Facebook display advertising is effective for recruitment in many ways, with the greatest benefit being the incredibly granular ad targeting capabilities. For instance, you can drill down and target candidates from a particular university, pursuing a specific major, within 10 miles of a desired geographic location, and who enjoy cheese. We’re serious, you can practically host a fondue party for your chosen candidates with just one advertising campaign!
The simplicity and flexibility that makes Facebook advertising so appealing, also makes it really easy to create an ad that’s just plain bad. Any Facebook user can launch an ad campaign using the self-serve Facebook ad creator tool. However, it takes creativity to craft advertisements that resonate with job seekers and result in a higher than average click-through rate to your Facebook careers page.
Meador Staffing Case Study
Look closely at the two ads featuring Meador Staffing, a full-service staffing firm who uses Facebook to recruit professionals in a variety of industries. Using multivariate testing, Meador tested a selection of images and copy to see which resulted in more clicks to their Facebook careers page. The best-performing ad was upbeat, lighthearted and focused on the fun culture. In fact, it produced 430% more clicks than the worst-performing ad which featured a negative message and stock photography. Compared to the industry standard and Facebook averages, the imaginative ad performed nearly 7% better.
6 Best Practices for Facebook Display Advertising
It’s easy to see why the creative advertisement performed better when it’s beside a not-so-exhilarating version. The trick is knowing how to create ads from scratch that are effective at attracting candidates on Facebook. Read on for 6 ways to make your Facebook recruitment marketing campaign a smashing success!
DO use humor.
People notice humorous
pictures and text. If you
want to attract job seekers
to your opportunity, try a
bizarre picture of paparazzi
instead of a stock photo of
a guy in a business suit.
DO go for color.
A colorful photo can grab a
Facebook user’s attention
better than the most
exciting words can alone.
Since Facebook is primarily
blue and white, aim for red,
green, orange and yellow.
DO opt for adorable.
Pictures of babies and cute
animals are surefire attention-
getters in real life and on
Facebook. When Open System
Technologies used a picture
of two adorable babies, their
advertisement earned 250 clicks!
Now, compare the cute ad on
the left to the more standard
recruitment ad on the right,
that received zero clicks. You
might be afraid to be wild, but
the risk will pay off.
DO let the image talk.
If you need text to explain the
image, it’s not going to work.
Instead, text and graphics
should work should together
to create an attention-getting
ad with copy that resonates.
This QPS Employment Group ad
is eye-catching and emotional
on its own. The text simply ties
in to create a full picture. And,
this series of ads achieved some
tremendous click-through rates,
even higher than Webtrends’
average of .05%.
DON’T be afraid of being wacky. Even if your company does serious business, a funny ad is still OK. Sure, you shouldn’t be too outlandish when advertising careers at your law firm, but social media is different. People want and expect to have a little more fun in an informal atmosphere. The Beagle advertisement above is silly and also features a cute animal. Win, win!
DON’T overthink it. If you spend too much time thinking about your ad, it will never go live! The great thing about Facebook ads is the freedom to experiment. The platform allows you to test multiple options, disable the weakest performing ad creative, and continue running the advertisements that garner the most clicks. Plus, with the pay-per-click options, your campaign is only a success if active and passive candidates are responding.
Your turn! Post your recruitment advertising tips in the comments.
Special thanks to Meador Staffing and QPS Employment Group for permission to feature advertising creative.
Image: sjon on Flickr
Author: Kristin Clifford
Kristin Clifford has parlayed eight years of marketing experience into a sweet social media gig. She’s also a writer and comedian and social media enthusiast. She would never ever call herself a social media ninja, guru, jedi or ninja guru jedi. Mainly because that’s stupid, and who wants a black belt in stupid? Follow on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn
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