How often do you tell the tale of a company you're selling to a candidate? It's rich history, background and big plans for the future. Do you recite your company's ethos as you plan a client's value proposition?
If you didn't already know, great storytellers = great recruiters! If you tell truthful, gripping stories you're igniting your prospect's imagination and opening them up to new ideas.
The good news? You can tell your story. The best news? You can be the hero! The bad news? Stories take time, effort, investment. If you have those things, mould your story with an online recruitment blog.
Why Does My Recruitment Business Need A Blog?
Blogs contain various chapters of your story. Articles that are important to you and your customers, the information they should know.
Here are some of the benefits of recruiting blogs, how they can improve your storytelling, how to avoid failure and a few inspirational examples.
1. Personalise The Recruitment Process
Sales scripts, company pages and job descriptions can look a little bit cold on their own. Recruitment blogging warms the process up a bit. It adds a human touch.
Blogging is personal whether you're writing for yourself, or for clients and candidates.
If your content is appealing to the reader, you're nurturing them. Guiding them through your sales process with a helping hand. They get answers to questions before they've picked up a phone or sent an email.
As your blogs improve, so will your website content and job descriptions.
2. Give Practical, Indispensable Advice
Middleman, go-between, whatever you want to call yourself, you're in a powerful position. You have the perfect standpoint. Somebody that can see both sides of the coin. And that is something you should use to your advantage.
Soak up the problems of your clients and candidates and work on solutions. Once everyone's happy, share your knowledge.
Share it?! Indeed! Because eventually, someone else will discover your knowledge and it'll be an opportunity missed.
You'll build a positive reputation. Someone with knowledge who's willing to share it, and that's when you become an industry (insert meaningful title here). I like guru. What will you go for?
further reading
Want to know what the fastest growing industries in the UK are?
3. Create a Platform for Everyone's Voice
Quite simply, a recruitment blog gives you a platform to talk about anything that's on your mind.
Just worked with one of your most profitable clients ever? Tell everyone. Have you found a groundbreaking selling technique that nobody else knows about? Let other people know.
One thing that you should always promote is transparency. Tell stories in a positive light, but don't be afraid to admit if things went wrong. You can show how you learned from them.
Ask your staff to write as well, or your LinkedIn connections, even professional friends. Empower people. What's the point of having a blog if you're the only one that writes on it?
Know a psychologist? Ask them what the key traits of an award-winning recruiter are and get them published on your blog. Create an open platform and let people tell their stories.
4. Develop Your Tone of Voice
Different recruitment agencies will have different company cultures, clients, and operate in different industries.
Quick brainstorm
Consider your tone of voice. Think about your staff. How do they deal with customers? Are they friendly, cordial, corporate or steely?
Your tone of voice should transfer over to your blog. Don't misguide your prospects by being upbeat on your blog and flat in person. It's misguiding.
Confident, observational, well-researched information should form the body of your content. Your tone of voice is the way you tell the story.
There's a common misconception that business writing is boring. Don't make it boring! You want to entice and engage your readers, not send them to sleep.
5. Challenge The Norm
Let's be honest, there are a lot of recruitment blogs on the web. So how're you different? Do you have PR Executive that can drum up more hype than a superstar DJ? Play to your strengths and create something unique. I know I said examples later, but I'm going to blab!
Bill Boorman's The Recruiting Unblog was unintentionally created after one of his 'Unconferences'. A conference focused on a coming together of minds rather than sales pitches, PowerPoints and dorky name badges.
It started a whole community (#trumunity) which is still active today. He's unconventional and challenges the 'normal' way of thinking in recruitment. Think of a way you can tell stories that are different to everyone else's, it's much more rewarding.
Top-tip
Don't feel compelled to create something extravagant or mind-blowing. Create something special that your customers appreciate.
6. Give Away Free Resources
Yes, that is correct. You didn't misread that information. Give things away. Don't give away your profits or anything crazy like customer data.
Create resources that you can give away with your blog posts. People are more likely to remember you if they've got something of value.
You can create ebooks, guides or templates. For example, if you work with engineering companies that are struggling to find top talent. Show them how to do it.
Obviously, you know this process isn't simple which is why you're an expert in recruiting engineers.
Your company is now on the prospect's lips and you have their email address, so you can send other pieces of the story to them.
remember
Expecting people to come to you because you source the best engineers isn't enough. You need to give to receive.
