types of people that are being targeted in order to create an effective
strategy that will provide recruitment agency clients with the most suitable candidates.

5. Why Use Content Marketing as a
Recruiting Tool

6. CONTENT MARKETING TOOL
Until very recently, content marketing was thought of as a tool used solely for boosting sales
and growth. However, the versatility of content marketing is rapidly making its mark. Every
industry has its own pool of potential employees, all of whom are interested in useful content
that could assist them in their job hunt. Recruitment agencies are beginning to use this tool to
their advantage, creating pertinent, poignant content that will assist them in finding model
employees for the companies who make use of their services.
A recruitment agency’s customers want to hire the best of the best; that much is abundantly
clear. What some recruiters may overlook is the fact that job candidates want to work with
industry leaders as well. Cleverly written content can, and should, show prospective
employees that the team they wish to join is credible, innovative, and ultimately worth
committing their talents to.
THE TOOL

7. A TYPICAL RECRUITMENT CYCLE
THE CYCLE
Primarily, content marketing focuses on the first two stages in the recruitment cycle. Attracting
and converting potential employees relies heavily on recruitment marketing in precisely the
same way that regular marketing grabs the attention of consumers. The final two stages in the
cycle, “close” and “delight”, form a part of the actual interview process, which should run
smoothly if the content marketing strategy was successful.
ATTRACT > COVERT > CLOSE > DELIGHT

8. 5 CONTENT TYPES FOR RECRUITERS
CONTENT TYPE
There are several different types of content recruitment agencies can use to amplify a client’s
brand:
1. Industry news: New product releases, company benchmarks
2. Awards: Reinforcing the strength of a company by creating content around recent awards
3. Thought leadership: Write on relevant and hot topics in the industry
4. Employee spotlight videos: Show potential candidates some of the fantastic people
they could be working alongside
5. Employee blog posts: Encourage employees to write about their roles and their key
learnings

9. Why Content Marketing Works for
Recruitment

10. WHY CONTENT WORKS?
1. Candidates who disagree with the core values of a particular company tend to self-select out
of the recruitment process. By encouraging transparency in their clients, recruitment agencies
are able to compile content that provides a comprehensive overview of every aspect of the
company they are considering working for.
2. Job descriptions rarely go viral by themselves. Unusual, entertaining, or educational articles,
however, tend to stretch much further. Including article links in job descriptions tends to
increase traffic to a company’s recruitment pages by impressive amounts.
3. Job candidates who have done some light reading tend to show up more prepared. This
results in better interviews which, in turn, makes companies more likely to enlist the services
of a particular recruitment agency in the future.
WHY CONTENT MARKETING WORKS FOR
RECRUITERS?

11. TOP 10 TIPS

12. ONE.
COLLABORATE WITH CLIENTS
Regular meetings between marketing and HR departments facilitate a more effective platform
for sharing information. Through these meetings, a recruitment agency will easily be able to
find out which positions their clients need to fill immediately, in the near future, and over the
long term.
As a recruitment agency, it is important to regularly ask client’s HR team where their last
current employees were hired from (geographic area, schools, previous employers, etc.) in
order to discover where best to distribute the new content marketing material.

13. TWO.
CLEAR CONTENT STRATEGY
Marketers who document their strategy are more effective. It is hardly surprising that
regular marketing content can be customised for recruitment purposes. It is worth every
recruiter’s while to go through their clients’ current marketing materials in order to find
useful material.

14. THREE.
AUDIENCE PERSONAS FOR CANDIDATES
It is highly improbable that a developer and a salesperson will respond positively to the
same content and the same distribution. Recruitment agencies need to identify the types of
people their clients need the most and how best to reach them.

15. FOUR.
INVOLVE SPECIALIST RECRUITERS
In many cases, it is important for content marketers to lean on subject matter experts for
quality materials.

16. FIVE.
SHOWCASE BIG THINKING
As a recruitment agency, one of your responsibilities is convincing clients to flex their
knowledge about their particular industry, market, and customers. This is one of the best
ways to draw the attention of prospective job applicants.

17. SIX.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR CLIENTS
UNIQUE
Rewriting a client’s job description into an article is not an effective approach. Instead, it is
advised to tell a story about the way the company’s values are reflected in its culture.
Openly discussing the types of employees a particular company enjoys working with is the
best way to ensure the attention of the right kind of applicants.

18. SEVEN.
FIND THE CORRECT PUBLICATION
It is important to target publications that a client’s ideal employee will read and respect.
This ensures a credibility boost that other companies might not have, placing the
recruitment agency’s clients in a more favourable position.

19. EIGHT.
SHOWCASE EVERYDAY LIFE
Content marketing can showcase the everyday perks of what it’s like to work at a particular
company. Feature employee & company life by showcasing photos of employees at
events, highlights of them on the corporate blog, and even short videos of celebrations at
the office.

20. NINE.
CHANNEL JOB INQUIRIES TO THE APPROPRIATE PLACE
Social media managers, both of the recruitment agency and of the client, must know where
to send people if they have questions about jobs at a particular company. This could be a
detailed “Careers” page or an email address for someone in human resources.

21. TEN.
DON’T OVERLOAD AUDIENCE WITH JOBS
The most common (and badly directed) use of content marketing as a recruiting tool is to
plaster social media channels with job posts. While it is alright to post the occasional listing,
it is important to balance this out with informative content that has a higher chance of being
shared.

22. THANK YOU
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