Our Resources page

Every month, Talent Propeller will be reviewing various types of media to share an honest and unbiased account of the best media options for recruiting candidates. This is media review #7: LinkedIn Sponsored Campaign

MEDIA:

LinkedIn Sponsored campaign.

ABOUT THE MEDIA:

LinkedIn operates the world's largest professional network on the Internet with more than 100 million members in over 200 countries and territories. Reaching both active job seekers and passive candidates.

A sponsored campaign differs from a job post as it is an image that shows up on peoples feeds, much like an advert. You can target people by job title, education, experience, industry and location.

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN – WHAT ADS WE RAN:

For this review, we ran the following campaigns:

• Senior Graphic Designer
• Advertising Coordinator
• Recruitment Administrator

Our Initial Findings:

• A sponsored post is very image heavy, so you need the creative resource to create the artwork
• You can only include limited text, so you need the ability to link to a web page (EG a careers page) with more information
• You can be very specific in targeting the audience, which makes it easy to get your ad in front of the right audience. 

HOW APPLICATIONS ARE RECEIVED:

When a candidate clicks on your advert on LinkedIn, they can be directed a webpage. Our recommendation is to direct applicants to a careers page with further details about the opportunity and the option to apply.

QUANTITY OF CANDIDATES RECEIVED:

• Senior Graphic Designer            26% of candidates came from LinkedIn
• Advertising Coordinator              40% of candidates came from LinkedIn
• Recruitment Administrator          0% of candidates came from LinkedIn

QUALITY OF CANDIDATES RECEIVED:

We reviewed multiple candidates for the Senior Designer and Advertising Coordinator from LinkedIn. Whilst, ultimately people were hired from other media, both roles did have people shortlisted who made it very close. The recruitment administrator received 0 applicants from LinkedIn.

WHAT WE LIKED:

The ability to target so specifically makes it a great channel to get your opportunity in front of a passive audience that matches your criteria.  LinkedIn delivers a good quality of applicant for the right role.  It’s possible (in fact essential) to link your ad to a landing page so candidates aren’t kept within LinkedIn and can be channeled through your own recruitment process.  A sponsored campaign increases Employer Brand awareness, so even if your ad does not convert a lot of applications, it still strengthens your brand and drives traffic to your careers page

WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE:

It is not effective for blue collar roles or entry level office roles. It is pricey compared to other options, with campaigns starting at $750 + GST.

OUR VERDICT:

LinkedIn is a great option for higher level. Professional roles.  The ability to target passive candidates so specifically makes it an ideal solution for hard to fill roles. The pricing is more than a traditional job board but that is because it delivers applications and also increases employer band awareness. It is a rapidly growing and evolving form of recruitment advertising.  

For more free recruitment advertising advice, check out our other blog topics at www.talentpropeller.com.au

Or get in touch!