When it comes to seasonal hiring, one thing is for sure: starting the process well in advance of needs is key. In fact, it's important to keep candidates warm to nurture them in an ongoing fashion throughout the year.
Admittedly, high-volume retail hiring can feel like a daunting process. But while it may seem as though it's hard to predict where your hires will come from, nothing could be further from the truth. A good place to start is with tracking labor data. That way, you can pinpoint states that experienced the most retail layoffs based on unemployment benefit requests, while comparing lists of retailers that have shuttered. That data can then be overlaid with media optimization software, getting you ahead of peak hiring season needs.
Recruitment marketing intelligence
Recruitment solutions technology, coupled with robust, predictive analytics, can also help reduce media cost per application and media cost per hire, while letting you easily identify ROI at a job level in real-time. Because programmatic media automatically targets the right jobs at the right time, while allocating the optimal budget amount to the top performing publishers in each campaign, based off your own data, the heavy lifting is done for you. Team that up with a streamlined candidate relationship management (CRM) platform and you'll build your talent pool outside of the seasonal push, ensuring candidates are in front of you before you reach peak season. Then, providing a seamless, omnichannel experience that speaks to your brand across all channels gives you the power to not only attract top talent but also turn them into advocates for your organization.
One of our big box retail clients did just that, taking recruitment marketing to the next level with enhanced job descriptions on region-specific micro-sites where layoffs and store closures took place. As for the enhanced job descriptions, they read like career websites in and of themselves, showcasing and selling the employer brand by using differentiators, like benefits and employee stories. Programmatic media targeted ads were used to attract candidates, namely hourly workers who lost their jobs, using labor data. Those candidates were pointed to micro-sites, which captured additional valuable data that could be used to re-market to job seekers via video-rich, day-in-the-life-type content marketing, as well as on social channels.
Programmatic job advertising solutions
Adding Media Cloud® as its delivery model in 2018, another client, DICK'S Sporting Goods, took a slightly different approach. The company used talent marketing efforts to draw right-fit candidates to an in-store National Signing Day event. Using a data and analytics-backed approach, DICK's brought them on site using email nurturing and remarketing ads. The company enlisted the help of employees to create a tangible, in-person candidate experience reflective of its brand. The ultimate goal? To hire current and former athletes, converting them to not just employees, but also brand advocates.
Did it work?
To say the least. Media buying and career website efforts, coupled with in-store recruiting tables, ensured DICK's met over 94 percent of its hiring goal for the season, while seeing an 80 percent reduction in cost per application since 2017 and a reduced cost per hire by 73 percent since 2017.
At the end of the day, labor data and analytics when overlaid with programmatic media can help you be a strategic partner in your organization. By analyzing workforce data and personalizing media buying based on location, talent acquisition teams can fulfill seasonal hiring needs and play a significant role in driving ROI within their organizations.
