Understanding Conversion in Recruitment Marketing
So, what exactly counts as a ‘conversion’ in recruitment marketing? A conversion boils down to an action taken by a user or job seeker that gets you closer to your hiring goals. It could be applying for a job, clicking to apply, checking out specific pages, showing interest, or engaging with social media posts via likes or shares. How you define these actions in your strategy is a game-changer. However, it’s vital to remember that talent acquisition usually sees conversions as applicants, especially since recruiting is transactional in nature.
A Story to Illustrate
Let me share a story from my time as a recruitment marketing manager at an IT consulting company. We had to hire a whopping 1000 employees in just one quarter. The marketing team came up with a strategy, but they didn’t loop in talent acquisition or my team. The plan was to boost awareness and reach through social media and job boards, directing traffic to a landing page. But when the campaign ended, we were far from the number of applicants needed to meet our hiring goals. I won’t spill the exact cost, but let’s just say it was more than a small house in Atlanta!
The Problem: Mismatched Goals
Here’s the kicker—marketing had a different idea of what a ‘conversion’ was. For them, if someone viewed the landing page, that was a win. But for the hiring managers, it was all about expecting tons of applicants, and needless to say, they were not thrilled. Plus, they had to foot the bill for this massive marketing campaign spend.
The real lesson here isn’t that applicants are the only conversion that matters. No, what’s crucial is the conversions YOU want to achieve for your recruitment goals. This needs to be clearly communicated to the hiring managers and talent acquisition teams.
Defining Your Conversion Goals
The big takeaway is this. It’s not always about applicants being the only conversion that matters. It’s about identifying and communicating the conversions that are most vital to achieving your recruitment objectives. To really sum it up, successful recruitment marketing boils down to understanding which conversions matter and how they sync up with your organization’s hiring objectives. Plus, with open communication and alignment between marketing, talent acquisition, and hiring teams, can tweak recruitment marketing strategies to hit the nail on the head.
