We aren’t the first to link recruiting to marketing. There are a lot of parallels, and using creative content to attract the right audience is a big one. Content marketing has become huge in the last decade. No matter who you’re trying to reach, bite-sized, visually appealing content is extremely effective.  The right recruiting software solutions are important, but a little bit of creativity goes a long way.

Recruiters aren’t simply marketing a job listing, they’re marketing a company culture and values; these are the selling points. There are several options to create and share this content. Companies aren’t only using these creative content mediums to share their stellar employer brands and company culture; they’re using them to build them. It can’t really be considered a reputation if no one knows about it, now can it?

Video

The average attention span online is about 8 seconds. When you consider that most of recruiting is done online, that doesn’t leave us with much of a window. Additionally, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. It is for these reasons and more that 85% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product after watching a video.

Southwest Airlines uses their “A Day in the Life of” video series to attract relevant candidates. In this series, found on their careers page and Youtube channel, job seekers can check out short videos aimed at showing their audience what a day in the life of a Southwest employee is like.

Each position, from cargo workers to pilots, is highlighted in these fun videos. Relevant job seekers are quickly concerted to candidates when they are able to understand the position and experience the culture.

If you have little (or no) budget, try out Vine. This couldn’t be easier or less time consuming. These 6 second videos are easy to make and share. Consider these entertaining videos as marketing snacks. You can create a little window into your workplace to peak interest.

Images

Instagram is a fun and easy way to create an online collage to convey company values and culture. Most recruiters are using Instagram as a branding tool, but Jessica Miller-Merrell gives us some great insights on more direct recruiting with Instagram.

“Instagram now offers the ability to “explore” the mobile app searching for users as well as hashtags. Since the platform is purely mobile, recruiters must take to their iPhone and android devices. Using the explore platform, you can enter a simple hashtag or keyword like ‘#engineering.’ Instagram not only offers the results of that hashtag but of other like and recommended hashtags like '#engineeringmajor'.”

Instagram is now a multi-purpose tool in online recruiting. Companies can, not only display their brand, but they can use it to target and connect with relevant candidates. Pinterest is also a great place to tell the company story for recruiting purposes.

Blog

For a long time, companies have used their blog as a place to establish credibility in their industry. “Look, we know what we’re talking about!” Like most other marketing/recruiting tools, this isn’t the only way you can use a blog.

Many companies are encouraging employees to blog about their position, themselves or their area of expertise. Candidates and job seekers don’t like to hear from or see managers, they want to connect with employees. They want to feel the culture and get a sense of the company values.

Employee and value-centric blog posts not only empower the current workforce, they attract those likeminded candidates. Recruiting pro Dave Lefkow said,

“Blogs have the potential to take communicating with candidates to an entirely new level while driving business results. They can be one of the most effective tools in your recruiting arsenal.”

Coupled with the right software for recruiting, creative content can be a strong tool to add to your recruiting process. 

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photo credit: Eddi van W. via photopin cc