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To stand out from the competition, effective marketing is more important than ever for recruitment agencies. Without it, your business growth can quickly hit a brick wall and force your consultants to fish in the same pool of prospects. That’s hardly enjoyable or productive (even if your consultants won’t admit to it!) In a highly competitive market, the good news is that you can optimise your costs with outsourced recruitment marketing and access capabilities that can take years to build in-house. We’ll explain why and how. The Real Costs of In-House Marketing The average marketing budget sits somewhere between 7-10% of company revenue, as surveys by Deloitte and Gartner suggest. (If you’re in start-up or high growth mode, that percentage will be higher.) Plans to increase marketing budgets over the coming years will, of course, vary by industry and business needs, but it’s clear that internal marketing teams don’t come cheap. For businesses based in the UK, the average marketing coordinator salary is in the vicinity of £24,000. With the recent increase in the employer National Insurance Contributions rate (from 13.8% to 15%), recruitment agencies are now facing significant payroll costs – and that’s before any marketing is being done to speak of! Breaking it down, an in-house marketing coordinator on a minimum salary of £22k will cost an additional £770 annually from 2025, whilst a midweight marketer on £45k will cost at least another £1,000. Add that up over a team of two to four people (or more), along with leave entitlements and other employee costs, and those pounds sure add up. Not to mention the cost of replacing and onboarding marketing employees. Recruitment agencies in Australia don’t get off lightly, either. To employ a full-time marketing coordinator, you’re looking at an average salary range of $70,000-$80,000 AUD. Add in superannuation, payroll tax, minimum leave entitlements, along with onboarding and training, the actual annual cost of that coordinator will be 1.25 to 1.4 times higher than their base salary. That’s up to $122,000 annually for one employee with a limited skillset. Here’s the catch: a junior or midweight marketing coordinator can handle the basics, but when your business needs specialised marketing skills to grow, you’ll need to hire more specialists – and that’s when your costs will skyrocket. Access to Marketing Expertise Without Hiring With outsourced marketing, you can skip the fixed, ongoing expenses of an in-house marketing team. Outsourcing gives you access to specialised skills like graphic design, paid advertising and copywriting when you need them, without the ongoing overhead of salaries and taxes. After all, your business might not need the same set of marketing skills all year. Certain expertise is more important for some campaigns and marketing plans and not others. When using an outsourced marketing agency like us, you get access to an embedded marketing team where you only pay for work you need during a given project or timeframe. We act as an extension of your business to manage your marketing, giving you a range of established skills and strategic knowledge at your fingertips. All without making a single hire. Scalability Based on Business Needs An outsourced marketing solution gives you precious scalability. As all recruitment business leaders are aware, business conditions fluctuate. Your goals will inevitably be adjusted to meet changing market conditions. Based on our experience in working with recruiters, here are common scenarios where marketing scalability is a survival issue: 1. Crowded Markets In crowded industries and sectors, recruiters face stiff competition from rivals with big marketing budgets. To stay ahead, they need smart and adaptable strategies that pack a punch without overspending. 2. Start-Up Challenges For new recruiters with limited revenue and an unproven offering, the focus is on generating interest and building momentum quickly. Outsourced marketing will provide that essential lift-off without the risk of hiring an untested marketing coordinator. 3. New Ventures and Expansions Recruitment agencies launching a new service or breaking into a new market will need a surge in marketing resources to ensure their efforts pay off. Scalable marketing means recruiters can dial their efforts up or down as needed. No overcommitting, nor missing out on opportunities! How do you achieve this sweet scalability? With an outsourced marketing solution, one that gives you flexible pricing options and a solid range of capabilities. If you want to pay on a project basis or have a marketing team on retainer, a good marketing agency will give you those options, too. This helps you forecast and manage costs over any length of time. Reduced Hidden Overheads On top of staffing costs, there are a few other cost gremlins lurking under the floorboards that most companies aren’t aware of until it’s too late. Infrastructure expenses like marketing software and tools quickly add up, especially when you need a group subscription or must pay a premium for basic functionality. An outsourced marketing provider has all these necessary tools, so you don’t need to duplicate them. Even the office space you need for an in-house team can sometimes get overlooked – an often astronomical cost that is becoming harder to justify for many businesses! Engaging a marketing agency gives you access to a marketing team at your fingertips, without the expense of bums on seats. The Final Word Of course, there are many situations where it makes good business sense to maintain or grow an in-house marketing team. The key, however, is to understand the big picture: your balance sheet, the ROI you can reasonably expect from an in-house team, and which options will best enable you to stay agile in a challenging market or business phase. Understanding these factors will guide you to the right marketing solution and avoid expensive mistakes. Outsourced Marketing for Recruiters, Done Your Way We’ve sung the praises of outsourced marketing here, but we’re also experts at helping our clients get the best out of their internal marketing teams. Whether you’re seeking marketing specialists that can dovetail with your internal team, or a standalone solution, or something else, we can do it for you. Let’s talk! Get in touch with Prominence today – we’d love to hear from you.

