Client Success: Attracting Qualified Job Applicants Through Cost-Effective Call Center Recruiting

The need for efficient, cost-effective job recruitment and staffing is consistent across virtually every industry. For one regional call center managing offices in multiple markets, the challenge wasn’t only engaging and recruiting qualified job-seekers to apply for open positions. The company also wanted the ability to track online referrals and understand the return on investment it was getting from its recruiting efforts.

With a high volume of open positions and a need to implement cost-effective recruiting at a large scale, the regional call center contacted Cox Media seeking help in developing ad campaigns and tracking capabilities—with a long-term goal of optimizing spending to increase the company’s recruiting ROI.

The Goal

While the call center client had previously used third-party software to track online referrals and application submissions, this system was riddled with gaps and limitations that made it difficult to understand how recruiting efforts were driving applications for open positions.

In addition, the high volume of open positions created pressure on the company’s recruiting efforts to drive sufficient applications from qualified job-seekers. While the company wanted Cox Media to build an advertising strategy that filled these open positions with qualified employees, the company also wanted better insights and ROI data to enable more sustainable, effective job recruiting in the future.

To fulfill these goals, Cox Media was tasked with building a multi-channel ad strategy that supported marketing attribution and referral tracking, while also providing accurate data regarding the average cost-per-lead and overall conversion rate for referred job applicants.

The Solution

After consulting with the client to fully understand its goals, Cox Media’s team of advertising experts developed a multi-channel ad solution that emphasized awareness-level engagement while also driving conversions in the form of online application submissions.

To support accurate, consistent online tracking, Cox implemented Google Tag Manager and unique UTM codes to connect application submissions to online referrals. The clients’ multi-channel strategy incorporated the following channels:

• Paid search to increase visibility and referrals among online job-seekers, and to drive inbound phone calls from potential applicants;
• Display banners to engage job seekers and move them further down the conversion funnel;
• Geo-targeting and addressable audiences to restrict ad exposures to local residents within commuting distance of job locations;
• Geo-Conquesting to target employees at competing companies who might be eager for new job opportunities;
• Video advertising through Cox Media’s TV Everywhere product, which enabled awareness-level engagement of working-age adults between 18 and 34 years of age.

In addition, all creative content was supported with calls to action that featured “Apply Now” messaging to increase click-throughs and create a sense of urgency among would-be job applicants.

The Results

The initial launch of the call center client’s recruitment campaign proved very successful in terms of both overall application submissions and recruiting ROI. Over the course of the campaign, the client reported the following results:

• 1,364 total online applications;
• 186 qualified inbound phone calls;
• A 12 percent conversion rate;
• An average cost-per-lead of $23.

Through this success, the client was able to fill its open staff vacancies, achieve satisfactory recruiting ROI numbers, and build a sustainable system for tracking recruiting performance in the future. Cox Media’s ad strategy was so successful that the client even shifted its external ad strategies to better align with Cox Media’s tactics.

If your own business is struggling to attract qualified talent while controlling advertising costs, a digital advertising partner can help you implement a system for targeting the right job-seekers and building a cost-effective pool of applicants. Contact Cox Media today to turn staff recruiting into an ROI-positive process for your business.