Almost a decade ago, recruitment videos were the subject of much discussion; everybody wanted to get involved but nobody really knew how. Videos were only used for recruitment by a handful of companies in a handful of sectors and the success of using this type of media was questionable, especially when the high production costs were considered.
In 2012, recruitment videos are no longer a novelty and are becoming widely used within the Australian recruitment market. Video is now being used effectively for various parts of the recruitment process; candidate interviews, video resumes, staff and team profiles, employer brand promotion and a means of providing candidates with detailed information about the company they will be working for.
Recruiters and HR professionals are now, more than ever before, able to utilise the power of video to complement their existing candidate attraction strategies. Recruiters now have a new readily available medium in which to impress potential clients. It is now easier than ever for companies to enhance their employer brand using video online.
Social media has had a large part to play in the recent resurrection of video recruitment strategies and thanks to ever increasing ease of publishing videos online, now is the time to add this effective tool to your recruitment marketing strategy.
7 Steps for Effective Recruitment Video Strategies
As with any recruitment marketing strategy, before you begin, you need to ensure you have a clear plan in place. Running off to make videos about your company with no means of publishing them or editing them can only end in disaster. A recruitment video strategy is not as easy as filming something and uploading it to all of the websites you can think of. For your recruitment videos to produce effective results, follow these seven basic steps:
1. Decide on Your Audience
There are many areas in which video can enhance your business but you need to be clear of who you want to target. Are you looking to attract more candidates? If so, uploading videos on your company Facebook page or YouTube could work well. For client attraction and employer brand promotion, videos on your corporate website would be more appropriate, shown at events or left with a client on a branded USB storage key to leave a lasting impression. Matching your video style, content and message to your audience is essential.
2. Do Your Research
Take a look at other recruitment videos on competitor websites, YouTube and Facebook to see what is working for other recruiters currently. You will quickly get an idea of the popular videos compared with those that failed by reading the comments and seeing the numbers of ‘views’. Note down the aspects of videos that received good reviews and compile a list of concepts that could work for your business.
3. The Message
What do you want to say in your video? What messages are you trying to get across to your audience? Does the message flow and will it keep the viewer’s attention? Keep it short. If you can’t get your message across in less than a couple of minutes, you should review the message. Internet videos are rarely longer than 60 seconds, so aim for 1-2 minutes in length. Test out the message by running it past a few selected members of your target audience before the filming gets underway, to ensure they understand it and respond positively. Act on this feedback and make any changes required.
4. Keep it Interesting!
Gone are the days where a read message from your MD sat behind a desk will keep your audience’s attention. In the modern age of viral marketing and online advertising, your target market is used to quick, snappy, funny, quality videos that get to the point fast and make a lasting impression. This is also your aim. If your video is boring, your audience will switch off after about 3 seconds. Capture the interest of your target market by coming up with an innovative but professional concept. This is often the hardest part of the process.
5. Filming & Editing
You must now decide how your video will be produced and organise editing to produce the final cut. Filming and editing can be done in-house but it’s important that the end results looks professional, otherwise you are in danger of damaging your brand and turning people off. Most recruiters will outsource this stage of the process to an external agency. There are many corporate video production agencies to choose from, and they are not all as expensive as you might think. Here are a few Australian recruitment video producers doing great things right now: www.ipermedia.com.au, www.atomicpixel.com.au, www.inspireworks.com.au, www.randem.com.au.
6. Final Review
Having already run the video message past a select few members of your audience, once the video is in the final stages of production it is advisable to have it reviewed again to obtain final feedback before publishing. Your management team and marketing department might think the video is fantastic, but it’s always worth having external eyes take a look to ensure you are on the right track. Invite a few candidates to watch the video and ask for their honest opinions. Run the video past a couple of regular clients to see what they think. Any changes can be made now before the final cut is produced.
7. Publishing your Recruitment Video
The first place to publish your video should be your own company website. This can then be promoted across your social media network, links emailed out on newsletters and a link to the video can be included on email signatures. If your website doesn’t have the capacity to host video, there are many plug-ins that can be easily used to enable video to be hosted and played. Other than YouTube, Facebook and MySpace, there are a number of video hosting sites onto which you can upload your video. Other sites you can use are Vimeo, Veoh and Viddler. For client-focused videos, upload onto your iPad and take to client meetings. This will give the impression of a tech-savvy business and is also something slightly different that you will be remembered for.
Tips on Using Video for Recruitment
Here are some additional tips you may want to try to increase the effectiveness of your recruitment video.
Increase Google Rankings
Popular videos have a positive effect on the organic search engine rankings of your own website. The more views your video receives, the higher your website will be ranked in Google. Videos now appear high on the search rankings so your video may be found by specific searches before your website is. This is another great way to send traffic to your own site.
Free Feedback
YouTube allows people to post comments about your video, which means you get instant free feedback from actual viewers. YouTube also provides viewership information and popularity ratings. This information is gold for reviewing the effectiveness of your video and to understand the types of candidates/clients viewing it. Even if you receive some negative comments, which most online videos do, you can respond and use those comments and use this as an opportunity to provide feedback in a professional manner.
Benefits from Recruitment Videos
Maximise Your Response Rates
Your video is an additional channel through which candidates and clients can reach you, and studies show that it is fast becoming a very effective channel. It has recently been shown that using video with job postings online can increase response rates by up to 15%. Use job boards that can host video and ensure your own website has this functionality to get the most from your online advertising budget.
Stop Wasting Time on the Wrong Candidates
Recruitment videos, when used correctly, can give candidates a better, clearer and wider view of your company or the company they might be working for. A video can therefore effectively show a candidate the type of work environment the company has and who they may be working with. Video is therefore a great tool to help filter out candidates that may decide against the position later down the track once they come in for interview.
In summary, the potential of video in recruitment is vast and exciting but an effective strategy needs to be in place before embarking on this type of media. For more information about effective recruitment video strategies, please get in touch today.
Here are some examples of good and bad recruitment videos for your research/amusement. From highly creative and innovative ideas to the downright cringe-worthy.
Let us know what you think and as always, all questions and comments are welcome. If you know of any good or bad recruitment videos, please post the links below.