Despite impressive growth, the use of mobile marketing has remained firmly on the margins of most marketing and communications strategies.Strikingly the use of a text response in the recruitment process is still fairly uncommon.
Very few employers in the UK have really embraced the potential applications or have made long term commitments to exploring how the mobile can improve the recruitment process.
Even more amazingly, marketing and advertising agencies, whose role it is to keep their clients informed of all the latest communications tools, are lagging well behind. Only 18% of them offer any sort of SMS marketing or mobile services. (source – Mobile Marketing Association.)
Essentially, the mobile phone simply represents another ‘channel’ through which employers can communicate with their applicants. There are number of mobile strategies that can be deployed and this overview briefly outlines what they are and how they can be used to best effect.
Text Response
For many companies, this is the launch pad for their mobile marketing strategy.
How Does it work?
- The responder texts in a unique ‘keyword’ to a 5 digit short code, e.g. 88800.
- Text Marketer captures their mobile number and the incoming message.
- The responder may also be asked to text in an e-mail or postal address.
- An automated text response is then generated that acknowledges their text and lets them know what will happen next.
- Text Marketer provides a powerful, web based, ‘campaign manager’ account allowing you to track and manage the incoming response.
To see an example, text job to 88800 (standard rate).
Why have a text response?
Consistently, if you give applicants the choice, around 50% of them will elect to make their initial contact by text.
Allows a spontaneous or compulsive response
Having a text response option on the creative, allows applicants to make a spontaneous contact. Potential applicants browsing a recruitment section of a publication may not actively be looking for a new job or career change.
Changing jobs and career path is a stressful experience. It’s all too easy to stay where you are rather than go through the disruption of the whole process. A text response encourages action before second thoughts creep in.
Applicants can respond wherever they are
One of the problems with traditional response mechanics (telephone and web) is that there is often a time lag between initial interest and the ability to respond. Applicants seeing a recruitment ad in the paper on the train will be unable to respond immediately. The longer the time lag, the greater the drop off in response.
Less formal than making a call
We sometimes forget that for some people, applying for a job can be an intimidating experience. Applicants wonder whether the initial call that they make will be assessed or that they may have to conduct an initial interview over the phone.
Promotes company as innovative and forward thinking
There are currently very few employers using mobile as part of the recruitment process. Those that do, create an impression of being innovators in their field.
What sort of results can be expected?
On the campaigns that Text Marketer has been running, around 50% of the overall response has been generated via the text response option. An overall uplift of between 17% and 21% can also be expected.
Measure response rates from different advertising channels
One of the key benefits of using text response is that response can be measured far more accurately than with other mechanics. Additionally, response rates from different publications or marketing channels can be measured. This information can then be used to help shape the media buying for subsequent campaigns.
What data is captured when someone responds?
The following information is captured and stored in a database…
Mobile number
Date and time of text
The message itself
Can you capture e-mail or postal addresses?
The key thing to remember here is that as long as the keyword is at the start of the text, then everything else is captured. So a typical ‘call to action’ on a campaign might read…
‘….For more information on careers at Text Marketer, text job followed by your
e-mail addresses to 88800
We have found that people are surprisingly accurate with texting their email addresses and we would normally expect an error rate of around 10%.
Response Handling
We have found that employers are almost always keen to pilot a text response campaign but some do not have the internal resource to handle an outbound telephone campaign to capture further details from applicants.
They love the idea of increased response but are not happy with the existing recruitment process being disrupted. In these cases, the best solution is to ask applicants to text in either an e-mail address or postal address. This allows applications to be handled in the normal way.
Handling Client Expectations
Having a text response on a campaign will uplift the overall response by around 20%. It will not of course turn an unresponsive campaign into a responsive one. The success of the texting element should be measured in the context of the overall response. If a campaign generates just 10 response and 6 of them are by text, then the text response has been successful.
WAP sites
WAP sites are simply web sites designed for the mobile phone. In the same way that an agency might design a micro site for a job, a wap site can be developed to provide detailed job information.
To see a simple job WAP site, text job to 88800, then click on the link in the text autoresponse.
Why have a WAP site?
A wap site enables you to provide detailed information to applicants at the point at which they are most interested. A typical job advertisement is always going to be a blend of attention grabbing creative and more detailed information about the role.
There is always a limit to the amount of detail that can be included in a job description and a wap site is an excellent way of overcoming this problem.
Outbound Text Campaigns
Outbound text campaign can be used to improve the communication process. E.g.
- Application deadline reminders
- Interview appointment reminders
- Reminders of recruitment events
- Follow up ‘lapsed applicants’
Evolving Strategies
Most companies start their involvement with a simple text response and develop other mobile services over time. Text Marketer aims to guide you through the process and make ‘selling in’ mobile solutions as straightforward as possible. Please contact us on 0117 9249207 for an informal chat.