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A CEO’s Guide:
Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
2 | www.staffedge.com
Stacey Duggan
Matthew Cook
COO
FOUNDER & CEO
Stacey Duggan is the Chief Operating Officer of The Staffing Edge. She has over 15 years of experience in the staffing industry and understands the importance of online marketing for staffing firms. The Staffing Edge supports Canada’s temporary and contract staffing market with a package of solutions including payroll, financing, compliance, and more.
Matthew Cook is the Founder and CEO of SalesHub, an inbound sales and marketing agency that specializes in driving sales by managing all aspects of your website, social media, and other online assets. He has over 20 years of sales and sales management experience and can help you get new customers from your website.
Follow Stacey on Twitter @StaceyDuggan
Follow Matthew on Twitter @MattCookSales
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
3 | www.staffedge.com
The Online Marketing Shift Marketing your staffing firm is very different today than it was a few years ago. We are experiencing a fundamental change in customer buying behaviour. Clients no longer take cold calls or accept lunch meetings in hopes to make a connection for their next staffing partner. It’s clear that the internet is shifting the way customers buy so that means businesses must change the way they market their services.
Consumers find out about products and services by searching online. They follow companies on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn. They read blogs and whitepapers online to educate themselves. Nowadays, consumers have instant access to an unlimited supply of information, so they’re doing their research before making purchasing decisions.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
4 | www.staffedge.com
Think About It.
Your prospective clients have access to information that makes them more knowledgeable than ever before. They have the power to find and research a potential new staffing partner well before you even know they need one. When they search online, are they going to find your company? Now consider job seekers. As you can imagine, candidates move at an even quicker pace when researching potential new jobs and staffing firms that can accelerate their search. They want to engage with a tech-savvy company that offers a simplified process and quick communications—and they want it all straight to their smartphones. Does this sound like your staffing firm? Social media, search engine optimization (SEO), blogging, website traffic—it’s enough to make the otherwise confident staffing entrepreneur pull their hair out. We’ve put together this simplified guide to help staffing firms take advantage of online marketing opportunities without emptying their wallet.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
5 | www.staffedge.com
Website
It’s critical that your staffing firm has an effective online presence; otherwise, no one will know your company exists. If there is one thing and one thing only that you are able to keep up to date with as far as online marketing is concerned, it has to be your website. It needs to be easy to find and easy to use. If potential clients and candidates can’t find your staffing firm online, you’re losing business to your competitors. If your company website is neglected or is nonexistent, you’re missing out on potential business. The majority of clients and candidates will check out your site before contacting you and expressing interest. With the neverending supply of information at our fingertips, we want to be able to find out as much as we can about companies online before engaging with them. When you think about your company website, think of it as a sales pitch. Speak to your prospective clients and candidates directly. Use it to convince candidates and clients to engage with you. You know you should continue to update and improve your sales pitch as your company and the industry change, so your website needs to continually evolve as well.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
6 | www.staffedge.com
Mobile Is Here to Stay
Businesses can no longer get away with websites that lack mobile functionality. People aren’t just using smartphones to make phone calls. We’ve become a mobile society. Consumers are using their smartphones to search, browse, read, and engage with companies online. Professionals review emails, read news, and get work done on their mobile devices. If your staffing agency’s site isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re falling behind your competition. You must optimize your website so it displays properly on mobile devices. Otherwise, you’re doing your business a disservice. In the staffing industry, it is critical that your site is mobile friendly. Your prospective candidates are using mobile devices to search for potential positions, ask questions, register online, and upload resumes. If your staffing firm doesn’t have a responsive mobile site, potential candidates will just give up and leave. It should be easy to find, read, and navigate on any device. Did you know that Google is actually demoting and penalizing websites that are not mobile friendly? In addition to being a huge inconvenience for mobile users, your site will have a poor web ranking making it difficult for people to find your staffing firm online in the first place. You’ve also got to ensure your email marketing messages are mobile friendly. Everyone uses mobile devices to check their email, whether they’re at home, in the office, or on the go. Don’t turn off prospects with messages that are difficult to read on phones and tablets.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
7 | www.staffedge.com
Invest in Search Engine Optimization
It’s important that you invest in search engine optimization (SEO). Your online marketing strategy needs to incorporate an effective SEO campaign. Keep in mind that this is not a one-time thing. Google is always updating its algorithms for search since their goal is to deliver users the most relevant search results. Your staffing firm’s ongoing success depends on improved search engine results and website traffic so don’t neglect this key component of online marketing.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
8 | www.staffedge.com
The Benefits of Blogging
Blogging is often overlooked, as it is a time-consuming task that tends to fall low on the priority list. Candidates and clients are online and they’re reading content so you should create a company blog so you can continually generate quality content to share online. There are many benefits to blogging for business.
