Why your Career Site is not as Important as you Think
But that is changing and it’s been changing quite rapidly. Social channels have graduated to platforms and audiences aren’t as keen to shift from place to place, finding much of many of their needs met (including classic behaviors like research, purchasing, and consuming media) on the platforms that just five years ago were brand new. Consider this recent intro from a Fast Company interview with marketing pros from colossus consulting firm Deloitte:
Today, however, the cyber world has shifted. And a a new end game is being played that has everything to do with the customer–not the company. Multi-channel marketing, from tablets to smartphones to videos, has moved the center of the digital universe from the website to the customer. The new dictum is: Be relevant and discoverable everywhere your customer is.
The website as the “hub” has lost its place, but not because the website is no longer effective, but because it’s very difficult to satisfy multiple audiences with one kind of content on one single platform. In essence, the hub itself is less important and in many cases does not exist. It has broadened to an inclusive strategy that takes into account multiple platforms.
We’ve talked a bit before about how recruiting should be and is influenced by marketing and this shift toward a more holistic or multi-channel marketing strategy is no different. So what does this mean for your career site ? Here are a few trends hitting websites that will start to affect career sites in the next 18 months:
Options everywhere. While it seems like overkill to traditionalists who may prefer to keep consumer and employment brand separate, the fact is having options to all of your channels ON all of your channels gives prospective buyers and candidates the chance to navigate through your total web presence as they see fit.
User experience rules. In this phenomenal article, Great People Won’t Grovel by HuffPo Columnist Liz Ryan, she touches on the fact that even if employers overcome their preconceived notions, their old-school beliefs and more, they still have to ensure their website is not a literal torture chamber to navigate, because they don’t have to… there are other ways to get to you (social channels) or there are other ways to interact with employers just like you.
Conversion. Measurement matters and if you are not converting folks (conversion is when you get them to do the thing you want them to do: buy, sign, agree, upload their resume, etc) from everywhere your brand has a presence, then in layman’s term, you are wasting your time. If your goal is to get people talking, interested in your company and then agree to have a chat with a hiring manager, then don’t waste time and technology with a huge 45 minute job application process on your Facebook page. That is counterintuitive and also, annoying. Find the tools and the content to get those conversions. Automate the other things.
Presence. Gone are the days when you could wait for a salesforce lead to pop up in your queue. Recruiters have a leg up because they are used to being proactive (perhaps one major reason social media has flourished in the talent acquisition space). If your brand claims a presence somewhere, that implies that you will be there when the talent arrives. Do not wait for your candidates to fill out an application, send you a personal email, or DM you on Twitter. If you say you are there, be there.
What’s happening now in marketing will happen soon in recruiting. Pay attention and you’ll be ahead of the curve (and maybe you can steal a bit of that marketing budget too).