In July 2022, Indeed enacted its One2One Policy. The policy eliminated the usage of title expansions and geographic expansions. The reason? Indeed said it was the number one complaint from candidates on its website, and it was affecting their experience applying for jobs.
(A title expansion is taking the base job of “warehouse worker” and also posting it as a machine operator, picker/packer, etc. A geographic expansion is taking the base job located in “Buffalo, NY” and also posting it in Amherst, NY, Tonawanda, NY, and Orchard Park, NY)
At Haley Marketing, here’s what we saw in the first TWO WEEKS of the new policy:
| Period | Jobs/Day | Spend/Day | Apps/Day | CPC | CPA | CR% |
| July 18-31 | 3,955 | $3,890 | 1,836 | $0.26 | $2.13 | 12.2% |
| July 11-17 | 10,284 | $4,124 | 2,155 | $0.24 | $1.91 | 12.7% |
| (-61.5%) | (-5.6%) | (-14.8%) | +8.3% | $9.4% | (-3.9%) |
We saw a 61.5% decrease in jobs sent to Indeed every day, which led to a 14.8% decrease in apps per day and 5.6% in spend per day.
So, as one of our clients asked – “What does that mean for me?”
Each company will be impacted differently, but looking at the trends above, this policy change led to a 5.6% decrease in applications across our clients. When every application is vital, that’s what it means to companies.
Let’s look at THREE areas to focus on to make sure your company handles this One2One policy correctly from Indeed.
- Post Jobs for Different Shifts
This tactic is the easiest for your team, and you might already be doing it. If you have a warehouse worker position for first shift, second shift, and third shift – make that into three job postings! You likely have a pay difference between those shifts, which is great to promote. Also, if there are any job differences, share those as well in each unique post.
What Not To Do: If you have a first-shift warehouse worker job order for 20 employees, DO NOT post it 20 times. That’s going to violate the policy.
- Don’t Overfund Your Jobs
With job spend down 5.6% since this change, it’s vital to monitor your budget correctly. Why? If your spend is down, your job count is down, and your applies are down, but your budget stays the same, then your cost per application will increase. What do we mean?
Your jobs-to-budget ratio will be off. Previously, you may have sponsored 100 jobs per day with a $5,000/monthly budget. Now, you could be sponsoring 80 jobs per day with a $5,000/monthly budget. There might not be enough candidate traffic to spend your budget across 80 jobs (that’s why you were using expansions.)
If you don’t have enough candidate traffic but keep the same budget, your cost per click will increase. Eighty jobs won’t reach as many people as 100 jobs. When your cost per click increases and your conversion rate (percentage of clicks that turn into applies) stays the same, your cost per application will increase.
Watch your metrics – daily spend, cost per click, conversion rate, and cost per apply. If your cost per apply just increased because of this policy change, you must adjust your strategy to ensure you aren’t wasting money.
What Not To Do:Avoid overpaying for clicks and applications!
Consider Other Job Boards (or Tactics)
There are two reasons to consider using other job boards with this change in Indeed’s policy.
- They still allow expansions – this tactic works very well when used correctly.
- You have to find more applications – from our data above, applications are down 8% and spend is down 5.6%. You have to replace missing applications, but you also have some extra spend left in your budget.
Use that extra spend from your Indeed budget to supplement your recruitment strategy with other job boards. Make sure the apply process stays simple. Monitor the source of each application to make the best data-driven decisions with your recruitment budget.
And it doesn’t have to just be on active candidate job boards. Think about social recruiting. Look at your employer branding. Analyze your career site. All of the pillars of recruitment marketing play a role in getting the right candidate to apply for your job.
What Not To Do: Ignore your data and just forget about it. The worst ROI comes from companies that set it and forget it. The best ROI comes from data-driven decisions.
We Are Here To Help!
The recruitment world seems to change constantly. At Haley Marketing, our recruitment marketing team monitors all of those changes to understand how they impact the industry and our clients.
If Indeed is giving you fits or you just want to talk about job advertising in general, we offer a FREE brainstorming session with staffing firms to discuss your situation and offer ideas. Feel free reach out to our team to schedule your session any time!
