Measurability and benchmarking to drive your employer marketing

Whether it's to increase brand awareness, increase inflow or improve the quality of inflow, it's essential to set specific, measurable goals. After all, that choice in goals (e.g., awareness vs. conversion) determines which channels we deploy, the type of campaign and the metrics we use to measure and report success. Of course, other factors also play a role in the choice of channels, such as profile, degree of specialization ...

Whereas in an employer branding campaign we aim for awareness, in a recruitment campaign we focus on traffic to the job page or even better, on applications. These campaigns also complement each other. Focusing on awareness first and then getting candidates to apply in a conversion campaign is very smart. But we always choose a priority on which we judge campaign success. Everything else is 'nice to have'. Betting on 2 horses is not a good idea in this case, because then the focus, budget and optimization opportunities are diluted.

How and where we measure depends on the objective and metrics we need to measure. Impressions we measure on the channels themselves, conversions we measure further down the funnel in different ways. Think of Analytics Suites, such as Google Analytics 4 or Piwik PRO, marketing pixels and other tools.

In recruitment marketing, there is a specific challenge in working with an Applicant Tracking System or ATS. It is more difficult to track across websites ("cross domain tracking") and that is exactly what happens when someone moves from a website to an the ATS environment. As a result, we lack a piece of detailed insight to really analyze in depth which media are now producing the most conversions. In that case, we are happy to talk to the ATS partner or IT department to see how we can optimally measure through.

Through Google, you can find a wide variety of benchmarks. A benchmark is a compass for the follow-up and optimization of campaigns. At Cartel Works, we combine our own benchmarks (representative figures for all our recruitment marketing clients based on comparable profiles or sectors) with client-specific benchmarks. The latter are only useful if there is enough volume and campaign history to draw conclusions.

We go beyond pure numbers and also look at the quality of the inflow. Because rather a handful of high-quality than 50 unsuitable candidates. Here, a "recruitment conversion rate" is interesting. This ratio maps the relationship between the number of applicants, the number of applicants retained (for an interview or test) and the number of effective proposals.

All that measuring comes together in an ATS, Analytics Suite and dashboarding tools. We prefer Google Data Studio and Piwik PRO, but we mainly plug into the client's systems. We measure data as specifically as possible, since they only have value if we also interpret them and make them "actionable.

For example, we compare cost per view, click and applicant (CPA) for each channel. These statistics are more rational and reliable than our gut feeling. Then we compare the results with those of other campaigns. In doing so, we take into account the degree of specialization of a profile. Because the more niche, the harder to fill the job. You can see that in the results as well.

Once all the numbers are gathered, we look at 2 things to optimize the next campaigns.

1. The campaign: which images and copy appealed most to our target group? Does the target group need to be refined? Did we use the right channels to reach the right target group? In a rapidly changing media landscape, it is important to regularly evaluate the channels used.
2. Quality: did the campaign produce the desired quality of candidates?

1. Always measure from concrete objectives. Only then can you optimize in a targeted way.
2. Benchmarks are a tool, invest time in them. You can't find a good benchmark through Google.
3. Measuring is not knowing. Data only has value when you link it to insight and action.
4. Be aware of what you can or cannot measure. Are you working with an ATS? Then bring your marketing and tech partner to the table together. That will benefit everyone.