You can make your radio recruitment ads really effective in several different ways - you can reach people who are looking for work, but you can also reach people who are already working and might be thinking that they need to change direction or just need a change of job. Plus listeners are not just those working - their partners may be listening too - the amount of calls we get for partners who have heard a job ad on our station and they want the details to pass on to their fly-in fly-out partner are staggering (about 10-20 calls a week). If people know that you, or your neighbour isn't happy in the job that they are in, and they hear an ad for a business that is hiring that might be the right fit... then they will pass that information on.
So how could you do it?
We can run the ad more heavily, earlier in the week. People are more focused on work-related matters early in the week, and starting to get really stressed by them by Wednesday. Then, towards the end of the week, they’re more focused on how they’re going to unwind on the weekend.
Use a single point of contact for responding to the ad - don't give a phone number, a website and your location - it's just too much information. These days, your website is best and should be the ONLY point of contact you give in a job radio commercial. Your website can carry all that information and a lot more, including...
A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list relating to the specific job, to address your expectations as well as your prospects’ concerns and put it on the front page of your website. It’ll save the both of you time in the long run.
So let's look at some examples:
Think about where your ideal candidate might already be employed, and what they might be doing right now - and make mention of that in your commercial - this is a 60 sec spot from America that I love as it ticks all of the boxes of what we have mentioned above...
Make your company or the job itself sound like fun – but - make sure the humour you use... really works, and that it serves the message rather than calling attention to itself. Here’s a great example used by Pizza Hut in the US from a few years back that I love...
Treat the job vacancy as a problem that listeners can help you solve. Hiring a new key employee can let you FINALLY eat your lunch in peace. By targeting the right person, you can solve your problem...
Build your ad around the candidate for the job, rather than your company.
Describe the job prospect using language that they would use, talking about the things that are important to them, then bring your company into the picture.
Another example is for a business who was recruiting boilermakers, it began its message this way: “You like working with your hands. You’re good at putting things together. You take pride in the things you build…”
But, as with everything in advertising: don't do it if everyone else is doing the same thing. Be the first and create a niche for yourself as the type of business who does 'that' thing.
