Media risk, like financial risk, is investing in something without any guarantee of a return on that investment. As with any investment, recruitment advertising is a trade-off between risk (media spend) and reward (advert responses from quality applicants that lead to hires). So how do you increase the chances of reward (by generating applications from greater advertising reach) whilst reducing the risk (spend)? Here, our partners, ClickIQ share their thoughts on the five ways to reduce job board buying risk…
Traditionally, advertising roles across multiple websites to increase advertising reach could be very costly, especially if you started adding specialist or niche sites.
However, recent changes in the media and technology landscape have meant there are a few things that you can do to significantly reduce risk whilst simultaneously increasing reach and therefore the likelihood of reaching the best applicants.
1. Pay per performance:
Move to buying performance-based advertising (paying per click or per application) rather than time-based adverts. Hard to fill roles by definition will get fewer responses, so paying per click or per application means it will cost less. Expect a 60%+ cost saving.
2. Network buying:
Unlike advertising on individual job boards, network buying significantly increases reach without increasing risk (as long as it’s a PPC network). It provides access to traditional and often specialist job boards which would otherwise be expensive. ClickIQ, for example, plugs clients into 23 individual job boards and 3 networks.
3. Predictive Analytics:
Big data analysis can provide insights around likely response rates from different job boards – often called predictive analytics. It is a good starting point and is better than using a job board’s own traffic statistics when making buying decisions. On the downside, it relies on historic data which by definition isn’t up to date nor does it reflect changing market conditions at any moment in time.
4. Real-time optimisation:
The increased use of automation allows job advertising to be optimised in real time as spend is adjusted based on response rates. Which, after buying on a performance basis, is probably the single most effective way of increasing return on investment by making sure you spend the right amount based on real-time market conditions. Expect a 40%+ improvement in ROI.
5. Organic advertising:
Many media owners offer you the ability to advertise in their results for free. Indeed and Google are the main players, but many PPC job boards also offer this option. Recruiters should never have to pay to advertise easy to fill roles as organic advertising will usually do the job for nothing. Expect to save 100% of budget on these types of roles.
By using these 5 methods, recruitment advertisers should see a significant increase in their advertising reach and resulting improvements in candidate responses. This, combined with reduced media risk, will make recruitment advertising a much more effective, lower risk way of attracting talent.
About ClickIQ
ClickIQ is an Automated Talent Attraction Platform which uses AI and Programmatic technology to intelligently Manage and Optimise your recruitment advertising in real time, across an extensive network of performance-based recruitment media.
Saving recruiters significant time and money whilst also increasing their advertising reach.
To find out more about ClickIQ and how our award-winning technology can help you attract the best talent please request a demo here or email us at hello@clickiq.co.uk.
