Mobile Recruiting: The Basics of Building a Campaign

Thursday, April 29, 2010  //  1 Comment  //  Mobile 2.0, Mobile Apps, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Recruiting, Mobile Trends, Recruitment, SMS

I recently received a question from Margo Rose, who is a member of the CloudRecruiting.net Linkedin Group.  Margo co-hosts a radio show called “Compassionate HR,” and you can find it on BlogTalkRadio. Her question was related to the “mobile recruiting” presentation which I recently co-delivered with my good friend Chris Hoyt (AKA-@TheRecruiterGuy), who is also the architect behind AT&T’s highly successful mobile recruiting initiatives.

Margo’s question:

“What was the single most important take away for the #SHRM conference where you were presenting on April 26th?”

The single most important take away?  Wow, now that’s a tough one.  Margo’s question is very timely and deserves more than a simple one word response. With 91% of Americans now mobile subscribers, there’s no better time to discuss how mobile plays into HR & recruiting.

Here are FIVE TIPS for any employer considering a “mobile recruitment” solution:

Tip #1: Think Strategy before Tactics.

While we can agree having the right technology is important, an organization should first ask the all too familiar question:  What keeps you up at night?  Understanding the key “pain points” in your recruitment efforts is critical.  Next, ask WHAT do you hope to accomplish by deploying a mobile solution?  Will it help by filling a particular gap in your recruitment efforts?  As much as I like to talk about mobile, the reality is that maybe mobile is not the right solution for what you are trying to accomplish.  Clarifying the basics needs up front and having a clear goal will ultimately determine a number of other “tactical” considerations.  Avoid a cookie-cutter approach.  Like any other mass marketing effort, develop a customized solution that is in line with the needs of your organization and target audience.

Tip #2: Selecting a Mobile Platform/Provider.

Once a clear strategy & objective has been determined, it will be much easier to proceed with selecting the “right” mobile provider.  When selecting a provider to host your mobile recruitment campaign, you should take time to consider whether they offer the level of service you need in order to properly execute your desired campaign.  For example, let’s say you’re interested in deploying an SMS (text-message) campaign and also need a mobile web presence.  Your initial goal may be focused on building a network of prospect talent via the mobile channel that your company can later engage. Your company might be interested in sending SMS/text-messages related to employment surveys, job alerts, career event info, or other company related updates, etc.  To do this, you will clearly want to identify an organization with a proven track record of delivering SMS solutions. The good news is that there are many providers out there that offer SMS services with flexible two-way text-messaging capabilities.  In addition, many of these companies are typically able to help create a mobile optimized web site, which (in my opinion) is a must have for any employer.

Clearly, determining the tactical part will be much easier if you first understand what you want and hope to accomplish. Avoid the temptation of trying to run before you walk. For now, stay away from trying to integrate trendy technologies such as QR codes, Bluecasting, GPS, etc. While I fully expect providers of such services to disagree with me, my advice is keep it simple and consider your broader audience. When building your talent network, you don’t want to inadvertently isolate your audience based on the technology you select. Start with the end in mind before spending countless hours trying to figure out which is the “sexiest” mobile technology to deploy, or who is the best provider to manage your campaign.

Tip # 3. Develop a Mobile Web Presence

Creating a mobile web presence is important.  Based on your “call to action” (i.e., what you are asking your audience to do during your mobile campaign) – you will ideally want to redirect users to a final landing page.  That landing page could be a mobile version of a company’s site (or a mobile app) that might include a brief “how to engage us” form, a specific job to view, a “click to call” number, or other relevant information a company wishes to display.  While this may sound a bit complicated, just remember, you do not (and should not) have to go it alone.  Keep in mind, there are companies that can help you build and launch your SMS campaign.  Some companies, such as Jobing, are equipped to create a fully functional mobile web version of your career portal.  If you prefer the mobile app route, you should consider AllTheTopBannanas (a company founded by Dave Martin).  Dave’s company is based out of the UK and has a strong track record of rapidly building out “a fully branded iPhone application for your business“.  In addition, they are scheduled to be on Android by the end of May then Blackberry by the end of June.  Definitely keep your eye on this company as you will likely hear more of them soon.

Tip #4: Time, Place, & Relevancy

My friend Mike Galyen said it best:  Time, Place, Relevancy is key with mobile.  And, you know what? He is spot on.  I could write an entire blog on this topic alone; however, suffice to say it’s important that we keep the audience in mind when developing a mobile  campaign.  If we fail to deliver information to our target audience with the proper context of time, place, and relevancy in mind, we will not likely see the level of return (or engagement) we expect.  Why is that?  Well, if you are running a mobile campaign targeted at attracting sales professionals, you clearly would not want to send text-alerts related to software development, project management jobs, etc. Keep it relevant and you’ll keep them engaged.

Oh, and remember this…

There are no short-cuts in mobile marketing. Everybody starts at ground zero when building a mobile network.  With mobile marketing, the success can often be attributed to the fact that it is 100% permission-based.  Mobile phone spam is illegal. Shally Steckerl (at Arbita), produced a very easy to understand post for recruiters on the topic of SMS-spam. There are strict regulations that govern the practice of mobile marketing and the fines for sending commercial text spam are often very severe. A single violation can potentially set you back $11K! So what’s the point? There are no quick fixes or short-cuts when deploying an SMS campaign. It requires planning, patience, and hard work. We all start from scratch and build our mobile network one “opt-in” at a time. If a prospect candidate is opting into your mobile “talent” network it’s because they want to engage with your organization.  We all know that the mobile is a personal device so it’s important we don’t abuse this channel.  Candidates want to engage with your organization and are waiting for you to communicate with them. By keeping the delivery of your content relevant, you are far more likely to engage the candidates successfully and retain their interest long-term.

Tip #5: Remember to Integrate

Mix it up!  Although mobile SMS is the most widely used DATA application on the planet, mobile as a standalone solution will not work. Consider fully integrating your mobile campaign across a wide variety of media channels (e.g., print, radio, tv, internet, etc).

Need real examples?

American Idol

Back in 2005, American Idol gave viewers the option to SMS (text) in their vote when selecting a favorite singer.  Amazingly, 41.5 million responded to this “call-to-action” and voted via SMS.  In 2006, the number of votes via text-messaging totaled 120 million.  The integration of SMS (text-messaging) with live TV was a success and certainly a history-making event.  They nailed the time, place, and relevancy concepts – hence the amazing results.

Obama Campaign

The Obama camp experienced great success in their use of SMS to communicate and engage their opt-in followers.  This was especially evident when Obama announced his VP selection via SMS. An estimated 2.9 million text messages were sent, which is the single largest mobile marketing event in history.

Although both examples above are above the norm, you don’t need to have a large budget to advertise your mobile campaign.  Think viral.  Start by advertising across the standard online channels such as a company careers site, a Linkedin page or group, a Facebook fan page, your company Twitter site or Youtube channel, podcast, etc.  Of course, don’t forget to rally the recruiting team and educate them on the mobile campaign.  Each Recruiter can also serve as an ambassador by advertising the mobile campaign on their signature, Linkedin/Facebook profile, personal tweets, etc.  If you are attending a professional conference as a speaker, make sure to add your SMS campaign to your presentation signature (front or last page).  Include the URL to your mobile site, or point them to where they can download your company’s mobile (careers) app.  Bottom line, advertise and promote wherever possible.  The idea here is to be creative and don’t allow budget to be a constraint.

Final thoughts…

I realize this is way more detail than Margo had requested; however, I provided the deep-dive to help others who did not have an opportunity to review “Recruiting on the Run” or sit in on the SHRM-Mobile Recruiting presentation.  There’s so much more that could be said on each of the topics presented above.  However, I hope the high level provides a starting point for those who are considering a mobile option as a compliment to their recruitment efforts.