With the fierce competition for top talent in today's job market, it is increasingly important to create an effective recruitment strategy that stands out. The use of multiple marketing strategies can help a business to engage the best candidates by having a larger pool of reachable potential employees.
By advertising on social media sites, posting professional jobs on multiple job sites, engaging with industry influencers, and launching targeted campaigns on different channels, a company can create effective marketing campaigns and a strong employer brand. And strong brands are a huge win from a talent perspective, attracting 50% more qualified candidates to their open roles.
Here's how to incorporate multiple marketing strategies into your recruitment efforts, which will give you more visibility and opportunities to engage with qualified candidates for your tech roles.
Must-have elements of your recruitment marketing strategy
1. Create a content marketing strategy
Content marketing is an effective way to promote your open positions and create brand awareness. Working with your marketing team, content marketing involves producing content in the form of blogs, graphics, videos, and guides that highlight the company's culture and everything prospects want to know about working for your company.
How to create content for applicants
When creating content to target applicants, it's important to consider your audience and tailor the content appropriately. Content should be tailored to the job role, industry, and applicant type. This helps to ensure that interested candidates have the information they need about a company before applying.
All content related to recruitment should be eye-catching, written in a conversational style, and contain relevant information about the position. High-quality visuals and well-written descriptions will also go a long way in grabbing attention.
Giving context about the positions available and the impact employees can have on the success of your business helps make for interesting reading. Showcase employees in different roles, highlight details about positions, and list any unique benefits your company provides, as these will help the prospect have all the information they need when considering whether or not to apply.
Sharing tips with other professionals is also great for promoting your company and showing the learning culture. For example, this post on best practices provides specific tips to follow as a DevOps engineer. You can also achieve it by creating detailed tutorials for your target audience, as it will bring attention to what your company offers and your job listings.
2. Optimize your career page for SEO
Optimizing your company's career page for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a necessary step to get potential applicants' attention. Ensure each job posting includes proper keywords and search terms so that your listing stands out. Not only will proper optimization help search engines like Google surface your jobs to candidates more easily, but it can also ensure they are seeing the best of what you offer.
Use keywords that are specific and relevant to the job titles and content on the page, giving visitors a great user experience with intuitive navigation, leveraging social media channels to attract passive talent, and incorporating interactive elements where appropriate. With tech talent, include the programming language or specific industry experience that you're seeking. Make sure you keep job titles updated with current trends as well because readers want accurate information before they click on anything.
While there's no one-size-fits-all solution to SEO optimization, taking the time to research how your company stands out among others recruiting similar roles can go a long way in making sure featured jobs get seen.
3. Utilize social media channels
Employee showcase
Creating content to showcase employees is an excellent way to boost your recruitment efforts. It allows potential applicants to connect with current employees and gain insights into the workplace culture, values, and perks before applying for a position.
As an example, you can post interviews or Q&As with existing employees. This type of content can be used in emails, newsletters, and even on the company's website and social media channels.
Facebook & Linkedin Ads
Ads on social media are a cost-effective way to reach potential employees. Companies can target potential applicants by creating Ads based on their location, job title, industry, age, and other demographic information. Facebook and LinkedIn Ads are an effective way to gain exposure for job postings and attract more qualified candidates quickly.
Most top developers and engineers are already employed. See how passive sourcing allows you to build awareness with candidates who may not be actively looking for work, but could be won over under the right circumstances.
4. Take advantage of online communities
Online communities and job boards are great resources for recruitment marketing. Companies can promote their job opening on specialized sites like StackOverflow, GitHub, and Reddit.
Reaching out to these online communities is a great way to get the word out about open roles and target passive job seekers.
Reddit is especially useful for employers because brand messages can be met with curiosity instead of suspicion, making it easier to start a conversation with potential applicants. Posting content to Reddit increases turnover time on search campaigns and helps broaden your network, allowing you to bring in both passive and active job seekers who may not have been looking elsewhere.
For example, you can create reports on topics that resonate with your target audience. Check out this article and the following Reddit thread to give you an idea of how it works.
HackerNews
HackerNews is a popular news aggregator that specifically caters to developers and programmers. This type of outlet is one of the best ways to spread awareness and connect with job seekers who might be interested in open positions or career opportunities. Companies can use it to post job openings in the form of engaging content.
Stack Overflow
Stack Overflow is an excellent community for software engineers and developers, allowing recruiters to post job opportunities and find the perfect candidate for their open roles.
Moreover, Stack Overflow encourages community members to participate in debates related to programming challenges and potential solutions. This presents prospective candidates with an opportunity to display their knowledge and expertise for recruiters looking for top talent in the industry.
GitHub
GitHub enables companies to reach out to developers and technical talent looking for roles. It offers an easy way to showcase company projects, making it easier for potential candidates to see the kind of work they would be doing if hired.
A great way to find talented engineers is to check trending open-source projects related to your field of interest and find the most active people. There is always a lot of hidden talents in these type of communities.
Hashnode
Hashnode is a network for developers, offering an online platform to learn, share knowledge, and collaborate with their peers. Companies can create profiles for their brand, upload jobs and connect with top talent in tech by taking part in conversations and sponsored hackathons that Hashnode facilitates. The platform is cost-effective and allows companies to find great fits more easily while also increasing brand visibility.
5. Host online recruitment events
Hosting online recruitment events can help companies reach an even larger pool of potential applicants. These events enable businesses to interact with potential applicants in real time and provide an opportunity for candidates to ask questions and get a better understanding of the job requirements. Companies can host live Q&A sessions, webinars, workshops, or hackathons to attract more qualified candidates.
6. Create an employee referral program
Employee referral programs are an effective way to boost recruitment efforts. Companies can find and hire the best talent by incentivizing existing employees to refer qualified candidates.
Employees can post job openings on their social media networks, send emails or texts to their contacts, and encourage potential applicants to apply for roles at their company. It also helps to create an internal recruitment culture and strengthens relationships with current employees.
7. Engage with potential candidates via live chat
Recruitment marketing has seen many changes in recent years, and live chat is a powerful tool that offers more dynamic conversations. It allows businesses to build relationships with prospective candidates while they rapidly respond to their questions and queries.
Live chat experiences provide a consistent customer experience across multiple channels and are handled professionally by specialist recruitment staff. By using this medium of communication, employers can reach out to and engage with potential candidates more quickly, helping them to find the right fit for their organization in no time.
Final thoughts on recruitment marketing to tech candidates
Recruitment marketing is an integral part of any company's hiring strategy. From leveraging online communities to creating employee referral programs, there are numerous ways to attract qualified applicants and ensure the success of recruitment efforts. With the proper techniques, companies can efficiently hire the best software engineers, data analysts, and DevOps specialists while creating a strong employer brand.
Despite these strategies, it is important to remember that recruitment marketing should be tailored to each company's specific needs. Companies should take into consideration their budget, target audience, and goals when developing their hiring strategy. With the right approach in place, companies can find and hire the right tech talent faster and more effectively.
Written by Mariusz Michalowski, Community Manager at Spacelift.*
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