Multi-Channel Marketing Approach to Recruiting Success
In this current competitive talent market, relying solely on one method—such as email—for recruiting communication is no longer enough. While email outreach has its benefits, especially for maintaining a steady flow of candidate communication, it’s essential to broaden your strategy to reach a wider pool of potential candidates. For HR professionals and hiring managers, incorporating multiple channels into recruiting efforts can significantly improve the ability to engage with top talent and fill critical roles faster.
Multi-channel marketing is a strategy that leverages a variety of advertising channels, including digital ads, digital marketing services, social media, search, re-marketing, branded content, print, direct mail, and television, among others. By integrating multiple touchpoints, businesses can fully engage their audience and strengthen their position for long-term success. This blog will explore why a multi-channel approach is crucial for recruiting and highlight the available options—both digital and non-digital—that can enhance your recruitment strategy.
The Limitations of Email-Only Recruiting
Email remains a staple in recruiting, whether it’s used for sending job alerts, reaching passive candidates, or communicating throughout the hiring process. However, just as email marketing can face diminishing returns in customer engagement, recruiting emails alone can fall short. Job seekers may be overwhelmed with their inboxes, or worse, your messages might land in spam. This limits your ability to connect with passive candidates who aren’t actively checking their inbox for job opportunities.
In addition, with open rates for recruiting emails often falling below 20%, you’re potentially missing out on a vast portion of candidates who might be perfect for your roles but simply aren’t engaging through email. A multi-channel recruiting approach ensures you can reach these candidates where they are most active.
Expanding Your Recruitment Marketing Beyond Email
By diversifying the channels used to engage candidates, hiring managers can connect with a broader audience and enhance the candidate experience. Below are both digital and non-digital channels that, when integrated into your recruitment marketing strategy, can increase your chances of attracting top talent.
Digital Channels
1. Social Media Recruiting Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram are increasingly used to connect with both active and passive job seekers. These services allow recruiters (or companies) to showcase company culture, post job openings, and directly message potential candidates. They also often have options to enable hyper-targeting, where you can focus your efforts on candidates with specific skills or from particular industries.
2. Career Site and Content Marketing A company’s career page is often the first place candidates go to learn about open positions and company culture. Beyond posting job listings, content marketing—such as blog posts about the employee experience, videos of office life, or testimonials from current employees—can attract candidates who are researching your company before applying.
3. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads Job boards like Indeed and platforms like Google allow you to create sponsored job listings or ads targeted to individuals searching for specific types of jobs. PPC ads can boost visibility and reach candidates who might not be in your existing talent pipeline. Additionally, social media platforms offer job ad options that let you reach passive candidates who may not be actively job hunting but are open to opportunities.
4. SMS/Text Recruiting Incorporating SMS into your recruiting efforts can be a highly effective way to engage candidates quickly. Whether it's sending interview reminders, updates on application status, or promoting a new job opening, text messages have high open and response rates. Text recruiting allows for immediate interaction, ensuring that important messages are not buried in email inboxes.
5. Video Recruiting Video content, whether in the form of job previews, culture videos, or virtual recruitment events, has become an engaging way to attract candidates. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, or LinkedIn can help share your message in a more dynamic way. In addition, using video during the hiring process for interviews or candidate communication can humanize your company and offer a more personal connection.
Non-Digital Channels
1. Employee Referral Programs Employee referrals remain one of the most effective ways to find top talent. Encouraging current employees to refer candidates they believe would be a great fit can increase the quality of hires and reduce the time to fill positions. To further incentivize referrals, offering rewards for successful hires can motivate employees to actively engage in the recruiting process.
2. Print and Direct Mail While it may seem old-fashioned, direct mail can still be a valuable tool in certain industries or geographic locations. A targeted, personalized recruitment message sent directly to potential candidates—especially passive candidates—can stand out in a world saturated with digital messaging. For example, a healthcare organization looking to recruit nurses or DSPs might use direct mail to reach professionals who aren’t as active on digital platforms.
3. Recruiting Events Career fairs, trade shows, and networking events provide face-to-face opportunities for hiring managers to connect with potential candidates. Hosting your own events, such as open houses or virtual career fairs, can attract both active job seekers and passive candidates curious about your company. These events also give candidates a chance to experience your company’s culture and ask questions directly, building trust in the process.
4. Outdoor Advertising Billboards and posters in high-traffic areas—especially near locations where target candidates work or commute—can build awareness of open roles. This method is particularly effective for industries with high turnover, such as retail, hospitality, or healthcare, where advertising open positions in physical locations can help attract walk-in or passive job seekers.
Benefits of a Multi-Channel Recruiting Strategy
1. Broader Candidate Pool Utilizing multiple recruiting channels expands your reach to a wider and more diverse range of candidates. Social media can help you connect with millennials and Gen Z job seekers, while direct mail might be more effective for reaching senior professionals or candidates in industries like manufacturing or healthcare.
2. Increased Engagement Not all candidates respond to the same type of outreach. Some may prefer direct messages on LinkedIn, while others may respond more favorably to a text message or a job advertisement on a specific platform. By varying your communication methods, you ensure that your message has multiple opportunities to be seen and responded to.
3. Better Employer Branding A multi-channel approach allows you to present a consistent message across different platforms. By highlighting your company culture through videos, blogs, and social media, you can reinforce your employer brand and make a stronger impression on potential candidates. This branding helps build trust, especially for candidates who are considering multiple offers.
4. Shorter Time to Hire Using a multi-channel strategy can shorten your time-to-hire by reaching candidates quickly and through their preferred communication channels. The faster you can engage and communicate with candidates, the more likely you are to move them through the hiring process efficiently, reducing the risk of losing them to competitors.
Balancing Cost and ROI in Multi-Channel Recruiting
Of course, expanding your recruiting efforts to multiple channels can come with added costs. Here’s how you can balance cost with potential ROI:
Email: Still a low-cost channel, but with limited reach.
Social Media: Organic social media efforts are free but require time to manage. Paid job ads can range in cost based on targeting and competition.
PPC Ads: Typically, more expensive than other channels, but they provide instant visibility and measurable returns. This includes postings on major job boards.
Direct Mail: More expensive than digital options, but a well-targeted campaign can deliver strong results in niche or hard-to-fill positions.
Events: Hosting or attending recruiting events can require a larger budget but offer invaluable face-to-face engagement with candidates.
Outdoor Advertising: While billboards and posters have a higher upfront cost, they can deliver mass exposure, particularly for roles in industries like retail or hospitality.
Conclusion
For HR professionals and hiring managers, recruiting success depends on the ability to engage with candidates in ways that are meaningful and relevant to them. By diversifying your recruitment marketing strategy beyond email, you can broaden your reach, improve candidate engagement, and attract top talent faster. A multi-channel approach doesn’t just help you stand out in a competitive talent market—it ensures that you’re communicating with potential candidates in the right place, at the right time, using the right methods.
Incorporating both digital and non-digital channels allows for a balanced, robust recruiting strategy that increases your chances of filling critical roles efficiently, all while promoting a stronger employer brand. Skywalk Group can help with broadening your outreach strategy to fill those open roles. Contact us today!