It’s a bugbear I have that one year ends and another starts, and people are aghast when we suggest that looking at marketing trends is one thing that ‘should’ be looked at all the time not only when December arrives.

Over here, at Superfast towers, we eat, breath, and sleep marketing and being salespeople too; we always have our eye on the whole process; as we mentioned it’s imperative to think about marketing and sales as two good buddies that do everything together.

As many of you know we consult, train, coach and deliver a range of marketing services, so it’s much easier for the SFR team to spot trends.  In no order below, we are sharing patterns that relate to the recruitment and staffing market.

A Bigger Focus On Marketing

Yep, I think for many recruitments and staffing owners the penny has finally dropped that to scale and grow consistently you must have a presence in the market and a position that is an attraction factor. The only real way to do this is by creating demand, which is the role of marketing.

As primarily a marketing company working with the recruitment and staffing sector, last year was our best; not surprising when you think about demand.

If January is anything to go by 2018 will be off the scale. I really don’t say that to brag; not my style. I share it as a signpost on how the market is shifting.

Marketing Support In-house

More and more organisations we speak to are considering, or are in the process of recruiting their own in-house marketer. In fact on one of our programmes, we now have many clients who have internal support and their marketers are part of Superfast Circle.

The challenge for many marketers is the unique way recruitment works; from a candidate and client perspective and how this is factored into the mix when it comes to positioning and lead generation.

Messaging and GDPR

Though GDPR is a European initiative (how you hold and use data on clients and prospects), it’s important for everyone to consider.

This year recruitment and staffing organisations will need to consider their message.

• What does our brand communicate?
• Who are we ideally placed to work with?
• How do we add value and increase our level of engagement?

I am sure many of you reading this blog will have had conversations with clients about their brand and how strong it is. 

Content Marketing Will Become a Standard “Must Do” Activity

We are still in the knowledge age. People jump online looking for answers to their questions, and solutions for their problems.

Check out data from Google Trends. It shows how the searches for content writers and content marketers have risen over the past few years; note the hike up since the end of 2015.

Video Will Continue to Kill the Radio Star!

Video for many of us is our preferred method to consume information. It’s also one of the best ways to connect with people; Facetime, Messenger, What’s App and the various live video streaming we can all now be part of, is here to stay and only set to get bigger.

Recruiters, as a rule, have been behind the pack and in fairness so have many B2B sectors.

The technology is getting easy to master, and there are companies springing up across the board that can help.

Marketing Automation

It’s the buzzword I know, and yet the truth is… it works. Here at Superfast, we talk about predictable dynamic lead flow…. Remember you heard it here first!

Automation and lead generation funnels go hand in hand. Staffing organisations are recognising this fact and putting it to use.

Alongside automation will be targeted funnels. Think candidates and clients in different streams. Candidates not placed within 6 months, versus passive candidates. All automated by asking a few straightforward questions; don’t get left behind on this.

Paid Advertising on Social Media

Recruiters are used to paying for job boards and adverts; in some cases, even PPC for bigger organisations. As Facebook throws more changes at us, I predict that more organisations will invest in paid social advertising to get their brand in front of target candidates and clients, the recent Facebook update is the thin end of the wedge on this one.

What Else?

Yes, there are plenty of other areas people can and will explore. For now, focus on these 7 areas and watch your leads scale.

Denise Oyston is the CEO of Superfast Recruitment who provide marketing training, consulting, coaching and services to the Recruitment and Staffing sector globally.