How to use recruitment marketing to attract top talent 

Picture the scene. You’ve just posted a job ad on your company website. It’s taken you hours to get the wording right, and you’ve gone over every little detail. You’re sitting back and waiting for the applications to roll in—but all you get are a few responses from unqualified applicants who haven’t bothered to read the fine print. 

If this sounds like you, you need a recruitment marketing strategy. We’re talking about marketing your company as the go-to place to work, just like you’d advertise your products and services. Stop wasting time waiting for the applications to roll in. 

In this guide, we’ll teach you how to get your job ads in front of the top talent. Plus, we’ll show how you can take advantage of HR automation to connect your tech stack and streamline recruitment workflows.

What is recruitment marketing? 

Recruitment marketing is the best way for your business to stand out in a crowded job market. It’s a blend of traditional marketing tactics but with a twist—it’s about promoting your company as a great place to work rather than your excellent products or services. You need to showcase your company’s culture and values and the benefits new hires can expect to help you attract top talent. 

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You wouldn’t launch a product without a strong marketing plan, so you shouldn’t post job ads without a strategy. You should work to strategically position your brand as a market leader so that top talent is drawn to what you have to offer—even if they’re not actively looking for a new career. 

This means creating engaging and dynamic content that reflects what makes your company great. For example, you could focus on your dynamic team environment, career growth opportunities, or those fun Friday afternoon happy hours. 

Like traditional marketing, you should never stick to one platform to list your job. Leverage social media and even target ads (if your budget allows) to reach your ideal audience. 

Think of recruitment marketing as flipping the script. There’s no need to wait for candidates to come to you. It allows you to get out there and actively court them—showing them why your company is where they should want to be. 

It’s a more proactive approach that helps you build a pipeline of qualified candidates who are already excited about joining your team.

How can recruitment marketing help you attract top talent?

Imagine if your dream candidate wasn’t just out there but actively seeking you out, eager to join your team. That’s the power of recruitment marketing holds. It’s more than just filling vacancies; it’s about building a brand that top talent simply can’t resist.

Recruitment marketing is your key to not just attracting talent but attracting the right talent from a diverse candidate pool—people who are not just skilled but are also excited about joining your team.

10 steps for developing your own recruitment marketing strategy

You’ll need the right tools and a clear plan to create a recruitment marketing strategy guaranteed to attract top talent. Below are some practical steps to help you devise a winning strategy for recruiting the best possible new hires. 

1. Understand who you want to attract

According to the State of Recruitment Marketing in 2024 report, 68% of marketers say reaching the right target audience is a challenge. 

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So, the first step in building a successful recruitment marketing strategy is to understand who you’re trying to attract so you can target them more effectively. This is where understanding TAM meaning comes into play. In marketing, TAM stands for the total addressable market, which is the total pool of potential customers you could possibly reach. 

Apply this concept to your recruitment efforts by defining your total addressable talent (TAT). Who are they? What are their skills, experiences, and career goals? Start by creating detailed candidate personas that reflect the different types of talent you’re looking to attract. 

Let’s say you’re looking to recruit for several finance job titles. Consider what motivates them—is it opportunities to learn new technologies? Or maybe a flexible work environment? 

Once you have your answer, you can start tailoring your messaging and content to these personas. That way, your offer speaks directly to what they need from their future employer. 

2. Use your employer brand

Your employer brand is your company’s reputation as a place to work, and it’s a critical piece of your recruitment marketing strategy. Just as consumers buy from brands they trust, top talent is drawn to companies with solid reputations.

To build and promote your employer brand, start by gathering feedback from current employees about what they love (and what they’d improve) about working at your company. Use this feedback to shape your brand’s narrative. For example, if your employees rave about the collaborative culture, highlight that in your job ads and career page. 

3. Create compelling recruitment content 

Content is the heart of your recruitment marketing efforts. It’s how you communicate your brand’s values, culture, and opportunities to potential candidates. The key is to create content that not only informs but also engages.

Start with the basics: craft a captivating career page that reflects your company’s personality. Use videos, employee testimonials, and interactive elements to give candidates a feel for what it’s like to work at your company. 

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But don’t stop there—extend your content strategy to include blogs, social media posts, and newsletters that keep your company top of mind.

Lots of businesses use video to give potential candidates a glimpse of what to expect—it’s a way to build excitement about a job prospect. 

For instance, you could publish a video on your channels titled “A Day in the Life of a Product Manager at [Your Company]” that follows one of your employees throughout their work day. 

4. Optimize your recruitment channels 

Now that you have compelling content, it’s time to share it where your potential candidates will most likely see it. This involves optimizing your recruitment channels—whether that’s social media, job boards, or email campaigns.

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Use data and insights from your applicant tracking system (ATS) to identify which channels are bringing in the best candidates. For example, if LinkedIn is where most of your qualified applicants are coming from, double down on that platform with targeted ads and regular posts.

5. Communicate with passive candidates 

Not all of the best candidates are actively job hunting. That’s why engaging passive candidates—those who aren’t actively looking but might be open to new opportunities—is crucial to your strategy. Amazingly, over 75% of professionals are passive job seekers. You don’t want to miss out on attracting top talent just because they’re not actively seeking a change!

Social media platforms like LinkedIn are perfect for this. Create content that appeals to potential candidates’ interests and career goals. For example, share industry news, thought leadership articles, and company achievements to position your brand as an attractive workplace.

