Direct Marketing

Q:	Doesn’t direct mail just end up in the trash?

A:

Eventually, all advertising ends up in the trash (or recycle) bin. The difference with direct mail is that the vast majority of people will look at your postcard or letter before they decide whether it’s junk or not. In the few seconds that it takes recipients to walk between their mailbox and their trash bin, your message has a brief opportunity to fire someone’s imagination. And, don’t forget that a direct mail piece is easily passed along to other household members, to friends and to neighbors.

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Q:	What media reaches the highest percent of the local talent market?

A:	No media (including print, Web or broadcast) reaches a higher percentage of the local talent pool than direct mail. This includes direct recruitment by search firms.

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Q:	I have heard that direct mail is very expensive.

A:

It depends on the number of recipients and the complexity of the mailing piece. In actuality, the average direct mail campaign is about eight to ten times less expensive ($1,500-$2,500) than the average search fee ($16,000-$35,000).

Direct mail is about five times more expensive than a job posting ($350-$450), but direct mail reaches about 10 times more of your local talent pool. And, unlike job postings, it reaches people who are not actively looking for jobs (passive candidates) who may represent up to 85% of the market.

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Q:	Don’t job boards work more quickly than direct mail?

A:	Initially, job postings are much quicker. However, if you view the graph you can see that, within a 7 to 10-day time span, direct mail reaches almost 100% of its total audience. After 10 days, job boards reach about 65% of their total audience.

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Q:	What are the biggest mistakes that recruiters make with their direct mail advertising?

A:

Actually there are three mistakes recruiters commonly make:

They try to cram too much content into their direct mail piece. The first rule of advertising is that your ad must have a high degree of visual magnetism. The more content you add to a direct mail piece, the more the visual magnetism is diminished. To provide more content, an effective direct mail campaign should include links to a Web landing page.
They don’t provide an easy way for a recipient to get additional information. A landing page provides a convenient way for the recipient to learn more about the opportunity and your organization. It also will provide a link should they decide to apply for the position.
They only use direct mail as a “last resort” and not as part of the first recruitment wave. Before you start your sourcing plan, ask yourself the following questions:
1. How many prospective candidates live within a 25-mile radius of your facility?
2. What percent of these prospective candidates are active job seekers?

It may be difficult to estimate the number of prospective candidates who live within commuting distance of your facility. If you don’t know, your Account Manager should be able to help.

As a rule, we assume that approximately 15% of prospective candidates within your talent market are active job seekers. Once you have an approximation of the local talent marketplace, it’s much easier to make advertising/sourcing decisions.