One of my favorite pieces of content to receive annually is the Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report from Appcast. The report does a fantastic job of looking at data from the past 12 months, but then the true value comes in finding actionable takeaways to implement with your recruitment marketing.
Let’s jump right in!
Wait – Cost Per Click and Cost Per Application Are Decreasing?
Isn’t everything increasing in price, but this report is saying that cost per click (and cost per application) are decreasing?! CPC is down 16.7% and CPA is down 29.6%.
Looking across all industries, yes, the costs decreased. But in staffing, I want to focus on a specific area and that’s in the gig segment of the industry.
The gig segment had the highest CPC ($0.60 at 25th percentile and $1.64 at 75th percentile) and highest CPA of any industry segment. With the staffing industry, I think it’s a little more complicated.
Yes, the staffing industry isn’t a traditional gig industry (think DoorDash or Uber) but it is a hybrid between the gig industry and the industry of the actual job (healthcare, industrial, admin, etc.). You aren’t hiring a full-time nurse if it’s a contract role, you’re finding a nurse who wants a temporary role and has some input on their schedule.
While it is encouraging to see the costs coming down and not going up, it’s not a straight apples-to-apples comparison.
Mobile Applies Are Down!
Another data point that raises the eyebrows on the surface, but it makes more sense when you go underneath the hood.
In 2022, mobile applies accounted for 67% of applications, but in 2023, mobile applies only accounted for 62.07% of applications. That’s a significant decrease!
So, why did it happen?
During our Secrets of Staffing podcast interview with Alicia Little, director of brand and content marketing at Appcast, she brought up an awesome point. The “sit down” industries (Tech, Legal, Finance, HR/Staffing (Internal Jobs), Management) saw significant layoffs in 2023. Those jobs drive more applications from desktop devices. While the “stand up” industries (Gig, Hospitality, Transportation, Real Estate, Warehouse/Logistics), drive more mobile applies. Those industries didn’t see a lot of layoffs in 2023, and may have seen actual job growth.
As always, it’s important to reduce friction as much as possible with your candidates whether they are on a desktop device or a mobile device. Knowing which method your candidates prefer and really optimize that method will help convert more candidates.
1-7 Words OR 16+ Words Get the Most Applications!
Well that’s quite the difference, but again, it makes sense!
For years, we’ve said the shorter job title drives more applications. Why? Because job boards are just search engines (similar to Google). A candidate types in their search, and the job board instantly returns results while running its algorithm in the background. Usually, candidates type in something simple.
If it’s a nursing job, candidates will literally just type in “RN” or “registered nurse.” If it’s a warehouse job, a candidate is going to type in “warehouse” and not the exact title of your job. Candidates are usually very straightforward.
Except in this one instance!
The emergence of salary transparency led to those long-tail job titles driving more clicks. Why?
- States are requiring companies to put salary in the job description.
- Candidates have ALWAYS clicked more on jobs with salary because they want to know the salary right away.
- Companies are testing by putting the salary in the job title, and it’s leading to more clicks!
What can you do? Test! Stick to job titles that are short, simple, and what candidates think of when they want a job (they want a warehouse job, not a mill operator). And then test out different job titles with the salary in the title. (Yes, that walks the line with Indeed and other job sites, so don’t abuse it but testing should be OK).
Improve Your Recruitment Marketing
The Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report from Appcast has even more takeaways than just the three nuggets shared in this post. Download it today to get your own copy and dig in even deeper.
If you need help with your recruitment marketing, our team is here to help. Contact the team at Haley Marketing today to learn how we can help!
