The outbreak of COVID-19 has inflicted very serious damage on the business community. Even now, as the pandemic slows, we can still feel the ripples of its aftermath. In the United States, one of those troubling developments has come in the form of a severe labor shortage—one of the most significant in recent decades.
As a result, companies searching for top-tier talent must act proactively, often taking some cues from their marketing departments. Today’s outreach efforts can be enhanced by the content strategies that increasingly dominate the marketing landscape.
Let us take a look at how online recruitment and hiring goals can be facilitated through content marketing.
Use blogging to make your brand more appealing
Initially, it is important to present your organization as a reliable, still-developing employer that offers outstanding opportunity for professional advancement. One avenue is through blog posts that can position you as an industry authority, give your enterprise a unique voice, and allow you to steer the narrative of your brand. Also, blog posts do an effective job of familiarizing prospects not yet looking for employment, but who otherwise show an interest in your native field.
Tap into the growing popularity of podcasts
While podcasts have historically been a relevant content channel, they are now beginning to reach a new heightened level of potential. Their growing level of popularity can, in part, be ascribed to the pandemic. Using Australia as our guide, as much as 81% of podcast listening is done at home, while 85% of on the listeners using their mobile phones. Providing quality content in this fashion can help initially engage with a significant captive audience.
Rank your website high on the SERP
Job search, like most other query, usually starts with a Google search. For this reason and as only approximately 40% of users ever reach the second search result page, it is critical that your recruitment efforts and promotional content receive sound SEO treatment. Again, using Australia as our guide, we find that SEO experts in Sydney and other large cities have developed proficiency over years of experience in utilizing specific keywords to place their clients’ brand on the first page of the SERP. A similar approach could be applied to mirror the process in the employment realm, using keywords that prospective candidates rely on in exploring their career options.
Pen down the candidate journey map
Content marketing frequently relies on first identifying the ultimate consumer and then reverse engineering their journey, evaluating the multiple stops on the purchase path. A company’s recruitment team could certainly emulate this practice to chronicle a candidate’s path to gainful employment. Where to start? Look for the social data used to find employees and build upon this engagement to develop more experience.
Leverage infographics to quickly generate attention
A couple of years ago, infographics skyrocketed to prominence as one of the most popular types of content on the web. The reason behind this popularity is simple – they convey the information in a very neat, fun, and engaging manner. They are also incredibly social media friendly and people like to share them with their followers. These are all good reasons why your recruitment and promotional pages should be sprinkled with appealing infographics that provide relevant data and descriptive information about the state of your industry. Aside from generating additional traffic to your site, these bits of strategic and entertaining info should also raise the profile of your business.
Promote your company through video content
Video content represents a true powerhouse performer. Recent studies indicate that this year the share of video traffic will reach an astounding 82% of all traffic. If you want to make the most of your content strategies you can’t overlook this channel. Video content provides a perfect showcase for featuring the ‘behind-the-scenes’ positive culture that distinguishes your company. That said, make sure to supplement any self-aggrandizing fluff pieces with noteworthy intelligence. Providing real value-added videos to consumers and prospective job applicants affords you the chance to also improve your company’s image with some promotional materials.
Final comments
These six techniques constitute effective content strategies aimed at stimulating future job candidates to come knocking at your door. The days when job vacancies alone virtually assured a response from talented applicants have seemingly come to an end. Finding talent, like attracting consumers, requires much more thought, ingenuity and comprehensive marketing tactics. Implementing a few cues from the content marketing world may not completely solve a changing employment landscape, but it definitely appears to be a great place to start.
