By Bryant Clark – November 2011
…HR ideas from Jeffery Giesener – CEO – SourceMob June 29, 2015
Bryan Clark first wrote this post for the eCommerce world in 2011. I thought would be interesting to present the post here today for our HR vertical and have you just switch out consumer, or Internet Marketer for candidate and HR Marketer respectively. I know you will learn a few lessons, which also are highly relevant to what we all should be doing with our candidate’s and HR Marketing today. Also look for my HR ideas and comments in bold italic, Enjoy.
Most of the marketers I see online make me shake my head in disbelief. I can’t believe that some of the biggest and brightest names in the Internet marketing industry can be so naïve when it comes to marketing tactics in the twenty-first century.
Marketing – much like the Internet itself – is always changing. You can’t take a technique that you learned five years ago, implement it, and expect the same success you had when marketers first learned about it. That’s not to say five-year-old techniques don’t work, but it certainly isn’t as effective as it was then. JG: Just look at the defection rates from your Applicant Tracking System
The problem is, all but the very best internet marketers are refusing to evolve. They’re selling tired products, using the same gimmicks, and even marketing the products the same way that you would several years ago. JG: When was it that your candidate heard from you post apply?
This is the age of social marketing. The marketers that build a name for themselves over the next five years are those that are actively engaged with their audience. They aren’t “selling” products, they are solving problems.
Here are a few things marketers are doing wrong…
The Hard Sell Is Dead
Stop pitching products (jobs) as if I were the last person on earth. If I want to buy your product, (apply to your jobs) it’s going to be because it fits a need, or sells me on a goal that I may express publicly, or hold somewhere deep in the recesses of my own mind.
The hard sell is dead, but it appears it isn’t going anywhere because some of the sales-turned-marketing gurus don’t realize that when a salesman pushes, clients now have multiple options. Rather than pushing back, negotiating, or even making excuses, it’s easy enough to just walk away and look for a similar product. JG: Or your candidates will defect.
Those that still try the hard sell on the masses, who are faced with multiple buying (job) decisions daily, are missing the point. You can’t pressure someone in the digital world. There are simply too many options. Although this isn’t completely ineffective, you’ll continue to see its effectiveness drop as those pesky millennials reach consumer status.
Is your email list as good as it should be?
I still maintain the importance of having an email list, but the way most marketers use it is beyond awful. JG: First make sure you email list is permissioned by your candidate. Don’t assume they want to engage with you. Either provide enough value in every post that I don’t want to unsubscribe, or don’t bother me until you have something of value to give me.
Stop With The False Promises
Skip the spam bin by skipping the hype when pitching me. Tell me How It Helps Me, What’s In For Me! Then send me somewhere that I can find out more. JG: Test, Test, and Test again what is the right messaging to get your candidate the desired result you want?
Quit Beating A Dead Horse
The Internet is always growing, and always changing. It’s only natural that some things that worked in the past no longer work as well or at all today. JG: Did you know Google Search recently changed is search algorithm to penalize all site which are not mobile responsive. That means if your career site is not mobile responsive you soon could be loosing years for hard SEO work. Not to mention the cost.
Forced Urgency Is For Suckers
Am I really to believe that – even though your countdown clock says I have 16 hours – if I come back to your site in three days I can’t get the same “lower price?” Of course, I’ve been burned by this once before, but by an atypical marketer.
In general, we all know that the urgency you are trying to create is the work of a countdown script that’s just going to reset next time I visit the page, or every few hours/days. I don’t need to buy your product now, and I’m certainly not going to if I feel like you are trying to create urgency for me to buy.
JG: Instead of urgency think engagement and conversation that is relevant with your candidates. When was the last time your recruiters actually engaged in real-time candidate conversation on your career site.
What You Can Do Differently
JG: Be honest. Be genuine, and have faith in your career brand and how you execute your recruiting.
If your candidates what to work at your company they must be shown why. Tell them about your culture, your employees and hiring managers, use videos and the key is to let them know What Is In It For Them (WFIM)
JG: Engage with your various candidate audiences. They’ll tell you what they want. Deliver that, and you have quality hire at a very low recruiting cost. Simple. Right?
JG: What are you doing to connect and engage with your candidates. Send me your ideas in the comment area below.