Episode 12: Advertising with Indeed

Is there a difference between a job description and a job ad? Job descriptions are not job ads and job ads are not job descriptions. Descriptions are straightforward. They show the functions of the job, requirements and what the "perfect" candidate looks like. However, it doesn't do anything to attract candidates. On the other hand, a job ad sells candidates. In a way, you have to have a marketing mentality in recruiting. In this hypercompetitive, candidate-market, job ads are more important than ever. If your ad fails to sell the candidate on the opportunity, get them to click it and apply, it doesn't matter where you place the ad or how much money you spend, you’ll lose the vast majority of great candidates. Job ads have 2 audiences: The job seeker (we're trying to get them to click on the job post and apply) and the job board search engine (we want the search engine to index the ad and show it to as many job applicants as possible). How do I know how much I should spend on Indeed? Start from the end; keep the goal in mind. Too many recruiters think they have a gut feeling about what a budget should be. Take a look at your recruiting funnel and analyze it, from hire to applies. Hires needed → Qualified Candidates to Interview → Applies → Cost per Apply How many hires do you want to make? Think about how many people you need to interview to make those hires. How many people should apply to get the number of qualified candidates you need to interview? Finally, Indeed doesn't sell you applies, they sell you clicks. How many clicks do you need to get a certain number of people to apply? How do you find out what you are spending on indeed today? Get in touch with Indeed, whoever is your account manager, and see who is spending what across all your accounts. Go over the past 3-6 months: see how much you’ve spent and how many candidates you’ve received. How do I get control of managers posting jobs without going through the company account? The problem with posting jobs on your own, is the lack of accountability for budgets and candidates. We've seen clients where different locations use separate credit cards and accounts. It's easy to lose track of how many candidates they’re receiving and the amount of money they're spending. Having a recruiting agency working with Indeed on behalf of clients allows the client to gain an inside scoop on what the going bid price is, what the competitive bids are, make accurate spending budget calculations instead of going by what is comfortable, which is usually either way too low or too high. This insight allows clients to be realistic about the real cost of advertising on a job board. What do people not understand about Indeed? CPA vs CPC. PCA or cost per apply, and CPC, cost per click. Indeed only lets you bid on clicks but the actual apply number shows how effective your job ads are. Ads are bid on a CPC basis, but the CPA is what you, as a recruiter, should worry about because it will tell you how effective your budget is. Sponsored ads - show higher on the feed. More budget allows for higher bids. If you’re bidding above $200-$300 then you simply don’t have a job market. Indeed Myths Organic ads… where do they work? Organic is free traffic, so always make sure you have organic going. Don’t duplicate jobs or you will lose organic traffic; there can only be one source of truth on Indeed, but they will always take your money for sponsored ads. Refreshing jobs… myth or not? Don’t do that if you’re sponsoring positions. It takes time for jobs to find their CPC bid and budgets to work themselves out. If you refresh jobs, you’re losing data that the job has been working to build up. Leave sponsored jobs alone but refresh organic jobs about once a month. If you refresh too often, Indeed's quality team will flag those jobs and they might not get as much traffic. Job Salaries “If I don't put a salary on a job, the candidate won't have expectations and it'll be easier on recruiting.” The truth i