Top tip: If you’re targeting sales professionals, post content about your company’s innovative sales tools or success stories from your top salespeople. This may catch the eye of someone who isn’t actively searching but would consider making a move for the right opportunity.

6. Use technology to your advantage 

Technology is your best friend when it comes to scaling your recruitment marketing efforts. As we’ve already mentioned, an ATS is essential for managing the flow of candidates, but it can also be a powerful tool for your marketing strategy.

For instance, many ATS platforms allow you to create candidate pipelines and send automated, personalized messages to nurture those relationships. 

This is where tools like email automation come in handy—regular checking in email campaigns can keep your brand on the radar of potential candidates, even if they aren’t ready to apply just yet.

Texting software for recruiting can also be useful as it can significantly enhance candidate engagement by offering instant, personalized interactions, complementing the broader communication strategy.

For instance, you can automate your SMS communication by connecting your recruitment management software with text messaging tools and reach your candidates easily.

7. Measure and optimize your recruitment strategy 

No strategy is complete without measurement and optimization. Use analytics to track the effectiveness of your recruitment marketing efforts. Look at metrics like the quality of applicants, time to fill roles, the performance of different channels, and application rates.

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Your applicant tracking system will be invaluable here, providing you with data on where your best candidates are coming from and how they’re interacting with your content. Use this data to tweak your approach—whether it’s refining your messaging, changing up your distribution channels, or focusing more on certain types of content.

If you notice that candidates from a particular job board are consistently high-quality, consider increasing your investment in that platform or replicating the success on other channels.

Don’t forget about integrating other tools into your recruitment process. For example, knowing how to fax from computer might seem old-fashioned, but in industries where candidates prefer paper documentation, this can streamline processes and make your company seem more accessible.

8. Build a talent community 

One of the most effective long-term strategies in recruitment marketing is building a talent community—a network of potential candidates who are interested in your company, even if they’re not ready to apply immediately.

Invite potential candidates to join your talent community by signing up for newsletters, following your company on social media, or participating in webinars and events. Use this community to nurture relationships over time, sharing relevant content, job openings, and company news.

Hosting a virtual event or webinar on industry trends can attract a wide range of professionals, some of whom might be perfect fits for future roles at your company. Plus, it positions your company as a thought leader in your field.

Effective event planning is essential for these sessions, ensuring they are engaging and leave a lasting impression on attendees.Make sure promotion is part of the planning stage. You want to attract the right audience—that is, high-quality leads who are genuinely interested in your industry and company. One of the best ways of doing this is to set up LinkedIn Events and run lead generation ad campaigns that promote your event.

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With tools like LeadsBridge, you can even connect these ads with your CRM or email marketing platform, increasing timely communication and engagement with leads as and when they come to you.

9. Encourage your employees to advocate for you

Your employees are some of your best marketers. Encourage them to share their positive experiences working at your company on their social media channels—right now, one in ten hires come from these platforms. 

Create an employee advocacy program where team members can easily share company updates, job postings, and content with their networks. This will expand your reach and add a layer of authenticity to your recruitment marketing efforts—after all, people trust recommendations from those they know.

Try providing your employees with pre-written social media posts or incentives like recognition or small rewards for sharing content. The more engaged your employees are, the more attractive your company will appear to potential candidates.

10. Keep innovating

The recruitment landscape is constantly changing, so it’s crucial to stay adaptable and innovative in your approach. Regularly revisit your recruitment marketing strategy to ensure it’s aligned with current trends and candidate expectations.

Experiment with new tools, channels, and content formats to keep your strategy fresh. For example, if video content is gaining popularity, consider creating short clips that showcase your company culture or highlight employee testimonials. Or, if remote work is a major selling point, emphasize this in your messaging across all platforms.

11. Leverage HR automation and integrations

Doing all of the above manually would be time consuming, not to mention incredibly tedious for your team. And recruitment marketing is just one stage of the recruitment funnel — you still have interviews, onboarding, and training to consider.

Automating your HR efforts is the best way to optimize your workflows, but you also need to ensure each workflow is connected. Tools like LeadsBridge automatically sync your HR systems and CRM with the rest of your tech stack, ensuring no funnel stage, process, or department work in silo. 

For example, you can use LeadsBridge integrations to:

• Automate employee communication: Sync your HR systems with SMS, Slack, or email marketing platforms
• Automate ad campaigns for recruiting: Connect all of your lead generation ads, whether on Facebook, LinkedIn, or TikTok, with your HR system to reach potential candidates faster.
• Improve data management: Integrating HR databases with the rest of your marketing stack enhances data entry, record keeping, and reporting. 

Integrating your tech stack guarantees uninterrupted and instant control over your HR and lead generation automation. 

 Final thoughts

There’s some incredible talent out there. Recruitment marketing ensures that talent will find your business and be attracted to working for you. By defining your TAT, creating compelling content aligned with your brand story and image, making the most of recruitment channels, and communicating effectively, you can optimize your recruitment process and improve the quality of candidates you hire.

But one of the key aspects of making your recruitment marketing strategy effective is through HR automation. By integrating HR automation tools into your tech stack, you can speed up time-to-hire, improve your team’s productivity and efficiency, and get accurate insights into your processes.

LeadsBridge offers seamless integrations to optimize your HR workflows so you can automate and optimize every aspect of your lead management process. Check out LeadsBridge integrations for HR & Recruitment software.