Once upon a time, in a land far, far away lived a call centre with a targets driven ethos and a quantity over quality approach. Sound familiar? We all know how this story ends so I’m going to tell you a slightly different version with a ‘happily ever after’ for long-term business growth.

There once lived a beast in a haunted castle who was cursed with wicked looks and a heart of stone, he went by the name of ‘Recruitment Marketing’. Now before you jump to conclusions, this beast is very misunderstood – nobody gives him a chance and he therefore remains in isolation. Then, the village sweetheart, ‘Content Marketing’ comes along and spots an opportunity … drawing ‘Recruitment Marketing’ out of isolation and working together they become a match made in heaven.

The phrase ‘recruitment marketing’ is often associated with cold-callers and a quick win approach to hiring new candidates, but this really isn’t the case. When used in conjunction with personalised and tailored content with a strategic plan, recruitment marketing is an effective way of creating a talent pipeline. The goal isn’t to hire 10 people next week, but rather to attract the qualified and relevant people to your business over time by positioning it as great place to work. It’s a bit of a catch 22 but in the best way possible, by improving your employer brand there is a 50% decrease in cost per hire but a 28% reduction in staff turnover; so you’ll find it easier to make new hires but you won’t necessarily need everyone who wants to work within your organisation.

Moving away from broadcasting to candidates, benefits can be reaped by listening and talking with ‘talent’ to build relationships and extend reach and exposure of career opportunities. This can be done by creating content which engages with candidates through the many touch points of the modern job search prior to them actually applying for a role. According to a survey by Glassdoor, 69% of those surveyed said they would decline a job offer from an employer with a bad reputation, so by building a relationship with possible future candidates you’re planting the seed that you are an employer of choice as opposed to a last resort.

Just like in Beauty and the Beast, the servants of the household – your current employees – play a massive role in attracting candidates to your organisation. Their professional online profiles will be under scrutiny from potential applicants as they’ll want to be able to virtually experience what it is like to work for an organisation. According to a study by Edelman 2015 Trust Barometer, employees rank as the most trusted influencers when communicating about their company’s engagement and integrity. So providing employees with the tools and guidance needed to help promote your organisation as a great place to work is vital and it’s not something you can change overnight or force employees into. There’s no point in creating a visage online as if you’re the next Google or Facebook if it’s not a true reflection of your company culture. If you think you’re cutting a corner by offering a reward to employees for posting positive reviews online, think again! According to a study by Revoo Insight research in 2013, 68% of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad reviews, and what’s more – 62% agree their perception of a company improves after seeing an employer respond to a review (Glassdoor U.S. Site Survey, January 2016).

If you want to lift the curse on your recruitment marketing, be our guest and we’ll work towards your happily-ever-after.