Although programmatic recruitment advertising has only been available for a couple of years, it has already gained significant traction—and with good reason.
Source: Jirsak / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Based on the same concept as those ads that follow you around the internet once you’ve clicked on a product at a retail website, programmatic technology puts job ads in front of job seekers.
Recruiting Daily Advisor asked Chris Forman, CEO and founder of Appcast, a provider of programmatic recruitment advertising, for insight into the technology and its benefits.
RDA: Can you give our readers a more detailed description of programmatic recruitment advertising? “Ads that follow you around the internet” isn’t very technical.
CF: When you say “programmatic” to a marketer, it’s a bit of a Rorschach test. It means something different to everyone. At its simplest core, programmatic advertising is “the use of software and data to optimize performance ad buying online.” In the recruitment industry, this means that technologies are used to sponsor and unsponsor jobs based on application value, increase or decrease bids based on a target cost-per-applicant, and use targeting data to place display ads in front of specific job seekers.
RDA: What are the benefits to this method of advertising, compared to posting jobs at job boards?
CF: The main benefits melt down to two: cost and volume. First, programmatic advertising tools and methodologies reduce the cost paid by an employer for an applicant by 20 percent to 30 percent, in the vast majority of cases. This cost savings is driven through market rate bidding and broadening the sources of traffic used for a specific campaign to include more, lower-cost sites. Second, programmatic tools ensure that campaign budgets are spread evenly across your job inventory. Using apply limits, jobs that have enough applications are unsponsored … focusing budget on the jobs that still need traffic.
RDA: Is programmatic recruitment advertising a good option for any job posting, or are some positions a better fit for programmatic than others?
CF: The principles and approach are universal. They work for any type of job.
RDA: What about company size? Is this mainly a solution for large employers?
CF: Implementing a programmatic strategy has an overhead cost. You need employees or vendors who know how to implement the approach. You may also need some specialized tools to support this initiative. Our general rule of thumb is that if you spend $100,000/year on recruitment advertising, resume databases or candidates sourcing, you should look at programmatic as a strategic recruiting tool.
RDA: What is the biggest misconception about programmatic recruitment advertising?
CF: The biggest misconception about programmatic recruitment advertising is that it’s complex. It isn’t. Like anything in life that is worthwhile, it takes some work. But once you understand the basic principles of the software, it’s fairly straightforward.
RDA: When it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of advertising, numbers speak loud than words. Can you share any data that will give our readers an idea of what they might achieve?
CF: Employers across various different industries have used programmatic job advertising to drastically lower the cost of their online recruiting activity. We’ve found that employers who’ve implemented programmatic have found it to be their top source of quality candidates, while decreasing their average cost-per-applicant by up to 30 percent lower than applicants from leading job boards. Ultimately, programmatic helps organizations lower their cost-per-hire by up to 50 percent.