Recruitment marketing for a small team: what you can do yourself

In many organisations, recruitment marketing is a side job. The recruiter does it between interviews, or HR does it with someone from comms on a Friday afternoon. Hiring an agency is too expensive and a campaign is too big.

Even so, you can get a lot done in little time. The trick is to choose, and to use the people you already have.

1. Pick the roles that hurt

Don't try to do everything at once. Start with the two or three roles that stay open longest. That's where every improvement pays off most.

2. Rewrite the job ad for those roles

Start with what the person will do and who with, not the history of the company. Cut vague terms and name concrete benefits.

3. Let the team do the talking

Your biggest source of content is already walking around: your colleagues. A few short stories from the team say more than any slogan, and they cost you little if colleagues record them themselves.

4. Reuse everything

One colleague's story can go on the careers page, on the job ad, in a LinkedIn post and in the email you send candidates before an interview. Make less, use it more.

5. Let colleagues share, not just the company page

A job ad shared by a colleague reaches a different audience than the company page. Make it easy for them. People happily share a ready-made link, especially with a video they're in.

6. Measure a few things, not everything

• How many applications does each role get?
• How long does a role stay open?
• Where do good candidates come from?
• What do new hires say about why they applied?

A weekly rhythm you can keep up

An hour a week is enough to keep this going: improve one job ad, collect and post one colleague's story, and check the numbers. After a quarter you'll have more real content than most organisations get from a campaign.