In the vast and segmented world of hospitality, standing out from the crowd as an organization in effort to attract top tier talent requires strategic branding efforts more than ever today. Simply posting jobs and expecting qualified applicants in return, is no longer enough when it comes to hiring.

Increasingly, shrewd hoteliers are realizing the benefits and effectiveness of sponsored content as a recruitment and marketing tool. It’s typically presented in the form of paid articles or editorial content that appear on digital publishing websites and then shared across multiple channels, including social media channels.

Talent acquisition professionals are using sponsored content to build brand awareness, tell their company’s story, engage job hunters, create talent “communities,” or those with the skills and qualifications to meet your organization’s needs, and they’re able to analyze and track the success of such measures.

Sponsored content is most efficient when it is strategic and goal oriented, such as defining your corporate culture. Telling a story about your organization is also key, so that potential candidates can discover your corporate values, gain information about career development opportunities and an editorial glimpse of what a typical work day is like.  Sharing your content on with other digital publishers is a key method for sourcing candidates and promoting your organization’s culture, so a consistent brand message should be communicated.  Content should aim be timeless, so it can also be leveraged for multiple purposes. For example, articles can be linked to from within your company blog, highlighted during a presentation, or reposted at a later date.

Here are some of the key benefits of sponsored content as a recruitment marketing tool in 2018:

1. Superior candidate pool

By utilizing sponsored content as a recruitment vehicle, the caliber of candidate employers attract tends to be higher. It’s especially important to out digital publishers that give you access to the audience you want, and ensure your content is being seen by relevant users and potential job seekers. Your digital publisher should also be able to target a specific audience or audiences with your content on social media in order to get more engagement with your content and drive users to take action by visiting your website to learn more or applying for a job. 

2. Competitive advantage

Working with sponsored content as a recruitment marketing tool has yet another perk. The amount and type of information that human resources professionals can access on potential recruits through analytics and the performance data of the content affords employers an edge over competition. All of these data points can useful for starting conversations, adjusting recruitment strategies, and making key decisions about how job seekers are responding to your unique employer brand.

3. Higher ROI

Part of a successful recruitment marketing plan is to analyze how you’re spending your job advertising dollars to determine ROI. Using sponsored content to communicate with candidates is most often less costly than classic routes such as tv, print or radio ads or career fairs. And, users are more likely to share and “evangelize” your content if it’s something they connect with or find interesting or entertaining. It’s highly unlikely that a job seeker will be moved to retweet a traditional ad, but if you provide them with a piece of content that is informative or valuable, they’re more likely to be inspired to share that knowledge with their own networks. This kind of organic promotional capability is highly valuable in building and promoting a successful employer brand.

4. Capturing Valuable Mind-Share

Sponsored Content is uniquely valuable to job seekers because ideally it’s less promotional like a traditional advertisement but instead entertains, provides solutions to questions or challenges, or gives valuable career advice. By providing content that is highly valuable and relevant for the job seeker, you are simultaneously elevating your employer brand and more likely to be top of mind when they are ready to find a new job.