Social media just won’t stop evolving, and neither do we as marketers. Algorithm updates, new features, changes in audience demographics and preferences – there is just so much to keep up with! The fundamentals, however, are more straightforward than some might think.

We can’t think of a single instance of a recruiter saying they love admin. And yet, administrative tasks eat up increasingly large chunks of a recruiter’s workday. It’s a given that job application volumes will keep rising, leaving recruiters with shrinking resources to carry out other vital functions – like nurturing passive candidates, engaging clients, or building a social media following. Marketing automation can solve many of the resource problems recruiters face. Trying to juggle activities like generating leads for new clients and candidates alongside the day-to-day practicalities of sourcing, interviewing and client consultation gets painful fast – unless you have the right tools to automate the process. We’ll explain how marketing automation for recruiters works in the wild, and how you can use it to connect with your target audiences. How Marketing Automation Helps You Target Clients Marketing automation for recruiters can be applied to every stage of the sales funnel, from raising awareness of your brand to building relationships with your long-term clients. Its potential for generation BD leads is second to none. Generating leads is one of the most effective uses of marketing automation and is generally an ‘always on’ feature, as long as you’re in business! Email Marketing

In an era where it feels like everyone, including the neighbour’s dog, has a podcast, it’s tempting to dismiss the idea as just another marketing trend. That, however, would overlook the immense potential podcasts hold for BD in recruitment. We love podcasts for their versatility, their ability to be consumed anywhere and as a vehicle for demonstrating your subject matter and industry expertise. As a recruitment marketing tool, podcasts aren’t just about the number of listeners per episode, the size of your subscriber base or the number of clicks. Podcast marketing gives recruiters that essential foot in the door in BD campaigns and gain plenty of other hot leads besides. We’ll explain how. Give Recruiters a Reason to Pick up the Phone Think about the typical recruiter approach to a business development call. It often starts with something along the lines of, “Do you have any vacancies you need filling?” Now, while that question might get straight to the point, it’s hardly the kind of opener that’s going to blow their socks off. But imagine flipping the script entirely. Instead of the usual pitch, what if you reached out to a potential client with a question like this: “We host a podcast focused on the (insert your recruitment specialisation here) industry, and we’d love to have you as a guest to discuss the challenges in developing the future workforce.” Suddenly, you’re looking at buy-in. What would usually be a cold call can quickly become a warm one – and make for a faster connection with your prospect. You’re not just another recruiter trying to win placements, you’re a thought leader offering them a platform to share their insights – a flattering proposition! This approach is far more engaging and offers potential clients something of real value. They get an opportunity to raise their brand awareness among candidates and demonstrate their expertise. Before trying this approach, you will of course do solid research on your prospect and be ready to explain why they would make a good guest on your podcast. Spice Up Your Lead Generation With well-crafted podcast content, you’re creating a goldmine of recruitment marketing material that can be repurposed across multiple channels, expanding your lead generation potential. Key moments from a compelling podcast episode can be turned into snippets and used virtually anywhere. Highlighting a thought-provoking quote, a surprising statistic, or a powerful insight is perfect for bite-sized content. By transcribing your episodes, you can easily identify these highlights and transform them into punchy graphics with quotes, video clips, or text posts to drive engagement on social channels – and attract more clicks to your website. Podcast episode highlights are also excellent material for your blog posts, newsletters, and email marketing. When launching an email campaign centred around a specific theme, you could highlight snippets from a podcast where the same issue is discussed. Used in this way, podcasts can really add depth to your messaging and reinforce your authority as a subject matter expert. Direct Listeners to Purpose-Built Resources Landing pages pair with podcast marketing like wine does with cheese. Throughout your podcast episodes, make it a habit to guide listeners to a dedicated landing page where they can access free and valuable guides. Think salary reports, whitepapers, how-to guides for hiring managers or candidates – the sky’s the limit! These resources are just a quick form away – listeners simply enter their name and email address to download the content. This simple step turns casual listeners into potential leads. Once they’re on your list, you can nurture these connections through targeted email marketing, using newsletters to engage and convert them. Use Follow-Ups and Collect Feedback Following up podcast episodes with surveys is another way to produce solid leads. After each episode, you could send out a brief survey that includes a question like “Are you planning to hire in the next three months?”. Those clicks are currency! (Even if they’re not hiring immediately, you’ve planted a seed.) Invite listeners to complete polls and give feedback on each episode – e.g. “Who should we bring on as a guest next?” This can also draw in guests who become your clients. Tools to Get Started with Podcast Marketing The cost of producing a podcast will vary, but there is no need for overkill, especially for your first few episodes. When you’re just starting out, aim for clean audio and tight editing without extra frills. Investing in a couple of professional-quality microphones is easier than ever – your typical tech retailer will have a range of affordable options to choose from. Make sure you buy two, so you can record your host and guest properly! There are plenty of affordable editing software tools out there for turning out polished recordings. If you’re willing to engage a freelance editor , you can save time and get a truly professional-sounding result. Finally, you’ll need a reliable hosting platform that gives your listeners easy access through a range of devices. Get Tailored Advice on Creating Your Podcast Podcasts for recruiters are an excellent channel for demonstrating all that valuable expertise you’ve built up over years in the industry, whilst developing a connection with your audience – and warm leads! At Prominence, we’ve helped dozens of clients successfully launch podcasts that have helped them smash their marketing goals. Contact us today to get help with developing your podcast marketing strategy.

