Talent Attraction & Recruitment Marketing FAQ

Strategies, Best Practices, and Examples

What is a recruitment marketing agency? And what is the difference from a traditional marketing agency?

Think of us as the secret weapon for your Talent Acquisition and/or HR department. A recruitment marketing agency specializes in all the things that traditional marketers leverage, but with the added lens of talent attraction. Our goal is to get people to apply, not buy. It’s a completely different mindset.

HLMG is even more unique in that we look at your full talent attraction strategy vs. just your advertising. We take a holistic approach to everything we do. Because all parts of your strategy are important for measured success.

What is talent attraction?

Talent attraction is the proactive, long-term strategy of making your company appealing to top candidates (especially passive candidates) before they even begin a job search.

It strengthens your employer brand, builds awareness, and creates a steady pipeline of people who want to work for you. It’s the foundational work that happens behind the scenes and is essential for long-term hiring success.

What is an Employer Value Proposition (EVP)?

Your Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is the clear promise of what employees receive in return for their skills, contributions, and commitment. It explains why someone should work for your company, sometimes called the “What’s in it for me?” for candidates.

A strong EVP includes both tangible and intangible elements such as culture, career growth, values, benefits, and the overall employee experience. It’s the foundation of your employer brand and a key driver of talent attraction.

It’s much more than a tagline; it’s your core differentiated promise to employees.

What's the difference between employer brand and recruitment marketing?

Your employer brand is your identity, who you are as an employer, the culture you offer, and the reputation you’ve built in the talent market.

Recruitment marketing is how you actively promote that identity to attract candidates. It uses targeted messaging, content, channels, and advertising to bring your employer brand to life across every stage of the hiring funnel.

When these two areas are misaligned, attracting the right talent becomes significantly harder.

What is programmatic job advertising?

Programmatic job advertising uses automated, data-driven technology to buy, place, and optimize job ads across the digital ecosystem. It continuously adjusts your spend in real time based on performance, similar to a smart bidding algorithm.

You pay only for ads that drive results, eliminate wasted spend, and automatically prioritize the job openings most likely to attract qualified candidates. The result is higher efficiency, better applicant quality, and a shorter time to hire.

What does technology agnostic mean?

You’ve probably seen this term thrown around a lot by our agency. We are very proud to consider ourselves technology agnostic.

Being technology agnostic means we aren’t tied to any specific recruitment technology, platform, or vendor. We don’t push an ATS, CRM, or programmatic tool because of partnerships or incentives. We choose solutions based solely on what will work best for your hiring goals.

This vendor-neutral approach gives you greater flexibility and ensures your tech stack aligns with your talent acquisition strategy, not the other way around.

What metrics matter most in recruitment marketing ROI?

Key recruitment marketing ROI metrics include qualified applicants, cost per apply (CPA), cost per hire (CPH), apply conversion rates, source performance, and time to fill.

We focus on the metrics that move the needle and use continuous optimization to reduce waste and improve hiring efficiency.

Why is my career site so important for recruitment marketing?

Your career site is the central, non-negotiable asset in your recruitment marketing ecosystem. It’s the one place you fully control the message, design, candidate experience, and conversion path. While job boards are rented land, your career site is your home field, where candidates learn who you are and ultimately decide whether to apply.

Can recruitment marketing help me find passive candidates?

Absolutely. Recruitment marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach passive candidates, people who are employed but open to the right opportunity. Through targeted advertising, employer brand content, social media, and talent nurture strategies, we deliver the right message to the right people at the right time.

What are some best practices to keep in mind for diversity recruiting?

Diversity recruiting requires actionable, structural steps to ensure equal opportunity. Representation is key! Best practices include:
-Bias Audit: Ruthlessly review job descriptions and criteria to eliminate subjective bias.
-Diverse Sourcing: Use targeted media buying and partnerships to place jobs where diverse talent congregates.
-Strong Brand Reflection: Showcase authentic representation in your content.
-Consistent Interviews: Ensure a structured, identical interview process for all candidates to combat unconscious bias.

What is the candidate journey? And why does it matter?

The candidate journey maps every single interaction a person has with your company, starting from initial awareness of your brand until they accept or decline an offer. It’s the full-funnel experience, covering Awareness, Consideration, Conversion, and Hire (top of funnel to bottom of funnel).
It’s crucial to understand every touchpoint in your recruitment marketing strategy. Understanding it allows us to:

-Improve conversion rates: Pinpoint exactly where high Application Drop-off Rates occur (e.g., ad click to landing page or the application form itself).
-Optimize ad spend: Reduce wasted ad budget by ensuring the messaging in the initial programmatic ad aligns perfectly with the experience on the career site.
-Protect the brand: Maintain a consistent, positive experience across all digital assets, safeguarding your employer brand and long-term reputation.

What is talent mapping?

Talent mapping identifies the skills, roles, and market trends needed to meet future hiring goals. It is the strategic intelligence that prevents firefighting and ensures your recruitment marketing is predictive, not reactive.

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?

Let us help you tell your story. You may know exactly what you want, or we can explore your challenges together.

Drop us a line!