Recruiters: Are you looking to take your key performance metrics to the next level and help ensure that you’re maximizing your team’s potential effectiveness? Of course you are—in today’s ultra-competitive job market, candidates have a wealth of work options to choose from—from part-time and freelance jobs to contract work on top of full-time opportunities—and companies ranging from hungry start-ups to large and seasoned monoliths are all vying for their attention in an effort to fill their teams with the best available talent.

So, how can you and your recruiting team break away from the pack and stand out from the crowd in your industry? Consider taking on a new perspective in how you approach recruiting—think like a marketing professional when you plan how you’ll attract and retain new talent in your pipeline.  After all, for most job seekers, searching for a new job isn’t all that different from shopping for a new high-ticket item—they’ll do careful research and get interested in the things that grab their attention, pique their interest, and meet their needs, while ignoring those that are lackluster, get lost in the crowd, and fail to rise above the noise. Sound familiar? We thought so.

The push to incorporate a marketing perspective into companies’ recruiting strategies has garnered so much attention lately that a new approach to the profession, termed recruitment marketing (RM), has emerged and is gaining plenty of interest and popularity.

What exactly is recruitment marketing? According to HR.com, who recently put together the 2018 State of Recruitment Marketing report, recruitment marketing includes “the various activities an organization uses to find, attract, engage, and nurture talented prospects before, during and after they apply for a job.”

 Any modern, professional recruitment strategy must incorporate recruitment marketing techniques in order to reach its audience and be successful. As a recruiter, if you don’t have a sense of the personality, preferences, goals, and attitudes of the prospective employees you’re trying to reach, you can’t tailor your materials to make them feel like clicking and applying. Making the interview process streamlined and pleasant is a great thing, but if you can’t attract applicants, you’re in for a frustrating process that won’t even get off the ground.

Why does thinking like a marketing professional work so effectively when recruiting?

• A strong marketing campaign is designed to attract and hold attention—both in the short-term and when the audience is poised to make a decision between available choices.
• It works to make a company and product stand out from the competition.
• It delivers a powerful and compelling message to its target audience.
• The benefits and value proposition are made explicit.
• It anticipates—and addresses—any potential concerns a consumer might have, often through testimonials with satisfied customers.
• It’s appealing to as wide an array of senses as the medium allows.
• It spurs decision-making and a call to action.

Doesn’t this sound like the sort of high-impact, results-driven campaign you want to charge out of the gate with to attract talented candidates to your organization? It certainly should be. The job market has changed significantly in recent years, and it’s harder than ever before to grab the attention of new candidates and get them to remember you over the long haul—if you want to reach your performance goals and make a lasting impact, consider updating your recruitment tools with tested and proven marketing strategies for maximum effect.