With many industries seeking to staff up, recruitment ads are increasing. If your clients need help in this arena, we’ve got some ideas for you to share with them.
Recruitment Ads Should Be Omnichannel
For companies looking for prospective employees, one of the first recommendations you should make is to use multiple channels. Broadcast spots, whether radio or TV, can be effective for significant reach. That’s the first layer of awareness, and when it’s coupled with digital advertising tactics that target more specific attributes, advertisers are likely to see more results.
It also matters whom they are trying to recruit. Different generations and those in specific industries consume different types of content. For example, younger generations may be more apt to look for employment opportunities on social media.
Job Ads Should Reflect Whom Businesses Want to Recruit
In addition to the channel, the content of the ad matters, and whom your customers want to attract should inform this. Currently, the largest generation of the working population is millennials. They have different expectations than generations before them. They place importance on benefits, culture and flexibility, so those are important messages for your clients to include if that’s whom they want to hire.
Another element of developing advertising for recruitment is targeting those who want to change their career. The pandemic changed the economy and the world of work, and many took this as an opportunity to head in a new direction. To target these people, SEM (search engine marketing) ads that focus on keywords that indicate a switch can be successful. You could also suggest social media ads, as you can build an audience based on titles, education and interests.
Recruiting Ad Ideas
Before meeting with your clients about recruiting ads, you’ll want first to determine the channels and audience. Depending on those, you can pitch them these ideas.
Speak the Candidate’s Language
Being generic in recruitment ads won’t get much attention. Instead, the ad should speak the language of the job seekers. One field that fits this very well is technology. Those in the tech industry often have similar attributes and preferences. It’s not a stretch to say that many love sci-fi, gaming and, of course, numbers.
If you’re designing a display ad for them, you don’t have a lot of real estate, but there’s enough to get people to click. From plays on words to quotes from sci-fi legendary scenes to giving them a problem to figure out, there are ways to get the attention that stand out.
Check out these great examples.
Acknowledge People Going into New Fields
As noted, many changed their career path since the pandemic for various reasons — layoffs, dissatisfaction, etc. If your client welcomes new entrants into the field, make sure job seekers know this. That’s especially true for entry-level jobs, which shouldn’t require significant experience. Urge your advertisers to make this the focus of their employment ads should this be the case.
What do workers want most right now? The answer for many is flexibility. That may translate to remote work, if applicable, or just having a more amenable schedule. If those things characterize a job, companies should make them part of their headline.
The example to the right includes that in the header, and it speaks to the genre of worker perfectly.
Leverage “Best Place to Work” Honors
If your customer received recognition as a best place to work, that’s a good lead-in for an ad. It’s social proof in the same way that reviews from customers are, and it demonstrates that the company cares about its culture and its workers.
For this ad type, they should consider featuring some of their employees along with the seal of the best workplace award. The CTA can be simple from there, such as “Interested in adding to our culture? Apply now!”
Inject Humor
Sometimes a job ad needs to have some brevity. While any work can be serious, many industries require a good sense of humor. That’s something most service workers need to have a lot of, as it can help them deal with the unexpected.
Your customers shouldn’t be afraid to use humor if it’s appropriate. Younger generations will appreciate something more light-hearted, and it could increase the number of applicants.
Here’s an amusing example looking for bartenders.
Here’s another from the City of Los Angeles that will have designers smirking.
This ad makes use of a prevalent meme, but it actually relates to the job too.
Feature an Employee Testimonial
If your client has happy and loyal employees, one of them could be the star of their new ad. Hearing from this person is another social proof validation. A prospective hire wants to know what it would be like to work for a company, and hearing from a current employee makes it more credible.
The ad could feature an image and quote from the employee with their name, title and how long they’ve been a team member. You could use this for display and social media ads. They could also take it to the next level with a video testimonial that could work for OTT ads or TV spots. Slots during local news would be a good fit, and that’s a program that younger generations trust.
Recruitment Ads that Get Results Need to Stand Out
When working with advertisers on recruitment ad concepts, you’ll want to define the channels, ideal job seeker and key message. You can then pitch them one of these creative ideas to help them stand out and attract great applicants.
Explore more options based on the most common digital display sizes in our employment services creative examples post.