Resources like salary reports, industry surveys and how-to guides are like bread and butter in marketing for recruiters – staples that appeal to a broad audience.

Recruitment marketing can mean the difference between a boom and a bust for agencies.

Prominence, one of the largest and longest-established global Recruitment Marketing Agencies, has been sold for an undisclosed figure, to industry marketing veteran, Tom Burkinshaw.

If digital marketing is the art of getting your business noticed online, it follows that you’ll have to sweat blood and tears just to get your brand in front of people… Or do you?

Lights, camera… action? Whether you’re creating short-form videos for social media, or producing a series for your website, video offers endless opportunities to engage your audience in creative ways.

With so many recruiters around the world, it can be a little difficult to stand out. You may be adept at cold calling and emailing, but this skill isn’t always enough to cut through in a time of high noise and low signal. A personal brand is that unique combination of skills, knowledge and values that define how you present yourself and are perceived by others professionally. For recruitment marketing purposes, knowing how to build and improve your personal brand is key to building trust among clients and candidates, helping you achieve that cut through – and generate leads. Personal Brand for Recruiters: Why it Matters We can think of dozens of reasons why recruiters benefit from a positive personal brand, but here are the highlights: Stay Top of Mind By staying visible, you’re the first person clients think of when they need to recruit and candidates think of when they’re job hunting. It’s a long-term strategy, not just about quick wins. Build Trust In Your Expertise Your personal brand enables you to establish trust before ever speaking to someone, turning that cold call into a warm conversation. Clients and candidates will research you just as you do with them, so a strong personal brand can make all the difference. Be Searchable and Easily Found When you build an effective personal brand, good clients and candidates will reach out to you directly, resulting in more warm calls and fewer cold ones! Boost Your InMail Success You’re four times more likely to have your LinkedIn InMails accepted when recipients have already interacted with your brand. Improving your personal brand presence on LinkedIn will elevate the probability of these interactions. First, Optimise Your Social Media Profiles Before you unleash a barrage of social media posts to ‘boost your profile’, hold up for a moment – have you optimised your profiles? Although this sounds basic, you would be shocked to know how many recruiters forget to maintain their LinkedIn profiles! Ensure you have a current, professional-quality profile photo and have included your industry and location details in the relevant fields, and don’t forget to update your contact details if you move roles. On your LinkedIn profile, remember to include the details of your most current work experience and employer, along with a tidy headline and summary in your About section. Also be sure to include at least five top skills, as these will be the first bits of information someone will read on your profile. Finally, edit your LinkedIn URL to show your first and last name – this makes your profile look professional and memorable! Create Original Content Personal branding is ultimately part of a digital marketing strategy which means creating original content is key. If the thought of generating content ideas stresses you out though, don’t worry. Recruitment is a goldmine of material for original marketing content. To create original content that resonates with the audience of your clients, all you need to do is focus on sharing specific examples that are relevant to their industry. Think of things like anecdotes, case studies and quick tips that address common questions from clients and candidates. To get the creative juices flowing, here are questions you can ask yourself to brainstorm new content ideas for your personal branding goals: What have I been talking with my clients and candidates about recently? What’s been going on in the market? What was the topic of a recent industry event I can comment on? What are my clients posting about on LinkedIn that I can join in the conversation on? What are the common pain points clients and candidates often experience? Think of some examples for each of these and what that would mean from a recruitment perspective. For instance, if you’ve noticed a rise in candidates receiving counter-offers that surprise your clients, what quick advice would you give to both clients and candidates? (Remember to keep your ultimate goal in mind – advising candidates to accept a counter-offer