The most powerful marketing hack in recruitment
Almost by definition, recruiters are always looking for ways to lift their commission into the stratosphere. Which makes it surprising to see how many don't realise they have a marketing superpower.
Almost by definition, recruiters are always looking for ways to lift their commission into the stratosphere.
Which makes it surprising to see how many don't realise they have a marketing superpower.
It seems they are either unaware or overthink it and end up doing nothing.
The truth is though, marketing is a pretty simple game.
You've probably heard the Australian recruiting guru Greg Savage say it before, but it bears repeating ...
Activity + Quality + Target Market = Success
To increase your marketing activity and grow your desk you have two key jobs:
1) Build a database (whatever form that takes).
2) Demonstrate you can fill vacancies with quality talent, in a timely manner.
The job of any marketing you produce is to show clients and candidates you know what you are doing.
To prove they can trust you with some of their biggest assets - money and time.
The oldest and best way to achieve this is via social proof.
Social proof is the psychological concept that people are influenced in their decision making by others, compelling them to act within societal norms or expectations.
No matter what service you need: mortgage, insurance, mobile phone plan or recruitment consultant you can expect people to have an opinion.
In the context of marketing, social proof provides evidence of the popularity or usability of a brand among consumers to influence the purchase decisions of prospective and returning customers.
Social proof marketing can take multiple forms:
- Word of mouth
- Referrals
- Industry awards
- Live jobs online
- A ‘vacancies filled’ section in your email newsletter
- Testimonials and reviews
Reviews (social proof) are extremely powerful.
In fact, social proof is fast becoming a part of the process for any potential Client or Candidate in the market.
Every single review from a past or current client is absolute gold. Cherish them and do everything you can to secure them.
If you want to take ownership of this process start with the obvious:
Google is a beast, and its business listing / review combo represents the most powerful marketing hack available, as referenced in the headline of this guide.
A client or candidate isn’t likely to type 'ratemyrecruiter' into their browser bar.
Instead, they are more likely to jump onto Google and search 'Recruiter near me' or 'CBD recruitment consultant'.
You can get your name near the top of the search results for free, simply by having a google business profile, complete with lots of reviews.
Let me repeat that - it's free to set up your profile and is the easiest and most powerful marketing hack you can employ right now.
But for it to work, you need to populate your listing with reviews.
Arguably, the best way to communicate social proof to your marketplace is to go direct-to-consumer.
At the very least have a testimonial: