Turning brand awareness into applications
How OME helped a major retailer attract more tech specialists
Techies and software developers are perhaps the most sought-after hires in today’s recruitment market. Thousands of employers are looking to reduce their reliance on contractors and build up their in-house capabilities; competition has never been fiercer. This means OME had its work cut out when a global retail brand engaged us to support a major recruitment campaign.
We tackled the challenge by serving successive waves of engaging, content to carefully-targeted audiences. By bringing the employer brand to life throughout the candidate journey, the campaign delivered results well beyond the client’s expectations.
THE CHALLENGE
One of the world's largest retailers had set a goal of making 40-50 technology hires in the UK and India. On the plus side, the client has some amazing projects going on and lots to offer tech specialists. However, although the company is a household name, it had not previously been perceived as an aspirational employer of choice in the tech market. OME was engaged to deliver a campaign which would increase their employer brand presence – and then translate that raised awareness into actual applications.
THE OME APPROACH
Our aim was to change perceptions by reaching out to a passive audience and showcasing the technologies, innovations and projects the client could offer. We were especially keen to give an authentic insight into the complexity of the day-to-day challenges and the quality of ‘developer experience’ (tech stack, DevOps tools, cloud & container technologies, QA practices etc.)
MULTI-STAGE CONTENT
The quick win was to review and repurpose existing content. What we wanted to add was new content that spoke to the audience on their own level. The OME team collaborated directly with existing members of the client’s tech team to produce a series of self-authored blogs.
Instant impact came in the form of short snapshot videos. We then expanded on key themes and messages through more in-depth video content. The key to the strategy was using different forms of content at different stages of the candidate journey. The tech audience is notoriously cynical about advertising in all forms. So, we put the real opinions of the current team front and centre in all of the comms.
The third stage of content was very much job-specific. The emphasis switched to direct calls to action and driving traffic to the individual vacancies on the ATS. We honed adverts and content to ensure initial candidate interest would actually be converted.
HIGH-REACH MEDIA & SOCIAL CHANNELS
The media team designed the attraction plan around maximising the relevant potential candidates we could reach with this content. Display Programmatic featured both banner advertising on tech media and video advertising across all media including social. Behavioural and Search targeting identified candidates via their previous activity and digital consumption. Retargeting enabled us to send repeat messages to interested users and ultimately direct job advertising to maximise response.
REPORTING AND RESULTS
Throughout the campaign, we used our tracking tools to measure the entire candidate journey including:
Number of Impressions
Clicks
Visitor Searches
Applications
The entire candidate pipeline including shortlisted applications, rejections, interviews and hires.
Our monitoring capabilities measured brand perceptions and candidate pipeline activity in real-time, giving a clear view of campaign progress against set goals. Regular weekly reporting and meetings allowed us to make rapid adjustments to the campaign, from little tweaks to more major enhancements.
The campaign’s final performance proves the value of delivering engaging content to the right audience at the right time. The client was delighted with response results and filled 80% of their roles directly via the campaign, massively reducing recruitment consultancy fees. Stage two is planned for later this year.
FIND OUT MORE
Please give us a call if you’re recruiting in technology (or any other hard-to-fill field). We can give you a competitive advantage in the contest for in-demand talent.