2020 has been an unprecedented year. None of us could have predicted what was coming when we made our marketing plans back in 2019. So, hands up if you’ve had to throw yours out the window or at the very least put it on pause?
You wouldn’t be alone, in fact, BlueSky PR surveyed recruitment marketers to find out how they have been impacted by COVID-19 and what changes it has made to their business. And guess what? Almost 93% of respondents said they had adapted their marketing strategy since the first COVID-19 lockdown.
There are some changes such as communicating the logistical aspects of how businesses have been working during this time, which will be similar for us all, but you’d probably be surprised to know how many different changes recruitment marketers have been making.
HAVE YOU ADAPTED YOUR MARCOMMS STRATEGY SINCE LOCKDOWN 1.0?
Encouragingly, BlueSky PR’s survey suggests that supportive and valuable content has been key for staffing firms. What might surprise some people is that we’ve all been communicating more, but with less of a sales focus. Instead recruitment agencies are being more reactive, more conversational, more thought leading; providing content on what people have needed in 2020 – wellbeing recommendations, employment statistics, remote working guidance, and views on government updates impacting employers.
And it’s not just been a change in written content. Recruitment businesses have been more careful and selective with the imagery too, avoiding photos of crowds and busy offices in favour of individuals across social media accounts. Clearly COVID-19 has made more staffing companies carefully consider the tone of images to strike the right note.
Some agencies have been advertising more, some less, but everyone has been moving away from the printed or the in-person, and on to the digital. There have also been more informal videos produced, online events hosted, and surveys of audiences carried out. Consequently, businesses are getting higher levels of engagement than ever before.
HAVE YOU ADAPTED YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY SINCE LOCKDOWN 1.0?
Similarly to overall marketing strategies, 86% of survey respondents have adapted their social media strategies since the start of lockdown. And there have been less jobs posted and more sector relevant content focusing on engagement and positive messaging.
Despite this, some marketing functions have had less posts going out, due to a lack of content and time to develop anything new. But the majority of businesses have been posting more than usual to ensure clients and candidates are frequently seeing useful and relevant content in their newsfeeds.
