A key Recruitment Marketing tactic, and a crucial part of a successful recruitment strategy in the current landscape, is targeted messaging to candidates that you have identified as being a good fit for a role.

In a message, you are using the same concept of your candidate persona that we use in job adverts but unlike advertising, where you are casting the net to attract candidates who are on job boards, this is your chance to be able to have more of a targeted and personalised approach, often to passive candidates.

Before moving on, let’s just clarify who passive candidates are and why these are the pool of people that you definitely want to be able to reach.

Passive candidates are candidates that are not actively seeking a new job and may not be on job boards, or if they are, they are browsing through the adverts to see if anything catches their attention (see our blog post on writing job adverts with the passive candidate in mind.)

With less applications per job advert than there were before covid, your ideal candidate is more likely to be in your passive candidate pool. As well as people being much more selective and cautious in their approach to a new job, organisations are more focussed than ever before on staff retention and keeping their employees happy to stay where they are, which is why as a recruiter/hiring manager, you need to show your identified candidates that what you are offering can improve their lives.

How to craft a good message

Much like adverts, a candidate message needs to be well thought out and with your ideal candidate in mind. This is your opportunity to raise interest and hopefully make your reader want to know more!

Demonstrating your EVP in your messaging

Outreach messages are your opportunity to showcase your employer value proposition and to market your employer brand. In order for your message to stand out amongst the crowd, your messaging must bring to life the role and company in a way that explains why this job will make their life better. Again, think about your candidate persona here and how this job can improve their lives in a succinct and intriguing way!

You first of all need to understand your EVP (see our article on “Why your EVP Matters”).

You then need to demonstrate how the elements of your EVP can improve your identified candidate’s situation.

If your ideal candidate is someone with a couple of years of experience looking to grow their skills and this opportunity allows them to receive mentorship from an industry leader, make sure you include this!

Has your company run a successful employee happiness survey? Showcase your great team culture!

You need to work out what the top benefits are and what details you can leave out at this stage, you are wanting to intrigue, not overload with information (more about this later!).

Messaging Channels

The two main channels used to reach potential candidates through messaging are:

• LinkedIn – either through InMails or Direct Messages
• Emails

The Power of LinkedIn

With nearly 13 million people now on LinkedIn in Australia, it is a valuable platform to use that gives you access to millions of potential candidates!

The power of LinkedIn lets you message someone through InMails if you are not connected or want to write a longer note, or Direct Messages if you are connected. This means you aren’t restricted to your existing network when it comes to candidate outreach!

However, this doesn’t just mean flicking over the job description – in fact, InMails are now considered spam by many, with people receiving more and more InMails per day.

InMails

Personalise, personalise, personalise

To write a successful LinkedIn message, it needs to be personalised. LinkedIn findings from a chat we had with them recently showed the following:

• InMails sent to small groups had high response rates
• InMails sent to individual people had high response rates
• InMails sent to large groups of people had low response rates

What does this mean? This means that targeted and personalised messaging is far more successful than generic messaging and quality is better than quantity in this case. People are much more inclined to message back if they know someone has taken the time to research them and address them personally, and most importantly, if the message resonates with them, they will be interested to know more!

TIP: Reference a particular company they have worked at or comment on recent post they have published!

How long should an InMail be?

We know we have 1900 characters to play with on LinkedIn InMails, which most recruiters/ hiring managers end up maximising. However, LinkedIn analytics shows that InMails under 400 characters get a response rate of 22% higher than the average. As well as being clearer to read, if your InMail is short and sweet, your message will stand out amongst the crowd as it will be shorter than 90% of InMails.

LinkedIn Direct Messages

Direct messages are a great way to connect with potential candidates, and with the rise of InMail spam, this can be a warmer way to interact and get your message across.

Direct messages are different from your longer-form InMails as they are more casual. Think of these as more conversational, as though you are talking to someone in person and building rapport:

“Hey Jasmin! How are you? I just wanted to let you know that your LinkedIn posts have been super interesting recently! Looking forward to staying in touch and hearing more about recruitment!”

You can then go in to asking if they are open to hearing more about opportunities rather than lunging straight in!

Emails

Emails are very similar to InMails and need to be personalised and to the point.

People are receiving more emails than ever before and on average are receiving up to 100 emails per day! This means your email needs to stand out and be interesting.

How long should an email be?

The average time people spend reading an email is 12 seconds! This means you have a limited time to catch the candidates attention, so you need to make it snappy. A message between 50 and 125 words is the sweet spot! Anything longer than 150 words is likely to be ignored!

Keep your sentences short and punchy!

Long sentences are a no-no so keep punctuation to a minimum and leave out the filler words. Short, to the point sentences are much easier to read.

Subject Headings

Your subject heading can make or break your email. You may have the most beautifully written and enticing email but if your subject heading doesn’t catch your reader’s attention it can be pointless!

Some tips for subject headings:

• Add personalisation (Including someone’s name in the subject heading can increase your open rate by 26%) Campaign Monitor
• Be descriptive (Don’t be too vague here, people want to know how your email can benefit them so try to describe how in the subject heading)
• Keep it short and sweet (Mailchimp recommends no more than 9 words and 60 characters)
• Limit punctuation (Too many punctuation marks can make your email look like spam so keep it punchy!)

Key takeaways you can use to improve your Talent Sourcing messaging strategy today!

• Keep your messages under 150 words
• Personalise, personalise, personalise – take the extra time to research who you are messaging and include something personal within the email
• Understand who your ideal candidate is and why this role and company can make their lives better and then use that in your email
• Keep sentences short and snappy
• Don’t forget about your subject heading! This can make or break your email!
• Include a call to action (CTA)! Make sure you make it easy for someone to contact you so the momentum isn’t lost! Always include your name, phone number and email.