So you’ve found your market(s) and you’ve found your people, but have you got the right tools and systems in place to grow your recruitment business effectively?
Scaling-up in recruitment relies heavily on how you market your company and develop your brand. As The Scale Up Workbook explains, if you are serious about growing your company, having a comprehensive marketing plan is just as important as having a sound business plan. And, like any good business plan, a marketing plan needs to be treated as a ‘living’ document. This means you must be prepared to revisit and revise your plan at regular intervals to allow you to reach different markets as you scale-up your business.
It is important to stress that marketing plans are not just about fancy logos, pretty colours and impressive graphic design. The essence of any good marketing plan should be about how you will promote your core business offering and your company’s values. The best marketing plans consider a variety of avenues in which you could promote your business. These could include sponsoring relevant events, collaborating with key stakeholders, or even developing yourself as a thought-leader in your chosen market(s).
Technology and social media can play a big part in scaling-up your business. Investing in strong recruitment systems and considering cloud technology can speed up the day-to-day running of your company. Leveraging technology to support your people to be as successful as they can be is key to good business growth. Making the best use of technology does not have to be expensive either. Making simple changes to your office set-up, like investing in dual-screen monitors, can make an amazing difference to your productivity.
Technology can also play a vital role in enhancing your team dynamics. Innovations in web communications can help to make the world a much smaller place and have the potential to bring your teams closer together if you have offices in different locations. Social media can also help you to expand your networks of clients and candidates.
However, just as there is no ‘one size fits all’ model to recruitment, there are different social media platforms out there to suit different needs. Facebook and Twitter can be helpful to promote your general business, whilst LinkedIn lends itself to more targeted marketing and opens up opportunities to develop your company as a thought-leader.
Take time to discover what works best for you, but be careful not to neglect the roots of recruitment. As much as technology can bring added benefits to your business, it can never replace the good, old-fashioned method of communicating over the phone or face-to-face.
To ensure you scale-up your business effectively, we recommend you:
Devise a comprehensive marketing plan exploring a variety of avenues. Consider using technology to improve your office systems. Make good use of social media to enhance your external relationships. Use web communications to help you to manage your talent internally. Don’t neglect the good, old-fashioned methods of recruitment!
For a comprehensive guide to scaling up your recruitment business, REC members can download The Scale Up Workbook for free.
