The global pandemic turned traditional recruitment strategies on their head. Before, job seekers had to prove to prospective employers that they were worthy of their time and attention. But after 2021’s Great Resignation, when 4.3 million Americans left their jobs, employers had to rethink their tactics. They now had to convince candidates they were worthy of their time.
Enter candidate-centric content recruitment strategies. Content marketing isn’t just reserved for consumers anymore. Now, 91% of businesses use these techniques to generate leads and attract, educate, and nurture high-quality candidates. Content marketing for recruiting uses tactics similar to those used to engage customers, including branding, blogs, and testimonials.
Recruiting with content can position your organization as the go-to employer, giving candidates an insider view of your culture and values. By authentically communicating why prospects should choose you over the competition, you can magnetize top talent, engage passive candidates, and turbocharge your efforts.
What Is Content Marketing for Recruiting?
Content marketing focuses on creating and sharing valuable content to engage a target audience. In this case, that audience would be candidates who align with your business’s needs and corporate culture.
Rather than promoting all the perks of working for your company, content marketing strategies prioritize educating and entertaining job seekers. Let’s say your organization is recruiting healthcare professionals. Instead of just job posts, you can also share:
- Blogs about your values, mission, and DEI initiatives
- Videos of employee testimonials
- Thought leadership posts from execs providing tips to excel in the healthcare field
- Social media posts on best practices in patient care
Not only does this position your company as a forward-thinking industry leader, but also as an employer who invests in its team.
5 Key Content Types for Recruiting
There are five main types of recruitment marketing content that candidates love. These include:
1. Employer Branding
Employer branding through content involves educating candidates about your company’s mission, values, leadership, and culture through blogs, videos, social media posts, and other types of content.
It’s essential to keep your messaging consistent across all mediums. This builds trust, boosts credibility, and delivers a cohesive candidate experience. Employer branding is also a great storytelling in recruitment strategy and reveals the history of your company.
2. Job Posts
Two-thirds of job seekers reported the look and feel of a job post prompted them to apply. As such, you shouldn’t just post a dry description of the role and call it a day. Be thoughtful about your messaging to let your business’s personality shine through. Including videos or images makes the job posting more dynamic.
3. Social Media
Social media isn’t just for personal connections anymore. Recruiters increasingly leverage platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) to engage and nurture top talent.
Social media recruitment has many advantages, including cost-effectiveness, real-time candidate engagement, and enhanced employer branding.
4. Blogs
Blogs are a powerful way to educate candidates and improve your search rankings. Some of the most effective recruitment blog strategies are:
- Sharing tips about how candidates can land the jobs you offer
- Deep dives into your company’s history, culture, and values
- Day-in-the-life posts showcasing what employees do every day
- Fireside chat articles that include insights from employees and upper management
This content can be recycled to create social posts, videos, and other types of short-form content.
5. Video Content
Speaking of videos, interactive content is becoming the channel of choice for top recruiters. Employers can hire an agency to develop high-quality, branded videos or make DIY clips of employee interviews and workplace culture. A picture paints a thousand words. And with 4,320 photos in a three-minute video, employers can really get their point across.
3 Steps to Develop a Recruitment Content Strategy
Ready to develop your own recruitment content strategy? Use these three tips to get started.
1. Identify Your Ideal Candidate
To attract your dream team, you must know who they are. Developing candidate personas can help. These are fictional representations of your ideal candidates and include details like:
- Demographics
- Qualifications
- Education
- Personality attributes
- Career goals
Keep your candidate personas to no more than three.
2. Develop a Candidate Journey Map
A candidate journey map visually represents all job seekers' touchpoints with your company. This map includes seven phases, including
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Interest
- Application
- Section
- Hiring
- Onboarding
Understanding where a candidate is in their journey allows you to tailor your content accordingly. For instance, in the consideration phase, you could share a blog about your company’s incredible culture. During onboarding, you can provide an in-depth guide to the role’s daily tasks and what tools the new employee will use.
3. Create A Content Calendar
A content calendar is a high-level plan of what content you’ll create within a designated time frame. You can develop a weekly, monthly, or annual calendar. An effective content calendar ensures you share content on all platforms you use.
Measuring Success: Metrics to Track
Creating content is just the beginning. To be successful, you must know what types of content resonate most with your ideal candidate. Tracking key metrics can reveal what’s working and what isn’t. This allows you to fine-tune future campaigns for optimal results.
The top six content marketing recruitment metrics to track are:
- Click-through rates
- Time on pages
- Bounce rates
- Social media metrics, such as likes, shares, and comments
- What platforms are driving the most traffic to your website
Use tools like Google Analytics and Hootsuite to make the task of monitoring metrics easier.
Enhancing Recruitment Through Engaging Content
Today’s recruitment landscape demands much more than job posts. Businesses must convince candidates why they’re the employer of choice. Leveraging content marketing for recruiting maximizes your efforts by attracting and engaging your ideal prospects.
Need help with your content marketing strategy? ProIQ’s seasoned marketing experts can create a personalized plan accommodating your unique hiring needs, preferences, and goals. We’ll also create on-brand content that positions your company as the best and attracts more high-quality candidates to your job postings.
Our marketing solutions include:
Contact us today to learn how we can help you create the content your ideal candidates crave.
