Marketing is how you reach candidates and clients and stay ahead of your competitors. But marketing in a downturn can feel like a whole other kettle of fish. How can you stay visible and be sensitive to the situation?
It might feel counterintuitive, but marketing in times of uncertainty is essential if you want to…
- Remain at the forefront of your clients’ and candidates’ minds.
- Show you’re stable and still operating BAU.
- Increase trust and build dependability.
- Give your competitors less opportunity to steal your business.
To help you ramp up your marketing and get it right, we’ve put together a guide on what you can do to stay visible to potential clients and your existing customers.
Increase your visibility across all channels
When the industry is uncertain, it’s easy to think the best thing you can do is shy away from the noise. But if you do, it can make you look just as unstable as the market!
If you want to build trust and increase visibility, you need to appear on all your channels. Just make sure you’re sending out a consistent message that you’re here and ready to help candidates and clients.
Change your core messaging, ramp up your socials, get recruiters engaging with your marketing efforts and encourage them to build a strong personal brand.
Make sure all members of your team are onboard with the messaging and aim of your marketing. If you’re launching out new offerings or have specific information you want to be shared over social media, then you could even arrange a date and time for your team to post – this way it makes the most impact.
Redirect your marketing budget
In any time of financial unsureness, the marketing budget is usually the first thing to get cut. But what if we told you this isn’t the way to go about it?
In an ideal world you’d be able to increase your budget overnight to stay visible, and the re-assess and redirect it to the channels that your metrics show you have the biggest impact… but in reality, this probably won’t be the case.
Whatever budget you do have left I would use it to get in front of as many eyes as you possibly can. How? Make sure your messaging and branding are strong and then put together a paid social campaign targeting your industry. Research is key – think about who would most benefit from seeing your posts and what type of viewer is most likely to then bring you business. This will hopefully allow you to reach your target audience and raise awareness about your brand, without having to overspend.
Focus on bolstering trust and reassurance
When the clients and candidates feel worried, they seek brands that are stable and reassuring. Your keeping your name visible will give them exactly that.
Rather than focusing your marketing efforts on the hard sell, focus them on bolstering trust. This could be something as simple as changing your website’s copy and messaging, increasing the number of testimonials, and sharing good news stories with your prospects. This may seem like something insignificant, however it can make a massive impact on how your clients treat you. The best part? It doesn’t cost you anything!
Create and share content that reflects what your candidates are going through
When it comes to your content marketing plan, the challenges your candidates are facing should always drive the type of content you’re creating.
Fine-tune your content plan to reflect the challenges of inflation, mass lay-off and show candidates you understand their needs.
For example, writing a blog on ‘5 ways to bounce back and find a role when you’ve been made redundant’ will show you sympathize with them, and you’re here to help.
Don’t be afraid to change up your content plan to reflect what’s happening in the industry. It’s more than ok to be reactive. The content you’ve prepared for other campaigns can be always used at a later date. If you don’t adapt your plan and go out with the wrong type of content, you might end up looking insensitive and put people off your brand.
Market the value of your product
When money is tight, clients need to feel like they’re spending it wisely. It’s a great time to re-assess the way you help recruiters sell their services and pluck out the key USPs that prove your value for money.
It may be time to look at what you’re offering and see where you can add more value. Is there another service that your recruiters could add that would make your entire offer worth more?
This would be a great time to catch up with recruiters and see if they have ideas. If they do, your job is to support them and market it with all you’ve got!
If you want to know more about creating a rock-solid marketing plan that will allow your agency to thrive in tougher times, have a look at our eBook:
