As part of Recruitment ADvisor’s ongoing series to help job boards improve their brand to generate more revenue, I sat down with RealMatch Product Marketing Director Bart Bartolozzi to tackle some of the difficult questions from the RealMatch webinar ‘Use Brand to Generate Job Board Revenue.’ This article explores diversity job boards, just how popular they are, and whether it is worth branding a job board as a diversity board. One participant in the webinar asked:
How about diversity boards? Is that becoming more common or not yet?
Bartolozzi says, ”Diversity job boards are certainly a part of the job board market”. He continues, ”I wouldn’t say that they are becoming more common but these diversity boards have usually found their way to build their presence and they have understood how to take a part of the overall market share…”
RELATED: Part II: 3 Steps to Gain Job Board Market Share
Continuing, Bartolozzi indicates that there is a market due to federal requirements. ”Many of the diversity boards look to leverage the federal mandates for large employers that have to be met in terms of ensuring outreach to diverse job seekers and so, by default, many of the larger employers will want to and need to include placing their job ads across diversity boards.”
On The Challenge of Building a Diversity Job Board
”Because of the regulatory need and the focus given to diversity initiatives by the enterprise, it may look like an attractive prospect to build a diversity board,” he continues, ”but you are going to have to first understand [the market] and then second, build the right job board to bring in the job seekers you are trying to woo. If your diversity job board can do that, as well as, provide detailed reporting needed for certain employers, you will most likely have an opportunity in the marketplace. Your potential market will be large and medium enterprises that are mandated to diversify their hiring outreach on an ongoing basis,” either based on enterprise initiatives or to satisfy any federal hiring requirements.
Is It A Crowded Field Already?
Bartolozzi say, ”I would say that that the market is competitive but new diversity boards do have the opportunity to find their niche and be successful. Good marketing, better technology, and clear and concise reporting will give provide you an entry-point to the market and service and performance will allow you to build market share. Like any market, those that are not successful at doing that will go away, as new sites will start up. As you analyze this space, you certainly understand that diversity boards fill a very important role for large employers and those who have governmental contracts as the diversity mandates and reporting requirements from the government and they will be here to stay. In the end though, it is not just about becoming a diversity board for diversity boards’ sake, but really becoming an entity that has a message, can drive job seekers to it, build that audience, and then that audience will logically be found by folks trying to fill requirements that the government has in front of them.”
Building on Bartolozzi’s thoughts, it is easy to see why branding is so key to the notion of building a diversity board. For any job board to attract employers and their advertising dollars, it must first attract job seekers. In the game of attracting job seekers, brand can be one of the most powerful differentiators.
<<< Missed Part 1? | Continue to Part 4 >>>
Read the entire series on how to use your job board through branding:
Part 1: Local or Vertical: How Should I Brand My Job Board?
Part 2: 3 Steps to Gain Job Board Market Share
Part 3: What You Need to Know About Building a Diversity Job Board
Part 4: Why Job Boards and Staffing Agencies Should Work Together