wouldn’t align with your objectives!) Armed with a few bullet points, et voilà! You now have material for original content you can share on LinkedIn. (For more advice on the nuts and bolts of posting on LinkedIn as a recruiter, read these tips ). More Inspiration for Personal Branding Content There’s no such thing as too many content ideas, so here are other ways you can drum up inspiration for posts on LinkedIn. Explore LinkedIn Hashtags: Regularly check relevant hashtags on LinkedIn and engage with content from thought leaders in your industry. Joining conversations will help you expand your network and you’ll be more informed about what’s happening. Set Up Google Alerts: We love this because it’s low-effort yet still effective. Set up alerts for specific keywords and topics – anything newsworthy related to recruitment and your clients’ industries makes for interesting content to share with your audience. Check Your Camera Roll: Scroll through your recent photos. Have you attended any events, met with clients, or visited interesting places for work? These moments can also make for great content. Your Company’s LinkedIn Page : Don’t overlook your company’s LinkedIn page! When your company posts updates, achievements or industry insights, there’s plenty to share and build upon. Competitors: Don’t be afraid to check out what your competitors are doing, either. Use that insight to identify five key topics that you’re uniquely qualified to discuss – these can form the basis for posts including images and short videos. Remember to Comment, Share and Like Engaging with other people’s content is another key aspect of building a personal brand for recruiters. Commenting, sharing and liking posts on LinkedIn helps position you as knowledgeable and supportive, which are two excellent traits to display as a recruiter! Not all engagement is created equal, however, so it helps to understand there is a hierarchy of sorts for these activities. LinkedIn’s algorithm favours commenting more than any other type of engagement, so comments will get you the most visibility, followed by sharing and liking. Be strategic with your comments. You’ll have to say something more substantial than ‘great work’, ‘love this’ or just emoji. Think of any additional insight you could add to the original post, or summarise its key takeaways in your own words. Another approach is to ask questions and start a conversation. Plus, don’t forget to connect with people who add value to the discussion – you never know where a simple question might lead! Bonus tip: Sharing your clients’ and colleagues’ posts is beneficial, but keep in mind that if you don’t add a comment to your share, it will barely reach anyone! Be Authentic We’re in a time when authenticity reigns supreme, for both content and how it’s delivered. People have managed to gain huge social media followings just by expressing themselves with sincerity in short videos they’ve recorded with a smartphone while sitting in their car. We’re not saying you should turn your LinkedIn into a TikTok feed, but audiences do appreciate content that doesn’t sound overly formal or staged. Be ready for inspiration to strike at unexpected moments. When you have a fascinating interaction with a client or candidate that you learned from, don’t be afraid to record a quick video with your insights. A 30-second video can be just enough to get your audience thinking and engaging with you. Strive for a balance between professionalism and authenticity, and your audience will keep coming back for more! Just be sure to stay true to yourself – there’s no need to pretend to be someone you’re not. Consistency and Patience is Key If there is one foundational rule of personal brand for recruiters, it’s consistency. Making time each week (or day) to post on social media, even when you don’t see immediate engagement, is the key to lasting results. Keep experimenting with different types of content to see what sticks. Many people give up quickly because they’re not seeing dozens of likes on their posts. We’re here to tell you that is missing the point! Regular posting sends the right signals to social media algorithms and shows your audience you love what you do. By consistently creating and sharing valuable content, you’ll gradually build a following and position yourself as an authority in your domain. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, so keep at ! Recruitment Marketing That Works For more advice on how to build and improve your personal brand, or how to incorporate your personal brand efforts into a broader recruitment marketing strategy, the team at Prominence is here to help! As specialists in digital marketing for recruiters, we love helping agencies smash their growth goals with effective marketing. Contact us today to find out more!

