The ultimate mini guide to recruitment marketing

A little playbook for attracting and converting the right talent.

What is recruitment marketing?

Recruitment marketing is a proactive approach to attracting, engaging, and converting talent before they even consider applying. It draws on proven marketing disciplines – audience targeting, content strategy, multi-channel delivery, and data optimisation – and applies them to hiring.

Recruitment marketing is:

• Employer branding in action
• Recruitment aligned with buyer (candidate) behaviour
• Structured, scalable, and measurable

It’s how leading organisations compete in a market where talent expectations, not just job demand - drive outcomes.

Why recruitment marketing is essential today

Top talent no longer follows a linear job search process. They discover opportunities the way they discover everything else: through content, in feeds, via networks, and on their own terms.

Consider the landscape:

• 78% of candidates are open to new opportunities, but only 27% are actively looking (The Nordic Recruitment Report 2025)
• Job boards are saturated and often too late in the journey
• The best candidates need to be influenced, not just informed

Recruitment marketing ensures you:

• Reach the right people, before your competitors do
• Build awareness and trust over time
• Convert interest into action, without relying on "post and pray"   

How to build a high-performing recruitment marketing setup

1. Define your ideal candidate personas

Think beyond roles - define motivations, frustrations, behaviours, and digital habits.

• What channels do they trust?
• What language resonates with them?
• What might hold them back from applying?

2. Create a full-funnel channel strategy 

Use a mix of awareness, engagement, and conversion channels:

• Meta (Facebook, Instagram): storytelling and visual reach
• LinkedIn: targeting by function, seniority, industry
• Google & programmatic: keyword relevance and retargeting
• Niche media: precision for specialists
• Job boards: high-intent visibility

3. Craft role-specific messaging 

Avoid generic EVP slogans. Tailor messages to:

• Role type and career level
• Candidate intent (active vs. passive)
• Platform tone and format

Great recruitment marketing feels personalised, even at scale.

4. Build strong landing destinations 

Where your ads lead matters as much as what they say.

• Career pages must be mobile-optimised, fast, and focused
• Match expectations set in your messaging
• Include trust signals: employee stories, values, real visuals

5. Automate and optimise 

Marketing is no longer guesswork. Use tools that:

• Launch campaigns directly from your ATS
• Test copy, creatives, timing and channels
• Give you real-time data to act on

Understand the candidate journey – and map content to it

Recruitment marketing supports every step:

1. Awareness - They discover your brand through an ad, post or referral
2. Consideration - They explore roles, values, people, and purpose
3. Conversion - They take action: apply, subscribe, or reach out
4. Advocacy - Even if they don’t apply, they remember you

The journey isn’t linear, but your strategy should be.

Metrics that work

Forget vanity metrics. Track:

• Cost per qualified applicant
• Conversion rate (from ad to completed application)
• Source of hire (across all touchpoints)
• Campaign ROI vs. media spend
• Talent brand awareness and recall

The best teams make data part of their hiring culture, not just their marketing.

Turn insight into action

Start small:

• Choose one critical role or talent segment
• Build a persona and audience profile
• Run a campaign with tailored messaging on two platforms
• Optimise based on performance, then scale what works

Make recruitment marketing an embedded capability, not an external add-on.

Need expert help?

Recruitment marketing is evolving, and so should your hiring strategy.

Want to:

• Reach better candidates faster?
• Improve quality while saving budget?
• Build a recruitment funnel that actually works?

Contact us for a personal consultation and step-by-step recruitment marketing plan tailored to your business.