Need to get in touch with a candidate? Usually you'd reach for the telephone or open up a new email, wouldn't you?

Here are some of less obvious - but very effective - methods of communicating with your candidates.

Text messages

Studies have shown the open rate of a text message is far higher than that of an email (98%).* We almost always have our phones on us, and text message communication is pretty instant.

So how can you use texts in recruitment? One way might be to send a text message reminder of an upcoming interview. If your technology allows for 2-way communication, your candidates can confirm their attendance with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ reply. You could also send your interviewees helpful info, like the address of your office or who to ask for when they arrive.

This type of communication can significantly improve your interview attendance rates, and reduce both you and your hiring managers’ time wasted on surprise no-shows. If you manage high volumes of applicants, it could save you hours going back and forth over email.

Discover how you can use SMS technology in your recruitment.

Branded comms

If you use an ATS you’ve probably set up a range of email templates. Are you using them to their fullest potential?

You should use every single communication with your candidates as an opportunity to showcase your employer brand and emphasise your brand values.

Set up your email templates to reflect your employer brand through tone of voice, images, and general look and feel. This will provide candidates with a consistent and professionally branded experience, and communicates a sense of your company ethos.

What are the 5 things you should include in your interview email templates?

Passive candidates

If you’re using talent pools, you’re probably storing a lot of candidates and their data in your ATS. Maintain communication with passive candidates by asking them to update their information via their candidate portals.

This ensures you to keep your brand fresh in candidates’ minds and shows them that you value their data. On a practical note, it also keeps the information in your talent pools up to date. This in turn means your passive candidates are more likely to receive the most relevant alerts for new vacancies.

Also consider sending your applicants an ‘internal’ newsletter, in which you can share company news and any relevant vacancies. This can be especially useful for senior or niche roles, as it can help to strengthen your applicants’ knowledge of your organisation and company culture and maintain engagement and trust in your brand.

Read more on how to keep your passive candidates engaged.

So, it might be time to add some new candidate communication tools to your repertoire.

Our parting advice? Be authentic, use each platform appropriately and view every touch-point with a candidate as an opportunity to reflect your employer brand.

A version of this post was originally posted on the Hireserve blog :)

*Techipedia