Don’t listen to the haters who say email is dead. As a marketing channel, email marketing remains unbeatable for its ability to help you grow and connect with your audience. In a time when digital marketers expend considerable energy trying to capture attention before the next swipe, a savvy email marketing strategy puts you in front of an audience that is engaged, open to new opportunities and eager to be informed. Proven Email Marketing Strategies that Deliver Results for Recruiters Our customers regularly win new business and have candidates reach out to them through targeted email marketing campaigns. Here are a few tried-and-tested use cases for email marketing that produce meaningful results in the form of leads and conversions. Showcasing Available Candidates to Your Clients This campaign entails a weekly email highlighting candidates from your talent pool who are available to start new roles next week, distributed to your clients according to segmentation by industry, company type or other relevant categories. It works particularly well for freelancers or contractors. We track activity and set you up with alerts for clients who click, providing a fast connection for placement opportunities. It’s an informed and precise way of doing business development. Broadcasting New Roles In a similar vein to the ‘available candidates’ campaign, this one involves a weekly or monthly round-up of ‘hot jobs’, inviting candidates from your database to apply. We provide you with leads on which candidates have clicked, and your consultants can take care of the rest. Monthly Newsletters Newsletters are the ideal vehicle for recruitment agencies aiming to cement their brand with thought leadership. Think plenty of sector-specific content including videos, podcasts, news and market insights. Consider a well-crafted newsletter a touchpoint that places your business front of mind for those looking to hire or move jobs. How to Optimise Email Campaigns for Best Results Here are eight essential tips to optimise your email campaigns and engage both candidates and clients at the right time, every time. 1. Build and Segment Your List Ensure you start with a mailing list that is up to date and compliant with privacy and communication regulations (e.g. GDPR, anti-spam laws). Segment your email audience by job type, industry, and engagement level to send targeted, relevant content. 2. Personalise and Add Value Add a personal touch by using recipients’ names and customising emails based on their preferences. Offer valuable content such as industry insights and career advice, not just job listings. 3. Create Compelling Subject Lines and Calls-To-Action Writing short, intriguing subject lines is the key to having a high open rate for emails. To stand out in recipients’ inboxes, keep subject headers punchy, direct and to the point. Use clear, action-oriented calls to action to guide recipients toward applying for jobs or visiting your website. 4. Optimise Emails for Mobile and Use Clean Design At this point in history, not making your marketing content mobile-friendly is a big no-no! Ensure your emails are instantly readable on mobile devices, with a responsive and tidy design. Clean and professional layouts are key – think effective use of white space, easily readable fonts and appealing images. 5. Automate and Test Make use of automation tools like Roi-Ai to create a smooth and painless campaign workflow, including follow-ups and onboarding. It’s also wise to conduct A/B testing on subject lines, content, and send times, to understand what works best and target your audience with laser-like accuracy. 6. Track and Analyse Key Metrics Tracking performance is the bedrock of digital marketing for recruiters, especially email marketing. Monitoring key metrics such as open rates and click-through rates allows you to measure engagement. Use analytics to refine your strategy and enhance future campaigns. 7. Enable Social Sharing and Easy Unsubscribe Adding social sharing buttons in emails is a simple way to extend your reach. To maintain a healthy email list and minimise spam complaints, provide a straightforward way to unsubscribe with as few clicks as possible. 8. Simplify Email Content with Personalisation Assume that most (or everyone) in your audience will be skim-reading your emails, so it’s important to break up content with headings and subheadings. When it comes to personalisation, you can do more than just address recipients by their name. You can tailor content based on their previous interactions with your business, their location, role type, demographics, or interests. Getting granular can produce surprisingly good results. Get Email Marketing Expertise and Results with Prominence At Prominence, we apply cutting-edge technology through our partnerships ensuring seamless integration and superior email marketing performance. Implementing these strategies is just the starting point. To supercharge your email marketing efforts, the Prominence team can create killer campaigns that drive engagement and win you new business. Ready to have an expert go over it with you? Contact us today for a free chat and tailored support for transforming your recruitment marketing. For more expert insights, check out our blog here .