Promoting a job vacancy is a bit like marketing. In order to reach the relevant people, you have to produce content that is going to catch your target audience’s eye and encourage them to engage with it. In order to attract attention from the top talent, your job ad should boast the top qualities of your company, sell how great job is and explain to the candidate why they should want to apply for the role. By focusing solely and what you are looking for in applicant and not what you can offer as an employer, it is likely that you will repel some of the most sought after and skilled candidates.
So what can you do to ensure that your job ad has a good reach and gets seen by the right people? Here are a few pointers that can help to optimise your job ads’ reach.
1) Eye-catching headline
Don’t just use a generic headline that blends in with every other ad on the internet, as readers probably won’t even bat an eyelid at it. If you start your job ad on a boring note, it’s unlikely that people will read on, so it’s important to use an attention grabbing headline that will leave people wanting to learn more. Though it’s essential that your headline is relevant to the reader and has a clear purpose, don’t be afraid of being a bit quirky or bold in order to get noticed. Something like “WANTED: Tech whizz for a Software Developer role” could work.
2) Use keywords
In order for your job ad to appear in job seekers searches it’s important that you include the relevant keywords in your job ad that these individuals will be looking for. Incorporate keywords such as the job title, job requirements and key aspects of the role into the headline and description of your job ad in order to give it an SEO boost and to ensure it reaches the suitable applicants. Think about what your ideal candidate would be looking for in a role and pop a few words in your ad that align with that vision.
3) Provide a location and salary
Like with keywords, a lot of job seekers will search for a new opportunity based on where it is located and the salary being offered. For this reason it’s important that you include the location of the job on your ad, or you are at risk of losing interest from candidates who are only seeking employment in a certain area. When it comes to salary, you may not wish to disclose the exact salary being offered, as this may be determined by the level of experience an individual has or open to negotiation; however, a lot of job seekers like to have a rough idea of what to expect when applying for a role, so even if you don’t give an exact figure, try to give a salary range.
4) Make use of your contacts
As a recruiter, it is likely that you have formed a network of contacts throughout your career that you may be able to call upon for a helping hand filling your role. Identify a handful of influential professionals within the sector that you are hiring in and ask them if they are willing to share your job ad with their network. Chances are they will be connected with the perfect person for the role and by doing this it will ensure that your job ad is on this individuals radar.
5) Post frequently
Posting a job ad once on social media and then sitting back and waiting for applications to come flying in probably isn’t going to give you the results that you’re hoping for. In order for your ad to have a good reach it takes consistent promotion over time. Be sure to share it across a range of social channels and at varying times of day. This way it will get spotted by people who use different social media platforms or log in at different times of the day. Don’t worry about people getting fed up with you posting the same content multiple times, as sometimes people have to see something more than once before acting on it and by posting frequently, it will keep your ad fresh in people’s minds. It is possible that if you post it too many times it will feel a bit like spam, however, so try to find a happy medium.
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