“If I advertise, I won’t be able to handle the business. I can’t find employees!”

Smart salespeople handle this objection by turning the conversation to recruitment advertising. If the client goes for it, how do you structure the campaign?

Photo by Minera Studio

The strongest campaigns use the “tradigital” strategy Tom Ray recommends in his book, Branding Is OUT, Results Are IN: Lessons For The LOCAL Advertiser.

I recently encountered a very good recruiting campaign in a Southeast market.

Hiller Plumbing, Heating, Cooling and Electrical is a major force in Tennessee and Alabama. Like many in the industry, they are constantly in need of employees. They use a “tradigital” strategy to get them.

The traditional portion includes television (note: it’s possible they use other media as well). Here’s the TV commercial, which ran recently in the local morning news:

What can you learn — and borrow — from this?

• They use an custom web address. Interested viewers are sent to HillerIsHiring.com. The URL reinforces the core message, and is easy to remember. In addition to TV, the URL is simple enough to work on radio, a billboard, or a transit sign. You can deploy this technique, too: go to GoDaddy and buy “[name of your client] Is Hiring dot com.”
• Hiller doesn’t make the mistake of sending people to their home page. HillerIsHiring.com redirects to a custom landing page that’s about one thing, and one thing only: getting a job at Hiller. If your media company builds landing pages, this is a digital revenue opportunity for you. If not, recommend that the client build a page and host it on their site.
• Take a good look at the landing page at HillerIsHiring.com, It’s very simple and clean. The page doesn’t discuss anything other than job opportunities. There are three easy-to-understand CTA (call-to-action) buttons. “AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITIES” and “STOP BY AN OPEN HOUSE TODAY” are near the top, with one final request for action – “APPLY TODAY” – at the very bottom. It’s a good model to use when you build one for a local client.
• They use branding elements, such as the jingle, from their “regular” advertising. Thousands of people who see the ad might not be candidates for employment…but they could turn into customers. Consistency helps the recruitment campaign reinforce the company’s selling message.

 If a prospect can’t handle any more business, make recruitment part of the conversation. It can bring new clients on board, and help keep existing advertisers on the air.