Using an Agency to Create Your Marketing Plan

Agencies Provide One-Stop Shopping

Developing a comprehensive marketing plan is no small task. But for healthcare recruitment agencies, it's one of the many services they provide their clients. ADVANCE interviewed Jerry Digani, Vice President of the Health Care Division at Shaker Recruitment Advertising & Communications, Oak Park, IL, to uncover what an ad agency can do for recruiters and healthcare facilities.

ADVANCE: Simply stated, in your opinion what can an ad agency do for healthcare recruiters?

Digani: Even the best healthcare recruiters will struggle to keep up with new technologies, fragmented marketplaces, negotiations with job boards, search engine marketing, not to mention unifying the creative elements for the Internet, print, recruitment/retention, ERP's, collateral material, etc. A good agency can help you do all of that.

ADVANCE: What's a good balance to have between online and print advertising? How much of a marketing budget should be spent on print/online advertising?

Digani: That will depend on the location and market of the hospital. The Internet allows many hospitals to reach out of market inexpensively, and when recruiting Gen X and Gen Y can be extremely effective. I would say 75% print to 25% online would be a good mix. Print is still an important attraction strategy for Boomers and some Gen X's. If you want to hear from the Gen Y's, try putting a text messaging number in your ad.  The 75/25% split between print and internet spending reflects the continued use of print in branding for recruitment/retention.  The 25% of the budget targeting online advertising is used in a variety of products that are less expensive.

ADVANCE: Is behavioral targeting a crucial angle for recruiters to use in their marketing campaigns?

Digani: The behavioral campaigns we've executed indicate a higher response rate than standard graphic advertising campaigns. This makes sense because the message is more relevant to the specific, target audience who are the only people the message will be delivered to, since it's based either on a user's previous Internet activity, or the content of the pages they are reading.

Another reason this is a successful tactic is that in most cases, there usually are no other recruitment messages around the ad, which allows our clients to position their value proposition to a prospective candidate in an environment free of competitors.

ADVANCE: Do you feel social networking will help recruiters get ahead of their competition?

Digani: If used properly, social networking can certainly play a considerable role in recruitment. One thing we run into a lot is that when most people hear the word social networking, they only think of Facebook and MySpace, which makes sense as they are the most well known sites, but social networking sites are only one possible solution. Shaker looks at all social media when advising clients, from blogs to video sharing to even developing proprietary communities where like-minded visitors can congregate and interact.

Another misconception we run into frequently is that social networking is something that applies only to college students. While it's true that Facebook has amazing penetration of 90 percent at some colleges and universities, the fastest growing segment within social networking is those 25-35 and even 35-45 age groups.

Every client has different needs and a different story to tell. Our job is to identify the proper vehicles for them to market their positions and tell their story. When done correctly, social media allows potential candidates to interact and become more engaged with an employer. The candidates develop a personal and emotional connection with a company.

Every company would love to hire people who are dedicated and passionate about their work and their employer. For example, Nurse, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy departments can be their own recruiters as well, if they establish their own social network.

ADVANCE: For a company considering using video to assist in recruitment needs, what's the first step they should take?

Digani: It's important to determine what you want your video to accomplish. Do you want one video that will act as an overview of your healthcare organization, speaking generally to the various available opportunities? Or do you want multiple videos with testimonials that speak to the different aspects that make your organization unique: position-specific focus, diversity, benefits, hours/shifts available, technology/equipment, service, etc.

It's also critical to identify how you want your recruitment video to be used. Video can be purposed in many ways:

Online - On your careers Web site, in your online job postings, on social media Web sites and more.
On site - On TV screens in your reception area, on computer screens at career fairs, etc.
Training - Recruitment videos can also be used during new hire training/orientation to reinforce with the candidate (hire) that they've made the right decision.

Aligning yourself with an experienced video production team is also crucial. You want to make sure that your needs, objectives and goals are clearly outlined. And, that your chosen vendor can creatively interpret that messaging into compelling means of persuasion. Making the video look professional with excellent quality is something that should never be overlooked.

ADVANCE: How can a healthcare facility or company balance the cost of an ad agency with their already tight budget?

Digani: I don't think a healthcare facility can afford not to use an agency right now. For the most part, our income is derived from commissions from the media. We have resources, from Web and graphic designers, to copywriters and marketing specialists, and teams of people that provide non-print solutions. We have resources  that would be too expensive for a hospital to replicate.

I believe a recruiter should manage the process and the budget, but rely on their agency for the creation and execution of the strategy.