7. It's A Business Filter
Blogs filter visitors to different parts of your site. Optimise your web pages with carefully selected links. Use language to state where that link will lead them.
It may be something obvious like visit our live roles page, or something subtle. It's a well-known marketing fact that customer profiles help you write better blogs for a targeted audience.
Did you click? I hope so! As your visitors pass through the site you'll lead them to content pieces you want them to read. As they read those pieces you'll measure their success, and edit them where needed.
As you improve your content and site linking your filter will be more successful, contributing to more leads and customers.
Think of your internal linking map as it's own little story. When you read the first book of a series, what do you do? You buy the next one. That's what a link is, the path to the next part.
8. Improve Your Social Presence
Social media is great for sharing articles and doing something a little different. There have been thousands of PR stunts and cocky Tesco employee Twitter replies.
Don't scald your customers, be creative and develop a social media presence you're proud of. You can post company updates, events, new employee updates, industry news, your own blogs or office pictures.
Social media offers the opportunity to network. Build your connections and expand your horizons. You may connect with that perfect candidate.
Think about how you want your profiles to be structured. Would you post the ending of a story before the beginning? Use a social media calendar to plan your content promotion so a story unwinds in the process.
The number 1 rule of social media. Don't spam people! You'll come across as a desperate pest. (Sorry, but it's true).
further reading
Why Is It Failing?
No all online recruitment blogs are successful. Have you ever started writing something only to swipe it into the recycle bin two minutes later?
There's no point playing the blame game though. 'There's no market for it', 'the internet is saturated'. It's not that it doesn't work, you're doing it wrong.
You're Being Impatient
We've all been there. We do something, we want instant results. Unfortunately, a proper blogging strategy doesn't work like that. You need to be committed, and above all, prepared to wait.
It can take 3+ months for content to appear in a search engine. Then you have to wait for prospects to engage and watch their journey patiently.`
key point
Blogging in recruitment isn't for people that want a quick fix. It's a long-term strategy that's more of a novel than a short story.
Robots Don't Like It
These days, we have to write stories that robots enjoy reading, not just humans. You could write the best talent acquisition blog post anyone would ever read, but if Google throws it on the rubbish pile, they won't see it.
We discussed how linking improves the filter for your web stories, but there's a lot more to it than that. SEO has on-page and off-page elements you need to consider. Keywords, title length and how authoritative your website is are just a few of those.
You Don't Have A Contacts List
You've got 50 blogs out there, premium content. But what do you have to show for it? An email list? A phone number? Job position? industry? Company name?
This is one of the most important supporting components of your blog. You need a data collection method. This could be a subscribers list or form. It's the golden pot at the end of the rainbow.
Recruitment Blogs You Can Use For Inspiration
1. The Indeed Blog
It would be unfair not to mention the biggest job search engine in the world. There's a benefit of being an internationally recognised company, big data!
Big data gives them access to statistics that other companies don't have. This means they can tell unique stories that are backed up by their own stats.
A recent article offered insight into industry trends in 10 different countries. The UK saw huge increases in blockchain, cabin crew and cyber security. This research offers unique depth and was conducted by Indeed’s very own data science team.
The insight it offers is unique, and there’s a UK and US version.
2. The Snark Attack - Matt Charney
The Snark Attack is a fine example of a personal HR and recruiting blog by Matt Charney.
It's a blog that dares to be contradictory, dares to be different, and does it with attitude! With references to Lil Wayne, Outkast and The Neverending Story, this one's not for the conventional.
It's not a business blog, it's a palette for the musings of his mind and it may be a bit too edgy for a recruitment business.
But if you're interested in an offshoot where you can spill your knowledge onto the page, take inspiration from this one.
3. ERE
ERE is unique in the sense that it is aimed at corporate recruiting professionals. Their content focuses on informing their readers about the latest developments, and training.
They host webinars, offer white papers and host conferences. If you need to know everything about corporate news, ERE is the site for you.
task
What do you notice about these examples? what stands out? Look at the language, layout, images and different types of content. Think about what positives you could take from these blogs.
Notice A Gap In The Market?
Noticed anything about the examples we've given? Two were American! Don't take that as a bad sign though, it means there's a gap in the British market for your online recruitment blog.
What are you waiting for? Start telling the world why they should be reading your content!
If you need some extra guidance, download our FREE ebook listed below.