Crafting Your Recruitment Ad Messaging

 
Today’s market is a candidate’s market. Annual employee turnover in the United States will increase by approximately 20% by the end of 2022. That means there will be millions of open positions available for job seekers — and very likely not enough applicants to fill them.
 
With that in mind, companies seeking out top talent must ensure their recruitment ad messaging is up to the challenge of attracting qualified candidates. Shaping your recruitment ads in an appealing way is essential for your company to stand out from competitors and win the services of exceptional workers. In contrast, without a strong recruitment ad messaging strategy, you could miss out on the opportunity to grow your business because you’re not reaching out to top talent.
 

Recruitment Ad Best Practices

 
When developing a recruitment ad strategy, placing your ads on non-crowded platforms is often most effective. For instance, radio and audio ads are exceptional for reaching people who are already in the workforce and considering changing jobs.
 
Why target potential candidates who are already working in particular? For one reason, they have the most recent experience in the role you’re hiring to fill. When onboarded with your company, they will likely not require as much training and development as a new hire with no previous work history. As a bonus, hiring a top performer at your company brings more talent to your organization, keeping it in-house and not with a competitor.
 
In addition to targeting those currently in the workforce, you should include concise, informative calls to action within your recruitment ads. You want interested candidates to understand their next steps clearly (e.g., where they should go for more information and how they can apply).
 

How to Craft Recruitment Ads

 
What factors should you consider in developing ad copy for your recruitment ads? Don’t make a candidate’s skill set the only (or even primary) driver behind your ad copy. Never underestimate the importance of cultural fit. New employees can learn many skills quickly, but an employee who doesn’t share the same values or sensibilities of your organization may turn out to be a sub-optimal hire, no matter how skilled they are. You want to ensure your recruitment ads will appeal to candidates with the right personality and the proper skill set.
 
In some cases, a candidate may not have all the desired skills you’re looking for — but they clearly would be a perfect cultural fit within your company. If there are strong indications that they can grow into and flourish within the available role, it may be wise to invest in them. Try to find candidates with a strong work ethic and integrity. Workers with these core values will be honest and hard-working as they learn how to perform in their roles.
 

Audio or TV Ads

 
Both audio and TV ads are great for recruitment advertising since they allow you to share rich information about your brand. Either marketing medium can help your ads to stand out and reach people when they’re interested. Of course, radio and audio ads have one significant advantage over TV ads in this regard. They can reach people commuting to or from work, or even while at work, for that matter! Placing ads on local radio stations can help you to target potential candidates in a specific geographical area.
 
Here again, you want your ads to drive home the cultural reasons why someone wants to work for you, as well as other positive aspects of your organization. For instance, do your offer your employees exceptional education opportunities? Does your company have a reputation for promoting based on merit? Are you invested in offering team members flexible scheduling and a healthy work/life balance? Whatever your company’s unique selling points are, make sure you convey them to your audience via your ads.
 

Digital Ads

 
While TV, radio, and audio ads can cover a wide area and reach thousands of prospective employees, you shouldn’t neglect digital ads as a critical component of your recruitment ad strategy. Digital ads help drive awareness of your company and are incredibly convenient for individuals actively job-seeking online. Digital ads offer a simple and direct path users can follow to your application website page: a simple click on a link.
 
Granted, you won’t be able to provide as much information about your company on digital ads as you can with other forms of advertising. However, you can still phrase your ad copy to appeal to your target audience and attract suitable applicants to your open positions. Digital ads are particularly effective at getting attention when interested candidates already know about your company or opening, such as through your other ads.
 

Leverage Recruitment Ad Messaging to Your Advantage

 
Your recruitment ad messaging must be compelling to attract top talent. Placing ads in the right places (whether on TV, radio, or the Internet) to highlight your company’s positive aspects (including cultural benefits) attracts highly qualified and motivated applicants to your organization.
 
If recruitment ad messaging isn’t one of your business’s core competencies, working with an experienced media partner may be the perfect solution for developing and deploying exceptional ads. Investing in high-quality recruitment ads will likely result in significant and sustainable growth for your company.