Here at Glassdoor, we look forward to the annual release of the Smashfly Recruitment Marketing Ideabook. This year’s edition gathers a brilliantly diverse group of talent acquisition practitioners, analysts, technology providers and consultants to answer one key question:
“What is the single, most important recruitment marketing best practice to implement in 2018 for bigger success?”
Smashfly creates this idea book as a guide to improve your recruitment marketing strategy now and in 2018. Their intention is that you use it as impetus to help differentiate your employer brand and personas, to experiment with new technology to get ahead, to focus on internal mobility as a recruiting strategy, and to rethink how you communicate as a brand from the ground up. Here are 6 high-level takeaways from the 29 industry leaders who participated, including our own Alicia Garibaldi!
1. Focus on people, not jobs.
- “Make every decision based on the person, not the job.” – Shaunda Zilich, Global Employment Brand Leader, GE
- “Ensure you focus on what they want to know vs. what you want to tell.” – Allyn Bailey, Recruitment Capability Adoption and Transformation Manager, Intel
- “Recruit with common sense.” – William Tincup, President, Recruiting Daily
- “Stop ignoring the candidates you’ve already attracted.” – Tim Sackett, President, HRU Technical Resources
- “‘Be’ the candidate” – Gerry Crispin, Principal and Co-founder, CareerXroads
- “Develop a content strategy that’s useful to candidates.” – Tracey Parsons, Vice President Recruitment Marketing Center of Excellence, SmashFly
- “Target the informed candidate.” – Alicia Garibaldi, Marketing Director, Glassdoor
2. Don’t just be different, differentiate.
- “The first rule of marketing is differentiation.” – Matt Charney, Chief Content Officer, Allegis Global Solutions
- “Lead with the truth of your brand.” – China Gorman, Director, PeopleStrong and Board Chair, Universum Americas
- “Differentiate through communication.” – Kevin Grossman, President of Global Programs, Talent Board
3. Prioritize technology in your strategy.
- “Automate employee referrals.” – Roy Maurer, Online News Manager/Editor, SHRM
- “Build a business case that includes technology.” – Madeline Laurano, Co-founder, Aptitude Research Partners
- “Maximize mobile to build relationships.” – Meghan Biro, CEO, TalentCulture Consulting Group
- “Experiment with technology and always measure.” – John Cotton, Recruitment Technology and User Experience Strategist, CH2M
4. Put your employees at the forefront.
- “Amplify your employees’ unique voices.” – Julia Levy, Director of Talent Acquisition, Fiserv
- “Let your employees be your brand champions.” – Dan Schawbel, Consultant, Serial Entrepreneur
- “Spend just a little more time and money on internal mobility.” – Robin Erickson, PhD, Vice President, Talent Acquisition, Engagement and Retention, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP
- “Don’t overthink storytelling: utilize your people.” – Jared Nypen, Director of Talent Acquisition, Great Clips
- “Employee referral programs deliver on quality hires.” – Daria Friedman, Principal Analyst Talent Acquisition, Brandon Hall Group
5. Continuously revamp and adapt.
- “Implement a marketing strategy to effectively compete for talent.” – Janine Woodworth, Senior Consultant, Talent Function
- “Make it great or don’t use it.” – Todd Raphael, Editor-in-Chief, ERE Media
- “Look for talent where it actually is.” – Brian Sommer, Founder, Techventive
- “Got talent acquisition culture? You need it!” – Denise Moulton, Mid-Market HR and Talent Research Leader, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP
- “Create a comms strategy for the entire candidate journey.” – Ryan Cook, Global Vice President of Talent Acquisition & Analytics, CH2M
- “Remove barriers and embrace change.” – Adam Glassman, Employer Brand Manager, Cox Enterprises
- “Focus big-picture first.” – John Sumser, Principal Analyst, HRExaminer
6. Measure to drive action.
- Relentlessly measure to improve. – Michael Hennessy, Founder and CEO, SmashFly
- Shift recruiting metrics to measure the candidate journey. – George LaRocque, Principal Analyst and Founder, HRWINS.com
- Use data to actually drive decision-making. – Lisa Pueschel, Vice President Talent Acquisition and Workforce Planning, Staples, Inc.
Want to learn more about how to fuel recruiting with content to nurture each stage of the candidate journey? Download Glassdoor’s eBook, Recruiting with Content: A Lookbook for the Candidate Journey.