Use it to educate clients and candidates, build your brand, gain trust, establish credibility, increase visibility, drive traffic, and generate leads. Your blog should be SEO and social media friendly to improve your search engine ranking and facilitate easy sharing on social media. If you can’t find the time to blog regularly, consider delegating the task to your staff or outsourcing the content creation.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
9 | www.staffedge.com
Social Media
Now that you have a great website and are planning to blog on a regular basis, you need to implement a social media strategy to not only get you found by Google, but to engage with your candidates and clients as well.
When used effectively, social media is a great tool to help your staffing firm connect with your target audience, improve your search ranking, and increase ROI results. The social networks discussed below are the top four sites currently being used that have shown the biggest return on investment within the staffing industry.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
10 | www.staffedge.com
Social Media LinkedIn LinkedIn is an absolute must for staffing firms. Use this social media platform to find and connect with professional candidates and prospective clients. Posting job opportunities on big job boards might attract some relevant candidates, but LinkedIn will allow you to find candidates with the right skills and experience. You’ll also have better luck finding passive candidates who aren’t actively looking for new jobs, but are willing to discuss opportunities if approached. Encourage your team to use LinkedIn to reach out to prospective clients and candidates.
Facebook You may be surprised to see Facebook on this list. While your clients may not engage with you on Facebook, your candidates definitely will. Set up a company page and get your team involved. They should use Facebook to engage with candidates, share job postings, ask for referrals, introduce staff, and share industry news. You can even invest in Facebook Ads. These ads allow you to share job details and target a specific audience by defining the location, age bracket, education, etc. People who fit the defined profile will see the ad in their newsfeeds. This is more cost effective than advertising on big job boards. This will also attract passive candidates who are not actively looking for new jobs.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
11 | www.staffedge.com
Social Media Twitter Believe it or not, this social network is also very useful for staffing firms. Did you know that Twitter currently has 232 million active users? You can use Twitter to connect with existing and prospective candidates and clients. Tweet about new opportunities, share links to your blog posts, and discuss industry-related news and events. Follow prospects, clients, and candidates to find out what’s going on with them. If you need to fill a position ASAP, you can use Twitter to get the word out quickly. You even have the option of paying for promoted tweets that can target a specific audience.
Google+ As you know, when it comes to internet authority, Google is king. This social network may be newer than the others, but it is a must for any business. Google+ currently has 300 million monthly active users and it is expected to grow exponentially in coming years. Facebook is great for connecting with candidates, but Google+ is perfect for sourcing new clients. It’s critical that your staffing firm has a Google+ company page because having one can actually improve your search engine optimization (SEO). If someone is searching for a staffing agency online, Google’s organic search algorithms will rank sites that have Google+ accounts higher than those that do not. Without a Google+ company page, you’re missing out on potential business.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
12 | www.staffedge.com
Involve Your Staff
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t feel obligated to take all of this on by yourself. Delegate blogging and social media to your recruiters, salespeople, and other staff in your office. Your sales team and recruiters are brand ambassadors. Make sure to communicate to your team the importance of delivering your staffing firm’s brand message to clients and candidates. Encourage them to get involved with these online marketing efforts to help bring in more business. Consumers are more likely to interact with individuals than companies.
Your employees can create individual social media pages to share company posts to increase visibility and engagement. They should project personality through social media to better relate to your target audience and build trust.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms
13 | www.staffedge.com
It’s Time to Get on Board Perhaps you’ve been hesitant to start a company blog and social media accounts because the technical aspects intimidate you, the commitment concerns you, or you’re worried you won’t have enough content to share. By neglecting these key elements of online marketing, you’re missing out on opportunities to grow your business. In today’s day and age, it’s critical that your staffing firm has an effective online marketing strategy. When potential clients and candidates are looking for a staffing service provider, the first place they’ll look is online. Will they be able to find you? Invest in a great website, implement a social media campaign, and start blogging regularly. All of these online marketing efforts will help prospective clients and candidates find you and help them see that your staffing firm is the right one for them.
For guaranteed results, consider engaging a professional marketing firm. SalesHub is an inbound marketing agency that specializes in driving sales and revenue by optimizing your website, social media, and other online assets. Rather than trying to handle all of this yourself, work with SalesHub, your one-stop shop for online marketing solutions.
A CEO’s Guide: Online Marketing for Staffing Firms